Dr. Ing Swie Goping appointed as the Lilian McCullough Chair in Breast Cancer 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ
11 February 2021
The Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Ing Swie Goping as the Lilian McCullough Chair in Breast Cancer 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ. In addition to the generosity from the McCullough family, the endowed chair also is supported through a generous gift from the Calhoun J & D Memorial 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ Fund (Cancer).
Dr. Goping is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry. She received her MSc from Western University in London, Ontario in 1990 and her PhD from McGill University in Montreal in 1995, and completed post-doctoral training with Dr. Gordon Shore at McGill and Dr. Chris Bleackley at the 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ.
Dr. Goping’s current research program is focused on breast cancer. Her group explores disease mechanism using cell-based, 3D organoid and in-vivo experimental
approaches. They have successfully investigated novel compounds targeting breast cancer, clarified the mechanism for a novel biomarker of relapse in the ER+ subgroup, and identified new molecular pathways that govern breast-cell motility. Dr. Goping’s research has been consistently supported by the 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ Cancer Foundation, 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ Innovates, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Institutes of Health 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ. She is also a member of the Cancer 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ Institute of Northern 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ (CRINA), the Women and Children's Health 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ Institute (WCHRI) and the chair of the research committee that oversees the Faculty’s Special Training in 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ program.
In her role as the Lilian McCullough Chair in Breast Cancer 91ÒùĸÊÓƵ, Dr. Goping is committed to fostering collaborative, interdisciplinary research between the U of A and other breast cancer researchers across the province, country and world. She will be responsible for leading the development of a breast cancer research program within CRINA and the Faculty, working in collaboration with related organizations such as the Cross Cancer Institute. She will work towards making significant contributions across several priority areas in breast cancer research, including tumour microenvironment, tumour immunology, recurrent and metastatic disease and difficult-to-treat breast cancers. She will also provide mentorship and help promote the development of junior faculty in breast cancer research.
The Faculty thanks the selection committee for the time invested to make this appointment possible, and the McCullough family for their generous support of breast cancer research at the U of A.
-FoMD Communication Feb 11, 2021