Supervisor:
Co-supervisor:
Dr. Ketan Kulkarni
Program of Study:
Postdoctoral Fellow, Pharmacology
Project Title:
Exploring pharmacogenomic and pharmacokinetic properties of PEG-asparaginase in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) to inform optimal therapy
Research Summary:
The most common type of childhood cancer is called Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
(ALL), a cancer of the white blood cells. PEG-Asparaginase is a common medication that is used to treat children with ALL. PEG-Asparaginase is a very helpful medication in most children.
However, in some children it can cause harmful side effects because it activates the immune
system when we don’t want it to. Sometimes, this immune system activation can lead to a life threatening allergic reaction called anaphylactic shock. At other times, this immune system
activation can break down the medication so that it no longer works to kill the cancer
cells. The goal of my research is to determine if patients that have been given PEG-Asparaginase
have immune factors called antibodies in their blood, and to determine whether or not these
antibodies change the way this medication works. We also plan to look at each patient’s
genetic material, or DNA, to determine if their unique genetic makeup influences how they react
to PEG-Asparaginase treatment. The plan is to use this information to help us to better
understand why PEG-Asparaginase treatment is safe in some patients, but harmful in others.
With this information we may be able administer each patient personalized treatments that work
best for them. Overall, we hope to make cancer treatments, like PEG-Asparaginase, as effective
and safe as possible for every child with ALL.
Scholarships and/or Awards:
- Cancer Research Training Program (CRTP) Traineeship Award 2021
- Killam Predoctoral Scholarship (Level 2), Sept. 2013- Current
- Cancer Research Training Program (CRTP) Traineeship Award, Sept. 2013
- President’s Award, Dalhousie, Sept. 2013- Current
- Gregory R. Ferrier Award, Best MSc. Research Seminar, July 9th 2013
- DeWolfe Graduate Scholarship, Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation. Sept. 2012- Sept. 2013
- Frederick Banting and Charles Best Master’s Award, CIHR. Sept. 2012- Sept. 2013
- Biology Medal – Highest overall marks in Biology, Dalhousie University, 2012
- Sarah Lawson Research Scholarship, Dalhousie University, 2011
- Best Oral Presentation, Canadian Botanical Association, APICS Conference, Halifax NS, 2011
- First Prize, Oral Category, Northeast Undergraduate Research and Development Symposium (NURDs), Maine MD, 2011
- Gary Hicks Memorial Award, Dalhousie University, 2010
- Sarah Lawson Research Scholarship, Dalhousie University, 2010
Career Aspirations:
Jaime Wertman began her scientific career with a productive honours degree studying programmed cell death (PCD) in plants under the supervision of Dr. Gunawardena. Following this, Jaime came to the Department of Pharmacology at Dalhousie in January of 2012 to study in the lab of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) investigator Dr. Denis Dupré. Jaime successfully defended her MSc. thesis in August 2012, examining the role of the chemokine GPCR CXCR4 and the antioxidant molecule SOD1 in prostate cancer spread, or metastasis. Jaime is now continuing her education with Dr. Dupré, this time examining the epigenetic changes that could alter the expression of GPCRs and their associated proteins in a cancer state. Jaime hopes that this research will provide insight into the multitude of changes that occur in a disease state, and how a single genome can be differentially expressed in both normal and cancerous cells. Ultimately, Jaime strives to contribute to the cancer research field by continuing to conduct primary research and eventually by training new researchers as a primary investigator.
Location:
Dalhousie University
Publications:
Gillies, K.*, Wertman, J.N.*, Charette, N., Holland, P., Dupré, D.J. (2013) Anterograde trafficking of CXCR4 and CCR2 receptors in a prostate cancer cell line. Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry. 32(1):74-85. *Authors contributed equally
Wertman, J.N. and Dupré, D.J. (2012) G protein-coupled receptor dimers: Look like their parents, but act like teenagers! Journal of Receptors and Signal Transduction. 33(3):135-8.
Dupré, D.J., Hammad, M.M., Holland, P.H., Wertman, J.N. (2012) Role of Chaperones in G protein coupled receptor signalling complex assembly. In Dupré, D.J., Hébert, T.E., Jockers, R. (Eds.) GPCR Signalling Complexes – Synthesis, Assembly, Trafficking and Specificity. Springer.
Wertman, J.N., Lord, C.E.N., Dauphinee, A.N. and Gunawardena, A.H.L.A.N. The pathway of cell dismantling during programmed cell death in lace plant (Aponogeton madagascariensis) leaves. BMC Plant Biology. 12:115 (25 July 2012) • Highly accessed • BMC press release prior to publication
Lord, C.E.N., Wertman, J.N., Lane, S.L., and Gunawardena, A.H.L.A.N. (2011) Do mitochondria play a role in remodelling lace plant leaves during programmed cell death? BMC Plant Biology. 11:102 (6 June 2011) • Highly accessed