Michel Tremblay honoured by Canadian Cancer Society

Dr. Michel Tremblay has been awarded the 2012 Robert L. Noble Prize by the Canadian Cancer Society for outstanding achievements in cancer research.
Michel Tremblay s internationally recognized for his extensive research focusing on protein tyrosine phosphates (PTPases). / Photo: Owen Egan
Michel Tremblay is internationally recognized for his extensive research focusing on protein tyrosine phosphates (PTPases). / Photo: Owen Egan

Dr. Michel Tremblay has been awarded the 2012 Robert L. Noble Prize by the Canadian Cancer Society for outstanding achievements in cancer research.

Tremblay is internationally recognized for his extensive research focusing on protein tyrosine phosphates (PTPases), a family of genes that can act as cancer initiators or tumour suppressors.

A professor in the Department of Biochemistry and the Director of the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Center from 2000-2012, Tremblay has published close to 150 papers on the PTP gene family and his work has led to the establishment of two companies focused on improving treatment strategies for patients. Furthermore, his research has allowed hundreds of other scientists to develop drugs targeting this important gene family.

The Prize honours Dr. Robert L. Noble, an esteemed Canadian investigator whose research in the 1950s led to the discovery of vincristine, a widely-used anti-cancer drug. At the time, vincristine was one of the most effective treatments available for Hodgkin’s disease.