Faculty Profiles

The Fraley lab seeks to advance understanding of how cancer cells migrate with the goal of developing new treatment strategies targeting metastasis, the primary cause of cancer-associated deaths. By studying cell-extracellular matrix interactions, engineering physiologically relevant tissue environments "in a dish", and developing new tools and techniques to measure the physical and molecular processes cancer cells use to move through such environments, the Fraley lab has discovered new strategies to stop cancer migration. These studies have led to the identification of new candidate therapeutics that target migratory cancer cells. The lab is also advancing cancer prevention by developing technologies to democratize the ability to test for known and novel infectious diseases, which are estimated to cause 20% of the global cancer burden and are often treatable and/or preventable if detected. Rapid, inexpensive, quantitative, and “smart” infection diagnostics will not only support improved health, but also enable repeated time-series testing that can lend new fundamental insight into the progression of disease. One such technology is now being developed for commercial use by a startup company co-founded by Professor Fraley.

Capsule Bio:

Stephanie I. Fraley is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego. She earned her bachelor's in Chemical Engineering in 2006 from The University of Tennessee, Chattanooga and her Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in 2011 from The Johns Hopkins University. For her contributions to her fields of study, she has been named a SAGE Bionetworks Scholar, Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow, Biomedical Engineering Society Rising Star in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, Biomaterials Science Emerging Investigator, NSF CAREER awardee, Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface awardee, and elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. She has also been honored for her contributions to education, receiving a Jacobs School of Engineering Teaching Award and UCSD Integrity Award.