Kelly Pike

Biography

Dr. K. Pike obtained a PhD in Immunology from the University of Toronto in 2005. In 2006, she joined the laboratory of Dr. A. Pawson at the Samuel Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto as a post-doctoral fellow, where she investigated protein signaling networks in lymphocyte progenitors. Dr. Pike then joined the laboratory of Dr. M.L. Tremblay at the Goodman Cancer Research Center at McGill University in 2010. Her research examined the regulation of cytokine driven gene expression programs by the protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) in immune cells. The PTPs TC-PTP and PTP1B were discovered to impede the induction of pro-inflammatory gene signatures downstream of cytokine receptors involved in lymphocyte development or anti-inflammatory responses.

Research Interest

While cytokines play a critical role in maintaining homeostasis in the gut, dysregulation of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine networks contribute to the pathology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Given Dr. Pike`s experience in the field of immunology and cytokine biology, she joined the team at Inception Sciences Canada in Montreal in 2016, where her current research activities are focused on basic discovery and pre-clinical testing of novel drug targets for the treatment of IBD.