Assistant Professor
westjw@umich.edu
Office Information:
3260 Biological Sciences Building
1105 N. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
Education/Degree:
PhD University of Toronto
Postdoctoral Fellow Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
About
Epithelial cells form barriers that separate body compartments from one another and the external environment. They undergo dynamic remodeling to execute invasive cell behaviors that facilitate normal development, tumor formation, and metastasis. The West lab studies how epithelial barrier function is disrupted during epithelial remodeling, and how barrier breakdown contributes to invasive behaviors during developmental processes, cancer progression, and metastasis. We combine mouse models of cancer with 3D organoid culture and live cell confocal microscopy approaches to dissect molecular mechanisms that trigger barrier breakdown and the downstream consequences on epithelial remodeling.
Dr. West obtained his PhD from the University of Toronto in 2019. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine from 2019-2024.
