John McPherson

Genome Technologies Director

Research Description

New sequencing technologies have made possible the systematic identification of genetic mutations and other genomic changes in large sample sets. The Genome Technologies Platform led by Dr. John McPherson catalogues genetic alterations that occur in different types of cancers to better classify tumours and refine and develop new targeted treatments and diagnostic tools. Pancreatic ductal carcinoma and prostate cancer are major research targets. In addition, the Genome Technologies platform is participating in a pilot project to use next-generation sequencing as a clinical tool in the treatment of cancer.

Contact Information

Telephone
+1 (416) 673 8519
Email
john.mcpherson@oicr.on.ca
Mailing Address
Ontario Institute for Cancer Research MaRS Centre, South Tower
101 College Street, Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario
Canada, M5G 0A3

Current

2009 - Chair, Technology Development Advisory Group (TDAG), International Barcode of Life (iBOL) Project.
2009 - Member, Scientific Advisory Board for the Medicago Hapmap Project, National Science Foundation.
2007 - Genome Technologies Director, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR).

Background

2003 - 2007Associate Professor, Baylor College of Medicine. Primary appointment, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics. Joint appointment, Human Genome Sequencing Center., Baylor College of Medicine.
2000 - 2003Associate Professor, Primary appointment, Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Department of Genetics. Joint appointment, Genome Sequencing Center., Washington University School of Medicine.
1999 - 2003Co-Director, Genome Sequencing Center, Washington University School of Medicine.
1993 - 1996Co-Director, National Human Genome Research Center, University of California at Irvine.
1990 - 1992Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California at Irvine.
1989PhD, Biochemistry, Queen's University.
1988 - 1990Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Pediatrics, University of California at Irvine.

Selected Bibliography

  • Diamandis E, Voelkerding K, Drmanac R, Agus D, McPherson J. Next-Generation Sequencing: A New Revolution in Molecular Diagnostics? Clin. Chem. 2009;55: 1-5.
    • McPherson JD. Next-Generation Gap. Nature Meth. Supplement, Next-generation sequencing data analysis. 2009; Volume 6, No.11s:S2-S5.
      • Korshunova Y, Maloney RK, Lakey N, Citek RW, Bacher B, Budiman A, Ordway JM, McCombie WR, Leon J, Jeddeloh JA, McPherson JD. Massively parallel bisulphate pyrosequencing reveals the molecular complexity of breast cancer associated cytosine methylation patterns obtained from tissue and serum DNA. Genome Res. 2007. Genome Res. 2008; 18:19-29.
        • Weir BA, Woo MS, Getz G, Perner S, Ding L, Beroukhim R, Lin WM, Province MA, Kraja A, Johnson LA, Shah K, Sato M, Thomas RK, Barletta JA, Borecki IB, Broderick S, Chang AC, Chiang DY, Chirieac LR, Cho J, Fujii Y, Gazdar AF, Giordano T, Greulich H, Hanna M, Johnson BE, Kris MG, Lash A, Lin L, Lindeman N, Mardis ER, McPherson JD, Minna JD, Morgan MB, Nadel M, Orringer MB, Osborne JR, Ozenberger B, Ramos AH, Robinson J, Roth JA, Rusch V, Sasaki H, Shepherd F, Sougnez C, Spitz MR, Tsao MS, Twomey D, Verhaak RG, Weinstock GM, Wheeler DA, Winckler W, Yoshizawa A, Yu S, Zakowski MF, Zhang Q, Beer DG, Wistuba II, Watson MA, Garraway LA, Ladanyi M, Travis WD, Pao W, Rubin MA, Gabriel SB, Gibbs RA, Varmus HE, Wilson RK, Lander ES, Meyerson M. Characterizing the cancer genome in lung adenocarcinoma. Nature Advance Online Publication. 2007 November 4;doi:10.1038/nature06358
          • Ordway JM, Bedell JA, Citek RW, Nunberg A, Garrido A, Kendall R, Stevens JR, Cao D, Doerge RW, Korshunova Y, Holemon H, McPherson JD, Lakey N, Leon J, Martienssen RA, Jeddeloh JA. Comprehensive DNA methylation profiling in a human cancer genome identifies novel epigenetic targets. Carcinogenesis Epub. 2006 Sep 4;27:2409-2423.