Mount Sinai experts, including Dr. Steven Gallinger, were part of an international team that made headlines for their groundbreaking colon cancer finding. The group of scientists from Ontario, Newfoundland, Seattle, Scotland, and France discovered a specific variation on chromosome 8 that is associated with colon cancer. The new breakthrough has the potential to change how people are screened for the disease.

Dr. John Roder, Principal Investigator at the Lunenfeld, demonstrated for the first time that the malfunction of a gene called DISC 1, previously associated with schizophrenia and depression, does indeed cause symptoms of these disorders. Dr. Roder shared his personal story of his son’s diagnosis of schizophrenia with media outlets nationwide. When Dr. Roder learned that his son, Nathan, had schizophrenia he decided to shift the focus of his research from cancer biology to chase answers to the elusive biological cause of schizophrenia.

Dr. John Kingdom, Principal Investigator at the Lunenfeld and Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital, and his team discovered that a simple non-invasive, real-time ultrasound exam looking at a woman’s placenta can help determine if she will have a healthy pregnancy. This team found that when blood flow to the fetus was reduced, but placental shape and size was normal, the mother could expect a healthy pregnancy.

Dr. Andrea Jurisicova, Canada Research Chair in Molecular and Reproductive Medicine at the Lunenfeld and assistant professor at University of Toronto, revealed pre-conception exposure to environmental pollutants (commonly found in cigarette smoke) diminishes the fertility of mothers’ future offspring.

Principal Investigator at the Lunenfeld Dr. Dan Durocher and two research trainees found a gene that works as a guide for a protein called BRCA1. It repairs damaged DNA known to cause breast cancer and is responsible for five to 10 per cent of all breast and ovarian cancer cases.


Dr. Katrina MacAulay paved the way toward new treatments for Type 2 diabetes when she discovered a ‘genetic roadblock’ to improve blood sugar regulation. Dr. MacAulay was inspired to become a medical researcher specializing in diabetes because her sister, Ailsa MacAulay, suffers from this disease.