The Drapkin laboratory focuses on developing a comprehensive understanding of the genetic, molecular and physiological factors that drive the development of cancer, with a special focus on gynecologic malignancies.  Research from the lab was fundamental to the discovery that the majority of ovarian cancers actually begin in the fallopian tubes. This new concept of pathogenesis has been a paradigm shift in the field and the Drapkin lab has been at the forefront in developing novel experimental model systems that address the role of the FT epithelium and its susceptibility to neoplastic transformation. These models include genetically engineered mouse (GEM) models, fallopian tube-derived cell lines, and patient-derived tumor xenografts. His lab is currently focused on utilizing these models to interrogate how genetic and epigenetic alterations influence lineage dependencies, genomic instability, replicative stress, and tumor metabolism.