Research Description

The Shaw lab is interested in signaling pathways that regulate tumor progression and metastasis. We utilize both in vitro and in vivo approaches to investigate signaling pathways that play an essential role in the acquisition of a metastatic phenotype and to understand their mechanism of action. A longstanding interest of the lab is the insulin/IGF-1 signaling pathway, with a focus on the Insulin Receptor Substrate (IRS) proteins and the mechanism by which these essential signaling adaptors regulate tumor progression. The current focus of the lab is to develop a structural understanding of how the IRS proteins regulate functional outcomes such as cancer stem cell self-renewal, invasion and metabolism. From a translational perspective, the goal of our work is to develop novel targets to predict or to treat metastatic cancer.