Cancer stem cells: a unique approach to assessing breast cancer metastasis

Hello! My name is Ashkan Sadri and I’m a Masters candidate in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Western University. As a recent addition to Dr. Alison Allan’s lab at London Regional Cancer Program, today marks the first time you’ll be hearing from me! What most intrigued me about the work conducted in […]

Implementing a robotic arm to image breast tumours

Hello! My name is Lawrence Yip and I’m a Master’s student in the Department of Medical Biophysics at Western University. I work at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Dr. Jeffrey Carson’s Optics Lab. You might have seen Ivan Kosik’s blog posts describing his work in improving the success rate of breast-conserving surgery. I’m working on the […]

Using MRI to detect TAM cells

Hi! My name is Ashley Makela and I’m a PhD candidate in the Department of Medical Biophysics at Western University. I’m working at Robarts Research Institute in Dr. Paula Foster’s lab where MRI cell tracking is a main focus. My research involves using MRI to detect and quantify specific cells called tumour associated macrophages (TAMs), […]

Examining how breast cancer tumour ‘seeds’ travel to other organs

Hello! I’m Mauricio Rodriguez-Torres and I’m a PhD student in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Western University, working under the supervision of Dr. Alison Allan. Most breast cancer deaths occur as a result of metastasis, the process whereby tumour cells leave the breast through the bloodstream and establish themselves in other organs. […]

Mark and Rebecca’s Mother’s Day Walk Story

Hi! Our names are Mark and Rebecca Fillier. We were recently married on September 19, 2015. We had a very happy life together in the past 8 years and had planned on continuing having a happy life after our wedding but life has had some different plans for us. We are still happy together but […]

A potential tool to differentiate between malignant tumours and benign tissue in MRI

Hello! My name is Yonathan Araya and I’m a PhD candidate in the Department of Medical Biophysics at Western University. I work in the Imaging Research Laboratories at Robarts Research Institute under the supervision Dr. Timothy Scholl. One of the disadvantages of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the lack of specificity and sensitivity to distinguish […]

Celebrating National Volunteer Week 2016

Author and physician, Dr. Rachel Remen sums up the meaning of service very distinctly: “True service is a relationship between people who bring the full resource of their combined humanity to the table and share them generously. Service is another way of life … service is a relationship between equals … In helping, we may find a […]

How do breast cancer cells move through the body?

Drs. Desnoyers and Lewis are working to understand how breast cancer cells can move throughout the body. Breast cancer becomes more aggressive when normal breast cells change to become invasive by a process called epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Following EMT, breast cancer cells can move throughout the body and spread the tumor, an event known as […]

Attempting to inhibit breast cancer proliferation

Hi everyone! My name is Alexandra Hauser-Kawaguchi and I’m a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry at Western University. I work in Dr. Len Luyt’s lab at London Health Sciences Centre’s London Regional Cancer Program. You may remember seeing my blog post last year. Since then, I’ve continued to study the interactions between the […]

How I aim to live green

Because I am a woman, I am at risk for breast cancer.  However, there are many “green” things I can do in my everyday life that will help reduce my risk. Kayaking, hiking, fishing and scuba diving are some of my favourite hobbies, however, when I can’t do these activities, I always make time to […]