Dr. Sarah Amend

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Mission: to use evolutionary ecology paradigms to eradicate death from cancer.

Sarah Amend’s research is focused on understanding the qualities and consequences of the primary tumor microenvironment that give rise to metastasis (cancer spread) and therapy resistance to combat lethal disease. By investigating the cancer problem from a novel perspective, she believes that her group will find new questions – and new solutions – to centuries-long challenges in cancer research and treatment.

She is passionate about understanding cancer through the lens of evolutionary ecology and advocating for women in science and research.

I am a scientist because I believe it is fundamentally important to understand the truths of biology – why and how what we observe can be true, and what it means if it is. As part of this journey, I make intentional space to listen to others – my mentors and my trainees alike – to understand their unique histories and perspectives, to learn what scientific questions are keeping them up at night. Every datum, whether it is a personal story or a cell’s DNA code, is “screaming to tell you something” (as one of our mentors Don Coffey was fond of telling us). It is our job to listen and to question. It is our responsibility seek what that truth means and use that truth to make a difference in the world. 

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