Kandice Tanner

Kandice Tanner, Ph.D., is an Adjunct Assistant Professor and Senior Investigator at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), leading the Tissue Morphodynamics Section within the Laboratory of Cell Biology at the Center for Cancer Research. She holds a dual affiliation with the NCI and the NIH. Her research focuses on understanding metastatic processes and tumor colonization using interdisciplinary approaches combining biophysics, engineering, and cancer biology.

Education & Training:

• Ph.D. in Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Postdoctoral training in dynamic imaging at University of California, Irvine
• NIH Department of Defense Breast Cancer Postdoctoral Fellow at University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Research Interests:

• Metastasis mechanisms in 3D biomimetic models
• Cell motility and multicellular tissue architecture
• In vivo imaging of metastasis using zebrafish models
• Role of physical cues from the microenvironment in organ-specific metastasis

Key Contributions:

• Discovered distinct cell motility types (rotation, random, amoeboid) in 3D environments
• Developed innovative microscopy tools for biomechanical imaging
• Linked tissue polarity to metastatic colonization patterns

Awards & Recognition:

• 2021 Arthur S. Flemming Award
• 2021 NCI Director's Award for Basic Science
• Fellow, American Physical Society
• Fellow, American Society of Cell Biology

Lab & Team:

• Interdisciplinary team of physicists, engineers, and cancer biologists
• Current members: Postdocs (Udochi Azubuike, Woong Young So), graduate students (Hyeyeon Gong, Chenchen Handler), and visiting scholars
• Focus areas: Mechanobiology, 3D cell culture, and preclinical drug models for metastatic disease