Sihan Wu

Dr. Sihan Wu is an Assistant Professor at the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute (CRI) at UT Southwestern Medical Center and a CPRIT Scholar. He holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Pediatrics. His research focuses on understanding the molecular functions and evolutionary dynamics of extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) in cancer, particularly how ecDNA drives oncogene amplification, tumor heterogeneity, and therapeutic resistance.

Education: Dr. Wu earned his BSc in Biotechnology from Sun-Yat-sen University’s Life Science School, followed by a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the Zhongshan School of Medicine at SYSU. His postdoctoral training at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (UC San Diego) under Dr. Paul Mischel examined ecDNA’s structural and functional roles in cancer.

Research Interests: The Wu Lab integrates genomic sequencing, high-resolution imaging, and computational biology to study ecDNA’s impact on cancer biology. Key projects include investigating ecDNA’s spatial organization, transcriptional regulation, and potential as therapeutic targets. Recent work has uncovered ecDNA’s role in cross-resistance mechanisms in small cell lung cancer and its contribution to Barrett’s esophagus transformation.

Awards: He is a recipient of the CPRIT Scholar award, recognizing his innovative research on ecDNA in cancer progression.

Lab & Collaborations: The lab collaborates with institutions globally, including the Verhaak Lab (Cold Spring Harbor) and the Mischel Lab (UCSD), to advance understanding of ecDNA biology. Current projects explore ecDNA’s interactions with the cancer genome and its role in immune evasion.