1. Research My primary research interest centers on identifying and eventually making use of the common themes in developmental biology and cancer biology. This stems from my work on locally produced secreted developmental cues, such as BMP/TGF-β, Hedgehog, and Wnt, that act at a distance to govern tissue patterning (Zheng et al. 2003 Cell; Zheng et al. 2010 Genes Dev; Kim et al., 2015 Science Signaling; Hsia et al., 2017 Nat Commun; Wu et al., 2019 JBC; Zhang et al. 2019 JCI Insights; Yang et al., 2021 Elife; Yang et al., 2022 Elife; Yang and Zheng Methods Mol Biol). Manuscripts accepted for publication during the past year. • Shu Yang and Xiaoyan Zheng. The immunofluorescence-based detection of Hedgehog pathway components in primary cilia of cultured cells. Methods in Molecular Biology. 2022. • Shu Yang, Ya Zhang, Chuxuan Yang, Xuefeng Wu, Sarah Maria El Oud, Rongfang Chen, Xudong Cai, Xufeng S. Wu, Ganhui Lan, Xiaoyan Zheng. Competitive coordination of the dual roles of the Hedgehog co-receptor in homophilic adhesion and signal reception. 2021. Elife • Shu Yang, Xuefeng Wu, Euphrosyne I. Daoutidou, Ya Zhang, MaryJane Shimell, Aidan J. Peterson, Michael B. O’Connor, and Xiaoyan Zheng. The NDNF-like factor Nord is a Hedgehog-induced BMP modulator that regulates Drosophila wing patterning and growth. 2022. Elife. Grants awarded in the past year. • I serve as a mentor for a recently funded NIH T32 grant for the GW Cancer Center (2020-2025). • I serve as a collaborator for a recently funded NIH R01 grant for Dr. Huadong Pei in the GW Cancer Center (2021-2026). 2. Teaching: • I taught CANC 8222, ANAT 6182, ANAT 2130, and ANAT 6130 in 2021. • I also provided research opportunities for students across different levels. I have one MD student, three undergraduates, and one master student, and one rotation student from the IBS program during the Spring of 2022. • Mackenzie Sivilli, a master student from my lab will present “Role of Ndnf in alveolar progenitor cells during lung adenocarcinoma initiation” in the 5th Annual Scientific Retreat Hosted by the GW Cancer Center scheduled on April 30th of 2021. • Sarah Maria El Oud, an undergraduate student served as an co-author in our recent publication “Competitive coordination of the dual roles of the Hedgehog co-receptor in homophilic adhesion and signal reception.” 3. Service: • I served on the NIH Review Panel F05Q on Nov. 2021 • I served on the Neurogenetics Search Committee (Department of Biological Sciences) from Nov. 2021 • I served in the Committee on Medical Student Evaluation for a three-year term (2020-2022). • I served as the course director for CANC 8222 in 2020. • I served in the Advisory committee for a GW Cancer Center T32 Training awardee Kenji Ishida. • I served as Co-advisor for Ling Loh in the Department of Biological Science. • I served as reviewer for several journals including Plos Genetics, Cancers, Current Molecular Medicine, BMC Medical Genomics, Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences and others. • I served as a guest editor for a special issue on “Hedgehog Signaling in Development and Cancer” for the Journal Cells. 4. Awards: • I serve as a mentor for a recently funded NIH T32 grant for the GW Cancer Center (2020-2025). • I serve as a collaborator for a recently funded NIH R01 grant for Dr. Huadong Pei in the GW Cancer Center (2021-2026).