Dr. Stephanie Fraley

Biography

Stephanie Fraley is a Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego. Her research focuses on cell migration, molecular detection technology, cancer, and infectious diseases. The Fraley lab seeks to advance the understanding of how cancer cells migrate and to develop new treatment strategies targeting metastasis, which is the primary cause of cancer-associated deaths. They study cell-extracellular matrix interactions and engineer physiologically relevant tissue environments in vitro. The lab has developed new tools and techniques to measure the physical and molecular processes that cancer cells use to navigate their surroundings, leading to the discovery of new strategies to halt cancer migration. Their studies have resulted in the identification of novel candidate therapeutics aimed at targeting migratory cancer cells. Additionally, the lab is focused on cancer prevention and developing technologies to democratize testing for known and novel infectious diseases, which are estimated to cause 20% of the global cancer burden and are treatable or preventable if detected early. Their rapid, inexpensive, quantitative, and smart infection diagnostics aim to improve health outcomes and enable robust time-series testing while providing new insights into disease progression. Professor Fraley co-founded a startup company for the commercial use of this technology. She has earned numerous accolades including being named a SAGE Bionetworks Scholar, a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow, and has received several awards recognizing her contributions to education, including the Jacobs School of Engineering Teaching Award.

Research Interests