Personal tools
Dr. Jim Woodgett
You are here: Home → Researchers → Dr. Jim Woodgett

 

woodgett  

Dr. Jim Woodgett 
 DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH; SENIOR INVESTIGATOR

 

In his dual roles as Investigator and Director of Research of the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Dr. Jim Woodgett applies his visionary approach to research into the manipulation of cell processes to treat certain cancers, diabetes and neurodegenerative conditions, and to ensuring that discoveries made by the world-renowned Institute are applied to patient care.

 

Dr. Woodgett is interested in the causes and treatment of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer Disease and bipolar disorder. What links this apparently broad range of diseases is their common basis in disruption of the lines of communication within the cells, or the signalling pathways. By studying the ways in which components of these pathways are mutated and transformed by disease, Dr. Woodgett can identify new and more effective therapeutic targets. Study of the WNT pathway, which contains a number of genes which account for about 90% of human colon cancer, is a particular area of interest.

 

Recent advancements made by Dr. Woodgett’s team in adult stem cell division pave the way for scientists to harvest large quantities of these specialized cells which hold great promise for the treatment and cure of life-threatening illnesses.
 
 

Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute
Mount Sinai Hospital
Joseph & Wolf Lebovic Health Complex
600 University Avenue
Toronto Ontario M5G 1X5
Tel: 416-586-4800 ext.8811
Send Email
Lab Website

 

 

Jul 15, 2009 04:00 PM

     

At a Glance

  • Director of Research for the Lunenfeld; Koffler Directorship for the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute
  • Researches the manipulation of cell processes to treat certain cancers, diabetes and neurodegenerative conditions
  • Focuses on regulatory proteins called kinases -- the master switches in cells that control responses to the environment
  • Harvests adult stem cells – which hold great promise for the treatment and cure of life-threatening illnesses

 

 

Major Research Activities

Dr. Woodgett's group is studying the molecular mechanisms by which the Wnt and PI3K pathways are dysregulated in human cancers such as breast and colon cancer. His laboratory is also studying the roles of signaling pathways in type-2 diabetes and stem cell fate determination and has a long-standing interest in genomics applications such as DNA microarrays and protein arrays.

 

 

Recent Publications

Tissue-specific role of glycogen synthase kinase 3beta in glucose homeostasis and insulin action. Patel S, Doble BW, MacAulay K, Sinclair EM, Drucker DJ, Woodgett JR. Mol Cell Biol. 2008 Oct;28(20):
6314-28.

Deletion of GSK-3beta in mice leads to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy secondary to cardiomyoblast hyperproliferation. Kerkela R, Kockeritz L, Macaulay K, Zhou J, Doble BW, Beahm C, Greytak S, Woulfe K, Trivedi CM, Woodgett JR, Epstein JA, Force T, Huggins GS. J Clin Invest. 2008 Nov;118(11):3609-18.

Glycogen synthase kinase 3alpha-specific regulation of murine hepatic glycogen metabolism. MacAulay K, Doble BW, Patel S, Hansotia T, Sinclair EM, Drucker DJ, Nagy A, Woodgett JR. Cell Metab. 2007 Oct;
6(4):329-37

Functional redundancy of GSK-3alpha and GSK-3beta in Wnt/beta-catenin signaling shown by using an allelic series of embryonic stem cell lines. Doble BW, Patel S, Wood GA, Kockeritz LK, Woodgett JR. Dev Cell. 2007 Jun;12(6):957-71.

 

Document Actions
 
[RSS]