Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Diagnosis of diseases, including cancers and rare diseases, is a medical challenge. Small molecules in the blood or within tissues can be indicators, or biomarkers, of disease and can improve diagnosis. In my proposal, I focus on a class of genetic control molecules termed microRNAs. These molecules are excellent markers of health and disease because they have distinct patterns in all normal and diseased cells. These molecules are also useful to study because they are present in all tissues, cells, and body fluids. The goal of my research is to create a large database of miRNAs to identify possible biomarkers. I will first increase our knowledge of microRNA expression in healthy and diseased tissues and cells. Then, I will apply computational approaches to identify miRNA biomarkers of normal tissue, cancers and rare diseases. Through this research, I expect to improve resources available for diagnostic research, identify new biomarkers, and ultimately improve the accuracy of diagnostic methods.