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Dr. Aaron Schimmer
New therapies for leukemia |
Dr. Schimmer is a staff physician in the department of Hematology/Oncology at the Princess Margaret Hospital, a scientist at The Campbell Family Institute and the head of Experimental Hematology at the University of Toronto.
His lab is skilled in chemical biology and focuses on drug discovery with a particular interest on the cell death pathway. Using automated and robotic equipment, chemical compounds are screened to identify those that will bind to the cancer targets.
Dr. Schimmer is a strong proponent of ‘drug recycling’ where off-patent drugs are screened and tested to see what effects they have on cancer targets. This approach to drug development can be successful and highly efficient, as the toxicity and side effects related to the use of the drug in humans is already documented and well-understood.
Dr. Schimmer is the author of over 55 papers, holds three patents, and is the principal investigator on five clinical trials of novel agents targeting the cell death pathway. He has received over 30 awards and honours for academic achievement including an award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation for the best young scientists. In 2007, he was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40. |