Burkitt's Lymphoma/Leukemia

Dr. Mark Minden

Princess Margaret Hospital

DR.MARK MINDEN

Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto Head Clinical Leukemia Program, Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network Chair in Leukemia Research, Staff Physician, Princess Margaret Hospital Senior Scientist, Ontario Cancer Institute. Dr. Minden received his M.D. (U of T) and B.Sc. (Med.- U of Manitoba) in 1974. Following training in internal medicine, he undertook research training in leukemia with Dr. E. A. McCulloch at the Ontario Cancer Institute and received his Ph.D. in 1979. He then moved to Boston where he trained as a clinical fellow at the Sidney Farber Cancer Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He returned to Princess Margaret Hospital in 1981 as a staff physician and senior scientist.

Since his return to Toronto, Dr. Minden has been involved in the study of malignant cells of the lympho-hematopoietic system; this includes both leukemias and lymphomas. As well, Dr. Minden is involved in the treatment of patients with leukemia and lymphoma. Dr. Minden is the author of over 150 peer-reviewed publications relating to leukemia and lymphoma. A few highlights of his work include the development of a tissue culture system for growing leukemic cells from patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia, the demonstration that the T-cell antigen receptor is a useful tool for identifying and following T-cell leukemias and lymphomas, and the cloning of several chromosome translocations that are important in the development of leukemia and lymphoma. More recently the laboratory has been focusing on identifying genes expressed in malignant cells, but not their normal counterparts. These genes may serve as improved prognostic and diagnostic tools, as means of measuring response to therapy, and finally as new targets for the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma.