Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. John Lewis Laboratory, Department of Oncology, University of Alberta
I completed my undergraduate studies in 2003 at the University of Victoria with a biology major, microbiology minor and co-op distinction. After graduation, I worked as a research technician at the University of Alberta investigating how poxviruses control cellular apoptosis. In 2004 I took on a more senior technician position to study hepatitis C virus replication. While I enjoyed the practical aspect of laboratory research I wanted for more academic freedom. I therefore pursued doctoral studies with Dr. Edan Foley in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology. During my doctoral studies I independently designed, performed and analyzed the first whole genome RNAi screen in Western Canada. In this screen I identified many novel regulators of Drosophila innate immune responses and transitioned my findings into an immune relevant model, the Drosophila posterior midgut. I then established advanced microscopy techniques to visualize the genetic controls of intestinal stem cell proliferation in response to entropathogenic infection.
During my graduate studies I became interested in the signaling events that guide cellular proliferation and identity. These same signaling pathways are often abrogated in cancer leading to a loss of cell identity and uncontrolled cell proliferation, two important hallmarks of cancer. Upon completion of my PhD, I sought out postdoctoral fellowship opportunities that would let me expand my interest in cell signaling in the context of cancer biology with an emphasis on developing practical solutions in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. To this end, I joined Dr. John Lewis’s Translational Prostate Cancer Research Program in the Department of Oncology in 2013. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Lewis lab I use real-time intravital imaging of the tumor microenvironment to investigate the critical steps of cancer progression and to dissect the molecular networks that regulate prostate cancer cell metastasis.
Relevant Publications
Stoletov,K., Bond, D., Hebron, K., Raha, S., Zijlstra, A., Lewis, J.D. Metastasis as a therapeutic target in prostate cancer: a conceptual framework. Am J Clin Exp Urol 2014;2(1):45-56.
Bond, D., and Foley, E. (2012). Autocrine Platelet-derived Growth Factor-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-related (Pvr) Pathway Activity Controls Intestinal Stem Cell Proliferation in the Adult Drosophila Midgut. The Journal of Biological Chemistry 287, 27359-27370.
Bond, D., and Foley, E. (2009). A quantitative RNAi screen for JNK modifiers identifies Pvr as a novel regulator of Drosophila immune signaling. PLoS Pathogens 5, e1000655.