Kelsie Thu

Dr. Thu is a Scientist at the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science at St. Michael’s Hospital.

She was born and raised in Maple Ridge, British Columbia and obtained her Bachelor’s degree at Simon Fraser University in Biological Sciences with a specialization in Cell and Molecular Biology. Dr. Thu received her PhD in Interdisciplinary Oncology from the University of British Columbia under the supervision of Dr. Wan Lam, where she used integrative genomic strategies to decipher mechanisms promoting cancer growth and progression. As a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Tak Mak’s laboratory at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Dr. Thu used CRISPR/Cas9 functional genomics approaches to delineate mechanisms of drug response in cancer. 

Dr. Thu's research program is focused on better understanding lung cancer biology and drug resistance to inform and develop improved therapeutic strategies for patients. Her team integrates clinical genomics and functional genomics approaches to drive biological discovery in translational lung cancer models.

The Thu Lab is located at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital in downtown Toronto (209 Victoria St, Toronto).

Research Synopsis

Over 21,000 Canadians die of lung cancer each year. Despite advances in treatments and early detection, the 5-year survival rate is only 22%, highlighting the need for new treatments. The incomplete understanding of mechanisms driving hallmarks of lung cancer that promote tumor progression, like genomic instability, immune evasion, and drug resistance, is a major knowledge barrier that ultimately limits patient outcomes. Deducing these mechanisms could inform altogether new treatment approaches and strategies to enhance the efficacy of standard of care therapies.

To address this knowledge gap, Dr. Thu's translational research program aims to discover cell and molecular mechanisms underlying lung cancer drug resistance, identify new therapeutic targets, and develop innovative treatment strategies. The ultimate goal is to translate findings from preclinical models into new treatment strategies that improve lung cancer survival rates.

Current research themes include:

1. Therapeutic exploitation of centrosome amplification and chromosomal instability in lung cancer. The goal of this work is to discover specific mechanisms that lung cancers leverage to avoid the detrimental consequences of having extra centrosomes and associated chromosomal instability. Such mechanisms represent vulnerabilities that could be targeted to amplify instability to lethal levels as a new therapeutic strategy.
2. Defining the biological significance and therapeutic potential of CD47 in lung cancer. The Thu Lab is conducting studies to better understand the multifaceted contributions of CD47 to lung cancer growth and progression, beyond its role in promoting immune evasion, and is also developing alternative modes of delivering CD47-targeted immunotherapy to realize its therapeutic effects in lung cancer.
3. Understanding and overcoming drug resistance in lung cancer. This research aims to discover mechanisms driving lung cancer resistance to chemotherapy and EGFR-targeted therapy. The goal is to decipher novel mechanisms and determine whether inhibiting the proteins that drive them can reverse drug resistance.

Selected Publications

Rousseau Z, Ma W, Long T, Slavkovic S, Qiu X, Lao X, Zhu Y, Zhu G, THU KL, Ni H. Platelet CLEC-2 Activation Leads to GP1bα Shedding: Implications for Doxorubicin Chemotherapy and Thrombosis. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2026. Apr 27; 302(6):113074

Jajarmi J, Guest MR, Ma LJ, THU KL, Chari R, Lockwood WW. Pervasive Cas9 expression driven by mammalian promoter activity in E. coli affects representation of CRISPR sgRNA libraries. Communications Biology. 2026. May 13;9(1):1099. 

THU KL, Jafari S, Silvester J, Cruickshank J, Soria-Bretones I, Hodgson K, Tobin C, Haight J, Lau APY, Bray T, Wakeham A, Bray MR, Mak TW, Cescon DW. Genome-wide CRISPR screens identify ABCG2-mediated drug resistance to the TTK inhibitor CFI-402257 in breast cancer. International Journal of Molecular Science. 2026 13 Mar; 27(6): 2665.

Lau APY, Zhai LG, Hoshi R, Rousseau Z, Zakhary A, Wu YF, Saleeb R, Ni H, THU KL. CD47 promotes MAPK and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition molecular programs to drive pro-metastatic phenotypes in non-small cell lung cancer. Molecular Oncology. 2026 Aug;20(8):1963-1985. 

Liu Y, Shen S, Shukla M, Malowany J, Hakim S, Aziz Z, Parente DN, Cheung V, Khanna S, Ko YJ, Kidanewold W, Ko MA, THU KL, Yoon JY. Biomarker Testing in a Canadian Centre for Patients with Non small Cell Lung Cancer: Assessing Residual Risks. Canadian Oncology Today. 2025 Nov 2(3):22-28.

Bhat V, THU KL, Bonvissuto AC, Ghasemi F, Goodale D, Roes M, Dick FA, Cescon DW, Allan AL, Parsyan A. Loss of Artemis (DCLRE1C) enhances radiotherapy response in triple-negative breast cancer through activation of cellular senescence. Cancers. 2025 Oct 10;17(20):3279. 

Abdelkader Y, Abdelkarim M, Suresh M, Lopera TJ, Dhaliwa S, Shojaei S, Pope LJ, Liu Q, Hu P, Guinta S, Haga H, THU KL, Ishihara S, Anikovskiy M, Labouta HI. Genomic Instability and Shear Stress Influence Quantum Dot-Induced Endothelial Cell Responses and Gene Expression. Materials Today Nano. 2025 Aug 31: 100641. 

Zhang CZ, Wu BZ, THU KL. Targeting Kinesins for Therapeutic Exploitation of Chromosomal Instability in Lung Cancer. Cancers. 2025 Feb 18;17(4):685. 

