Jeff Wrana

Wrana is a native to Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.{{cite news |last1=Ogilvie |first1=Megan |title=Our science superheroes: The xy-Men |url=https://www.uhnresearch.ca/newsletter/mcewen/McEwenImages/TorStar_Mar7.pdf |access-date=January 10, 2023 |publisher=Toronto Star |date=March 7, 2009 |archive-date=April 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416004353/https://www.uhnresearch.ca/newsletter/mcewen/McEwenImages/TorStar_Mar7.pdf |url-status=live }} He completed his Bachelor of Science degree at the University College, Toronto in 1984{{cite web |title=Alumni of Influence: Jeff Wrana |url=https://www.uc.utoronto.ca/alumni-influence/jeff-wrana |publisher=University College, Toronto |access-date=January 10, 2023 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021351/https://www.uc.utoronto.ca/alumni-influence/jeff-wrana |url-status=live }} and his PhD in 1991 at the University of Toronto (U of T).{{cite web |title=Dr. Jeffrey Wrana |url=https://publish.uwo.ca/~dimattia/Dr.%20Jeff%20Wrana.html |publisher=University of Western Ontario |access-date=January 10, 2023 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021348/https://publish.uwo.ca/~dimattia/Dr.%20Jeff%20Wrana.html |url-status=live }} Following his PhD, Wrana completed his postdoctoral training at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center from 1990 to 1995.{{cite web |title=Jeffrey L. Wrana, PhD |url=https://www.sloankettering.edu/research-areas/labs/members/jeffrey-wrana |publisher=Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center |access-date=January 10, 2023 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021334/https://www.sloankettering.edu/research-areas/labs/members/jeffrey-wrana |url-status=live }} As a postdoctoral fellow, he wrote a seminal paper explaining how one signalling rogue molecule in cancers could communicate with other cells.

Following his postdoctoral fellowship, Wrana accepted a research position at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Working alongside Liliana Attisano, Wrana co-discovered that the mutation of the MADR2 gene was responsible for some forms of colon cancer.{{cite news |title=Gene tied to types of colon cancer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/116207928/gene-tied-to-types-of-colon-cancer/ |access-date=January 10, 2023 |publisher=The Vancouver Sun |date=August 26, 1996 |via=newspapers.com |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021342/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/116207928/gene-tied-to-types-of-colon-cancer/ |url-status=live }} Upon accepting a professorship position at his alma mater, Wrana began focusing on the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-) family of cell signalling proteins that regulate cell growth and function. In his laboratory, Wrana helped to define the components of the TGF-ß signalling pathway and determine how its receptors are internalized by cells.{{cite web |title=Young Investigators Celebrated at Award Ceremony |url=https://www.mskcc.org/research-advantage/impact/paul-marks-prize-research/2005-prize-winners/young-investigators-celebrated-award-ceremony |publisher=by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center |access-date=January 10, 2023 |date=2005 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021335/https://www.mskcc.org/research-advantage/impact/paul-marks-prize-research/2005-prize-winners/young-investigators-celebrated-award-ceremony |url-status=live }} Beyond U of T, Wrana also continued to work as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Research Scholar.{{cite web |title=The 2006 International Research Scholars from Canada and Latin America |url=https://www.hhmi.org/news/2006-international-research-scholars-canada-and-latin-america |publisher=Howard Hughes Medical Institute |access-date=January 10, 2023 |date=November 1, 2006 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021344/https://www.hhmi.org/news/2006-international-research-scholars-canada-and-latin-america |url-status=live }} Wrana's efforts were recognized with the 2005 Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He was also awarded a seven-year Tier 1 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Medical Genetics and Microbiology at U of T.{{cite web |last1=Fraumeni |first1=Paul |title=U of T's Canada Research Chairs now at 206 13 new chairs announced |url=http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/051110-1797.asp |publisher=University of Toronto |access-date=January 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060322152038/http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/051110-1797.asp |archive-date=March 22, 2006 |date=November 10, 2005}} In his first year as a CRC, Wrana was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada's Division of Life Sciences.{{cite web |title=Symposium Celebrating New Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada |url=https://www.fields.utoronto.ca/programs/scientific/06-07/FRSC/ |publisher=University of Toronto |access-date=January 10, 2023 |date=2007 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021344/https://www.fields.utoronto.ca/programs/scientific/06-07/FRSC/ |url-status=live }}

