Appointments:
Professor and Associate Director, Research, College of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Professions, Dalhousie University (primary appointment); Cross-Appointment, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University; Cross Appointment, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University; Affiliated Research Staff, Pediatrics – Hematology/Oncology, IWK Health Centre; Past President, Canadian Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Affiliations:
Dalhousie University and IWK Health Centre
Research Interests:
Pharmacokinetics, personalized medicine, pharmacogenomics, chemotherapy, breast cancer, childhood cancers, cell culture, clinical research, animal research, pharmacology, drug resistance, drug metabolism, drug transport, adverse drug responses
I have over 27 years’ experience as a pharmacologist with expertise in pharmacokinetics, drug metabolism, drug transport and cancer pharmacology. My research approaches include studies in cells, animals, and humans. I am currently researching the pharmacology of a group of natural product molecules called jadomycins with the goal of determining their usefulness in treating drug-resistant metastatic breast cancer. My second research area is pharmacogenomics and precision medicine, which aims to identify genetic biomarkers of severe adverse drug responses (ADRs) in children receiving chemotherapies, with the goal of improving treatments and preventing ADRs. Within this area my current focus is on understanding the genetic predictors and mechanisms leading to asparaginase-induced pancreatitis.
Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba
What brought you to your current institution? I came to Dalhousie University in 1999 to complete a Post-Doctoral Fellowship with Dr. Ken Renton in the Department of Pharmacology, which ultimately led to a Faculty Position in Pharmacokinetics (my dream job) in the College of Pharmacy, where I remain today.
Learn More about my research: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=-TYQExoAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate
Involvement with BHCRI to date:
I have been an Associate Member of the BHCRI from 2013-2019 and a Senior Scientist since 2019. I have supervised 4 CRTP graduate trainees and 2 undergraduate students funded through the BHCRI. I served as a member of the CRTP Scientific Review Committee from 2014-2018 and the New Investigator Awards Panel in 2020-21. I have attended and served as a poster judge at the 2014, 2016, 1018 and 2022 BHCRI Cancer Research Conferences.
Phone:
(902) 494-2052
Email:
Website:
www.dal.ca/faculty/health/pharmacy/faculty-staff/faculty/graduate-faculty/kerry-goralski.html
Contact:
College of Pharmacy, Dalhousie University, 5968 College Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 4R2
Publications:
Robertson, A.W., MacLeod, J.M., MacIntyre, L.W., Forget, S.M., Hall, S.R., Bennett, L.G., Correa, H., Kerr, R.G., Goralski, K.B. & Jakeman, D.L. Post Polyketide Synthase Carbon-Carbon Bond Formation in Type-II PKS-Derived Natural Products from Streptomyces venezuelae. J Org Chem 83, 1876-1890 (2018).
Hall, S.R. & Goralski, K.B. ZATT, TDP2, and SUMO2: breaking the tie that binds TOP2 to DNA. Translational Cancer Research 7, S439-S444 (2018).
Forget, S.M., Robertson, A.W., Hall, S.R., MacLeod, J.M., Overy, D.P., Kerr, R.G., Goralski, K.B. & Jakeman, D.L. Isolation of a jadomycin incorporating L-ornithine, analysis of antimicrobial activity and jadomycin reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. J Antibiot (Tokyo) 71, 722-730 (2018).
Hall, S.R., Toulany, J., Bennett, L.G., Martinez-Farina, C.F., Robertson, A.W., Jakeman, D.L. & Goralski, K.B. Jadomycins Inhibit Type II Topoisomerases and Promote DNA Damage and Apoptosis in Multidrug-Resistant Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 363, 196-210 (2017).
Hall, S.R., Blundon, H.L., Ladda, M.A., Robertson, A.W., Martinez-Farina, C.F., Jakeman, D.L. & Goralski, K.B. Jadomycin breast cancer cytotoxicity is mediated by a copper-dependent, reactive oxygen species-inducing mechanism. Pharmacol Res Perspect 3, e00110 (2015).
Issa, M.E., Hall, S.R., Dupuis, S.N., Graham, C.L., Jakeman, D.L. & Goralski, K.B. Jadomycins are cytotoxic to ABCB1-, ABCC1-, and ABCG2-overexpressing MCF7 breast cancer cells. Anticancer Drugs 25, 255-269 (2014).
Dupuis, S.N., Robertson, A.W., Veinot, T., Monro, S.M.A., Douglas, S.E., Syvitski, R.T., Goralski, K.B., McFarland, S.A. & Jakeman, D.L. Synthetic diversification of natural products: semi-synthesis and evaluation of triazole jadomycins. Chemical Science 3, 1640-1644 (2012).