Title:   
Assistant Professor

Institute:
Université de Sherbrooke

Department:  
Pediatric/Genetic Services

Province:
Quebec

Training:   
Postdoctoral Fellow, Research Unit in human and molecular genetic, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University
Postdoctoral Fellow, American Board of Medical Genetics program in the Department of Human Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
PhD, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Laval University, Quebec, Quebec, Canada
BSc, Department of Biology, Wuhan University, China

Research interests:  
Studying telomere elongation at specific chromosome ends in different populations, including leukemia and cancer; Seeking for the roles and mechanisms correlated with chromosome-specific telomere length elongation; Developing novel tools for the research, such as the primed in situ labeling (PRINS), fiber FISH and other molecular techniques.

Recognitions:
First internal reviewer in the committee panel of the Institute of Aging of CIHR in 2009; Visiting professor at two Chinese institutions in 2009: Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Kaifeng Institute of Medical Science.

Career highlights:
Developed multi-color and double-strand PRINS (PRimed IN Situ labeling) techniques (Chromosoma, 109:565-570, 2001; Chromosoma 113:204-209, 2004).
Developed a technique for single telomere length measurement with the fiber FISH (J Cell Mol Med 9: 976-988, 2005).
Discovered a new clonal event of telomere elongation at specific chromosome arms in leukemia cells (Neoplasia 13: 550-560, 2011) (supported by a CRS grant).

Research Projects

Project title: 
Investigation of a new clonal event: Chromosome-arm-specific telomere elongation in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)

Funding period:  
2010-2012

Program:
Operating Grant (Basic Research)

Summary:
Telomeres are biological “caps” at chromosome ends that protect chromosomes from deterioration. Their biological importance is now recognized worldwide: the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine 2009 was awarded to 3 scientists for their discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres. A research team led by Dr. Yan has recently discovered a new phenomenon in leukemia: telomere elongation at specific chromosome arms. Leukemia is a very common life-threatening cancer. Many leukemia patients have no effective markers at diagnosis and thus cannot be identified until advanced stages of the disease, when treatment options are less efficacious and mortality rates higher. Dr. Yan plans to further explore the mechanisms of his leukemia-related finding, which will bring new knowledge of how tumor cells maintain their uncontrolled capacity for growth during tumor initiation and evolution. With this research as a basis, a new biomarker for tumors could subsequently be developed for early diagnosis, the evaluation of treatment efficacy, and the monitoring of disease progression.

CRS publications:

Samassekou O, Li HY, Hébert J, Ntwari A, Wang HX, Grenier Cliché C, Bouchard E, Huang SA, Yan J: Chromosome-Arm-Specific Long Telomeres: a new Clonal Event in Primary Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Cells. Neoplasia 13: 550-560 (2011).