Dr. Jean Wang, Affiliate Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, is working on developing a new therapy that interferes with a protein on the surface of leukemia stem cells. (Photo: TPMCF)
Dr. Jean Wang, Affiliate Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, has been awarded significant funding to propel her work on a promising treatment for leukemia.
Dr. Wang received $3.4 million in funding from Genome Canada's
Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP).
The project, titled "SIRPαFc: Translating Genomics Research into a Novel Cancer Immunotherapy," will advance a promising treatment towards clinical trials. The therapeutic works by interfering with a protein on the surface of leukemia stem cells, known as CD47, which is thought to protect the cells from attack by the immune system.
Dr. Wang and her team are working on the project in collaboration with Dr. Jayne Danska at SickKids and Trillium Therapeutics Inc.—a biotech company based in Toronto.
Dr. Wang's lab is focused on understanding the biology of normal and leukemic human hematopoietic stem cells in order to develop more effective therapies for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Genome Canada is a not-for-profit organization, funded by the Government of Canada. Through funding programs like GAPP, they hope to assist in developing and applying genomics and genomic-based technologies to real world challenges.
