The primary treatments for clinically localized prostate cancer are surgery and/or radiation therapy.  The relative radiation resistance of prostate cancer limits the ability of radiation therapy to cure this common cancer.  My research interests involve minimizing the toxicity of radiation dose escalation and defining the signal transduction pathways in prostate cancer that promote radiation resistance.  The major focus of my clinical work will be to develop prostate cancer treatment protocols using CyberKnife radiosurgery.  My focus in the laboratory is on the AMPK signaling pathway and its role in hypoxia-induced radiation resistance. The long-term goal of this work is to develop small molecule inhibitors capable of reversing radiation resistance in prostate cancer.