Featured Researcher

Marc Tischkowitz is young MD and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Medical Genetics and Oncology at McGill University. He is working under his mentor Dr. William Foulkes at Lady Davis Institute at Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. A major goal of the Rethink research program is to increase the number of clinician scientists in Canada. There is practically no funding in Canada for clinicians interested in pursuing breast cancer research. Clinicians bring a unique perspective to breast cancer research because they have an intimate awareness of patient issues.

We are excited to offer clinicians, like Marc, the opportunity to stay in the research field and make an impact. Marc is examining the Charactersation of the Fanconi Anemia and Bloom Syndrome genes in sporadic and hereditary cancer. His project is using several different approaches to determine the role of the Fanconi Anemia and Bloom Syndrome genes role in breast cancer predisposition and treatment response. Most breast cancer occurs sporadically (by chance) but approximately 5% of cases are due to a strong genetic predisposition.

Over the last decade two of the genes that cause a familial susceptibility to breast cancer have been found and these are called BRCA1 and BRCA2. However, there are many families with a strong history of breast cancer where no BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation has been identified implying that there must be other predisposition genes. Marc is looking at the possibility that that an individual with a mutation in one copy of the FA/BS genes is at increased risk of breast cancer and that these genes may influence response to chemotherapy.

To read more about the researchers currently funded by Rethink Breast Cancer, click here.