Welcome to the Schafer Lab in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame!

The main cause of mortality in cancer patients is the development of metastasis, when cancer cells spread from the location of a primary tumor to colonize a distant site. The journey of a metastatic cancer cell is fraught with many potential stressors that could lead to cancer cell death.

How do cancer cells survive during metastasis?

Answering this question is our overarching goal! We hope that a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that permit cancer cell survival will reveal vulnerabilities that could be exploited in clinical practice and/or enable the development of new therapeutics.

Our projects use a variety of cell-based models to study cell death pathways, tumor cell metabolism, and how the regulation of metabolism and cell death intersect. We have a particular focus on understanding how the loss of integrin-mediated attachment to extracellular matrix (ECM) can alter metabolic flux and/or the execution of cell death.

We are located on the 2nd floor of the Galvin Life Science Center, just North of Notre Dame Stadium and South of the Hesburgh Library.

Schafer Lab