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Dr.
Jeff Wrana
SENIOR
INVESTIGATOR
Lunenfeld
scientist Dr. Jeff Wrana is internationally recognized for his cancer
research. While most current cancer investigations focus on specific
disease pathways, Dr. Wrana believes cancer involves a complex network
of pathways that work together to misregulate cells and cause disease.
His research aims to expose the mechanisms involved in the development
of these networks and to reveal new targets for treatments that would
attack the entire disease network, not just individual
hubs.
Dr. Wrana’s research program involves
the application of high-throughput, robotics-based technologies that
perform thousands of tests at a time and enable studies of gene
function on a genome-wide scale. With his special expertise and
phenomenal success securing support from granting agencies, he has
established a Robotics Facility at the Lunenfeld Institute. The
expertise and advanced technology available in the facility extends the
research capacity of scientists throughout the Lunenfeld and
beyond.
In February 2009, Dr. Wrana unveiled a
new technology tool that analyzes breast cancer tumours to determine a
patient’s best treatment options. The technology, called ‘DyNeMo’
analyzes networks of proteins in cancer cells, and can predict with
more than 80 per cent accuracy a patient’s chance of recovering from
breast cancer. Wrana and his team hope that the technology will
eventually provide individualized analysis to breast cancer patients
and their oncologists so that they are better informed and empowered to
select a treatment best suited to them.
Dr. Wrana has also made significant
discoveries related to colorectal and other cancers. In particular, he
is interested in metastasis – the spread of cancer from its initial
site to other places throughout the body – which is responsible for 90
percent of cancer deaths. Insights into this little-understood process
have the potential to make a significant impact on survival rates for
breast and other cancers.
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