Angela Burleigh
Education:
PhD, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia (expected completion Dec 2010).
BSc, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, 2005.
Research Interests:
Stromal-epithelial interactions have been implicated in all stages of normal mammary gland development and in breast cancer. Although fibroblasts always constitute a large portion of the cells present in the stroma, their functional relationship to the growth and behavior of mammary epithelial cells is ill defined. Using RNA interference screening, we systemically interrogated the role of every gene contained within the NCBI RefSeq database in an in vitro model of this relationship thus creating a comprehensive profile of genes functionally required for mammary epithelial cell growth. Validation studies in primary cells are currently underway to determine if these genes have specific effects on the growth of mammary progenitor cells.
PhD Funding sources:
NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship
CIBC Interdisciplinary Studentship in Breast Cancer Research
MSFHR Junior Graduate Studentship