Team of Researchers
The TRaC program brings together three universities with world-leading research programs in DNA repair science with the focus of targeting rare cancers that share repair pathway aberrations.
Our team encompasses 25 Canadian research teams with long histories of collaboration, represented by investigators who have published >1000 papers. We are also integrated with major translational research programs in the region via the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network, which will accelerate our goal of understanding rare cancers such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and soft-tissue sarcomas (STS).
Co-Leads
Dr. David Schriemer
Dr. David Schriemer is a Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at the University of Calgary, as well as an entrepreneur. Dr. Schriemer was a President of the Canadian National Proteomics Network and a major innovator in integrative structural biology.
Dr. Natalie Strynadka
Dr. Natalie Strynadka, is a distinguished Professor of Biochemistry at the University of British Columbia who is an internationally recognized structural biologist with expertise in the acquisition of atomic resolution data from a wide spectrum of proteins and complexes, with a focus on structure-based drug discovery for bacterial pathogens that includes DNA repair processes.
Key team members
Dr. Artem Cherkasov
Dr. Artem Cherkasov is a Professor at the University of British Columbia as well as the Director of Therapeutics Development at the Vancouver Prostate Centre. He is an expert in Artificial Intelligence and Computer-Aided Drug Discovery for the purpose of developing precision cancer therapies.
Dr. Jennifer Cobb
Dr. Jennifer Cobb is a Professor at the University of Victoria. Dr. Cobb is internationally recognized for her work in DNA replication and RecQ helicases, a class of proteins with strong links to cancer and aging through the homologous recombination repair pathway.
Dr. Phil Hieter
Dr. Phil Hieter, FRSC, is a Professor in Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia. As a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a former President of the Genetics Society of America, he is a leading figure in genome instability research.
Dr. Susan Lees-Miller
Dr. Susan Lees-Miller, FRSC, is a Professor in the department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at the University of Calgary, former Engineered Air Chair in Cancer Research, and inaugural director of the Robson DNA Science Centre. She is an internationally-renowned leader in the field of DNA repair.
Dr. Don Morris
Dr. Don Morris, MD, PhD, FRCPC is a medical oncologist and head of the Department of Oncology at the University of Calgary. He has been active across the spectrum of cancer care in Calgary, from research to clinical practice and patient outreach. His research has been focused on preclinical and clinical models of oncolytic viruses in the treatment of various cancers. Dr. Morris is also the Medical Lead of the new Calgary Cancer Centre.
Dr. Sorana Morrissy
Dr. Sorana Morrissy is a medical geneticist and bioinformatician with expertise in tumor profiling with ‘omics technologies. She has extensive experience with cutting-edge high-throughput sequencing technologies and computational analyses in the field of cancer research, with a particular focus on understanding tumor heterogeneity and recurrent disease.
Dr. Peter Stirling
Dr. Peter Stirling is a Distinguished Scientist at BC Cancer and a Professor in Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia. Through his research he has developed new insights into the higher-order complexity of repair processes and their contribution to mutational processes in cancer.
Dr. Peter Tieleman
Dr. Peter Tieleman is a Professor in Biological Sciences at the University of Calgary and Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Molecular Simulation. He has pioneered developments molecular dynamics simulations and higher order structure modeling.
