by Krista Conger on May 6, 2020 3:43 pm

ROELAND NUSSE, professor of developmental biology, has received Canadas Gairdner International Awardfor his work on understanding the role of the Wnt signaling pathway in normal development and in cancer.

The Wnt pathway is made up of proteins, including one called Wnt, that transmit signals from outside the cell to the inside to trigger biological functions including gene expression and cell division.

Roeland Nusse was honored with Canadas Gairdner International Award for his work on the Wnt signaling pathway, which plays an important role in normal development and in cancer. (Image credit: Norbert von der Groeben)

The award recognizes excellence in fundamental research that affects human health.

Recipients receive 100,000 Canadian dollars (about $72,000) to use as they wish; Nusse plans to donate his award toUNICEF to help provide protective equipment for health care workers caring for children amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. Nusse is the Reed-Hodgson Professor in Human Biology and the Virginia and Daniel K. Ludwig Professor in Cancer Research.

In 1982, Nusse collaborated withHarold Varmus, then a professor in microbiology and immunology at the University of California, San Francisco, to identify Wnt as a critical cancer-associated gene in a mouse model of breast cancer. Nusse went on to show that the analogous gene in fruit flies, Wingless, plays an important role in regulating normal development. The finding highlighted the connections between normal development and cancer.

More recently, Nusse has focused his research on understanding how Wnt signaling regulates the activity of tissue-specific adult stem cells in response to injury or disease. In 2016, Nusse was awarded a $3million Breakthrough Prizefor his work on Wnt signaling.

Read the full article on the Stanford Medicine website.

Originally posted here:
Roeland Nusse receives Canada's Gairdner International Award | The Dish - Stanford University News