
Research in the Fallahi-Sichani Laboratory aims at designing, building and utilizing new experimental and computational tools to analyze and interpret multi-scale processes that regulate the fate and behavior of human cells and tissues in response to perturbations such as cytokines, stress, cytotoxic and targeted drugs. The lab works at the interface of bioengineering, systems biology and quantitative pharmacology, and relies on new technologies such as multiplex proteomic and genomic measurements, high-throughput microscopy, single-cell analysis, and multi-scale modeling. Our long-term goal is to define, at a single-cell level, molecular mechanisms that underlie adaptive cell fate decisions in the presence of cell-autonomous, microenvironment, and therapy-induced selective pressures, and elucidate how they vary under unhealthy conditions, most importantly in cancer cells. A detailed and network-level understanding of these mechanisms will provide a rational basis for choosing the optimal molecular targets to: (i) maximize therapeutic response, (ii) prevent therapeutic resistance, and (iii) reduce therapy-induced adverse effects.