Daniel Mobilio –
Undergraduate Science Student, McMaster University

Supervisor: Dr. Sheila Singh

Project: “Uncovering novel small molecule drugs that prevents/blocks the progression of brain metastases”

Generously funded by Taite Boomer Foundation

As someone who has been directly affected by brain tumours, it is my greatest honour to be awarded the Brain Tumour Research Studentship. Due to my personal experience with brain tumours, I am constantly asking, “Why does this disease manifest in patients”, “How does this disease arise”, and “How can better treatments be developed”. With that being said, I am so grateful that the Taite Boomer Foundation has granted me and many other brilliant students with the chance to pursue these questions!

Mid-point update – November 2022

Brain metastasis is the spread of cancer from a primary cancer site to the brain. The process of cancer spreading to another organ is called the metastatic cascade and involves extravasation, intravasation, and migration of cancer cells. This process remains greatly misunderstood and therefore tools that can model this phenomenon is crucial in brain metastasis research. This summer I developed an assay which qualitatively and quantitatively determines the migration ability of cancer cells. With this tool I was able to characterize how novel therapies affect the migration of brain metastasis initiating cells. Through this project a greater understanding of the metastatic cascade and how drugs may perturb this process was achieved.

Final Report – October 2023