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Dr. Tak Mak receives $5M to identify genetic causes and resistance mechanisms.
Posted On: December 05, 2016
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Led by Dr. Tak Mak (pictured), the project will use new technologies to identify genetic and protein abnormalities involved in AML and leukemia initiation and drug resistance.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) recently announced a major worldwide investment of $40.3 M to support diverse research into finding new cures.
Of these funds, UHN’s Dr. Tak Mak has been awarded $5 M, placing UHN among other leading research centres that received funding, such as the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston and the South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute in Adelaide.
Dr. Tak Mak, who is a PM Cancer Centre Senior Scientist, will receive funding from LLS’s prestigious ‘Specialized Center of Research’ program. The funding will enable his team to address the tendency for chemotherapies to fail over prolonged treatment periods due to the cancer’s ability to become resistant to therapy. Specifically, his team will study the mutations that cause acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and lymphoma, as well as those that promote therapy resistance.
“AML and T-cell lymphoma remain very difficult diseases to treat,” says Dr. Mak. “We have identified a set of mutations that these diseases have in common and that may confer specific vulnerabilities. This funding will allow experimental biologists to work closely with leading clinician scientists to develop approaches that will target these vulnerabilities.”
To learn more about the LLS funding announcement, see the press release.
Of these funds, UHN’s Dr. Tak Mak has been awarded $5 M, placing UHN among other leading research centres that received funding, such as the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston and the South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute in Adelaide.
Dr. Tak Mak, who is a PM Cancer Centre Senior Scientist, will receive funding from LLS’s prestigious ‘Specialized Center of Research’ program. The funding will enable his team to address the tendency for chemotherapies to fail over prolonged treatment periods due to the cancer’s ability to become resistant to therapy. Specifically, his team will study the mutations that cause acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and lymphoma, as well as those that promote therapy resistance.
“AML and T-cell lymphoma remain very difficult diseases to treat,” says Dr. Mak. “We have identified a set of mutations that these diseases have in common and that may confer specific vulnerabilities. This funding will allow experimental biologists to work closely with leading clinician scientists to develop approaches that will target these vulnerabilities.”
To learn more about the LLS funding announcement, see the press release.