Dr. Emma Allen-Vercoe: The Importance of Microbes to Human HealthIn a recent podcast by the Centre for Inquiry Canada, Emma Allen-Vercoe talks about the importance of microbiome research and how she became involved in the OPTIMISTICC project.
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Future Leaders Conference
OPTIMISTICC Trainees Attend CGC Future Leaders Conference in Barcelona From Nov. 2-4, 2022, 14 OPTIMISTICC trainees joined members of other Cancer Grand Challenges Teams in Barcelona, Spain for the 2022 Future Leaders Conference. Drs. Caroline Young and Yasutoshi...
Importance of Patient Engagement in Research
In a recent editorial Laura Porter discusses the importance of patient engagement in research in a publication titled The Importance of Patient Engagement to Improve Healthcare Research and Safety. She not only acknowledges the benefits but also the challenges of...
Western Diet and CRC
In a recent publication Kota Arima and other OPTIMISTICC team members published a paper Western-Style Diet, pks Island-Carrying Escherichia coli, and Colorectal Cancer: Analyses From Two Large Prospective Cohort Studies. Evidence supports a carcinogenic role of...
New review about colorectal cancer and the microbiome
In a recent review by Slater Clay and other OPTIMISTICC team members, titled Colorectal cancer: the facts in the case of the microbiota they review the microbiome’s relevance in the initiation and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). Noting that it is increasingly...
Colorectal Cancer and the Microbiome Webinar
Colorectal Cancer & the MicrobiomeIt’s becoming increasingly clear that colorectal cancer – the third most common cancer worldwide – is intricately linked to microbes in the gut. The OPTIMISTICC team, in collaboration with Colorectal Cancer Canada has produced...
Mr. Barry D Stein received the 2021 Canadian Cancer Research Alliance’s award for Exceptional Leadership in Patient Involvement in Cancer Research.
Barry is the President and CEO of Colorectal Cancer Canada and a patient advocate on our OPTIMISTICC team. He received this award for his tireless efforts to improve treatment access for all cancer patients in Canada by facilitating the engagement of patients in...
Metatranscriptomics (“MTX”) is a powerful method for measuring microbial gene expression
Metatranscriptomics (abbreviated "MTX") is a powerful method for measuring the gene expression (functional activity) of many members of a microbial community all at the same time by using shotgun DNA sequencing technology. In a recent review article, the Huttenhower...
BRAF mutation changes the characteristics of colorectal cancers in a mouse model
In a recent publication, the Sears lab showed that introduction of the BRAFV600E mutation into mice colonized with enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis (ETBF) leads to production of midcolon tumors with similarity to human BRAFV600E tumors and distinct from the...
New Link Between Red Meat Consumption and CRC
The Giannakis and Ogino labs have published a new study in Cancer Discovery that describes a mutational signature associated with high intake of red meat and increased colorectal cancer mortality. The team analyzed whole exome sequencing and...
Organoids and Organs on Chips and the Microbiome: A New Review
In a new review in Cell Host & Microbe, Jens Puschhof and Cayetano Pleguezuelos-Manzano, from the lab of Hans Clevers, describe advances in co-culturing microbes with intestinal and colonic epithelia. Organoid and organ-on-a-chip platforms in particular are...
CRC Screening Guidelines in US to Begin at Age 45
The US Preventive Services Task Force has lowered the age for routine colorectal cancer screening. The recommendation follows months of discussion and input from other societies including the American Cancer Society and many colorectal cancer advocacy organizations. ...