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Dr. Anne-Claude
Gingras
PRINCIPAL
INVESTIGATOR
Dr.
Gingras focuses on the cellular mechanisms involved in cancer and in
resistance to cancer drugs. She is a recognized authority in the field
of proteomics — the study of a full set of proteins in a particular
cell — and in the cellular pathways that control cell growth. She
studies phosphotases, proteins known to interrupt cellular
signals.
Using
the latest technology available to explore cell function, Dr. Gingras,
seeks new insights into why and how cells grow and proliferate. In
particular she is focused on molecules involved in cell growth and
proliferation, which present attractive targets for cancer therapy. Her
research is aimed at generating new information on how signals are
relayed within cells with the goal of moderating the uncontrolled cell
division that characterizes tumours.
Developing
effective treatments for cancer remains a challenge for researchers. In
recent years, rapamycin, an immunosuppressant drug developed and used
to prevent rejection in organ transplantation, has proved to be a
potent drug in the fight against cancer. By applying state-of-the-art
proteomics, Dr. Gingras is identifying how rapamycin works to destroy
cancer cells. The information she generated may improve the
effectiveness of rapamycin, and may also reveal future therapeutic uses
for the drug.
In
order to conduct her research, Dr. Gingras uses a state-of-the-art mass
spectrometer, a device that helps researchers analyze cells at the
molecular level. As part of her research program, she is working to
develop specialized mass spectrometry tools that will help other
researchers better analyze basic cellular processes involved in health
and disease.
Dr.
Gingras was recruited to the Lunenfeld in 2005 from the Institute for
Systems Biology in Seattle. She was awarded a Canada Research Chair in
Functional Proteomics in 2006, and in August 2007, she received a
prestigious Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of
Research and Innovation.
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