Balmain Lab
Principal Investigator: Allan Balmain
Institution: University of California, San Francisco (San Francisco, CA)
Primary Subfield: Genetics/Genomics
Recruitment Status: ✅ Hiring Postdocs
Research Focus
Abstract The major goal of our research has been to develop a comprehensive mouse model system for studying cancer evolution from the cell of origin, through early pre-neoplasia, to malignant and widely disseminated disease. We also wished to encompass the critical roles played by environmental mutagens, tumor promoters, and variable host genetic background, to mimic the major factors that contribute to cancer complexity in humans. The value of these models is emphasized by recent observations of abundant mutations in normal human tissues, suggesting that tumor promoters may be essential, rate-limiting factors for clonal selection and early tumor growth. Using a mouse skin model, we identified stem cells in the upper hair follicle as the major target cells of origin in which initiating mutations occur. Using a novel method involving lineage tracing of the fate of these stem cells within tumors, together with gene expression network analysis, we identified a previously unappreciated stem cell hierarchy in tumor development, in which Lgr6+ stem cells give rise to progeny expressing a range of other “cancer stem cell” markers. The initiated Lgr6+ cells face a binary decision and eithe…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R35CA210018-09: Systems genetics analysis of tumor evolution in the mouse (2026)
- 3OT2CA278665-01S4: PROMINENT - UCSF (2026)
- 2R35CA210018-08A1: Systems genetics analysis of tumor evolution in the mouse (2025)
- 3OT2CA278665-01S3: PROMINENT - UCSF (2025)
- 3OT2CA278665-01S2: PROMINENT - UCSF (2024)
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