Dr Don White

The laboratory is working on several questions concerning metastatic breast cancer and secondary disease relapse. One of the questions we are pursuing, concerns the way that disease progression is driven by changes in the microenvironment of the tissue as a whole.  

For this purpose, we are designing ex vivo approaches to model changes, which occur during the evolution of late-stage tumours. We are using these models to identify genes and proteins which drive tumour progression in response to an evolving microenvironment, and how to better target these events in human breast cancer patients. In addition, we are attempting to elucidate the ways in which tumour tissue organisation impacts the biology of the tumour cells, including the regulation of cell survival pathways and the response to cytotoxic agents or radiation.

Another area of investigation in our laboratory concerns the role of clonal evolution in dictating the overall response to chemotherapeutic agents. We have developed a protocol to screen and identify drug-resistant tumour cell populations within Her2-positive breast cancers, as well as the validation of their potential to give rise to aggressive tumours in vivo. We are using this protocol to understand the contribution of both stem-like, and more differentiated cells, in disease progression and metastatic disease relapse.

Don was born and raised in Canada, and received his PhD in Pathology and Molecular Medicine from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He then completed his first post-doctoral work at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.  

For both his PhD and his post-doctoral research, Don worked in the laboratory of William Muller, who pioneered the use of in vivo models of Her2-positive metastatic breast cancer. During those years, Don studied the ways in which cells communicate with their surrounding environment within a tissue, and how that plays a role in driving breast cancer initiation and growth. He and William published several important primary research papers and reviews on these topics, not just on questions relating to cancer, but on broader issues of pathology and physiology.  

Don then came to London to further explore his interest in metastatic breast cancer in the laboratory of Professor Chris Marshall at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). He and Chris worked together on mechanisms and models of tumour cell invasion, and continue to collaborate today. Don then joined the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Centre of the ICR in 2009, where he now leads a group researching questions of metastatic disease relapse.  Don has had a long lasting interest in cancer, both personally and professionally.  

Outside of the laboratory, Don is an avid football and ice hockey player, is learning Spanish and French, and loves movies and good food.