Dr. Ellen Langille Awarded the Barbara Vivash Award

On October 7, 2024, we celebrated Dr. Ellen Langille, the recipient of the 2022-2023 Barbara Vivash Award. Langille, under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Schramek, presented her thesis titled "In vivo screening for regulation of mammary tumor initiation". She is currently affiliated with Sinai Health's Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute.

The Barbara Vivash Award celebrates PhD theses' that contribute to our understanding of genetic mechanisms, emphasizing research that explores genetic mechanisms critical to understanding biological and medical functions, such as disease progression and cellular regulation.

Langille's award-winning research used a CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis screen to find key tumour suppressor genes (EpiDrivers) in breast cancer, such as KDM6A and BAP1. These genes cooperate with PIK3CAH1047R, transforming breast epithelial cells and speeding up tumour growth. Mutations in these (EpiDrivers) genes appear in about 39% of breast cancers, highlighting their role in early cancer and the potential for targeted treatment.

Barbara Vivash, the visionary behind the award, joined us virtually and delivered her congratulatory speech, where she shared her experience of establishing the Barbara Vivash Award in 2009, expressing gratitude to past and present chairs of the department: “I’m very grateful to the past chair, Dr. Leah Cowan, and current chair, Tim Hughes, for their support.” She highlighted the quality of the candidates, adding, “John and I were continually impressed with the extraordinary candidates selected by the Molecular Genetics Department Executive Committee.”

Barbara also fondly recalled her conversation with Dr. Howard Lipshitz, “We marvelled that these incredibly brilliant students were also, without fail, just incredibly nice people.” She closed with words of encouragement: “The curiosity, perseverance, and dedication you have exhibited... will no doubt continue and change and improve lives.”

Finally, she welcomed the latest recipient, Dr. Ellen Langille, with admiration, “It is my honour and delight to formally welcome another brilliant young woman to the ranks of the Barbara Vivash Award recipients.”

We extend our congratulations to Ellen and gratitude to everyone who attended. Let's continue to support innovative research in our department.

Learn more about our awards.