Windsor RIOT

Isabelle Hinch is a PhD candidate at the University of Windsor studying how normal development becomes abnormal leading to cancer formation. Particularity her interests lie in understanding postpartum breast cancer, an aggressive subtype of breast cancer arising following childbirth. Beyond using in vivo models of susceptibility, she seeks to anchor biomedical marker discovery in patient perspectives in early detection through mixed methods analysis. 

Nick Philbin’s a PhD Candidate at the University of Windsor studying the role of different cell cycle proteins in the regulation of Breast Cancer Stem cells (BCSCs) in Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) patients. Importantly, BCSCs are capable of driving tumour growth and treatment resistance with a single BCSC capable of reforming a tumour following treatment. This research could contribute to the identification of proteins which drive this cell population and the possibility of targeting these proteins as future potential treatment avenues for this patient demographic. 

Kiara Roncone is a first year Master's candidate at the University of Windsor studying postpartum breast cancer, an aggressive subtype of breast cancer that arises following childbirth. Her project focuses on establishing an early detection platform by utilizing liquid biopsies to identify postpartum breast cancer biomarkers. Her research strives to uncover earlier detection methods to improve the outcomes for younger women. 

Jeffery Martin is a second year Master's candidate in Biological Sciences at the University of Windsor in Dr. Lisa Porter's lab. He focuses on studying the progression of prostate cancer and using drugs to prevent the progression of disease with in vitro models. He also has a collaboration with Windsor Regional Hospital to use patient samples to try and develop new biomarkers to detect advanced prostate cancer cases." 

Vanessa Riolo is a first year Master's candidate at the University of Windsor studying the cellular dynamics within glioblastoma (GBM), a lethal stage four brain tumour with very poor prognosis. Vanessa studies the most aggressive subtype of glioblastoma to investigate how glioma stem cells are regulated by cell cycle proteins to fuel aggressiveness. Her project uses 2D and 3D cultures to assess potential combination therapies that may reveal molecular vulnerabilities of these subpopulations.

Christian Kassa is a first-year Master's candidate in Dr. Porter's Lab at the University of Windsor that studies the role of cell proliferation in prostate cancer progression. In particular, I focus on using cell cycle inhibitor drugs called CDK inhibitors to treat aggressive types of prostate cancer.