(link, link)

* * *

UPDATE (Jamil’s research interests):

Jamil (BScHon. University of Western Ontario) is conducting clinical research into the development of naturopathic therapies for patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS). Rhinosinusitis is a group of disorders characterized by inflammation of the mucosa of the nose and paranasal sinuses. CRS is rhinosinusitis of at least 12 consecutive weeks’ duration.
CRS affects more than 3 million Canadians and is among the top 10 most commonly diagnosed medical conditions in Canada. The fact that conventional oral antimicrobial therapy is frequently ineffective in eradicating bacteria in the biofilm form has led to the study of topical therapies. However, the use of antibiotics is not without risk, as there has been an increasing prevalence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics and there is always the possibility of allergic reactions. The need for novel therapies has renewed interest in natural products exhibiting antibacterial, anti-inflammatory properties.

Jamil’s bench research includes identification of inflammatory cytokine profiles in CRS patients and quantitative analysis of biofilm colonies by confocal scanning laser microscopy using a PNA-FISH platform.

We’re very glad to see you getting your feet wet James!

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!

* * *

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!

The Garnis Lab is extremely grateful to the Terry Fox Foundation/Terry Fox Research Institute for its decision to provide funding for a project entitled ‘Circulating microRNAs as a lung tumour proxy: determining whether a small RNA species in plasma can be used as an early cancer detection tool’. This 3 year New Investigator award is doubly exciting because it offers the opportunity to participate in a wider cross country lung cancer screening project that could significantly impact the way we approach this disease. (Additional information on this project can be found at this link – Early Detection of Lung Cancer: A Pan-Canadian Study.)

We are very excited about being a part of this important work!

Details on the Terry Fox Foundation can be found here. Details on the Terry Fox Research Institute can be found here.

UPDATE: The TFRI website now has details of all the individuals across Canada who received this award. You can find this information here.

Congratulations to Dr. Raj Chari – a Garnis Lab collaborator – on receiving the Lloyd Skarsgard Research Excellence Award for his graduate work at the BC Cancer Research Centre (done in the lab of Dr. Wan Lam in the Department of Integrative Oncology). You can learn more about Dr. Chari’s impressive research here and here.

We wish him the best of luck in Boston in 2011!

In this month’s issue of the UBC Medicine Magazine, there’s an article profiling Dr. Garnis and detailing the role of the Pacific Otolaryngology Foundation in the establishment of the Garnis Lab.

(Go to this link to see the article. A pdf of the UBC Medicine Magazine issue can be downloaded by clicking this link [Dr. Garnis' article is on page 23].)

Everyone in the Garnis Lab would like to again extend their profound thanks to the Pacific Otolaryngology Foundation for its support – without which, we wouldn’t exist!

Today, a Terry Fox Foundation fundraiser took place at the BC Cancer Research Centre. Tickets for various games were sold off and a silent auction was also held. A dunk tank featuring various senior scientists in the building and Terry’s brother Darrell proved very popular.

Cathie played at the roulette table.

Shevaun tried to dunk Darrell Fox…

…so did Angie…

…and so did Mike.

Shevaun manned the dart board…

…and Becki threw the darts (she also tried to dunk Darrell, but the picture didn’t turn out).

From L to R: Mike Gorenchtein, Angie Chu, Becki Towle, Darrell Fox, Shevaun Hughes, Cathie Garnis.

Terry’s story is an incredible inspiration to all Canadians, including those who are actively involved in cancer research. We all feel that it’s a privledge to work in this field and Terry’s efforts spur each of us to do much more in our own work.

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!

Parallel molecular analysis of different disease stages – and different histological subgroups of disease – is yielding important insights into the mechanisms that drive cancer initiation and progression. Ultimately, genes like BRF2 may become targets for the next generation of therapies that are tailored against individual tumors.

Lockwood WW, Chari R, Coe BP, Thu KL, Garnis C, Malloff CA, Campbell J, Williams AC, Hwang D, Zhu CQ, Buys TPH, Yee J, English JC, MacAulay C, Tsao MS, Gazdar AF, Minna JD, Lam S, Lam WL. (2010) Integrative Genomic Analyses Identify BRF2 as a Novel Lineage-Specific Oncogene in Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma. PLoS Med 7(7): e1000315. (link)

Congratulations to Shevaun on receiving a CIHR CGS Masters Award for the Feb 2010 competition! The title of the funded project is “Identification of Causal Genetic Events in Oral Cancer Progression”. Further details about the project can be found be searching under the Investigator tab at this link.

The Garnis Lab would also like to extend its sincere thanks to the CIHR for its continued support of graduate research efforts!

The Garnis Lab would like to acknowledge recent support provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. This funding has been given for a project entitled ‘Deciphering and reconstituting genetic events in oral cancer progression’. The CIHR has generously provided a 4 year Operating Grant to move this work forwards.

Details on the CIHR can be found here.

On June 10th and 11th, a symposium and reunion was held for individuals who had been associated with this famous building. It was an honour to attend – and fun to catch up with old friends.

(From L to R: Stefan Erkeland, Phil Sharp, Cathie Garnis)

(From L to R: Amy Seila White, Cathie Garnis, Mauro Calabrese, Stefan Erkeland)

(From L to R: Allan Gurtan, Nicole Pershing, Mauro Calabrese, Cathie Garnis, Stefan Erkeland, Arvind Ravi, Mohini Jangi)

(From L to R: Cathie Garnis, Joel Neilson, Grace Zheng, Stefan Erkeland, Anthony Leung [+ baby!])

]]> http://garnislab.com/2010/06/16/symposium-and-reunion-mit-center-for-cancer-research/feed/ 0 cgarnis StefanPhilCathie_edited-1 AmyCathMauroStefan_edited-1 SharpiesAtTable_edited-1 SharpiesStanding_edited-1 http://garnislab.com/2010/06/16/ubc-pathology-day-2010/ http://garnislab.com/2010/06/16/ubc-pathology-day-2010/#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:19:22 +0000 admin http://garnislab.com/?p=206 ]]> UBC Pathology Day took place on 28 May 2010 at the Plaza 500 Hotel.

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!

* * *

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.

Both articles provide some good background for this ongoing health issue.

The Garnis Lab would like to acknowledge recent support provided by the UBC Martha Piper Research Fund. This funding was given for a proposed project entitled ‘Deciphering the role of microRNAs in oral cancer progression’. Details on Martha Piper Research Fund can be found here.