Cancer never sleeps, and neither it seems does Dr. Lisa Porter. The University of Windsor has many jewels, and Dr. Porter who has been a professor here since 2004, is certainly one of them. The biology professor at the institute’s Department of Biological Sciences, and cancer researcher, was recently awarded a $750,000 grant from the Canadian Cancer Society.
Almost 60 percent of those people diagnosed with cancer today will survive. Dr. Porter, her research team, and other dedicated and committed people around the world, have reduced that statistic which was 33 percent in the 1960’s. “Cancer is not one disease. For some types, we have made great strides,” says Dr. Porter While her work, which includes understanding how cells grow, keeps her very busy in the lab, it is what Dr. Porter does outside of the lab that keeps this community well informed of the importance of what she does.
“I can talk to the community. A lot of money has been spent on cancer research and many people don’t fully understand the impact that these funds have made. It is helpful for them to talk directly to someone who is doing the work.” says Dr. Porter. She believes very strongly in the connection between the community and the donors who help fund the research that will bring a cure to cancer.
After a career that started at Hamilton’s McMaster University and continued in San Diego, Dr. Porter and her family came to Windsor because it was close to her family and, “it’s nice to be in a smaller community and to be a part of something that is growing. The University of Windsor recognizes the need to support and to expand medical research here; this is just the beginning of something that will definitely benefit the entire Windsor/Essex area.”
Making presentations to schools, including her son’s day care classmates, is already showing results when it comes to informing the public about cancer awareness. “People know a lot more than they did before. They almost have an honorary PhD,” says Porter. Dr. Porter has participated in the well known Terry Fox Run, the Relay for Life fundraiser, car washes and door-to-door canvassing, all in efforts to help raise much needed funding and bring awareness of a disease that is slowly being defeated. The Relay for Life was held at the Windsor Campground in June and is a hope-filled community event in which participants run or walk for 12 hours. The event slogan was cancer never sleeps.
“Those funds that are raised by the public make the biggest impact,” says Dr. Porter. Recently, Dr. Porter spoke to children at St. Anne’s French Immersion School where she told them that cancer will affect most of them whether it is directly or a friend or family member. In a display of how this community continues to support cancer research, the children wore pink clothes which is a symbol of breast cancer awareness. They also donated, through a penny drive, $1,632.50. She applauds the Canadian Cancer Society and the way in which the organization distributes its funding. Dr. Porter explains that all dollars raised, regardless of in which community, goes into one pot and the funds are then awarded to the researchers with the best idea. Researchers submit their proposals and of those, the best 18 percent receive funding to continue their research. The funding from the Canadian Cancer Society came directly from the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance. Finding a cure for breast cancer is where Dr. Porter and her team have devoted most of their attention and now they are beginning to focus their lab work on brain cancer and blood cancer. Dr. Porter notes that 95 percent of breast cancer is curable if detected early in Stage 1. Mammograms are the best way in which to detect if there is any breast cancer.
Cancer can be beaten, and with dedicated people like Dr. Porter and her research team at the University of Windsor, it will be beaten.
Research is not fast. I get a huge group of students (researchers) who want to cure cancer. You have to go slow and make sure everything is technically sound, says Dr. Porter. She points out that no researcher can find a cure on their own and she is in constant contact with scientists and other researchers around the world. While not finding a cure immediately is admittingly frustrating for Dr. Porter, she says that there are regular rewards for their hard work. “It’s when we get results in the lab.” Perhaps the biggest result occurred when she was doing her post doctoral work at the University of California in San Diego where she discovered the human Spy1 Speedy protein which aided in understanding how cells grow and divide. This is essential to determining how to treat the various forms of cancer. The level of Speedy protein is very high in hormonally sensitive tissues such as breast and ovary. Importantly, hormone treatment is used as a contraceptive in younger women and it is commonly prescribed to menopausal women. Dr. Porter noted that their research had revealed important information about how normal breast cells are altered in some breast cancers. Speedy is also implicated in other cancers including brain cancer which Dr. Porter is now working on.
Dr. Porter was previously awarded a Canadian Institute of Health Research grant which provides recognition and support to researchers early in their careers. The grant is intended to provide researchers with the opportunity to develop and demonstrate their independence in initiating and conducting health research.
Source: Rafih Style Magazine, Issue 8, Fall 2009, pp. 40ff