Overview
The common theme of departmental research programs is molecular medicine: that is, the elucidation of the pathogenesis of disease at the molecular level and the application of this knowledge to the design and implementation of novel therapies. Our established programs include cancer biology, vascular biology, genetics, molecular hemostasis, amyloidogenesis and cholesterol metabolism. Through collaborations with the Queen’s Cancer Research Institute we also have an emerging strength in translational research.
Novel Diagnostic Tools - Dr. Harriet Feilotter
My research focuses on the development of novel diagnostic tools to be used in the screening, diagnosis or treatment of cancer. In many cases, tumours derived from the same cells appear identical when viewed at the cellular level. However, such identical looking tumours often display very different behaviours with respect to long-term outcome or response to therapy. In a clinical setting, it would be important to know as early as possible the likely behaviour of a particular tumour so that treatment can be tailored accordingly. In my lab, we use high throughput methods such as gene expression profiling using microarrays to try to differentiate tumour subgroups at the molecular level that correlate with behaviour or outcome.
Current projects include the use of a combination of gene expression microarrays, cytogenetics, immunohistochemistry and clinical parameters in the development of a tool for predicting behaviour of follicular lymphoma. As well, we are using cDNA microarrays to identify novel markers specific for prostate cancer progression, for determining BRCA1/BRCA2 status, and are carrying out research into the scope of biological materials that can be used in a microarray-based experiment.
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