Two GCI Researchers Awarded $2M in Funding to Advance Therapeutic Strategies

Professors Arnim Pause, PhD, and Lawrence Kazak, PhD, of the Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Institute (GCI) were both awarded Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grants this Fall. 

This highly competitive project grant competition had a success rate of 13.6% in the province of Quebec, highlighting how awarded research teams show promising potential for success.   

Lawrence Kazak, PhD’s project, titled Coordinated GPCR signaling in adipose tissue regulates energy expenditure and feeding behavior, aims at deepening our understanding of adipose tissue as a target for obesity treatments. Obesity is a more and more prevalent disease, and it increases the risk for other diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Prof. Kazak’s team has previously identified a mechanism to increase energy expenditure by fat cells and trigger fat loss. As a follow up to this study, Prof. Kazak explains how this newly funded project will have an impact: “Understanding the mechanisms governing adipocyte function, plasticity, and thermogenesis may reveal ways to improve the quality of weight loss, preserve lean tissue, increase energy expenditure, and uncouple adiposity from its pathological consequences.”

Arnim Pause, PhD’s project, titled Targeting the AMPK-FLCN-TFE3 Oxygen-Sensing Pathway to Overcome Hypoxic Tumor Adaptation, focuses on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer. One defining feature of TNBC tumours is hypoxia, regions of low oxygen that drive cancer progression. Prof. Pause’s team has previously uncovered a new molecular pathway that enables cancer cells to adapt to hypoxia, mainly involving AMPK, the tumour suppressor FLCN, and the transcription factor TFE3. Together, they allow tumour cells to reprogram their metabolism and survive under oxygen-deprived conditions. Support from CIHR will allow Prof. Pause’s team to determine how this pathway is regulated and define its role in tumour growth, metastasis, and chemotherapy resistance. “By understanding and targeting this pathway, we hope to develop new therapeutic strategies that selectively eliminate the most treatment-resistant cancer cells and improve outcomes for patients with triple-negative breast cancer,” explains Prof. Pause.

The success of GCI researchers in securing competitive funding from the CIHR Project Grant competition demonstrates the dedication and renowned expertise of GCI researchers in leading ambitious research projects to find better cures.