The Sheila Singh Lab research program is dedicated to applying a developmental neurobiology approach to the study of human brain tumours. As a pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Singh is acutely aware of the needs of patients and clinicians dealing with these diseases and uses that unique perspective to guide her research questions and areas of focus. With this powerful translational research approach, the Sheila Singh Lab is expanding the frontiers of brain cancer research.
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The Sheila Singh Lab is located at McMaster University's Cancer Research Centre, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
The three types of tumours studied by the Sheila Singh Lab are glioblastoma, medulloblastoma and brain metastases. The lab employs a stem cell biology framework to the study of these cancers to identify and target the molecular mechanisms responsible for their development. Their goal is to determine which treatment refractory cells are leading to relapse and recurrence in patients.
Ultimately, Dr. Singh’s goal is to be able to take more targeted and effective therapies back to the clinic. To ensure that all of their findings have the potential to be clinically relevant, the Sheila Singh Lab has cultivated a specialty in developing pre-clinical models and are steadfast in their commitment to working with brain tumour samples direct from human patients.
From left to right: Parvez Vora (Post Doctoral Fellow; 2018 Alumnus), Sheila Singh (Principal Investigator), Chitra Venugopal (Senior Research Associate)
In 2003 and 2004 Dr. Sheila Singh published two seminal papers from her PhD work that uncovered important mechanisms of brain cancer progression and its evasion of standard therapy. From these pioneering discoveries emerged the Sheila Singh Lab with the aim of continuing this important research towards expanding our understanding of brain cancer and how to beat it.
Nature. 2004 Nov 18;432(7015):396-401.
Identification of human brain tumour initiating cells.
Singh SK, Hawkins C, Clarke ID, Squire JA, Bayani J, Hide T, Henkelman RM, Cusimano MD, Dirks PB.
Cancer Res. 2003 Sep 15;63(18):5821-8.
Identification of a cancer stem cell in human brain tumors.
Singh SK, Clarke ID, Terasaki M, Bonn VE, Hawkins C, Squire J, Dirks PB.
Dr. Sheila Singh | Pediatric Neurosurgeon, McMaster Children’s Hospital | Principal Investigator, McMaster Cancer Research Centre
Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery, Room 5029 | McMaster University | 1280 Main Street West | Hamilton, Ontario L8S4K1