Lawrence M Banks

Lawrence M Banks obtained his PhD degree in 1984 from the University of Leeds in the Department of Microbiology. He performed post-doctoral work at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in London, where he developed his interests in Human Papillomaviruses (HPVs). In 1990 he moved to Trieste to the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (IGGEB), an international intergovernmental organization dedicated to the research needs of the developing world. He is currently Senior Scientist and Head of the Virology Group. The laboratory has made several major contributions to understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the function of HPV-encoded proteins involved in the regulation of viral transcription and cellular transformation. Current laboratory interests are concerned with the E6 and E7 oncoproteins and, in particular, understanding the mechanisms that regulate the specificity of these viral oncoproteins for their cellular substrates.

Philip E Branton

Phil Branton obtained his PhD in 1972 at the Ontario Cancer Institute, Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto. Following post-doctoral studies at MIT with Phillips W Robbins he became a professeur adjoint in the Départment de biologie cellulaire at the Université de Sherbrooke. In 1975 he moved to the Cancer Research Group at McMaster University where he became Associate and then Full Professor of Pathology, and in 1987 he was named the Group's Coordinator. He moved to McGill University as Chair of the Department of Biochemistry (1990–2000), and in 1996 was named Gilman Cheney Professor of Biochemistry. In December 2000 he was named the first Director of the Institute of Cancer Research of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He has served several granting agencies in Canada and the USA in many capacities, and has been active in both university and hospital based research. He is also co-Founder of GeminX Biotechnologies Inc. of Montreal, and is known for basic research on viruses, apoptosis and tumour suppressors, and for applied work on new cancer therapies.