Welcome to the Nan Lab

The Nan Lab tackles cancer by developing tools for imaging cancer at the single-molecule and nanometer scales. Our current research focuses in three related areas: (1) development of multiplexed fluorescence nanoscopy techniques such as multispectral superresolution microscopy (MSSRM) and correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM), for quantitative analysis of biological processes at the molecular level in potentially 20+ colors; (2) nanoscale spatial systems biology of Ras small GTPases and HER-family receptors using a combined imaging, biochemical, and computational approach, to understand how biological 'pathways' are spatially and temporally organized in cells and to identify novel strategies for cancer therapy; and (3) Early cancer biology and biomarker detection (with the Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center, CEDAR, at OHSU Knight Cancer Institute) using optical methods, including superresolution imaging of early cancer progression and ultra-sensitive biomarker analysis for liquid and solid biopsies.