Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor Dendronized enzymatically-resistant carbohydrate vaccines for treating lung cancer Therapeutic vaccines incorporating sugar molecules could provide new cancer treatments. Because over 85% of carcinoma cancer cells, regardless of organ, display the same few sugars on their surface, sugars not found on healthy cells, these sugars are promising targets…
Kyle Biggar, PhD
Department of Biology, Carleton University Identification of new substrates of the histone methyltransferase enzyme, SMYD3, and their implication in lung cancer development Lysine methylation plays a critical role in the development of many human diseases. These small chemical protein modifications allow cells to exert greater control over protein function. Importantly, proteins that control this lysine…
Adena Scheer, MD
Department of Surgery, St Michael’s Hospital, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, and the University of Toronto Cross-cultural communications in breast cancer treatment Among minorities, disparities in breast cancer treatments have been demonstrated across the developed world and have been associated with worse cancer outcomes. In Canada we have the highest rate of foreign-born individuals among…
Jeanette Boudreau, PhD
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Dalhousie University Directing natural killer cell cytotoxicity to the tumour’s susceptibilities Natural killer (NK) cells are white blood cells that kill tumours. The potential of each NK cell to kill tumours is counterbalanced by its ability to be inhibited by healthy cells through its inhibitory receptors. Dr Boudreau aims to…
Alexandre Douplik, PhD
Physics Department, Ryerson University Surface-enhanced Raman fiber sensor for endoscopic early detection of tumor-related biomolecules in gastroenterology The goal of the project is development of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy fiber probes for high sensitive and rapid non-invasive diagnostics including malignancy detection. Optical sampling of biological molecules can detect specific Raman “fingerprints” including cancer “signatures” with high…
Michelle Scott, PhD
Department of Biochemistry, Université de Sherbrooke Characterization of a novel function of small RNAs in alternative splicing The process of alternative splicing allows the production of multiple distinct proteins from a single gene, in a manner that can be cell-type specific. Alternative splicing requires an extensive and complex regulation. Diverse human diseases can be caused…