Translational Cancer Genomics
Tumor evolution is a continuing process of re-iterating genetic and epigenetic diversification followed by clonal expansion and selection, occurring in the adaptive landscape of tumor microenvironments. These dynamics yield heterogeneous clonal lineages that underpin cancer’s ability to progress, metastasize, and ultimately become resistant to treatment. Intratumoral heterogeneity (ITH) is thus a formidable barrier to therapeutic success, and significant efforts are ongoing to understand the dynamics, constraints, and contingencies of this ongoing evolutionary process. In the Morrissy Lab, we focus on the extent and clinical implications of ITH, measuring and modelling tumor evolution, and approaches for therapeutic strategies that consider and incorporate this key aspect of tumor biology. <br> <br> Open positions for graduate and postgraduate level scientists with a keen interest in tumor biology and evolution. Trainees will use computational genomics approaches to perform integrative analyses of cancer ‘omics’ data (genome / transcriptome / epigenome), quantify and model genomic heterogeneity and its impact on tumor evolution using data from patient samples and pre-clinical models of disease, and work within an interdisciplinary environment to explore the molecular basis of initiation and therapeutic resistance in brain tumors. The goal of genomic approaches (such as whole genome and RNA sequencing, single cell sequencing, etc) is to explore clinically relevant aspects of brain tumor biology using patient samples in a way that could lead to improvements in clinical outcomes, especially in the context of recurrent disease. Projects are developed within a dynamic and collaborative environment with other researchers in the Charbonneau Cancer Institute, enabling access to state-of-the-art experimental approaches.