In 2009, Wrana and colleague Ian Taylor developed Dynamic Network Modularity (Dynemo), a biological model that could help physicians predict whether a woman is more likely to survive and recover from breast cancer:{{Cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=Ian W. |last2=Linding |first2=Rune |last3=Warde-Farley |first3=David |last4=Liu |first4=Yongmei |last5=Pesquita |first5=Catia |last6=Faria |first6=Daniel |last7=Bull |first7=Shelley |last8=Pawson |first8=Tony |last9=Morris |first9=Quaid |last10=Wrana |first10=Jeffrey L. |date=February 1, 2009 |title=Dynamic modularity in protein interaction networks predicts breast cancer outcome |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.1522 |journal=Nature Biotechnology |language=en |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=199–204 |doi=10.1038/nbt.1522 |pmid=19182785 |s2cid=11594017 |issn=1546-1696 |access-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318125720/https://www.nature.com/articles/nbt.1522 |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last1=Yue |first1=Rongting |last2=Dutta |first2=Abhishek |date=October 3, 2022 |title=Computational systems biology in disease modeling and control, review and perspectives |journal=npj Systems Biology and Applications |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=37 |doi=10.1038/s41540-022-00247-4 |issn=2056-7189 |pmc=9528884 |pmid=36192551}}{{Cite journal |last1=Millar-Wilson |first1=Andrew |last2=Ward |first2=Órla |last3=Duffy |first3=Eolann |last4=Hardiman |first4=Gary |date=October 26, 2022 |title=Multiscale modeling in the framework of biological systems and its potential for spaceflight biology studies |journal=iScience |volume=25 |issue=11 |pages=105421 |doi=10.1016/j.isci.2022.105421 |issn=2589-0042 |pmc=9663911 |pmid=36388986|bibcode=2022iSci...25j5421M }} it achieved this by analysing how proteins and other components within cancer cells interact with each other in order to form networks,{{cite news |last1=Ubelacker |first1=Sheryl |title=Researchers develop promising technology for breast cancer |url=https://www.thestar.com/amp/life/health_wellness/2009/02/01/researchers_develop_promising_technology_for_breast_cancer.html |access-date=January 10, 2023 |publisher=Toronto Star |date=February 1, 2009 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021335/https://www.thestar.com/amp/life/health_wellness/2009/02/01/researchers_develop_promising_technology_for_breast_cancer.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=February 2, 2009 |title=New technology holds promise for predicting breast cancer recovery |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/new-technology-holds-promise-for-predicting-breast-cancer-recovery-1.805736 |access-date=March 26, 2023 |website=CBC.ca |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318125721/https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/new-technology-holds-promise-for-predicting-breast-cancer-recovery-1.805736 |url-status=live }} and how alterations of these processes could have an impact on tumorigenesis,{{Cite journal |last1=Csermely |first1=Peter |last2=Korcsmáros |first2=Tamás |last3=Kiss |first3=Huba J.M. |last4=London |first4=Gábor |last5=Nussinov |first5=Ruth |date=February 4, 2013 |title=Structure and dynamics of molecular networks: A novel paradigm of drug discovery: A comprehensive review |journal=Pharmacology & Therapeutics |volume=138 |issue=3 |pages=333–408 |doi=10.1016/j.pharmthera.2013.01.016 |issn=0163-7258 |pmc=3647006 |pmid=23384594}} as well as the usage of specific drugs in oncological therapies. His efforts were recognised with the Premier's 2010 Summit Award for Medical Research.{{cite web |title=Science at the Summit: $5 million Premier's Summit Awards go to leaders in stem cell and cancer research |url=https://www.marsdd.com/media-centre/scisummit-05192010/ |access-date=February 3, 2023 |date=May 19, 2010 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021337/https://www.marsdd.com/media-centre/scisummit-05192010/ |url-status=live }} Wrana later collaborated with Andras Nagy at Mount Sinai Hospital on a new stem cell project. After Nagy discovered a new method to create pluripotent stem cells without disrupting healthy genes, their laboratories discovered ways to improve the efficiency of stem cell creation for use in tissue regeneration.{{cite web |title=Scientists uncover important clues in the biology of stem cells |url=http://www.labcanada.com/laboratory/scientists-uncover-important-clues-in-the-biology-of-stem-cells/1000380883/ |publisher=Lab Canada |access-date=February 3, 2023 |date=August 12, 2010 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021336/http://www.labcanada.com/laboratory/scientists-uncover-important-clues-in-the-biology-of-stem-cells/1000380883/ |url-status=live }} In a mouse model of breast cancer, Wrana's research team also found that expression of the Cd81 protein in cancer-associated fibroblasts induced exosomal trafficking of Wnt11 to cancer cells, promoting metastasis through induction of the core planar cell polarity pathway.{{Cite journal |last1=Luga |first1=Valbona |last2=Zhang |first2=Liang |last3=Viloria-Petit |first3=Alicia M. |last4=Ogunjimi |first4=Abiodun A. |last5=Inanlou |first5=Mohammad R. |last6=Chiu |first6=Elaine |last7=Buchanan |first7=Marguerite |last8=Hosein |first8=Abdel Nasser |last9=Basik |first9=Mark |last10=Wrana |first10=Jeffrey L. |date=2012-12-21 |title=Exosomes mediate stromal mobilization of autocrine Wnt-PCP signaling in breast cancer cell migration |journal=Cell |volume=151 |issue=7 |pages=1542–1556 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2012.11.024 |issn=1097-4172 |pmid=23260141|doi-access=free }}

