During her PhD study at OHSU, Dr. Sun focused on molecular and biochemical mechanisms underlying the regulation of p53-MDM2 pathway. Particularly, she has discovered that aberrant expression of the nucleolar protein nucleostemin activates p53 signaling. She also identified that several chemotherapieutic agents induce p53 by triggering ribosomal stress. After graduation, Dr. Sun joined the Riley Heart Research Center at Indiana University School of Medicine to investigate the function of Phosphatase of regenerating liver family proteins (PRL1, PRL2, and PRL3) in animal development and relevant human diseases, including cancer, using knockout mice models. She received a postdoctoral fellowship from the Cancer Biology Training Program at Indiana University during this period. In 2009, Dr. Sun returned to OHSU and joined Mushui's lab. She is now continuing on the characterization of the regulation of p53-MDM2 pathway.