Canada Excellence Research Chair in Glycomics

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Carbohydrates (or glycans) on the surface of cells are critical players in human diseases ranging from cancer to microbial infections. Exploting the roles of glycans in human health provides new opportunities for drug development and personalized medicine. For 15 years Dr. Lara K. Mahal has been at the forefront of creating and using systems-based approaches to decode the role of glycans in human health. Her laboratory invented a key technology – lectin microarrays – that has revolutionized the field of glycomics. Her laboratory also discovered that microRNAs are major regulators of glycan expression and may be the ‘missing link’ between genomics and glycomics. Her current and ongoing research interests include: 1. Unraveling the role of glycans in cancer progression. 2. Understanding the role of glycans in microbial dieases and the immune response against bacterial and viral infections. 3. Studying the role of miRNA in controlling the expression of glycans in cells.