Md. Wasim Khan, PhD

Cancer intervention and treatment is a global crisis and has always been a challenge for the scientific and medical community. Furthermore, common disease conditions such as obesity and liver disease which are prevalent in the world today increase both the risk and complexity of liver cancer. Hexokinases (HKs) are proteins that help trap glucose in cells where it is further broken down into other metabolites that feeds various essential pathways. HKs are frequently shown to be targets of proteins that promote cancer (oncogenes) which enhance the expression of HKs. Our team recently discovered a previously unknown HK (hexokinase domain containing 1, HKDC1) and we have data which shows that this novel HK plays crucial roles in mitochondrial metabolism and metabolic reprogramming in liver cancer. The focus of my current research work is to evaluate the role and therapeutic potential of HKDC1 as an anti-cancer agent as it will lead to treatments that target novel oncogenic pathways that are independent of those targeted by existing drugs.