The Garnis Lab happily welcomes Sara Maclellan as a new graduate student. She comes to us direct from Nova Scotia (St. Francis Xavier University). Sara is already hard at work in the lab, learning the skills she’ll need to pursue her independent research studies going forward. We’ll add an update on her specific project in the near future.

Glad to see you in the fray Sara!

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UPDATE (Sara’s research interests):

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. The poor survival rates among lung cancer patients are due to the frequent diagnosis of late stage (i.e. inoperable) disease. Because early stage lung cancers are more treatable, the development of a screening program for high risk individuals could drastically increase the survival rates of lung cancer patients. To develop a screening program, reliable biomarkers that can easily be detected are required.

MicroRNAs are small, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression. Some microRNAs have already been shown to be involved in many oncogenic processes and recent studies have shown that microRNAs are stably expressed in human serum and plasma samples. My current research focuses on examining the usefulness of microRNAs circulating in blood (serum or plasma) as biomarkers for either early detection of lung cancer or assessment of tumor progression likelihood. If such blood biomarkers can be identified, they will aid significantly in the diagnosis and management of lung cancer.

From L to R: Shevaun Hughes, Rajan Saini, James Lawson, Angie Chu, Jamil Manji, Becki Towle, Cathie Garnis, Sara Maclellan, Mike Gorenchtein.

The Garnis Lab welcomes Rajan Saini as a post-doctoral fellow! Rajan completed his PhD at the National University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, where he investigated the association of human papillomavirus with oral cancer. Additionally, he was a Lecturer in the field of Oral Pathology and Medicine at the Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Now at the BCCRC, Rajan’s research interests include oncogenesis of oral cancers (especially the role of microRNAs in this process), biomarker development for early detection of oral cancers, and development of naturopathic therapies for chronic oral diseases (including oral cancer/precancer).

Welcome to the team Rajan!

Back row (L to R): Cathie Garnis, Mike Gorenchtein, Shevaun Hughes
Front row (L to R): Becki Towle, Angie Chu

(Picture taken on 15th floor of the BC Cancer Research Centre.)

The Garnis Lab welcomes Angie Chu into the fold. She will be working as a research technician at the BC Cancer Research Centre and contributing to the UBC Division of Otolaryngology via assistance to the Temporal Bone Laboratory. We are pleased to have her join the team. Welcome Angie!

Shevaun did an excellent job presenting her poster (entitled “Deregulation of oncogene and tumor suppressor expression by methylation in early stage oral cancer”), as did Becki (“Molecular characterization of anaplastic thyroid
carcinomas”). Way to go guys!

The Garnis Lab welcomes Mike Gorenchtein as a new graduate student. Mike is currently immersing himself in the lab, working hard to learn a variety of lab techniques and develop his background knowledge. He is also preparing for his course work and fleshing out his specific research interests. Welcome Mike!

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UPDATE (Mike’s research interests):

My research interests are focused on deciphering key molecular events driving the premalignant stages of oral cancer. In particular, my goal is to investigate the role of microRNAs (miRNAs), a group of small non-protein-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression, in the development of oral tumors from precancerous stages. In addition, I plan to assess which miRNAs have the greatest potential to be used as future biomarkers in a clinical setting.

The Garnis Lab welcomes Becki Towle, from UBC, as a co-op student. She will be trained in several molecular biology and cell culture techniques over the coming months and it will be exciting to see what she is able to learn while she is with the lab.

For more information about the graduate studies program associated with Dr. Garnis, please visit:

Interdisciplinary Oncology Program

UBC Experimental Medicine

Canadians and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority.

Vestibular Schwannomas (VS) are tumours arising from the vestibular portion of the eighth cranial nerve. Although VS are benign tumours and they usually present with hearing loss only in one ear, disease symptoms secondary to uncontrolled growth or secondary to treatment can be quite severe; larger tumors can cause compression of the brainstem, leading to symptoms associated with increased cranial pressure and death. Existing treatments, while effective in controlling tumour growth (radiotherapy) or in removing tumours (microsurgery), place a heavy burden on the patient and may cause additional nerve damage. Hearing cannot be restored. New targeted therapies that are able to eliminate the tumor in a less morbid manner may also be able to restore hearing upon tumor shrinkage. Molecular analysis of VS represents the best approach for identifying these new potential targets. My research focuses on identifying the molecular mechanism of VS growth.

Oral cancer is mainly caused by smoking or chewing tobacco or by alcohol consumption. Since these activities can be found around the world, oral tumors represent the most frequently occurring subtype of head and neck malignancies and one of the most common global causes of cancer death. Survival rates for oral cancer are particularly low because tumors are often diagnosed at late, advanced stages and because these tumors have a high rate of recurrence. A better understanding of the molecular changes that make oral cancer cells behave differently is needed in order to find new ways to treat this disease and predict patient outcomes, thus improving our treatment strategies for this disease.

For many cancer types, early detection is a key to an improved clinical outcome. While the oral cavity is easily investigated for precancerous disease, there are currently no tools that allow clinicians to determine whether a given low grade oral lesion is likely to progress to an invasive tumor. “Watchful waiting” is the standard clinical approach in these cases since only a small fraction will progress; intervention for all premalignant disease would be impractical and result in over-treatment for a majority of patients. Unfortunately, waiting means that the opportunity for early intervention in cases that will progress is lost. Tools that will allow us to determine the progression risk for each low grade precancerous lesion are urgently needed.

In order to address this clinical challenge, I have begun to investigate the molecular alterations that underlie the earliest stages of oral cancer. By doing this, I will uncover the specific gene changes that drive the initiation and progression of this disease. When we are able to associate these changes with specific clinical outcomes (for example, finding gene changes associated only with premalignant lesions that progress to tumors), we will have a biomarker we can use to identify early stage patients that require aggressive intervention. An additional benefit from this analysis is that cancer associated genes I uncover will also be useful as targets for the next generation of therapies being developed for oral cancer.

From L to R: Razan Sheta (Research Technician), Shevaun Hughes (Graduate Student), Cathie Garnis (Senior Scientist), and Solene Debesson-Narce (Exchange Student [France]).

(Thanks to Bradley Coe for the image of downtown Vancouver at the top of the page.)

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