Title:
Assistant Professor

Institute:
University of Guelph

Department:
Pathobiology

Province:
Ontario

Training:
Postdoctoral fellow, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA USA
PhD, University of Guelph, Department of Pathobiology, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
BSc, University of Guelph

Research interests:
lung cancer, retroviral pathogenesis, lung-directed gene transfer using retroviral and adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors

Recognitions:
NSERC University Faculty Award (UFA), an early career salary award
NSERC Discovery Grant Funding (5 years)

Career highlights:
Demonstration that lung cancer caused by the Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) could be reproduced by expression of only one structural protein of the virus, the envelope (Env) protein. This is the first example among retroviruses and is rare, if not unique, among all viruses and resulted in a publication in the journal Nature.
Identification of a novel enhancer element in ovine betaretroviruses that dramatically improves transgene expression from adeno-associated viral vectors (AAV) in the lung and liver, thereby improving the efficiency of gene expression from these important gene therapy vectors.

Research Projects

Project title:
Akt isoforms in lung tumorigenesis and identification of novel therapeutic targets

Funding period:
2011-2013

Program:
CRS / Marjolaine Bazinet Lung Cancer Research Grant

Summary:
Global statistics estimate that 53% of lung cancers in women and 15% in men are not attributable to smoking, overall accounting for 25% of all lung cancer cases worldwide. Moreover, major gender, molecular, and response to treatment differences in lung cancers arising in never smokers and smokers have recently been recognized, indicating that that they might be different diseases. To gain a deeper understanding of the biology of lung cancer in never smokers, we are employing the use of our mouse model of lung cancer to study the role of Akt signaling in tumor initiation and progression. Akt is one of the key signaling molecules involved in cell growth and division and is often activated in lung cancer. There are 3 different forms of the Akt protein and understanding how each one functions in lung tumor formation and maintenance could assist the development of more specific inhibitors with better outcome and fewer side effects.