Recruitment at the
Rosalind & Morris
Goodman Cancer Institute

The Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Instittue (GCI) is dedicated to shaping the future of cancer research by recruiting exceptional graduate students from across Canada and beyond. Our Annual Recruitment Event is a key part of this mission, connecting aspiring researchers with the institute's vibrant academic community.

Through the Annual Graduate Recruitment Event, we offer top applicants a unique chance to visit the institute, meet current graduate students and faculty, and learn about cutting-edge research opporunities.

Applications for 2026
are now open

Are you interested in pursuing graduate studies in cancer research with us?

Apply to attend our annual Graduate Student Recruitment Event for a unique opportunity to explore the GCI and learn about our cutting-edge research and scientific platforms.

Top applicants will be invited to attend the event that aims to be both informative and convivial. We will introduce the GCI’s extensive training program and provide an opportunity to meet with existing graduate students and cancer scientists.

Selected invitees will then be offered a scholarship for Fall 2026 or Winter 2027 admission. Please note that all travel expenses will be covered for invited students unless specified otherwise.

The deadline to apply is December 1st, 2025.

Apply

Join us for a live information session to ask questions and learn more about the program. More details regarding day and time of the information session will be added soon. Check back to sign up!

Applications for 2023
are now completed

Top applicants will be invited to attend the event that aims to be both informative and convivial. We will introduce the GCI’s extensive training program and provide an opportunity to meet with existing graduate students and cancer scientists. Selected invitees will then be offered a scholarship for Fall 2024 or Winter 2025 admission. Please note that all travel expenses will be covered for invited students unless specified otherwise.

Stay tuned for more information about our upcoming Graduate Recruitment Event

Application process

Interested candidates must complete an online registration form HERE.

Within the online registration form, applicants will be asked to upload the following information in 1 single pdf:

An up-to-date CV with valid contact information
A letter of intent (maximum 2 pages) and
A copy of your most recent transcripts (these do not need to be official for the purpose of this event)

Summary of the Recruitment process & event

Registration is open

Deadline to submit an application
December 1st, 2024

In-person Events
January 23rd - 24th 2025

Eligibility Requirements

Demonstrated interest in biomedical research
Enrolled in a B.Sc. or M.Sc. program
GPA of 3.6 out of 4.3 for M.Sc. & Ph.D. candidates; international students will be evaluated on individual basis.

The GCI is committed to equity and diversity in the recruitment of its trainees. We welcome and encourage applications from racialized persons/visible minorities, women, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and persons of minority sexual orientations and gender identities as well as others who may contribute to diversification.

The following investigators are recruiting new students:

Nahum Sonenberg’s research focuses on a common aim – to reveal how the central and fundamental process of protein synthesis is controlled in animal cells, and the means by which this control is subverted by pathogens, and in diseases such as cancer, virus infections and neurodevelopmental disorders. There are therapeutic applications to many of his discoveries including novel gene therapy approaches, drug targets for cancer treatment, and antiviral therapeutics. He made important discoveries concerning the basic mechanism and regulation of translation in eukaryotic systems that impact on a large range of biological mechanisms.

What we are
currently
working on

The Sonenberg Lab is interested in the study of eukaryotic mRNA translation, including the fundamental mechanisms governing translation, its role in normal physiology, and its dysregulation in disease. We are particularly interested in how mRNA translation is regulated in the context of cancer, innate immunity, learning and memory, and development.

Our lab utilizes a variety of experimental techniques including classical biochemistry, proteomics, ribosome profiling, CRISPR and RNAi, as well as behavioural tests using in vivo mouse models.

