Stephanie Fraley, PhD, Associate Professor of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego
Title: Environmental Control of Cell Motility: Mechanisms, Models, and Therapeutic Targets
Abstract:
Understanding how cells migrate in coordinated and reliable ways is fundamental to tissue development, healing, immune responses, and diseases like metastatic cancer. While decades of work have elucidated many components of the motility machinery, how these parts integrate to produce distinct migration behaviors remains unclear. This challenge is underscored by observations that the same cell type can exhibit vastly different migration patterns depending on its environment, such as in 2D versus 3D matrices. Are these differences driven by entirely distinct regulatory mechanisms, or by shifts in the activity or thresholds of shared processes? Moreover, how do cells sense environmental cues and convert them into sustained motility responses?
In this talk, I will present our multi-scale systems approach to map how extracellular cues regulate intracellular signaling, cytoskeletal dynamics, and transcriptional programs to produce coordinated cell movements in 3D tissue-like environments. I will also highlight how these insights inform the design of organoid models and therapeutic strategies targeting migratory behaviors in triple-negative breast cancer and pancreatic cancer.
Bio:
Dr. Stephanie I. Fraley is a Professor of Bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego, recognized for pioneering work in cell migration biology and molecular diagnostics. Her research has advanced understanding of how normal and cancerous cells navigate complex tissue environments, leading to the discovery of new strategies to guide tissue regeneration and inhibit cancer metastasis. In parallel, she has developed innovative molecular detection technologies that enable rapid, broad-based identification of infectious pathogens, addressing critical needs in cancer-associated infections and global health surveillance. She co-founded two companies that are working to commercialize these discoveries.
Dr. Fraley’s innovative research has been recognized by a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface, NSF CAREER Award, American Cancer Society Research Scholars Grant, and Prebys Research Heroes Grant. Her honors include being named a BMES CMBE Rising Star, Biomaterials Science Emerging Investigator, AIMBE
Fellow, and American Cancer Society ResearcHERS Scholar. Her lab’s multidisciplinary approach—integrating biomaterials, quantitative microscopy, biophysics, cell biology, and machine learning—continues to drive transformative insights into multicellular behaviors and diagnostic innovation.
