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Trevor Pugh

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Trevor J. Pugh
FACMG
Born
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Alma mater
Known forCancer genomics, cell-free DNA sequencing, immune repertoire profiling, contributions to AACR Project GENIE
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsCancer genomics, Translational genomics, Bioinformatics, Molecular genetics
Institutions
Doctoral advisorMarco Marra
Websitepughlab.org

Trevor J. Pugh is a Canadian cancer genomics researcher, molecular geneticist, and bioinformatician. He is a Senior Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PMCC), University Health Network, Director of the Genomics Program and Senior Investigator at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), and a Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto.[1] He holds the Canada Research Chair in Translational Genomics.[2] Pugh's research focuses on applying genome sequencing technologies, particularly liquid biopsy techniques like cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis and immune repertoire sequencing, to understand cancer evolution during treatment and guide patient care.[3][4]

Early life and education

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Pugh is originally from Vancouver, British Columbia. He received his PhD in Medical Genetics from the University of British Columbia, where he was mentored by Marco Marra at the BC Cancer Agency.[5] Following his PhD, he undertook postdoctoral research at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT under the mentorship of Matthew Meyerson.[6] During this time, he also completed a clinical laboratory fellowship in the Harvard Medical School Genetics Training Program with Heidi Rehm, becoming a board-certified molecular geneticist and Fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (FACMG).[1][3]

Career

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Pugh established his independent research laboratory at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, part of the University Health Network in Toronto, Ontario. He holds appointments as a Senior Scientist at PMCC and Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto.[3] He also serves as a Senior Investigator and Director of the Genomics Program at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR).[1][2] In these roles, he directs the Princess Margaret Genomics Centre and the OICR Genomics Program, which includes the Translational Genomics Laboratory. These programs provide genomic analysis capabilities, including single-cell sequencing, cfDNA analysis, and clinically accredited whole-genome sequencing, for research and clinical applications.[1][4][7]

He has contributed significantly to large-scale international genomics initiatives, including the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Project GENIE (Genomics Evidence Neoplasia Information Exchange),[8] the National Cancer Institute's Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET) initiative, and the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network.[1][9][5] He also serves on advisory committees for organizations such as Cancer Care Ontario, the Canadian Cancer Trials Group, and the BC Cancer Agency's Personalized OncoGenomics (POG) Program.[9]

Research

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Pugh's research program focuses on translational cancer genomics, aiming to integrate comprehensive genomic analysis into routine clinical practice.[3][4] A primary area of investigation is the use of liquid biopsies, analyzing cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and T-cell receptor repertoires in blood samples, to monitor tumor evolution, immune responses, and treatment effectiveness non-invasively.[10][4][11] His work has demonstrated that changes in circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) levels can predict patient responses to immunotherapy.[11][5] He also develops novel methods for genomic analysis, including a hybrid-capture technique for immune repertoire profiling.[11]

His laboratory uses cfDNA sequencing, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), and whole-genome sequencing to study clonal dynamics in cancer cells and associated immune cells during treatment across various cancer types, including multiple myeloma and patients undergoing immunotherapy.[12][4][7] His team is also involved in research using cfDNA to detect cancer earlier in high-risk hereditary cancer syndromes, such as Li–Fraumeni syndrome,[13] through initiatives like the CHARM (cfDNA in Hereditary and High-Risk Malignancies) Consortium.[14][15]

During his postdoctoral work, Pugh led significant studies characterizing the genomic landscapes of pediatric cancers like medulloblastoma,[16] neuroblastoma,[17] and pleuropulmonary blastoma.[18] His research group has also contributed to the genomic characterization of multiple myeloma and urothelial carcinoma.[19][20]

