|
Innovation Profile: Dr John Dick Senior Scientist
|
 |
It was back in 1994 in a lab on Toronto's University Avenue that Dr John Dick and colleagues made one of the biggest discoveries in stem cell research. They identified a cancer stem cell in leukemia -- adding a key piece to the cancer puzzle.
"We knew it was the cell that could sustain leukemia, but it took us years to come to grips with what it really meant," says Dr Dick, a Senior Scientist at the Toronto General Research Institute and Ontario Cancer Institute of the University Health Network (UHN). Widely seen as a pioneer in the cancer stem cell arena, Dr Dick is a Professor of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto.
By implanting human leukemia cells into mice, Dr Dick's team showed that only some of the cells -- abnormal stem cells -- had the ability to keep the cancer going. The discovery provided direct evidence for the "cancer stem cell hypothesis" which holds that cancer stem cells are the culprits that perpetuate a malignancy.
Through his studies of normal and leukemic human stem cells, Dr Dick has demonstrated that leukemia stem cells have properties that make them resistant to traditional chemotherapy. This may explain why some cancers recur.
Dr Dick aims to identify the weaknesses of cancer stem cells. His lab is testing novel and repurposed compounds that may exploit that weakness. Collaborators include scientists in Ontario and Australia, where CSL Limited is sponsoring phase one trials involving an antibody that successfully targeted leukemia stem cells in pre-clinical studies. Roche Canada is also working with Dr Dick on antibody therapies.
Dr Dick heads up the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research's Program in Cancer Stem Cells. Its goals are to identify cancer stem cells for various types of cancer and develop therapies to target these cells to prevent recurrence and lessen the toxicity of cancer treatment.
A Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Biology, Dr Dick has also identified colon cancer stem cells. In the eighties, he devised a way to grow a human blood system in immune-deficient mice -- revolutionizing the study of human blood cell development.
Dr Dick's team of 25 is based at the Toronto Medical Discovery Tower, where UHN and The Hospital for Sick Children share a facility that has state-of-the-art equipment, including high-speed systems for sorting and analyzing stem cells and novel proteomic approaches. "The human capital in the Toronto Region creates a huge dynamic that is hard to replicate anywhere," Dr Dick adds.
Also an investigator with the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine at UHN, the Manitoba-born scientist has published over 100 papers and received many awards. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Stem Cell Scientist Profiles
Dr Mick Bhatia, McMaster Cancer and Stem Cell Research Institute
Dr Gordon Keller, McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, UHN
Dr Andras Nagy, Mount Sinai Hospital
Dr Janet Rossant, The Hospital for Sick Children
Dr Peter Zandstra, University of Toronto
Stem Cell Research in the Toronto Region
© 2010 Toronto Region Research Alliance