The difference between life and death for most cancer patients hinges on the degree of spread, or metastasis, of their tumors. Therefore, a better molecular understanding of cancer metastasis holds significant promise for reducing mortality and morbidity from cancer. The central theme of our research is a multidisciplinary and integrative approach to the analysis of the molecular basis of cancer metastasis, combining molecular biology and genomics tools with animal models and advanced in vivo imaging technologies. We focus on the identification of metastasis genes and functional characterization of their involvement in tumor-stromal interactions during the formation of metastasis in different organs. We are also interested in regulators of mammary gland development and early oncogenic events that may have significant impact on tumor progression and metastasis.