The main research area in Dr. Gao’s laboratory has been on viral oncogenesis with current focus on Kaposi’s sarcoma-associate herpesvirus (KSHV) and AIDS-related malignancies. In addition to studying virus infection, replication, latency and virus-host interactions, the lab has engaged in a multidisciplinary effort, and expanded the research program into translational and cancer therapeutics, cancer metabolism, microbiota, inflammation, angiogenesis, innate immunity, and microRNAs. The lab has applied state-of-art approaches and technologies in genomics, epigenetics, RNA epigenetics, metabolomics, high-throughput genomic screening, high-throughput drug screening, and systems biology to tackle these forefront biomedical issues. In particular, the lab has recently invested in drug screening and discovery as a result of the identification of new therapeutic targets and development of new model systems for infections and cancers. Dr. Gao’s laboratory is well supported by extramural funding. There are currently 6 active R01s and 1 Sub-project of an active PPG.