Awards and recognition

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Leadership and Staff". OICR Genomics. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Trevor Pugh". Bioinformatics.ca. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d "Trevor Pugh". UHN Research. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e "About". Pughlab.org. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e "OICR Senior Investigator Dr. Trevor Pugh named one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40". Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. October 29, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c "Team". Pughlab.org. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Princess Margaret Genomics Centre — Research Facilities Navigator". YouTube. November 24, 2023. Retrieved April 28, 2025. ...as scientific director of the Princess Margaret Genomics Center. we are the largest provider of single cell genomics technologies in Canada...
  8. ^ Consortium, AACR Project Genie; Consortium, AACR Project GENIE; André, Fabrice; Arnedos, Monica; Baras, Alexander S.; Baselga, José; Bedard, Philippe L.; Berger, Michael F.; Bierkens, Mariska; Calvo, Fabien (2017). "AACR Project GENIE: powering precision medicine through an international consortium". Cancer Discovery. 7 (8): 818–831. doi:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-17-0151. PMC 5611790. PMID 28572459.
  9. ^ a b c "The Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC)". NF Research Initiative. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  10. ^ jeremy (2019-12-05). "FACIT Features: OICR's Dr. Trevor Pugh wins $1M award for early cancer detection". FACIT. Retrieved 2025-04-29.
  11. ^ a b c d e f "Dr. Trevor Pugh". Canadian Cholangiocarcinoma Collaborative. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  12. ^ "Brain injury may drive the development of cancer". Drug Target Review. Retrieved 2025-04-29.
  13. ^ "The future of cancer screening and detection". The Varsity. 2025-01-06. Retrieved 2025-04-29.
  14. ^ "cfDNA Sequencing May Show Cancer Detection Benefits in Li-Fraumeni Syndrome". CancerNetwork. October 29, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  15. ^ "Our Team". CHARM Consortium. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  16. ^ Jones, David TW; Jäger, Natalie; Kool, Marcel; Zichner, Thomas; Hutter, Barbara; Sultan, Marc; Cho, Yoon-Jae; Pugh, Trevor J.; Hovestadt, Volker; Stütz, Adrian M. (2012). "Dissecting the genomic complexity underlying medulloblastoma". Nature. 488 (7409): 100–105. Bibcode:2012Natur.488..100J. doi:10.1038/nature11284. PMC 3662966. PMID 22832583.
  17. ^ Pugh, Trevor J.; Morozova, Olena; Attiyeh, Edward F.; Asgharzadeh, Shahab; Wei, Jun S.; Auclair, Daniel; Carter, Scott L.; Cibulskis, Kristian; Hanna, Megan; Kiezun, Adam; Kim, Jaegil; Lawrence, Michael S.; Lichenstein, Lee; McKenna, Aaron; Pedamallu, Chandra Sekhar (March 2013). "The genetic landscape of high-risk neuroblastoma". Nature Genetics. 45 (3): 279–284. doi:10.1038/ng.2529. ISSN 1546-1718. PMC 3682833. PMID 23334666.
  18. ^ "Trevor Pugh Profile — University of Toronto". Retrieved April 28, 2025.
  19. ^ Chapman, Michael A.; Lawrence, Michael S.; Keats, Jonathan J.; Cibulskis, Kristian; Sougnez, Carrie; Schinzel, Anna C.; Harview, Christina L.; Brunet, Jean-Philippe; Ahmann, Gregory J.; Adli, Mazhar (2011). "Initial genome sequencing and analysis of multiple myeloma". Nature. 471 (7339): 467–472. Bibcode:2011Natur.471..467C. doi:10.1038/nature09837. hdl:1721.1/84631. PMC 3560292. PMID 21430775.
  20. ^ Network, Cancer Genome Atlas Research (2014). "Comprehensive molecular characterization of urothelial bladder carcinoma". Nature. 507 (7492): 315–322. Bibcode:2014Natur.507..315T. doi:10.1038/nature12965. PMC 3962515. PMID 24476821.
  21. ^ "OICR researchers inducted into Royal Society of Canada". Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. November 11, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2025.
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