The Alberta Cancer Foundation Chair in Brain Tumor Research: Dr. Gregory Cairncross

Dr. Cairncross became interested in neurology while in medical school. His experience working with neurologists that focused on cancer inspired him to study brain tumours.    

Dr. Gregory Cairncross is now Professor and Head, Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Calgary and a founding member of the Clark Smith Brain Tumour Centre. Dr. Cairncross is an internationally recognized authority on oligodendrogliomas, a type of brain cancer that affects young adults.

His research has yielded important results. He discovered that many oligodendrogliomas are sensitive to chemotherapy. This led him to finding a molecular marker in oligodendrogliomas that is used worldwide to guide the treatment of patients.   

Such findings provide medical professionals with a better understanding of the different sub-types of brain tumour and how to treat them. This is important as treatment will become individualized, based on the genetic features of each tumour. This will also allow more refined and preventative strategies. Dr. Cairncross hopes that agressive therapeutic options will be replaced by a pill with few side effects.  

The Alberta Cancer Foundation Chair in Brain Tumour Research has been instrumental in Dr. Cairncross’s work in Calgary. The Chair has been used to support research infrastructure. It has assisted in the establishment of a brain tumor tissue bank and laboratories for molecular analysis of brain tumors and specialized culture of brain tumour cells. It has also facilitated the recruitment of new research faculty and trainees.  

Dr. Cairncross explains that the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary is a terrific place to conduct his research. In addition to outstanding colleagues, he can move quickly between the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and the Foothills Hospital to see patients and between the Faculty of Medicine and the University Campus to conduct research.  

With the support of donors and the Alberta Cancer Foundation, Dr. Cairncross and his colleagues are building one of the top brain tumour centres in Canada and the world.

 More about Dr. Cairncross