Dr. Duan’s research interests include cancer genetics, the mechanisms by which genetic and epigenetic alterations contribute to chemo-resistance of cancer therapeutics, developing cell and animal models, patient-derived tumor xenograft (PDX) models for targeted therapy in cancers, and evaluations of novel chemotherapeutic agents with animal models. He is also interested in developing novel biomarkers for identification of subgroups of patients who are most likely to respond to treatment of novel anticancer agents.