Congratulations Trainee Presentation Winners at the Sixth Annual Saskatchewan Cancer Research Conference

The sixth annual Saskatchewan Cancer Research Conference was held June 11, 2019 in Saskatoon, with 110 registered participants from a wide range of disciplines in attendance. This conference recognizes and promotes the excellent cancer research within the province and provides valuable learning and networking opportunities for the participants.

Conference Speakers

The conference featured a Keynote Speaker:

  • Mark Prince, the Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology – HNS University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Centre in Michigan, USA. The title of his seminar was “Head and neck cancer cells: from discovery to novel therapies”. 

Additional presentations were made by local investigators, including Dr. M. Uppalapati (Pathology), Dr. R. Geyer (Pathology), Dr. S. Ahmed (Oncology, SCA), Dr. I. Mendez (Surgery), Dr. R. Singh (Biochem-Micro-Immun), C. Cunningham (Pathology), B. Vigliarolo (Chemistry), and R. Rai (Pharm & Nutr).

 

Trainee Presentation Winners:

The conference also included poster presentations, and recognized two poster winners:

 

Graduate Student, First Place ($300): 

Ashley Sutherland (Supervisor: Dr. R. Geyer, Dept of Pathology)

Engineering T cells to become cancer killers: modulating CAR T therapeutics with protein ligase system Spy Tag/Spy Catcher

 

Graduate Student, Second Place ($200):

Aditya Mandapati (Supervisor: Dr. E. Lukong, Dept of Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology)

The role and mechanism of action of BRK in tamoxifen resistant breast cancer

 

The conference also included trainee oral presentations, and recognized one winner:

Graduate Student ($300):

Brady Vigliarolo (Supervisor: Dr. C. Phenix, Dept of Chemistry)

Toward sensitive and selective PET imaging of cathepsin B activity

 

The success of the conference was in large part due to excellent job of organizers: Drs. Keith Bonham, Erique Lukong and Silvana Papagerakis. Invaluable assistance was provided by Sheila Ash, Lori Amson and Mark Boyd (logistics).  This conference was supported by funds from the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation and ThermoFisher Scientific.