Biography
I am from Vancouver Island (Victoria) in BC, Canada, attended BYU from 1991 to 1997 with a mission in Marseille, France during that time. After a BS in Molecular Biology from BYU, I earned a PhD in Cancer Research from Stanford and completed a post-doc at Huntsman Cancer Institute.
Research Interests
I came to BYU seeking to understand how individual epithelial cells detach from tissues, a process called epithelial-mesenchymal transition that occurs throughout development and that is recapitulaled in cancer metastasis. After over 10 years of dissecting this process, serendipity led us to discover a novel small molecule drug that may soon enter clinical trials. Having developed a passion for drug discovery, we now work to develop new small molecule therapeutics for human diseases that have poor current treatment options.Teaching Interests
I teach introductory biology for majors (PDBIO120) and have taught Cell Biology (PDBIO360) and Histology (PDBIO325) in the past. I also teach BIO-innovation courses (PDBIO 444 and 445), which address how technologies and ideas rooted in the life sciences become new companies that create prosperity and jobs.Memberships
- American Association of Cancer Researchers (2012 - Present)
- American Society of Cell Biologists (1998 - Present)