The Ubellacker Lab

The Ubellacker Lab leverages metabolic vulnerabilities in metastasizing cells to target and treat cancer, with a focus on exploiting lipidomic dependencies of cancer cells. We are working to discover mechanisms that explain how lipid availability in the tumor microenvironment promotes cancer cell progression at different metastatic stages. 

We employ models of melanoma, breast, and prostate cancers with genomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics to identify and target novel programs of lipid metabolism required for metastasis. We aim to capitalize on connections between cancer cells and the lipid microenvironment to reduce cancer progression, thus addressing a significant unmet clinical need to develop therapies to prevent the spread of metastatic cancers. 


Cover image: Adapted using BioRender
Web Design: Audrey Fox and Jessalyn Ubellacker