Natasha Knier’s research investigates why breast cancer recurs

1. Welcome back to the TBCRU. Please remind our readers who you are and share something about yourself? My name is Natasha Knier. I am a third-year Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Medical Biophysics at Western University, supervised by Dr. Paula Foster. I completed my Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences at the University […]

Sierra Pellizzari is testing a new targeted breast cancer drug.

1. Who are you? Tell us about yourself. My name is Sierra Pellizzari. I am a Master of Science (MSc) student in the Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology at Western University. I work under the supervision of Dr. Armen Parsyan and Dr. Alison Allan, and this is my first year in the Translational Breast […]

Kierstin Melo is developing a new imaging method called magnetic particle imaging.

1. Who are you? Tell us about yourself. My name is Kierstin Melo. I am a second-year master’s student at Western University in the Robarts Research Institute, supervised by Dr. Paula Foster. 2. Why is the TBCRU Studentship Award important to you? I am incredibly thankful for the support from the TBCRU studentship award. The […]

Vy Ngo Is Investigating Chemotherapy Resistance

1. Who are you? Tell us about yourself. My name is Vy Ngo and I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Western University. I work under the supervision of Dr. Martin Duennwald. Before my graduate studies, I completed my BSc at McMaster University with a double honours specialization […]

Owen Hovey Studies The Migration Of Breast Cancer Cells

1. Who are you? Tell us about yourself. My name is Owen Hovey; I’m a PhD student in Dr. Shawn Li’s Lab in the Department of Biochemistry at Western University. During my undergraduate degree at Carleton University, I spent three years in the biochemistry lab of Dr. Willmore and a year in Health Canada’s stem […]

Natasha Knier studies how breast cancer spreads to the brain

1. Who are you? Tell us about yourself. My name is Natasha Knier. I am a current Master of Science Candidate in Medical Biophysics at Western University, working under the supervision of Dr. Paula Foster at Robarts Research Institute. Prior to this, I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo in the Honours […]

Kathy Steffan – What’s My Breast Cancer Story?

Throughout my professional career, I have been involved with many non-profilt organizations, both as a board member and as an auditor/advisor. I feel that this is my most significant board involvement because of my personal connection with breast cancer. It involves my own baby girl, Nicole. Actually, she hasn’t been a baby for a long […]

Breast cancer cell migration research

Hello, everyone! My name is Sami Khan and I’m an MSc candidate in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Western University. I work at London Cancer Regional Program under the supervision of Dr. Alison Allan. Our lab focuses on breast cancer metastasis: the process by which cancerous cells can leave the breast and […]

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 […]