NYMC > Faculty > Faculty Profiles > By Name > Gao, Shuai

Shuai Gao, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and AnatomySquare
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Email: sgao@nymc.edu


Phone: 914-594-3148

Address:
New York Medical College 
15 Dana Road
Basic Sciences Building (BSB), 110 
Valhalla, NY 10595 

Education: Ph.D. in Molecular Biology (2013), University of Toledo

Courses Taught: Molecular Biology; Fundamentals of life science laboratory II

Honors and Awards:

  • Department of Defense Idea Development Award-New Investigator (Direct cost: $600,000), 2019-2023 
  • AACR annual meeting Prostate Cancer Foundation Scholar-in-Training award, 2021
  • AACR Special Conference Scholar-in-Training award, 2017
  • Department of Defense Postdoctoral Training Award (Direct cost: $124,198), 2015-2017

Biography:

Shuai Gao, Ph.D. has long-standing interests in understanding the dysregulated gene transcription involved in prostate cancer (PCa) development. During his Ph.D. studies, Dr. Gao was focused on understanding the function of soluble guanylyl cyclase subunit a1 (sGCa1), an androgen receptor (AR) regulated gene. In 2013, as a post-doctoral fellow, he joined in the lab of Dr. Steven Balk at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, where he studied the transcriptional repressor function of AR mediated by Rb in drug resistant PCa. From 2015, Gao received additional training from Dr. Changmeng Cai in Center for Personalized Cancer Therapies at University of Massachusetts Boston. He then worked as a Research Assistant Professor since 2018. Gao continued to investigate the aberrant epigenetic regulations centered on LSD1 and FOXA1 that contribute to PCa disease progression. Gao’s post-doctoral work has characterized multiple chromatin-associated events that drive PCa development and provided novel therapeutic insights for overcoming the drug resistance.

At NYMC, Gao lab is interested in interrogating the interplay between transcription factors (e.g., AR, FOXA) and epigenetic modulators (e.g., histone demethylases) in driving drug resistance in PCa. By integrating cutting edge omics-based approaches and various clinically relevant models, his research aims to understand the high-resolution chromatin-associated molecular mechanisms underlying the therapy resistance, identify novel molecular targets and develop therapeutic strategies for PCa patients who are at the lethal stage.

Selected Publications:

  1. Exploiting the tumor-suppressive activity of the androgen receptor by CDK4/6 inhibition in castration-resistant prostate cancer.
    Han, W., Liu, M., Han, D., Toure AA., Li, M., Besschetnova, A., Wang, Z., Patalano, S., Macoska, JA., Lam, HM., Corey, E., He, HH., Gao, S., Balk, SP., Cai, C. (2022) Mol Ther. IF:11.45 PMID:35121110
  2. Inhibition of EZH2 transactivation function sensitizes solid tumors to genotoxic stress.
    Liao, Y., Chen, CH., Xiao, T., Avalos BP., Dray, EV., Cai, C., Gao, S., Shah, N., Zhang, Z., Feit, A., Xue, P., Liu, Z., Yang, M., Lee, JH., Xu, H., Li, W., Mei, S., Pierre, RS., Shu, S., Fei, T., Duarte, M., Zhao, J., Bradner, JE., Polyak, K., Kantoff, PW., Long, H., Balk, SP., Liu, XS., Brown, Myles., Xu, K. (2022) PNAS. IF:11.2 PMID:35031563
  3. RB1 loss in castration-resistance prostate cancer confers vulnerability to LSD1 inhibition.
    Han, W., Liu, M., Han, D., Li, M., Toure AA., Wang, Z., Besschetnova, A., Patalano, S., Macoska, JA., Gao, S., He, HH., Cai, C. (2022) Oncogene. IF:9.87 PMID:34975152
  4. Chromatin binding of FOXA1 is promoted by LSD1-mediated demethylation in prostate cancer.
    Gao, S. *, Chen, S. *, Han, D., Wang, Z., Li, M., Han, W., Besschetnova, A., Liu, M., Zhou, F., Barrett, D., Luong, MP., Owiredu, J., Liang, Y., Ahmed, M., Petricca, J., Patalano, S., Macoska, JA., Corey, E., Chen, S., Balk, SP., He, HH., Cai, C. (2020) Nature Genetics. IF:38.3 PMID: 32868907
  5. ZBTB7A Mediates the Transcriptional Repression Activity of Androgen Receptor in Prostate Cancer.
    Han, D., Chen, S., Han, W., Gao, S., Owiredu, JN., Li, M., Balk, SP., He, HH., Cai, C.  (2019) Cancer Res. IF:12.7 PMID: 31444154
  6. LSD1 activates PI3K/AKT signaling through regulating p85 expression in prostate cancer cells.
    Wang, Z., Gao, S., Han, W., Han, D., Li, M., Xu, W., Cai, C.  (2019) Front Oncol. IF:6.24 PMID:31428587
  7. Forkhead domain mutations in FOXA1 drive prostate cancer progression.
    Gao, S. , Chen, S. *, Han, D., Barrett, D., Han, W., Ahmed, M., Patalano, S., Macoska, JA., He, HH., Cai, C.  (2019) Cell Res. IF:25.6 PMID:31324883
  8. TMPRSS2-ERG activates nitric oxide signaling in prostate cancer.
    Zhou, F., Gao, S.*, Han, D., Han, W., Chen, S., Patalano, SC., Macoska, J., He, HH., Cai, C. (2019) Oncogene. IF:9.87 PMID:30718921
  9. Reactivation of Androgen Receptor-Regulated Lipid Biosynthesis Drives the Progression of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.
    Han, W., Gao, S.*, Barrett, D., Ahmed, M., Han, D., Macoska, J., He, HH., Cai, C. (2017) Oncogene. IF:9.87 (research highlight) PMID: 29059155
  10. Androgen Receptor Tumor Suppressor Function Mediated by Recruitment of Retinoblastoma Protein.
    Gao, S., Gao, Y., He, HH., Han, D., Han, W., Avery, A., Macoska, J., Liu, XM., Chen, S., Ma, F., Chen, SY., Balk, SP., Cai, C. (2016) Cell Reports. IF:9.42 PMID: 27760327

*Contributed equally as first author

Search GoogleScholar for all available publications of Dr. Gao.

Institution Service or Academic Service:
2022-2023 Member of SOM Biosafety Committee

Grant reviewer:

2022            Department of Defense, FY22 Prostate Cancer Research Program    
2020            Department of Defense, FY20 Prostate Cancer Research Program
2019            Florida Department of Health Biomedical Research Programs
2019            Austrian Science Fund: Joint Project 

Editorial reviewer:

Editor: Frontiers Oncology (Invited Editor Special Issue: Interplay Between Epigenetic Modifiers and Transcription Factors in Driving Cancer Progression) 

Ad hoc reviewer: Cancer letters, Cancers, Cells, Scientific Reports, Oncotarget, Therapeutics and Clinical Risk, Management Cancer Management and Research, OncoTargets and Therapy, ‘Research and Reports in Urology’

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