In response to the rapidly emerging COVID-19 global health emergency, Dr. Cherkasov's group has utilized their novel AI-based platform, Deep Docking (DD), with the recently published structure of the COVID-19 Mpro target. They applied DD to process 1.3 billion compounds and within a week had identified the top 1000 potential ligands.
Without AI augmentation, this same work would have taken up to three years.


VCHRI News has featured an article discussing Dr. Flannigan's study of getting prostate cancer patients into a regular exercise routine, with an ongoing study of whether this changes the genetic expression and molecular makeup of their tumor and improves their diagnosis.
Click here to read at VCHRI News; text of the article is below.

Congratulations to Drs. Sorensen and Daugaard on being awarded the Martha’s Better Ewing Sarcoma Treatment (BEST) Grant from St. Baldrick’s Foundation: $1,297,000 ($975,000 US) over the next three years to tackle Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive bone and soft tissue cancer in children and young adults.
Click here to read the UBC Faculty of Medicine News story; the text is also posted below.
Vancouver, British Columbia February 3, 2020 – The Vancouver Prostate Centre is launching a collaboration with Roche and PHEMI Systems aimed at finding new insights into precision medicine and oncology treatment with help from the most advanced technology in data privacy and security.

A recent interview with Dr. Wyatt discussing cell free DNA and circulating tumour DNA in cancer diagnosis has been posted by UroToday. Click here for the interview video and transcript, which was recorded at the 26th Annual Prostate Cancer Foundation Scientific Retreat.

Dr. Amina Zoubeidi has been awarded a five-year CIHR Project grant in the Fall 2019 competition, with her proposal receiving a score of 96%.
The role of the lineage oncogene ASCL1 in treatment-induced neuroendocrine prostate cancer
Principal Investigator: Dr. Amina Zoubeidi
Co-investigators: Dr. Alastair Davies and Dr. Faraz Hach

VCHRI News has featured an article discussing the translational cancer research in Dr. Daugaard's lab investigating a new therapy for childhood solid tumours.

Dr. Lucia Nappi has been appointed Senior Research Scientist at our Centre. Dr. Nappi (MD, PhD) is a medical oncologist with a strong clinical and translational background.

Congratulations to Dr. Wilf Jefferies on being the first Canadian immunologist to be elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Election as a Fellow of the NAI is the highest professional distinction accorded solely to eminent academic inventors.
The Michael Smith Laboratories news post is below; click here to read it at the MSL's website (opens in new window).

Dr. Nada Lallous has been appointed Senior Research Scientist at our Centre. She discusses the role of our Centre's new protein bioengineering core (enabled in part by CFI and BC-KDF funding) in the latest VCH News.