Canada's Premier Young Researcher – 2009
Dr. Lynne-Marie PostovitPhD
Assistant Professor
University of Western Ontario
Healthy communication is important – even at the cellular level. Dr. Lynne-Marie Postovit's groundbreaking research is expanding our knowledge of how cells communicate with their immediate environments, and how communication gone awry can lead to disease.
Dr. Postovit is a cell biologist who studies how microenvironmental signals, particularly oxygen levels, influence the behaviour and fate of cancer and stem cells.
During her doctoral training with Dr. Charles Graham at Queen's University, Dr. Postovit discovered that supplying nitric oxide (NO) to cancer cells could block hypoxia-induced phenomena such as metastasis. These findings led to an ongoing clinical trial that is testing NO-releasing medications as a possible prostate cancer treatment. While completing her postdoctoral training with Dr. Mary Hendrix at Northwestern University, Dr. Postovit found that aggressive tumour cells secrete a stem cell protein called Nodal. Research demonstrated that exposing tumour cells to human embryonic stem cell microenvironments blocks the formation of melanoma and breast cancer tumours.
Dr. Postovit plans to continue her research by studying how the low-oxygen environments in tumours promote stem cell-like properties and metastasis in cancer cells.
In addition to conducting cancer research, Dr. Postovit is an assistant professor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Western Ontario.
Canada's Premier Young Researcher Award is a career development prize given to Canada's brightest young researchers at the beginning of their careers. This five-year award represents an incentive for young researchers to pursue their work in Canada. Through this award, CIHR helps ensure that talented, emerging researchers have the support they need to achieve their goals.
Dr. Morag Park, presenter (left), and awardee, Dr. Lynne-Marie Postovit (right).
Dr. Lynne-Marie Postovit, winner of Canada's Premier Young Researcher Award, with Dr. Alain Beaudet, CIHR President (left), and The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health (right).