Noel A Warfel, PhD

Shared Resource Co-Director, Experimental Mouse Shared Resource
Cancer Biology Program

Biography

Noel Warfel earned his BS in from James Madison University in 2004. Noel earned his MS from Johns Hopkins University in 2006 as a Molecular Targets and Drug Discovery fellow, where he worked with Dr. Phillip Dennis at the NIH studying the lung cancer. Noel completed his Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego in 2011 studying the role of the role of PI3K in cancer progression in the lab of Alexandra Newton. He completed his post-doctoral work in the lab of Wafik El-Deiry at Penn State University studying hypoxia-inducible factors in 2013. He is currently an Associate Professor in the department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.

Cancer Focus

My lab is focused on understanding the complex biological mechanisms that allow cancer cells to thrive in the hypoxia (low oxygen). While hypoxia is toxic to normal cells, cancer cells take advantage of their ability to adapt to these harsh conditions and promote survival. For tumors grow and survive in hypoxia, it is essential that cancer cells activate signaling pathways that promote survival and angiogenesis. My lab uses complementary in vitro and in vivo models of cancer to identify and characterize novel signaling pathways involved in the adaptive response to hypoxia. We work closely with closely with clinical researchers to facilitate the translation of our findings to clinical application.