Dr. Christopher B. Marshall
BScH, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Ontario Cancer Institute
Toronto, Ontario
Dr. Christopher Marshall is delving into the molecular basis of tumour development to, ultimately, help design drugs that can inhibit the growth of cancerous cells. His focus is a protein called "target of rapamycin" (TOR), a very large protein with several smaller regions, or domains. By focusing on the three-dimensional structure of one of these domains, the active kinase domain, Dr. Marshall will gain a better understanding of how TOR functions and how to modulate its activity to slow cancerous cells in their tracks.
While completing his doctorate, Dr. Marshall participated in research that resulted in the surprise discovery of a potent "anti-freeze" protein that helps to explain why fish swimming in icy seawater don't freeze. The discovery has a number of potential biotechnological and medical applications, including the storage of blood products and organs for transplantation, and cryosurgery, a technique in which tumour cells are killed by freezing.
Dr. Marshall completed his BSc in 1995 and his PhD in 2005, both from Queen's University. He is the recipient of an Ontario Cancer Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship Research Award.
The CIHR Jean-François St-Denis Fellowship in Cancer Research honours the memory of CIHR's former Deputy Director in the Knowledge Creation Branch, the late Dr. Jean-François St-Denis. The award recognizes a highly rated fellowship awardee who intends to undertake postdoctoral training in the field of cancer research and who is as highly dedicated to science and discovery as Dr. St-Denis was in his lifetime.
Dr. Christopher B. Marshall accepts the CIHR Jean-François St-Denis Fellowship in Cancer Research Award.
Presenter Dr. Philip Branton (left) and awardee Dr. Christopher B. Marshall (right).
