Samir M. Assaf

Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Samir Michel Assaf, Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary.

I am a PhD student co-supervised by Dr. Samuel Weiss and Dr. Artee Luchman at the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute at the University of Calgary. The Weiss lab utilizes patient-derived glioblastoma brain tumor stem cells as a model to better understand genetic, epigenetic, and transcriptomic mechanisms that contribute to glioblastoma pathogenesis and therapeutic resistance. My research focusses on elucidating the mechanism through which disruption of the catalytic activity of the histone methyltransferase, DOT1L, alters the chromatin landscape of glioblastoma stem cells to promote a neuronal-like state. By understanding the mechanism by which this glioblastoma neuronal-like state originates and bi-directionally communicates with its normal neural counterparts, I hope to shed light on potential therapeutic strategies that bridge epigenetic dysregulation and neuromodulation to target glioblastoma stem cells.