Grant: Foundation Grant

Each year in Canada, 2800 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 1750 die from this disease. I study common forms of ovarian cancer, namely endometrioid, clear cell, and high-grade serous ovarian cancers, and also rarer ovarian cancers, such as small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type. This latter cancer is extremely lethal and tragically affects young women. My overarching goal of my research is to decrease death and suffering from ovarian cancer, through improving the way they are diagnosed, prevented, and treated. I hope to achieve this through pursuing three distinct aims. The first is to identify tools that can be used to improve sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis. The second is to study the precursors of cancer, such as endometriosis, to better understand the process of cancer development. This understanding will hopefully allow easier identification of women who are at increased risk of developing ovarian cancers and can most benefit from screening and prevention strategies. Thirdly, I plan to perform experiments, both in cells and animal models that are accurate representations of ovarian cancer, to understand how the combination of genetic mutation, cell environment, and the environment surrounding the cell combine together to drive tumour formation. This understanding can help us develop new treatments for disease. These treatments can similarly be tested for efficacy in the same model systems, which is work I am currently undertaking to study a new class of drugs that could benefit women with small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type. In summary, I hope to be able to generate new tools for diagnosing, managing, and treating ovarian cancer though the work described in my research program.