Logan Walsh (PhD)
Assistant Professor
PhD
Currently supervising students
Lung cancer
Genetic basis of cancer and the role of the tumour immune microenvironment in response to therapy听
The Walsh lab uses both experimental and computational approaches to understand the genetic basis of cancer. Lung cancer is responsible for over 25% of all cancer related deaths. One in twelve Canadians will develop lung cancer during his/her lifetime and more people die from lung cancer than breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer combined. The Walsh lab is focused on translational research questions, as we foster close collaborations between physicians and scientists to address clinically relevant challenges.听
Some ongoing projects include:听
1. Assignment of patients with lung cancer to the variety of available conventional and novel therapeutics such as immunotherapy is currently informed by highly rudimentary data. As a result, predicting response rates to conventional systemic therapy, single or multi-target immunotherapy or combinatorial approaches is difficult and may lead to sub-optimal patient outcomes both regarding response and toxicity. The lab uses next-generation sequencing technology to define how and when, amongst the available armamentarium of systemic therapies, which are optimally utilized by delineating their mechanisms and the contexts within which they perform best.听
2. Despite metastasis being the leading cause of cancer鈥恟elated death, we lack a unifying understanding of the large鈥恠cale phenotypic reprogramming underlying metastatic disease. While several genes that are sufficient to induce metastatic progression have been identified, there is untapped value in the systematic identification of genes that are more universally necessary for progression, as valuable therapeutic targets. The Walsh lab interrogates cancer specific transcriptional interaction networks to elucidate the transcriptional control structures causally responsible for regulating genetic programs activated during primary tumor transition to metastases.听
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3. The CRISPR/Cas9 system is an invaluable tool for engineering a wide variety of genetic alterations. The Walsh lab develops novel CRISPR/Cas9 models that will be used in combination with high-throughput computational strategies to screen for therapeutic targets in lung, brain and ovarian cancers
Karimi E, Yu MW, Maritan SM, Perus LJM, Rezanejad M, Sorin M, Dankner M, Fallah P, Dor茅 S, Zuo D, Fiset B, Kloosterman DJ, Ramsay L, Wei Y, Lam S, Alsajjan R, Watson IR, Roldan Urgoiti G, Park M, Brandsma D, Senger DL, Chan JA, Akkari L, Petrecca K, Guiot MC, Siegel PM, Quail DF, Walsh LA.鈥疦ature..鈥2023 Feb;614(7948):555-563.鈥
Sorin M, Rezanejad M, Karimi E, Fiset B, Desharnais L, Perus LJM, Milette S, Yu MW, Maritan SM, Dor茅 S, Pichette 脡, Enlow W, Gagn茅 A, Wei Y, Orain M, Manem VSK, Rayes R, Siegel PM, Camilleri-Bro毛t S, Fiset PO, Desmeules P, Spicer JD, Quail DF, Joubert P, Walsh LA.鈥疦ature.鈥 2023 Feb;614(7948):548-554听
鈥疭orin M, Karimi E, Rezanejad M, Yu MW, Desharnais L, McDowell SAC, Dor茅 S, Arabzadeh A, Breton V, Fiset B, Wei Y, Rayes R, Orain M, Coulombe F, Manem VSK, Gagne A, Quail DF, Joubert P, Spicer JD, Walsh LA.鈥疛ournal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.鈥2023 Feb;11(2):e005545.听
Stern YE, Al-Ghabkari A, Monast A, Fiset B, Aboualizadeh F, Yao Z, Stagljar I, Walsh LA, Duhamel S, Park M.鈥疌ell Mol Life Sci. 2022 Mar 5;79(3):178.听
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