Contact
e-mail: vivianyh.ma@mail.utoronto.ca
Training
2013 – 2018
Ph.D.., Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
2008 – 2012
B.A., Molecular and Cellular Biology – Immunology, University of California Berkeley
Project
Bone metastasis, the migration of cancer from its primary site to bone, is a common and severe complication of cancers. Its impact on patients is mainly due to metastasized cancer cells’ ability to alter bone remodeling. Yet, studies on the relationship between bone metastases and another factor that regulates bone remodeling – exercise – is limited. As osteocytes are the mechanosensors of the bone that are responsible for this bone remodeling regulation, my research focuses on the effect of osteocytes’ response to mechanical loading on bone metastasis. This will hopefully provide insights into the impact of exercises on bone metastases, and hence assist in designing exercise intervention programs for patients with cancer.