The mission of my laboratory is to define the molecular and morphological features of invadopodia and determine the contribution of these subcellular structures to tumor cell invasion and metastasis. These studies have been funded by NIH funding since 1994 as well as Friends You Can Count On. An outgrowth of these studies was the discovery that Syk tyrosine kinase, an important hematopoietic signaling molecule, is normally present in breast epithelium and is progressively lost during breast cancer progression. In breast, Syk behaves as a tumor suppressor and in vitro and in vivo studies point to an important role in suppressing metastasis formation. Funding for these studies have come from NIH/ NIDDK and NCI, Department of Defence Breast Cancer Program, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. My other mission is the development of the Microscopy and Imaging Shared Resource at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center providing training and opportunities for investigators to use sophisticated imaging techniques to support cancer research.