Tamra Werbowetski-ogilvie
Associate Professor
Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics
Canada
Biography
Dr. Tamra Werbowetski-Ogilvie received her HSBc of Science in Biology at the University Western Ontario in 2000. She completed her PhD in the Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University in 2005. Dr. Werbowetski-Ogilvie completed her postdoctoral training at McMaster University in the area of human embryonic stem cells in 2010 under the supervision of Dr. Mick Bhatia following which she joined the University of Manitoba as a Principal Investigator in the Department of Biochemistry & Medical Genetics and the Regenerative Medicine Program in November, 2010. Dr. Werbowetski-Ogilvie currently holds a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Neuro-Oncology and Human Stem Cells.
Research Interest
Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are among the most prevalent forms of childhood cancers accounting for nearly 20% of all new cases (Canadian Cancer Society Statistics, 2015). Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant primary pediatric brain tumor and is currently divided into 4 distinct molecular subtypes.: WNT, SHH, Group 3 and Group 4. Extensive genetic, molecular and clinical heterogeneity between these subgroups has made it difficult to assess the functional relevance of genes to tumor progression. The Werbowetski-Ogilvie lab employs high throughput flow cytometry-based screening platforms to identify and subsequently characterize novel roles for cell surface markers in regulating diverse medulloblastoma phenotypes both in vitro and in vivo. Utilizing a wide variety of functional assays including measures of self-renewal, differentiation, invasion and proliferation in vitro as well as tumor growth in vivo using xenograft models, the lab is currently investigating the role of CD271, also known as p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) or nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR), in regulating stem cell properties of SHH variant medulloblastoma cells.
Publications
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Coudière Morrison M, McClelland R*, Aiken C, Bridges M, Wang X, Del Bigio MR, Taylor MD, Werbowetski-Ogilvie TE. 2013. Deconstruction of medulloblastoma cellular heterogeneity reveals differences between the most highly invasive and self-renewing phenotypes. Neoplasia, 15(4):384-398.
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Kaur R, Coudière Morrison L, Aiken C, Rao R, Del Biogio MR, Rampalli S, Werbowetski-Ogilvie TE. 2015. OTX2 exhibits cell context-dependent effects on cellular and molecular properties of human embryonic neural precursors and medulloblastoma cells. Disease Models & Mechanisms, 8(10): 1295-1309.
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Liang L, Aiken C, McClelland R, Coudière Morrison L, Tatari N, Remke M, Ramaswamy V, Issaivanan M, Ryken T, Del Bigio MR, Taylor M, Werbowetski-Ogilvie T. 2015. Characterization of novel biomarkers for subtype-specific medulloblastoma cell phenotypes. Oncotarget, 6(36): 38881-38900.
