Dr. James Dennis

Dr. James Dennis draws on a broad range of expertise, including structural biology, biochemistry, genetics and cell biology in his investigation of the cellular mechanisms involved in cancer, diabetes and autoimmune disease. These diseases often occur in midlife, and represent a large loss in productive years and increase in health cost to Canadians.  

Our knowledge of the genetic factors underlying these conditions is growing rapidly with recent advances in technology for genome sequencing, proteomics and systems biology. There is a renewed appreciation that basic metabolism works intimately with genes to determine normal and disease process.

In a series of ground-breaking studies published in the prestigious journals Nature (2001), Science (2004), Cell (2007), and Nature Communications (2011), Dr. Dennis reported a new role for sugar metabolism in the modification of proteins on the cell surface. These findings provide an important mechanism of adaptation at the cell surface, thus responsiveness to cues outside the cell as conditions change. The capacity for adaptation is often disrupted by chronic disease, stress and aging. Dr. Dennis' group has also developed computational models to help predict disease severity for newly discovered gene variants. The model has been used to search for and explain heritable genetic and metabolic susceptibility to autoimmune disease, and lead to novel paradigms for diagnostic and treatment. More recently the lab has explored the evolution of this adaptive system to better understand genetic risk factors in humans. These studies have revealed rapidly evolving genes as candidates for further study in disease, and also evidence for the impact of protein modification on genomes and the topology of the genetic code.