Li receives Pathway to Independence Award

From $2K pilot award to K99/R00 – Li receives Pathway to Independence Award

Wentao Li, PhD, postdoctoral research associate in the Sancar lab, received a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the NIH to further his studies on the role of aflatoxin-induced DNA damage and its repair in hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer.

Underpinning Li’s Pathway to Independence Award is a TraCS $2K pilot award, “Development of Targeted Damage-seq Method for Mapping of the UV-induced DNA Damage Formation in Human Cells.” While the pilot project focused on UV-induced DNA damage, the research method developed and validated in this pilot project has broad applicability for mapping areas of damaged DNA induced by a wide variety of naturally occurring mutagens, such as aflatoxin.