John Edgar Dick One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: (born in 1954) is

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

Stem Cell Biology In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

, Senior Scientist at the

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (previously, ''Princess Margaret Hospital'') is a scientific research centre and a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine as part of the Univ ...

University Health Network University Health Network (UHN) is a public research and teaching hospital network in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest health research organization in Canada and ranks first in Canada for total research funding. It was named Canada's t ...

and Professor in the Department of

Molecular Genetics Molecular genetics is a sub-field of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in Canada. Dick is credited with first identifying

cancer stem cell Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are cancer cells (found within tumors or hematological cancers) that possess characteristics associated with normal stem cells, specifically the ability to give rise to all cell types found in a particular cancer sample. ...

s in certain types of human

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

. His revolutionary findings highlighted the importance of understanding that not all

cancer cells Cancer cells are cells that divide continually, forming solid tumors or flooding the blood with abnormal cells. Cell division is a normal process used by the body for growth and repair. A parent cell divides to form two daughter cells, and these d ...

are the same and thus spawned a new direction in cancer research.
Meet the A-Team of stem-cell science
'. Retrieved from

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

on November 27, 2006. Canadian Cancer Society- John Dick Bio
University Health Network- John E Dick Bio
/ref> Dick is also known for his demonstration of a blood stem cell's ability to replenish the blood system of a mouse, his development of a technique to enable an immune-deficient mouse to carry and produce human blood, and his creation of the world's first mouse with human leukemia.

Early life and education

Dick was raised on a farm in

southern Manitoba Southern Manitoba is the southernmost area of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Southern Manitoba encompasses the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region, Westman Region, Central Plains Region, Eastman Region, and Pembina Valley Region, as well as the Manito ...

. His early education was gained in a one-room schoolhouse. Later he moved to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

to study to become an X-ray technician. There he noticed one of his roommates was attending university and studying

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

. Dick realized he was more interested in biology and decided to switch pursuits. Dick started off at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

and graduating with a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

degree in 1984.

Career and research

In 1984, he moved to Toronto. In order to support his wife and two children, Dick worked part-time at an

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

lab while he finished his post-doctorate work in

Alan Bernstein Alan Bernstein (born June 25, 1947) is president and CEO of Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, CIFAR (the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research). He is recognized as a leader in health research, science policy, mentorship and organizati ...

’s lab. Bernstein, a noted cancer researcher whose Ph.D. advisor was

James Till James Edgar Till (born August 25, 1931) is a University of Toronto biophysicist, best known for demonstrating – with Ernest McCulloch – the existence of stem cells. Early work Till was born in Lloydminster, which is located on the b ...

at the

Ontario Cancer Institute The Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI) is the research division of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, affiliated to the University Health Network of the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine. As Canada's first dedicated cancer hospital, it opened of ...

, guided Dick to research cancers of the blood. Over the next five years, Dick developed an

in vivo Studies that are ''in vivo'' (Latin for "within the living"; often not italicized in English) are those in which the effects of various biological entities are tested on whole, living organisms or cells, usually animals, including humans, and ...

repopulation

assay An assay is an investigative (analytic) procedure in laboratory medicine, mining, pharmacology, environmental biology and molecular biology for qualitatively assessing or quantitatively measuring the presence, amount, or functional activity of a ...

using the NOD/SCID mouse. This technique of using an immune-deficient mouse to generate human

hematopoietic cell A blood cell, also called a hematopoietic cell, hemocyte, or hematocyte, is a cell produced through hematopoiesis and found mainly in the blood. Major types of blood cells include red blood cells (erythrocytes), white blood cells (leukocytes), a ...

s won Dick international recognition.
"Black Box" of Cancer Breaks Open
''. Retrieved from American Society of Hematology website on November 27, 2006.

''. Retrieved from University Hospital Network website on November 27, 2006. In 1994, ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'' published his paper which described how cancer stem cells grow slowly. Dick explained, "Most kinds of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

are designed to kill fast-growing cancer cells. This is why leukemia can come back after treatment. To get rid of the cancer, you have to find ways of eliminating the stem cells." Many researchers dismissed Dick's discovery as interesting, but something not likely to apply to solid

tumour A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

s. In 1997, Dick reported the detection of cancer stem cells at the root of three other forms of leukemia. This time he presented it as the "cancer stem-cell

hypothesis A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obse ...

". His model stated that there are different cancer cells and amongst them there is a

pecking order In biology, a dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social animal , social groups interact, creating a ranking system. A dominant higher-ranking i ...

in which the abnormal stem cell, is both the key to forming and feeding a cancer. Therefore, without an abnormal stem cell, cancers will not grow. This time his report was considered a breakthrough. Dick has transformed the study of human

hematopoiesis Haematopoiesis (, from Greek , 'blood' and 'to make'; also hematopoiesis in American English; sometimes also h(a)emopoiesis) is the formation of blood cellular components. All cellular blood components are derived from haematopoietic stem cells. ...

and leukemogenesis, with his development of methodologies for transplanting human bone marrow into immune-deficient mice, with resultant multilineage repopulation of

murine The Old World rats and mice, part of the subfamily Murinae in the family Muridae, comprise at least 519 species. Members of this subfamily are called murines. In terms of species richness, this subfamily is larger than all mammal families excep ...

bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid tissue found within the spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It is composed of hematopoietic ce ...

and other hematopoietic tissues. Using this approach, he has identified long-term repopulating human hematopoietic

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

s and generated mouse models of

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

. His studies showing that a specific subset of leukemic cells are actually capable of recapitulating

growth are recognised as the foundation for all current work on the

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

stem cell model and its application to cancer therapy. As of 2006, Dick is a Senior Scientist in the Division of Cellular &

Molecular Biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

of the Toronto General Research Institute, and founding member of Canada's Stem Cell Network.

Awards and honours

Dick's awards and honours include: * 1997: awarded the Michael Smith Prize by the

Canadian Institutes for Health Research The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; french: Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada; IRSC) is a federal agency responsible for funding health and medical research in Canada. Comprising 13 institutes, it is the successor to the M ...

* 2000: awarded the Robert L. Noble Prize for Excellence in Cancer Research by the National Cancer Institute of Canada * 2002: awarded the Herman Boerhaave Medal by the

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

* 2004: elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Canada judges to have "made remarkable contributions in the arts, the humanities and the sciences, as well as in Canadian public life ...

(FRSC) * 2005: awarded the William Dameshek Prize by the

American Society of Hematology The American Society of Hematology (ASH) is a professional organization representing hematologists. It was founded in 1958. Its annual meeting is held in December of every year and has attracted more than 30,000 attendees. The society publishes t ...

* 2007: awarded a Premier's Summit Award in Medical Research, Province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

* 2014: elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(FRS) * 2017: awarded

Keio Medical Science Prize The Keio Medical Science Prize (Japanese: 慶應医学賞) is a Japanese prize in medical sciences. Introduction The prize is awarded to scientists who made significant contributions to the field of medical sciences or life sciences. And these con ...

for his work on cancer stem cells *2020: Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Cancer Research

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dick, John E. Canadian medical researchers Canada Research Chairs Cancer researchers Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Canadian Fellows of the Royal Society People from Manitoba Stem cell researchers University of Manitoba alumni University of Toronto faculty 1957 births Living people Fellows of the AACR Academy