In 2015, Wrana was appointed the inaugural CIBC Scientist in Breast Cancer Research at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute.{{cite web |title=Leading Mount Sinai researcher is the first CIBC Scientist in Breast Cancer Research |url=https://www.mountsinai.on.ca/about_us/news/2014-news/leading-mount-sinai-researcher-first-cibc-scientist-in-breast-cancer-research |publisher=Mount Sinai Hospital |access-date=February 3, 2023 |date=October 24, 2014 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021336/https://www.mountsinai.on.ca/about_us/news/2014-news/leading-mount-sinai-researcher-first-cibc-scientist-in-breast-cancer-research |url-status=live }} In this role, he began investigating how different cells contribute to gut development and maintenance. By 2018, Wrana and his postdoctoral fellow had co-discovered a new type of cell in the intestinal lining that they called the "revival stem cell". This new cell, which is only active for 24 hours, is responsible for creating new adult stem cells when the intestinal lining is damaged and functions to rebuild the intestinal lining.{{cite web |title=Dr. Jeff Wrana and team follow a gut feeling and discover a new type of stem cell |url=https://www.sinaihealth.ca/news/dr-jeff-wrana-and-team-follow-a-gut-feeling-and-discover-a-new-type-of-stem-cell/ |publisher=Mount Sinai Hospital |access-date=February 3, 2023 |date=April 24, 2019 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021339/https://www.sinaihealth.ca/news/dr-jeff-wrana-and-team-follow-a-gut-feeling-and-discover-a-new-type-of-stem-cell/ |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |title=Single-cell transcriptomes of the regenerating intestine reveal a revival stem cell |journal=Nature |date=April 24, 2019 |volume=569 |pages=121–125 |doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1154-y |pmid=31019301 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1154-y |access-date=February 3, 2023 |last1=Ayyaz |first1=A. |last2=Kumar |first2=S. |last3=Sangiorgi |first3=B. |last4=Ghoshal |first4=B. |last5=Gosio |first5=J. |last6=Ouladan |first6=S. |last7=Fink |first7=M. |last8=Barutcu |first8=S. |last9=Trcka |first9=D. |last10=Shen |first10=J. |last11=Chan |first11=K. |last12=Wrana |first12=J. L. |last13=Gregorieff |first13=A. |issue=7754 |bibcode=2019Natur.569..121A |s2cid=256770662 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021333/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1154-y |url-status=live }} He was recognised with the 2018 McLaughlin Medal from the Royal Society of Canada for his "pivotal contributions to our understanding of biology, human diseases, and its treatment" and his leadership in the promotion of "Canadian science through collaborative research facilities and international impact."{{cite web |title=Dr. Jeff Wrana awarded major prize for contributions to cancer research |url=https://www.sinaihealth.ca/news/dr-jeff-wrana-awarded-major-prize-for-contributions-to-cancer-research/ |publisher=Mount Sinai Hospital |access-date=February 3, 2023 |date=September 18, 2018 |archive-date=April 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416004312/https://www.sinaihealth.ca/news/dr-jeff-wrana-awarded-major-prize-for-contributions-to-cancer-research/ |url-status=live }}

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wrana used his laboratory and resources to assist in analysing thousands of COVID-19 tests across Ontario. In August 2020, his research team used the robotics platform to screen thousands of positive samples for variants by rapidly sequencing fingerprint regions of the viral genome to look for key mutations.{{cite news |last1=Allen |first1=Kate |title=Can researchers find a way to run 10,000 COVID-19 tests at once? A team in Toronto is trying |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/08/10/can-researchers-find-a-way-to-run-10000-covid-19-tests-at-once-a-team-in-toronto-is-trying.html |access-date=January 10, 2023 |publisher=Toronto Star |date=August 10, 2020 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021342/https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/08/10/can-researchers-find-a-way-to-run-10000-covid-19-tests-at-once-a-team-in-toronto-is-trying.html |url-status=live }} The following year, Wrana was a co-investigator in a project aimed at analysing 10,000 COVID-19 tests at once through C19-SPAR-Seq.{{cite web |title=Automated, next generation sequencing platform can accurately screen thousands for COVID-19 |url=https://www.sinaihealth.ca/news/automated-next-generation-sequencing-platform-can-accurately-screen-thousands-for-covid-19/ |publisher=Mount Sinai Hospital |access-date=January 10, 2023 |date=March 3, 2021 |archive-date=February 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204021337/https://www.sinaihealth.ca/news/automated-next-generation-sequencing-platform-can-accurately-screen-thousands-for-covid-19/ |url-status=live }}

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Category:Living people

Category:Canadian oncologists

Category:University of Toronto alumni

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Category:Cancer researchers

Category:Canada Research Chairs

Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada

Category:21st-century Canadian scientists

Category:20th-century Canadian scientists

Category:COVID-19 researchers

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)