Biography:

Dr. Paola Marcato obtained her BSc (Cell Biotechnology) and PhD (Medical Microbiology and Immunology) from the University of Alberta. Dr. Marcato went on to complete postdoctoral training on cancer research with Dr. Patrick Lee at Dalhousie University. In 2012, Dr. Marcato started a breast cancer research laboratory at Dalhousie University.  The research projects in Dr. Marcato’s laboratory have the long-term goal of developing improved therapeutic strategies for breast cancer based on a precision medicine approach. They use transcriptome and genome-wide functional assays, cell lines, patient-derived xenografts (PDXs), mouse tumor models, and analysis of published patient datasets to identify biomarkers, study breast cancer stem cells (CSCs) and understand factors important in breast cancer progression. These factors include epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation and long non-coding RNA.