Broadly speaking, Julie Lessard is trying to understand the mechanisms of cancer. But more specifically, her research focuses on blood stem cells. In her laboratory at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC), she has identified a gene – a “therapeutic target” – called BRG1. “We’ve been able to show that this gene is essential for the proliferation of leukemic cells and that the leukemia disappears when it is removed. The interesting thing about BRG1 is that is seems to be specific to cancer, meaning that it plays no role for normal blood stem cells. That is very promising, since it would let us target only cancerous cells, while leaving healthy cells alone.”

Lessard arrived at the IRIC in 2007 after doing postdoctoral work at Stanford University; she was attracted by the Institute’s very innovative concept. “We have the opportunity to partner with pharmaceutical companies, but also have all the technology and infrastructure we need right here at the Institute: chemical compound libraries, robots, animal quarters, experts in medicinal chemistry and in intellectual property. What’s more, the royalties collected can be ploughed back into the sort of high-risk, high-impact studies for which it is extremely difficult to obtain funding in the earliest stages of development.”