Identifying how the estrogen receptor drives tumour growth

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PhD candidate Bart Kolendowski
PhD candidate Bart Kolendowski

Hi! My name is Bart Kolendowski and I’m a PhD candidate in the Department of Biochemistry at Western University. I work in Dr. Joe Torchia’s lab located at London Health Sciences Centre’s London Regional Cancer Program.

Our lab is interested in the basic mechanisms of nuclear hormone signalling and gene regulation, and how these signalling pathways relate to cancer. My research is dedicated to understanding a receptor protein for the hormone estrogen called the estrogen receptor, which is found in many breast cancers and is often the target of breast cancer therapies.

Using powerful techniques from modern biology such as next-generation sequencing, as well as computational sciences, I’ve been able to identify a new mechanism by which the estrogen receptor causes changes in gene expression and drives tumour growth. The current work we’re doing will provide us with new information that is important for understanding estrogen receptor function and the connection between hormone-regulated gene expression and breast cancer.

Recently, my research was selected for a presentation at the Keystone Symposia on Nuclear Receptors held in Snowbird, Utah. Presenting my work at this prestigious conference will be a great opportunity to share with academic and industry leaders the innovative research being supported by the BCSC.

Thank you for your trainee support!
– Bart Kolendowski, PhD candidate
Pamela Greenaway-Kohlmeier Translational Breast Cancer Research Unit, London Health Sciences Centre
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