Apprentissage et mémoire Il est connu depuis de nombreuses décennies que la consolidation de la mémoire labile à court terme en une mémoire stable à long terme nécessite la synthèse de nouvelles protéines. Cependant, les mécanismes couplant les voies de signalisation liées à la plasticité synaptique à la traduction de l'ARNm n'étaient pas clairement connus. Depuis le début des années 2000, notre laboratoire s'est concentré sur la définition du rôle de la traduction de l'ARNm dans l'apprentissage et la mémoire. Des travaux fondateurs de notre laboratoire reliant la régulation traductionnelle dépendante d'eIF2α à la consolidation de la mémoire ont été publiés dans Cell, Nature et de nombreuses autres revues à fort impact. Nous caractérisons actuellement le rôle spécifique au type cellulaire de plusieurs acteurs clés dans les voies eIF4E et eIF2α au niveau de l'apprentissage et de la mémoire. Pour répondre à ces questions, nous utilisons une approche interdisciplinaire combinant la génétique de la souris, la biologie moléculaire, la biochimie, l'imagerie à haute résolution et les techniques comportementales. De plus, le laboratoire s'intéresse également à l'étude des divers troubles neurologiques liés à l'apprentissage et à la mémoire, par exemple, la maladie d'Alzheimer, les troubles du spectre de l’autistime et le syndrome de Phelan-McDermid. Learning and memory It has been known for many decades that consolidation of the labile short-term memory to a stable long-term memory requires new protein synthesis. However, the mechanisms coupling the synaptic plasticity-related signalling pathways to the mRNA translation were not clearly known. Since the early 2000s, our lab has focused on delineating the role of mRNA translation in learning and memory. Seminal works from our lab connecting eIF2α-dependent translational regulation to memory consolidation have been published in Cell, Nature and many other high-impact journals. We are currently characterizing the cell-type-specific role of several key players in the eIF4E- and eIF2α-pathways in learning and memory. To answer these questions, we use an interdisciplinary approach combing mouse genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, high-resolution imaging, and behavioural techniques. In addition, the lab is also interested in studying the various neurological disorders related to learning and memory, for example, Alzheimer’s disease, autism spectrum disorder, and Phelan-McDermid syndrome.
Contrôle translationnel dans le cancer Notre laboratoire s'intéresse depuis longtemps à l'étude du rôle du contrôle translationnel dans le cancer. Dans notre article phare de 1990 paru dans la revue Nature, nous avons signalé que la surexpression de la protéine de liaison à la coiffe, eIF4E, perturberait la compétition entre les ARNm pour les ribosomes, entraînant une transformation maligne des fibroblastes de rongeurs. Depuis, nous avons démontré que la surexpression de eIF4E dans des modèles murins de cancer accélère la tumorigenèse. De plus, eIF4E qui est surexprimé dans de nombreux cancers humains et a été proposé comme marqueur de pronostic tumoral indépendant dans le cancer du sein. Dans un autre article historique (Nature, 1994), nous avons décrit le clonage d'ADNc codant pour des protéines de liaison à eIF4E (4E-BPs), qui interagissent avec eIF4E pour réguler la synthèse des protéines lors de la simulation de l'insuline. En 1996, nos travaux dans Le Journal EMBO ont démontré que la rapamycine bloque la traduction dépendante de la coiffe dans les cellules tout en laissant intacte la traduction indépendante de la coiffe. Cette observation a conduit à la découverte que la voie de la kinase mTOR (cible de la rapamycin chez les mammifères) régule la traduction en phosphorylant les 4E-BPs et en contrôlant ainsi la disponibilité de eIF4E à s’assembler dans le complexe eIF4F. Dans un article fondateur plus récent publié dans Science (2010), nous avons montré qu'en aval de mTORC1, les 4E-BPs contrôlent la prolifération, tandis que les kinases S6 (un autre substrat important de mTOR) contrôlent la croissance cellulaire. Nous avons donc postulé que les 4E-BPs pourraient agir comme suppresseurs de tumeurs car ils antagonisent l'activité de eIF4E. En effet, nous avons montré que la surexpression de 4E-BP1 dans les cellules transformées par eIF4E inverse leur tumorigénicité. Nous avons renforcé l'activité suppresseur de tumeur des 4E-BPs à l'aide de souris « knock-out » 4E-BP, suggérant que les inhibiteurs de l'activité eIF4F devraient agir comme de nouveaux médicaments anticancéreux potentiels. Suite à nos travaux, plusieurs pharmaceutiques ont ciblé eIF4E, avec un travail marquant qui a conduit à un essai clinique mené par Eli Lilly Co., montrant que l'eIF4E anti-sens inhibe la croissance tumorale (NCT00903708). Translational control in cancer A long-standing interest in our lab has been in investigating the role of translational control in cancer. In our seminal 1990 Nature paper, we reported that the overexpression of the cap-binding protein, eIF4E, would disrupt the competition set-up among mRNAs for ribosomes, leading to malignant transformation of rodent fibroblasts. Since then, we have demonstrated that over- expression of eIF4E in mouse cancer models accelerates tumorigenesis. Furthermore, eIF4E is over-expressed in many human cancers and has been proposed as an independent prognostic tumour marker in breast cancer. In another landmark paper (Nature, 1994), we described the cloning of cDNAs encoding eIF4E-binding proteins (4E-BPs), which interacts with eIF4E to regulate protein synthesis upon insulin simulation. In 1996, our work in The EMBO Journal demonstrated that rapamycin blocks cap-dependent translation in cells while leaving the cap-independent translation intact. This observation led to the discovery that the mTOR (mammalian Target of Rapamycin) kinase pathway regulates translation by phosphorylating 4E-BPs and thus controlling the availability of eIF4E to assemble into the eIF4F complex. In a more recent seminal paper in Science (2010), we showed that downstream of mTORC1, 4E-BPs control proliferation, while S6 kinases (another important substrate of mTOR) control cell growth. We postulated that 4E-BPs might act as tumour suppressor as they antagonize eIF4E activity. Indeed, we showed that the over-expression of 4E-BP1 in eIF4E-transformed cells reverses their tumorigenicity. We bolstered the tumour-suppressor activity of 4E-BPs using 4E-BPs ‘knock-out’ mice, suggesting that the inhibitors of eIF4F activity should act as potential novel anti-cancer drugs. Following our work, several pharmaceuticals have targeted eIF4E, with a prominent work which led to a clinical trial by the Eli Lilly Co., showing that the anti-sense eIF4E inhibits tumour growth (NCT00903708).
Immunité innée et infection virale Parmi les aspects centraux du travail de notre laboratoire se retrouve l'étude du contrôle translationnel de l'ARNm pendant l'infection virale. Nous avons documenté cette découverte révolutionnaire de l'initiation de la traduction indépendante de la coiffe par le site d’entrée interne des ribosome (IRES) sur l’ADNm du poliovirus, remettant ainsi en question le dogme que les ribosomes pourraient seulement se lier aux ARNm eucaryotes à l’extrémité en 5'. Cette découverte a suscité des recherches approfondies, qui ont finalement révélées le rôle fonctionnel des IRESes dans les virus comme le poliovirus et le VHC ainsi que dans les ARNm cellulaires qui codent des protéines avec des fonctions significatives dans l'inflammation, l'apoptose et le contrôle de la croissance. Des travaux ultérieurs de notre laboratoire ont montré que le clivage d'eIF4GI et d'eIF4GII (appelées aujourd'hui eIF4G1 et eIF4G3, la protéine d'échafaudage du complexe eIF4F) est nécessaire pour arrêter la synthèse des protéines hôtes pendant l'infection au poliovirus. Nous avons également montré que la structure secondaire de l'ARNm du TAR du VIH pouvait activer la protéine kinase activée par l'ARN double brin (PKR). Par la suite, on a découvert que d'autres ARNms présentent une telle capacité, ce qui a considérablement avancé la compréhension de la réponse de l'interféron dans les cellules infectées par le virus. Nous avons récemment découvert que 4EHP/GIGYF2 supprime la production d'interféron-β (IFN-β) dans les cellules infectées par le virus par l'intermédiaire du silençage translationnel causé par miR-34a de l'ARNm Ifnb1. Ce mécanisme est une réponse adaptative à l'inflammation pour empêcher les niveaux aggravés de cytokine qui pourraient engendrer la maladie auto-immune. Cependant, cette fonction positionne 4EHP comme une cible adaptative évolutionnaire idéale pour que les virus échappent à l'immunité innée. Conformément à cette notion, nous avons découvert que la protéine non structurelle NSP2 du SARS-CoV-2 interagit directement avec GIGYF2 pour renforcer la liaison de ce dernier au 4EHP, favorisant ainsi davantage la répression de la traduction de l'ARNm Ifnb1 et de la production d'IFN-β. Innate Immunity and Viral infection Among the central aspects of our laboratory’s work has been to investigate mRNA translational control during viral infection. We documented the breakthrough discovery of cap-independent translation initiation through the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) on poliovirus mRNA, thereby challenging the dogma that ribosomes could only bind to eukaryotic mRNAs through the 5' end. This discovery prompted extensive research, which ultimately revealed the functional role of IRESes in viruses like poliovirus and HCV and in cellular mRNAs that encode proteins with significant functions in inflammation, apoptosis, and growth control. Subsequent work by our lab showed that the cleavage of both eIF4GI and eIF4GII (called today eIF4G1 and eIF4G3, the scaffolding protein of the eIF4F complex) is required to shut down host protein synthesis during poliovirus infection. We also showed that the secondary structure of HIV TAR mRNA could activate the double-stranded RNA activated protein kinase (PKR). Subsequently, it was discovered that other mRNAs exhibit such capability, which greatly advanced the understanding of the interferon response in virus-infected cells. We recently discovered that 4EHP/GIGYF2 suppresses interferon-β (IFN-β) production in virus-infected cells via miR-34a-induced translational silencing of the Ifnb1 mRNA. This mechanism is an adaptive response to inflammation to prevent exacerbated cytokine levels that could engender auto-immune disease. However, this function positions 4EHP as an ideal evolutionarily adaptive target for viruses to evade innate immunity. Consistent with this notion, we discovered that the SARS-CoV-2 non-structural protein NSP2 directly interacts with GIGYF2 to enhance the binding of the latter to 4EHP, thereby further promoting the repression of Ifnb1 mRNA translation and IFN-β production.

