Dr. Huan Huang conducts the studies on T. cruzi including molecular biology and the development of genetic techniques in this organism as well as pathogenesis of Chagas disease.  He performs the research of protein kinases and kinase signaling pathways in Trypanosoma cruzi, the disease mechanisms and the developments of novel genetic techniques.  He has identified and characterized components in cAMP-dependent protein kinase and Mitogen activated protein kinase pathways in T. cruzi. He has published several manuscripts on cAMP-PKA signaling and mitogen activated protein kinases in T. cruzi. These findings have established a solid basis for further research in this pathogen and the knowledge can be used for drug development. He also studies Eicosanoids signaling in T. cruzi. Recently, He has advanced molecular genetics in T. cruzi by designing a modified pTREX vector which uses an N-terminal fusion of a ligand-controlled destabilization domain (ddFKBP) to a gene/protein of interest. This vector system allows rapid and reversible protein expression and efficient functional analysis of proteins in different T. cruzi life cycle stages.