More programs, more candles, more light.





Get the Flash Player to see this player.


Loading the player ...

A Chemo-Genetic Approach to Leukemia Stem Cell Self-Renewal

Guy Sauvageau, Keynote

October 31, 2012
44 minutes
Guy Sauvageau
 

 

Guy Sauvageau is the chief executive officer and founding scientific director of the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) in Montreal where he is heading the Molecular Genetics Stem Cells Laboratory. Beside his dedication to fundamental research, he is also a clinician-scientist specialized in bone marrow transplantation, scientific director of the Leukemia Cell Bank of Québec and professor at Université de Montréal and McGill. His work revealed the importance of developmental genes of the Hox and Pbx families in the regulation of hematopoiesis and their important contribution to myeloid leukemia. He also pioneered studies which demonstrated the critical function of several Polycomb group (PcG) genes such as Bmi1 and Eed in self-renewal divisions of normal and leukemia stem cells. Several of Dr. Sauvageau’s findings are now in the arena of hit identification or optimization for anti-cancer treatments or stem cell expansion, respectively. Of these, the TAT-HOXB4 fusion protein is very promising as it can efficiently penetrate the cellular and nuclear membrane of target HSC and be used as a “growth factor” for these cells. Sauvageau is the leader of the CIHR team grant on HSC expansion, which includes an integrated group of international investigators who are developing new reagents, tools and protocols to initiate phase I clinical trials using recombinant proteins to expand hematopoietic stem cells ex vivo. In recognition of his work, Guy Sauvageau received several national and international awards, such as the Till and McCulloch Award from the international society of hematology (2006), the Stohlman A Scholar from the LLSA (2007) and Till and McCulloch Award from the Canadian Stem Cell Network (2009). He holds the Canada Research Chair in the Molecular Genetics of Stem Cells and in 2010 was appointed fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.