Page 6 - Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre Annual Report 2023 to 2024

PRINCIPAL Dr. Sunit Das
Senior Scientist, Principal Investigator
Dr. Peter Dirks
Senior Scientist, Principal Investigator
INVESPrincipal Investigators of the BTRC
LABORATORY PERSONNEL
Stacy Chen, Graduate Student
Nelson Huang, Graduate Student
Marco Istasy, Graduate Student
Alonya Ivanova, Graduate Student
Marina Nikolopoulos, Graduate Student
Madison Sherman, Graduate Student
Andrew Youssef, Graduate Student
Clementine Koa Affana, Research Assistant
Christine Giuffrida, Research Assistant
Sorcha Kellett, Research Project Manager
Megan Wu, Research Project Manager
Sunit Das is a neurosurgeon and scientist at
St. Michael’s Hospital and The Hospital for
Sick Children. He is an Associate Professor
and the Keenan Chair in the Department of
Surgery at the University of Toronto. He is the
Provincial Lead for CNS Oncology at Cancer
Care Ontario. Dr. Das’s clinical practice
focuses on caring for patients with benign
and malignant brain tumours. His laboratory
focuses on the molecular and genetic
mechanisms regulating tumour evolution and
treatment resistance in glioblastoma. His
research group at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge
Institute is focused on using real-world data
and meta-analysis for knowledge translation,
where Dr. Das co-founded and leads the
Canadian Adolescent and Young Adult Neuro-
Oncology Consortium (CANON), a pan-Canada
effort to improve outcomes for young people
with brain tumours.
Research Support: Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, Canadian
Institutes of Health Research, Cancer Research Society, Children’s Cancer
& Blood Disorders AYA Oncology, Patient & Family Advisory Committee of
The Gerry and Nancy Pencer Brain Tumour Centre
The Dirks lab investigates how normal neural
precursors transform into brain tumours and
how tumour cell hierarchies drive disease
and resist treatment. In 2004, Dr. Dirks’
team identified cancer stem cells in brain
tumours, reshaping our understanding of solid
tumour growth. Their work has since mapped
how glioblastoma (GBM) stem cells evolve
and drive progression, using genomic and
epigenomic analyses. They also created a high-
resolution atlas of mouse neural stem cells,
clarifying how these cells become malignant.
In medulloblastoma, they showed that a rare,
quiescent stem-like population – alongside
abnormal SHH signaling – fuels tumour
formation. As head of one of North America’s
largest paediatric neurosurgery departments,
Dr. Dirks bridges basic and clinical research.
Recent discoveries include blocking DRD4
dopamine signaling as a strategy to target GBM,
and identifying PRMT5 inhibition as a trigger
for tumour cell senescence. Together, these
insights are helping to define novel therapeutic
strategies and improve patient outcomes.
LABORATORY PERSONNEL
Juan Pablo Escorcia Dominguez,
Graduate Student
Madeleine Hall, Graduate Student
Caitlin Herrington, Graduate Student
Margaret Javier, Graduate Student
Ncedile Mankahla, Graduate Student
Sabrina Roy, Graduate Student
Anna Tymofyeyeva, Graduate Student
Yaxu (Sofia) Wang, Graduate Student
Garrett Bullivant, Postdoctoral Fellow
Matthaeus Ware, Postdoctoral Fellow
Kinjal Desai, Research Associate
Sonam Dolma, Research Associate
Jannine Frost, Bioinformatician
Michelle Kushida, Lab Research Project
Manager
Lilian Lee, Lab Research Project Coordinator
Luiza Pontual, Research Assistant
Tracey Richards, Project Manager
Heather Whetstone, Lab Research Project
Coordinator
Chunying Yu, Lab Research Project
Coordinator
Research Support: Bresler Family Foundation, Canada Foundation
for Innovation, Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute, Canadian
Epigenetics, Environment and Health Research Consortium, Canadian
Institutes of Health Research, Cancer Research UK, ChadTough DIPG
Foundation, SickKids Garron Family Cancer Centre, Jessica’s Footprint,
Meagan’s HUG (Meagan Bebenek Foundation), Terry Fox Research
Institute, Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (TIAP)
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IMAGINE 2023-24