Skylar Batty

Skylar Batty is a PhD student in the Biomedical Sciences Program at UCSD, mentored by Dr. Jing Yang. Her graduate work is focused on the signaling mechanisms of a novel mechanosensitive protein complex involved in breast cancer cell invasion. She aims to understand how cells transduce mechanical stimuli from the extracellular environment into biochemical cues inside the cell. Mechanotransduction signaling drives functional and morphological changes in cells during normal development and adult tissue homeostasis, yet these mechanisms are often utilized by cancer cells to promote carcinogenesis. Broadly, she is interested in understanding how mechanical force instructs cell behavior during development, and how this is leveraged by cancer cells to promote cell invasion and metastatic disease.