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Jeff Wrana

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Jeff Wrana
Born
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
AwardsPaul Marks Prize for Cancer Research (2005)
Academic background
EducationBSc, 1984, PhD, Biochemistry, 1991, University of Toronto
ThesisRegulation of connective tissue cells by transforming growth factor-[beta] (1991)
Academic work
Institutions

Jeffrey L. Wrana is a Canadian cancer researcher. He is the CIBC Breast Cancer Research Scientist and Mary Janigan Research Chair in Molecular Cancer Therapeutic at Mount Sinai Hospital and University of Toronto (U of T). As a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Medical Genetics and Microbiology at U of T, Wrana was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Early life and education

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Wrana is a native to Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.[1] He completed his Bachelor of Science degree at the University College, Toronto in 1984[2] and his PhD in 1991 at the University of Toronto (U of T).[3] Following his PhD, Wrana completed his postdoctoral training at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center from 1990 to 1995.[4] As a postdoctoral fellow, he wrote a seminal paper explaining how one signalling rogue molecule in cancers could communicate with other cells.[1]

Career

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Following his postdoctoral fellowship, Wrana accepted a research position at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Working alongside Liliana Attisano, Wrana co-discovered that the mutation of the MADR2 gene was responsible for some forms of colon cancer.[5] Upon accepting a professorship position at his alma mater, Wrana began focusing on the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-) family of cell signalling proteins that regulate cell growth and function. In his laboratory, Wrana helped to define the components of the TGF-ß signalling pathway and determine how its receptors are internalized by cells.[6] Beyond U of T, Wrana also continued to work as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Research Scholar.[7] Wrana's efforts were recognized with the 2005 Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.[6] He was also awarded a seven-year Tier 1 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Medical Genetics and Microbiology at U of T.[8] In his first year as a CRC, Wrana was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada's Division of Life Sciences.[9]

In 2009, Wrana and colleague Ian Taylor developed Dynamic Network Modularity (Dynemo), a biological model that could help physicians predict whether a woman is more likely to survive and recover from breast cancer:[10][11][12] it achieved this by analysing how proteins and other components within cancer cells interact with each other in order to form networks,[10][13][14] and how alterations of these processes could have an impact on tumorigenesis,[15] as well as the usage of specific drugs in oncological therapies.[13][15] His efforts were recognised with the Premier's 2010 Summit Award for Medical Research.[16] Wrana later collaborated with Andras Nagy at Mount Sinai Hospital on a new stem cell project. After Nagy discovered a new method to create pluripotent stem cells without disrupting healthy genes, their laboratories discovered ways to improve the efficiency of stem cell creation for use in tissue regeneration.[17] In a mouse model of breast cancer, Wrana's research team also found that expression of the Cd81 protein in cancer-associated fibroblasts induced exosomal trafficking of Wnt11 to cancer cells, promoting metastasis through induction of the core planar cell polarity pathway.[18]

