| On this page: William Foulkes | Patricia Tonin | Marc Tischkowitz |
William D. Foulkes, MB.BS., MRCP (UK), PhD
Research Summary
Past
My PhD was undertaken at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, in London, UK. I worked on the molecular genetics of ovarian cancer. I published some of the first studies of loss of heterozygosity in ovarian carcinoma and also contributed to efforts to locate BRCA1.
Current
Over the past 5 years I have worked on various aspects of inherited susceptibility to cancer. My main focus is on the clinico-pathological features of, and outcome following hereditary breast cancer and on detailed mutation analysis in hereditary colorectal cancer. These two areas fit particularly well with service provision. I also work on familial prostate cancer.
Current group:
Post doctoral fellows: 2
Doctoral Students: 1
Undergraduate Students: 1
Research Assistants: 3
Lab Technicians: 3
Patricia N. Tonin, PhD
Research Summary
Past
My PhD was undertaken at the University of Toronto, where I characterized of the gene amplification events in association with drug resistance in higher eukaryotes. My postdoctoral studies at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (Montreal) involved the characterization of myogenic differentiation genes in relation to embryonic myogenesis and rhadomyosarcomas. My postdoctoral studies at the Montreal General Hospital Research Institute involved the identification of the hereditary breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2.
Current
Over the past 10 years I have worked on the contribution of BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the French Canadian population of Quebec. We were the first to report the recurrence of specific mutations in this population. Additional studies relate to the phenotypic characterization of hereditary breast/ovarian cancer families to further dissecting the contribution of these known genes with the long-term aim to identify novel highly penetrant cancer susceptibility genes. In addition, we research sporadic molecular genetic events in ovarian cancer. Using loss of heterozygosity analysis, expression microarrray analyses and chromosome transfer techniques we aim to determine the contribution of chromosome 3 and 17 tumour suppressor genes in ovarian cancer. The long-term goal is to identify markers for ovarian cancer pathogenesis. Other collaborative projects include: the application of expression microarray techniques to identify ovarian cancer markers, and the application of nonsense mediated decay strategies towards the identification of novel tumour suppressor genes in breast cancers.
Current group:
Postdoctoral fellows: 3
Doctoral students: 1
Master's students: 1
Laboratory technicians: 2
Marc Tischkowitz BSc, MRCP (UK), PhD
Research Summary
Past
My PhD was undertaken at the Kings College, London, UK. I researched the role of Fanconi Anemia genes in sporadic hematological and solid tumours. I have clinical training in medical oncology and medical genetics.
Current
I came to McGill from the UK in 2005 and my research is focussed on characterizing the role of the Fanconi Anemia and other DNA repair genes in carcinogenesis, with particular emphasis on sporadic breast cancer.
Current group:
Master's Students: 2
Undergraduate Students: 2