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

Abnormalities in brain structure and behavior in GSK-3alpha mutant mice. Kaidanovich-Beilin O, Lipina TV, Takao K, van Eede M, Hattori S, Laliberté C, Khan M, Okamoto K, Chambers JW, Fletcher PJ, Macaulay K, Doble BW, Henkelman M, Miyakawa T, Roder J, Woodgett JR. Molecular Brain. 2009 Nov 19;2(1):35.

GSK-3 is a master regulator of neural progenitor homeostasis. Kim WY, Wang X, Wu Y, Doble BW, Patel S, Woodgett JR, Snider WD. Nat Neurosci. 2009 Nov;12(11):1390-7.

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.

► Lunenfeld Research Repository