In 2015, Wrana was appointed the inaugural CIBC Scientist in Breast Cancer Research at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute.[19] In this role, he began investigating how different cells contribute to gut development and maintenance. By 2018, Wrana and his postdoctoral fellow had co-discovered a new type of cell in the intestinal lining that they called the "revival stem cell". This new cell, which is only active for 24 hours, is responsible for creating new adult stem cells when the intestinal lining is damaged and functions to rebuild the intestinal lining.[20][21] He was recognised with the 2018 McLaughlin Medal from the Royal Society of Canada for his "pivotal contributions to our understanding of biology, human diseases, and its treatment" and his leadership in the promotion of "Canadian science through collaborative research facilities and international impact."[22]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wrana used his laboratory and resources to assist in analysing thousands of COVID-19 tests across Ontario. In August 2020, his research team used the robotics platform to screen thousands of positive samples for variants by rapidly sequencing fingerprint regions of the viral genome to look for key mutations.[23] The following year, Wrana was a co-investigator in a project aimed at analysing 10,000 COVID-19 tests at once through C19-SPAR-Seq.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b Ogilvie, Megan (March 7, 2009). "Our science superheroes: The xy-Men" (PDF). Toronto Star. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 16, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  2. ^ "Alumni of Influence: Jeff Wrana". University College, Toronto. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  3. ^ "Dr. Jeffrey Wrana". University of Western Ontario. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  4. ^ "Jeffrey L. Wrana, PhD". Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  5. ^ "Gene tied to types of colon cancer". The Vancouver Sun. August 26, 1996. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b "Young Investigators Celebrated at Award Ceremony". by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. 2005. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  7. ^ "The 2006 International Research Scholars from Canada and Latin America". Howard Hughes Medical Institute. November 1, 2006. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  8. ^ Fraumeni, Paul (November 10, 2005). "U of T's Canada Research Chairs now at 206 13 new chairs announced". University of Toronto. Archived from the original on March 22, 2006. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  9. ^ "Symposium Celebrating New Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada". University of Toronto. 2007. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  10. ^ a b Taylor, Ian W.; Linding, Rune; Warde-Farley, David; Liu, Yongmei; Pesquita, Catia; Faria, Daniel; Bull, Shelley; Pawson, Tony; Morris, Quaid; Wrana, Jeffrey L. (February 1, 2009). "Dynamic modularity in protein interaction networks predicts breast cancer outcome". Nature Biotechnology. 27 (2): 199–204. doi:10.1038/nbt.1522. ISSN 1546-1696. PMID 19182785. S2CID 11594017. Archived from the original on March 18, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  11. ^ Yue, Rongting; Dutta, Abhishek (October 3, 2022). "Computational systems biology in disease modeling and control, review and perspectives". npj Systems Biology and Applications. 8 (1): 37. doi:10.1038/s41540-022-00247-4. ISSN 2056-7189. PMC 9528884. PMID 36192551.
  12. ^ Millar-Wilson, Andrew; Ward, Órla; Duffy, Eolann; Hardiman, Gary (October 26, 2022). "Multiscale modeling in the framework of biological systems and its potential for spaceflight biology studies". iScience. 25 (11): 105421. Bibcode:2022iSci...25j5421M. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105421. ISSN 2589-0042. PMC 9663911. PMID 36388986.
  13. ^ a b Ubelacker, Sheryl (February 1, 2009). "Researchers develop promising technology for breast cancer". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  14. ^ "New technology holds promise for predicting breast cancer recovery". CBC.ca. February 2, 2009. Archived from the original on March 18, 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  15. ^ a b Csermely, Peter; Korcsmáros, Tamás; Kiss, Huba J.M.; London, Gábor; Nussinov, Ruth (February 4, 2013). "Structure and dynamics of molecular networks: A novel paradigm of drug discovery: A comprehensive review". Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 138 (3): 333–408. doi:10.1016/j.pharmthera.2013.01.016. ISSN 0163-7258. PMC 3647006. PMID 23384594.
  16. ^ "Science at the Summit: $5 million Premier's Summit Awards go to leaders in stem cell and cancer research". May 19, 2010. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  17. ^ "Scientists uncover important clues in the biology of stem cells". Lab Canada. August 12, 2010. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  18. ^ Luga, Valbona; Zhang, Liang; Viloria-Petit, Alicia M.; Ogunjimi, Abiodun A.; Inanlou, Mohammad R.; Chiu, Elaine; Buchanan, Marguerite; Hosein, Abdel Nasser; Basik, Mark; Wrana, Jeffrey L. (December 21, 2012). "Exosomes mediate stromal mobilization of autocrine Wnt-PCP signaling in breast cancer cell migration". Cell. 151 (7): 1542–1556. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2012.11.024. ISSN 1097-4172. PMID 23260141.
  19. ^ "Leading Mount Sinai researcher is the first CIBC Scientist in Breast Cancer Research". Mount Sinai Hospital. October 24, 2014. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  20. ^ "Dr. Jeff Wrana and team follow a gut feeling and discover a new type of stem cell". Mount Sinai Hospital. April 24, 2019. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  21. ^ Ayyaz, A.; Kumar, S.; Sangiorgi, B.; Ghoshal, B.; Gosio, J.; Ouladan, S.; Fink, M.; Barutcu, S.; Trcka, D.; Shen, J.; Chan, K.; Wrana, J. L.; Gregorieff, A. (April 24, 2019). "Single-cell transcriptomes of the regenerating intestine reveal a revival stem cell". Nature. 569 (7754): 121–125. Bibcode:2019Natur.569..121A. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1154-y. PMID 31019301. S2CID 256770662. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  22. ^ "Dr. Jeff Wrana awarded major prize for contributions to cancer research". Mount Sinai Hospital. September 18, 2018. Archived from the original on April 16, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  23. ^ Allen, Kate (August 10, 2020). "Can researchers find a way to run 10,000 COVID-19 tests at once? A team in Toronto is trying". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  24. ^ "Automated, next generation sequencing platform can accurately screen thousands for COVID-19". Mount Sinai Hospital. March 3, 2021. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
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