IRIC - Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer

Published on December 14, 2015

The Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) at the Université de Montréal (UdeM) is pleased to announce the arrival of Matthew J. Smith as Principal Investigator in the Cancer Signaling and Structural Biology Research Unit. He will also be assistant professor in the Department of Pathology and Cellular Biology at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Medicine.

Matthew J. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Guelph, Ontario, before taking a doctorate in molecular and medical genetics at Mount Sinai Hospital’s Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (University of Toronto). He then did postdoctoral work at the University Health Network’s Ontario Cancer Institute, also located in Toronto. Since 2014 he has been a scientific associate at the same Institute.

At IRIC, Matthew J. Smith’s laboratory will use approaches from biophysics, structural biology and biochemistry to study the complex relationship between the structure and functions of proteins from key oncogenic signaling pathways in the cell.

In particular, via an approach based on techniques from nuclear magnetic resonance, he will be able to analyze in real time interactions between numerous proteins involved in these signaling pathways. This work will acquire new scientific and technological knowledge, and will serve as the basis for the development of diagnostic tests or therapies targeting specific types of cancer.

Matthew J. Smith’s research program complements the expertise of IRIC’s Investigators and presents numerous collaboration opportunities within the Institute.

Michel Bouvier, chief executive officer of IRIC, announced that he is “extremely happy to be welcoming a researcher of this caliber. His expertise in the field of cancer will support the 27 other IRIC research laboratories, enabling us to accelerate the discovery of new drugs against this illness. On behalf of all the members of the IRIC community, I extend a warm welcome.”

“Matthew’s coming to our team is excellent news,” added IRIC’s scientific director, Marc Therrien. “His research methods fit very well with our philosophy and with the way of doing things at IRIC, where the focus is on ambitious collaborations at the crossroads of complementary disciplines.”

Finally, Dr. Louis Gaboury, director of the Department of Pathology and Cellular Biology at the UdeM’s Faculty of Medicine and principal investigator at IRIC, underlines that “for our Department, his arrival was an absolute priority, given his outstanding academic record, the quality of his publications and the innovative nature of his research.”

Matthew J. Smith has taken up his responsibilities on December 14, 2015.