Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Cutler joined the School of Pharmacy following completion of a Cancer Research Training Program-postdoctoral fellowship through the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. While at Dalhousie, Dr. Cutler worked with the Metabolomics Group of the National Research Council to study the growth and drug metabolism of three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models of colon cancer. Dr. Cutler completed his Ph.D. in Dr. David Freeman’s laboratory in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology at The University of Western Ontario. As part of his thesis work, Dr. Cutler characterised the drug transporters and metabolic enzymes contributing to the disposition mesna, a chemoprotective drug commonly used during nitrogen mustard-containing chemotherapies. Dr. Cutler also conducted experiments and clinical trials evaluating the use of mesna to lower the cardiovascular risk factor homocysteine in patients with end-stage renal disease. Between his graduate studies, Dr. Cutler expanded his interest in cancer research as an intern at Genentech Inc. working in the divisions of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics and Translational Oncology to study the expression of drug transporters by in vitro and in vivo models of colon cancer. As a member of the Blay Laboratory at the School of Pharmacy, Dr. Cutler uses 3D cell culture to investigate the links between drug resistance and spread of colon cancer, as well as the roles of surface markers of cellular hierarchies in resistance. Additionally, Dr. Cutler is evaluating the effects of low-dose chemotherapeutics on the spread of colon cancer by CXCL12-CXCR4-CD26 axis, supporting the use of adjuvant chemotherapies for the potential prevention of metastasis. As an independent researcher, Dr. Cutler intends to combine his expertise in drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics with knowledge of colon cancer biology to investigate the molecular changes leading to the emergence of drug resistance and most importantly the development of rational combinations of targeted therapies to treat it.