Prof. Kondaiah’s laboratory is devoted to Cancer Biology to which his group has made significant contributions. Major emphasis has been on the identification of genes that promote tumorigenesis and metastasis. The cancers that are being studied include breast and brain cancers, oral squamous cell carcinoma along with pre cancerous oral submucous fibrosis. Several new molecules have been identified which may have potential role in pro tumorigenic actions. The role of signaling pathways and their cross talk in the promotion of cancers, is also being pursued in the lab. The principal signaling pathways mediated by TGF- β family of ligands has been focus in recent years. Using micro arrays, his group showed differential regulation of genes by TGF-β in normal and tumor cells.

The differential activation of non canonical Wnt and MAPK signaling in normal and tumor cells by TGF-beta, respectively has been elucidated. In the context of pre cancerous lesions, they studied the mechanism of submucous fibrosis etiology and TGF-beta pathway has been demonstrated to be one of the etiological factors in Oral Submucous Fibrosis. His laboratory has been active in collaborations with chemists and identified a small molecule which act on mutant form of p53 resulting in wild type conformation and activate the p53 dependent apoptosis in tumor cells.