Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the Western world, the second most common gynecological cancer and the leading cause of death from gynecological malignancies. A better understanding of the EOC initiation and progression as well as novel and improved therapies for advanced EOC disease are paramount to improving treatment and survival for EOC patients. The proposed research project aims to characterize two novel EOC potential oncogenes, RUNX1 and RUNX2, and to examine the functional implications of these genes in EOC invasion, metastasis and chemoresistance. This research could yield clues to new mechanisms implicated in EOC progression and chemoresistance, which could lead to the development of novel and improved EOC treatment strategies.