One of Canada’s leading cancer researchers will speak at the University of Lethbridge this week as part of the Alberta RNA Research and Training Institute (ARRTI) Speaker Series.

Dr. Gregg Morin, the Head of Proteomics at Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre in Vancouver, B.C., will present Chemo-proteogenomic analyses of CDK12’s role in mRNA processing on Wednesday, December 5 at 2:30 p.m. in room C610 in University Hall at the U of L. The talk is open to the public.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Canada. However, since 1988, cancer death rates have decreased by 32 per cent in men and 17 per cent in women (Canadian Cancer Statistics 2018). This is due, in part, to the endless research being done worldwide into understanding how cancers form and spread, and how they can be treated.

Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre in Vancouver uses genomic and bioinformatics approaches to advance knowledge about cancer. Morin has a long-standing connection to ARRTI, having attended the national RiboWest Conferences hosted by ARRTI and the U of L on numerous occasions.

“Dr. Morin’s research directly links our understanding of RNAs and proteins to the dysregulation of gene expression in cancer,” says the U of L’s Dr. Ute Kothe. “We are looking forward to not only discussing our joint research interests with Dr. Morin, but also how we can address the pressing questions in cancer research together.”

Since the early 1990s, cancer researchers have focused on the source of most cancers, mutations in the DNA that makes up our genome. These genetic mutations can be carried forward through cellular processes to mutations in ribonucleic acid (RNA) that can then cause aberrations in regulatory processes or the production of mutated proteins. Morin’s research program focuses on understanding the functional mechanisms of proteins and RNAs that are either mutated or differently expressed in cancer cells.

Morin has been the Head of Proteomics at the Genome Sciences Centre since 2004, as well as an associate professor in the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia. He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Simon Fraser University.

ARRTI has been holding the ARRTI Speaker Series since 2014, in which researchers, both local and external, are invited to speak about their current research in RNA and related topics. This year, in recognition of its influence, the ARRTI Speaker Series is sponsored by the International RNA Society as part of its RNA Salon initiative to promote RNA-related research.

For more information about Morin and the Genome Sciences Centre, the hosting Kothe lab or ARRTI, visit these websites:

http://www.bcgsc.ca/faculty/gmorin
http://scholar.ulethbridge.ca/kothe/home
www.uleth.ca/research/ARRTI