The work in my laboratory is focused on answering the basic biological questions at the molecular level related to human diseases. The research areas include program cell death, signaling transduction, and cellular protein membrane trafficking. One of the major projects involves proapoptotic Bcl-2 family members, such as Bax and Bad. We identified a unique Bax isoform, which may serve as a prognostic marker for cancer chemotherapy. We also defined a broad signaling interplay between apoptotic pathway and other signaling pathways, involving many pathological events, such as hormone refractory and inflammation. We believe that study of the cellular signaling process will help our understanding of the molecular basis of human diseases and identify cellular targets for the effective treatment.