Dr. Peter Stirling
Scientist, Terry Fox Laboratory, BC Cancer Agency
Assistant Professor, Medical Genetics, UBC
The Stirling lab is interested in how cells maintain their genomes in the face of endogenous and exogenous damage. Increased mutation or aneuploidy rates can be initiated by somatic mutations or environmental stimuli, both of which create conditions that predispose individuals to cancer formation. While genome instability serves as a cause of cancer, it is also routinely exploited by therapies that damage DNA in the potentially sensitized background of a cancer genome. Primarily using yeast as a model, the lab applies genetic screens, genome-wide analyses, deep-sequencing and traditional mechanistic studies to elucidate mechanisms of genome instability and identify associated cellular activities that might be exploited for therapeutic benefit.
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