Affiliations
Awards, honours, and fellowships

Gilman Cheney Chair in Biochemistry, Dept. of Biochemistry and Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Institute, McGill University. (2017 – present)
Distinguished James McGill Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry and Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Institute, McGill University. (2023 – present)
James McGill Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry and Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer
Institute, McGill University. (2002 – 2023)
Associate Member, Division of Experimental Medicine, Department of Medicine, McGill University (2011-2018)
Deputy Scientific Director, Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Research Centre, McGill University (2010-2012)

Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada, Academy of Science since 1992;
Robert L. Noble Prize, National Cancer Institute of Canada, 2002;
Killam Prize for Health Sciences, 2005;
Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2006;
Elected Fellow of The Royal Society of London (UK) since 2006;
Katharine Berkan Judd Award, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, 2007;
Gairdner Foundation International Award, 2008;
RiboClub Lifetime Achievement Award, 2009;
Officer of the Order of Canada, 2010;
The Centenary Award, Biochemical Society (UK) Awards, 2011;
The Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Science, Brandeis University, 2012;
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2012;
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, Governor General of Canada, 2013;
McLaughlin Medal, The Royal Society of Canada, 2013;
Wolf Prize in Medicine, Wolf Foundation, 2014;
Canadian Cancer Research Alliance (CCRA) Award for Outstanding Achievements in Cancer Research, 2015;
Elected Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), 2015;
Elected International Member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), 2015;
Honorary Doctorate from the Université Laval, 2016;
Leadership Impact Award, Rosalind & Goodman Cancer Research Centre Gala, 2016;
Prix du Québec, prix Wilder-Penfield – Recherche biomédicale, Government of Quebec, 2018;
Honorary Doctorate from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), Quebec, 2020;
Honorary Doctorate from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, 2022;
Inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, 2023.

Our team

Parastoo Akbarnia
Farah Ali Étudiant.e à la maîtrise MSc Student
Hashem Almousa Candidat.e postdoctoral.e Postdoctoral Fellow
Mehdi Amiri Candidat.e postdoctoral.e Postdoctoral Fellow
Michael Bellucci Étudiant.e à la maîtrise MSc Student
Junghyun Choi Candidat.e postdoctoral.e Postdoctoral Fellow
Qiyun (Catherine) Deng Technicien.ne Technician
Ilse Gantois Associé.e de recherche Research Associate
Isabelle Harvey Technicien.ne en chef.fe de recherche Chief Research Technician
Théophile Hervé Technicien.ne de recherche Research Technician
Ziying Huang Étudiant.e au doctorat PhD Student
Annamaria Kiss Secrétaire Secretary
Reese Ladak Étudiant.e à la maîtrise MSc Student
Jun Luo Étudiant.e au doctorat PhD Student
Niaz Mahmood Candidat.e postdoctoral.e Postdoctoral Fellow
Laura Marsal Garcia Étudiant.e au doctorat PhD Student
Sophia McMurren Étudiant.e de premier cycle Undergraduate Student
Eva Migon Technicien.ne de laboratoire Laboratory Technician
Mads Pedersen Étudiant.e de premier cycle Undergraduate Student
Nadeem Siddiqui Associé.e de recherche Research Associate
Melissa Sleeckx-Laureys Étudiant.e de premier cycle Undergraduate Student
Annie Sylvestre Technicien(ne) en santé animale Animal Health Technician
Madhurameenaksh (Meena) Vipparti Assistant.e de laboratoire Laboratory Assistant
Caleb Walters Étudiant.e au doctorat PhD Student
Haotian Zhuang Étudiant.e à la maîtrise MSc Student