Allen C. Gao, MD, PhD., is currently the Ralph deVere White Endowed Professor, Director of Urologic Research, Department of Urology and UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of California at Davis. Dr. Gao received his Ph.D in Molecular Biology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston, TX and his MD at Sichuan University West China Medical Center, China. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Urology and Oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Dr. Gao served as an Assistant Professor of Urology (1998-2002) at University of Pittsburgh, Associate Professor (2002-2006) and Professor (2006- 2007) of Medicine and Pharmacology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and SUNY at Buffalo, New York prior to relocating to the University of California at Davis in 2007. Dr. Gao served as President (2018- 2019) of Society of Basic Urologic Research (SBUR). Dr. Gao also serves on the Editorial Board of several journals including Prostate, American J of Pathology, PLOS One, and American J of Clinical and Experimental Urology.

Dr. Gao’s research focuses on understanding the molecular changes associated with progression and treatment resistance to prostate cancer. Particular emphasis includes microRNAs, aberrant androgen receptor activation by cytokines and transcriptional factors such as Stat3 and NF-kB, targeting cell signaling pathways (AR, IL-6 and Stat3), mechanisms of drug resistance, targets and drug discovery, and experimental therapy in prostate cancer. Dr. Gao’s lab discovered novel inhibitors of androgen receptor variants (AR-V7) and enzymes of intracrine androgen synthesis such as AKR1C3, and identified several novel resistance mechanisms to enzalutamide/abiraterone/docetaxel including AR variants, NF-kB/p52, IL-6/Stat3, intracrine androgens/AKRl C3, and ABCB1. Dr. Gao has published over 130 peer-reviewed articles in prostate cancer. His research findings have translated into several clinical trials for treating advanced prostate cancer.