Wang D, Cheung A, Mawdsley GE, Liu K, Yerofeyeva Y, THU KL, Yoon JY, Jaffe MJ. A modified bleaching method for multiplex immunofluorescence staining of FFPE tissue sections. Applied Immunohistochemistry & Molecular Morphology. 2024 Nov-Dec;32(10):447-452. 

Hoshi R, Gorospe KA, Labouta HI, Azad T, Lee WL, THU KL. Alternative strategies for delivering immunotherapeutics targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint in cancer. Pharmaceutics. 2024 Sep 7;16(9):1181. 

Zhang CZ, Wu BZ, Di Ciano-Oliveira C, Wu YF, Khavkine Binstock SS, Soria-Bretones I, Pham NA, Elia AJ, Chari R, Lam WL, Bray MR, Mak TW, Tsao MS, Cescon DW, THU KL. Identification of KIFC1 as a putative vulnerability in lung cancers with centrosome amplification. Cancer Gene Therapy. 2024 Oct;31(10):1559-1570. 

Liu W, Mousa AAK, Hopkins AM, Wu YF, THU KL, Campbell M, Lees SJ, Ramachandran R, Hou J. Lysophosphatidic acid receptor 1 (LPA1) antagonists as potential migrastatics for triple negative breast cancer. ChemMedChem. 2024 Aug 19;19(16):e202400013. 

Lau APY, Khavkine Binstock SS, THU KL. CD47: The next frontier in immune checkpoint blockade for non-small cell lung cancer. Cancers. 2023. 15(21), 5229. 

Chan CY, Yuen VW, Chiu DK, Goh CC, THU KL, Cescon DW, Soria-Bretones I, Law CK, Cheu JW, Lee D, Tse AP, Tan KV, Zhang MS, Wong BP, Khong PL, Ng IO, Yau TC, Bray MR, Mak TW, Wong CC. Polo-like kinase 4 inhibitor CFI-400945 suppresses liver cancer through cell cycle perturbation and eliciting antitumor immunity. Hepatology. 2023 Mar 1;77(3):729-744. 

Joshi K, Sanwal R, THU KL, Tsai SSH, Lee WL. Plug and Pop: A 3D-Printed, Modular Platform for Drug Delivery Using Clinical Ultrasound and Microbubbles. Pharmaceutics. 2022. Nov 19;14(11):2516. 

Soria-Bretones I, THU KL, Silvester J, Cruickshank J, Ba-Alawi W, Elliott MJ, Chalmers J, Elia A, Cheng A, Fletcher GC, Kiarash R, Haibe-Kains B, Rose A, Bray MR, Mak TW, Cescon DW. The spindle assembly checkpoint is a therapeutic vulnerability of CDK4/6 inhibitor-resistant ER+ breast cancer. Science Advances. 2022 Sep 9;8(36):eabq4293. 

Chan CY, Chiu DK, Yuen VW, Law CT, Wong BP, THU KL, Cescon DW, Soria-Bretones I, Cheu JW, Lee D, Tse AP, Zhang MS, Tan KV, Ng IO, Khong P, Yau TC, Bray MR, Mak TW, Wong CC. CFI-402257, a TTK inhibitor, effectively suppresses hepatocellular carcinoma. 2022. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Aug 9; 119 (32): e2119514119. 

Zheng L, Chen Z, Kawakami M, Chen Y, Roszik J, Mustachio LM, Kurie JM, Villalobos PA, Lu W, Behren CM, Mino B, Solis LM, Silvester J, THU KL, Cescon DW, Rodriguez-Canales J, Wistuba II, Mak TW, Liu X, Dmitrovsky E. Tyrosine threonine kinase inhibition eliminates lung cancers by augmenting apoptosis and aneuploidy. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. 2019 Oct 18; 18(10):1775-1786. 

O’Farrell H, Harbourne B, Kurlawala Z, Inoue Y, Nagelberg A, Martinez VD, Lu D, Oh MH, Coe BP, THU KL, Somwar R, Lam S, Lam WL, Unni AM, Beverly L, Lockwood WW. Integrative genomic analyses identifies GGA2 as a cooperative driver of EGFR-mediated lung tumorigenesis. Journal of Thoracic Oncology. 2019 Apr; 14(4): 656-671. 

Kubli SP, Bassi C, Roux C, Wakeham A, Baniasadi SP, Duncan G, Palomero L, THU KL, Cassetta L, Soong D, Lindzen M, Yarden Y, Herranz C, Lazaro C, Gobl C, Fang-chi M, Haight J, Tinto P, Silvester JS, Elliott M, Cescon D, Ramachandran P, Petit A, Pettersson S, Pollard JW, Pujana MA, Mak TW, Cappello P, Gorrini C. AhR controls redox homeostasis and shapes the tumor microenvironment in BRCA1-associated breast cancer. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2019 Feb 26; 116(9): 3604-3613. 

Kawakami M, Mustachio LM, Zheng L, Chen Y, Rodriguez-Canales J, Mino B, Kurie JM, Roszik J, Villalobos PA, THU KL, Silvester J, Cescon DW, Wistuba II, Mak TW, Liu X, Dmitrovsky E. Reply to Oegema et al.: CFI-400945 and Polo-like kinase 4 inhibition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2018 Nov 13; 115(46): E10810-E10811. 

Elliott MJ, Jerzak KJ, Cockburn JG, Safikhani Z, Gwynne WD, Hassell JA, Bane A, Silvester J, THU KL, Habie-Kains B, Mak TW, Cescon D. The Antiarrhythmic Drug, Dronedarone, Demonstrates Cytotoxic Effects in Breast Cancer Independent of Thyroid Hormone Receptor Alpha 1 (THRα1) Antagonism. Scientific Reports. 2018 Nov 8; 8(1):16562. 

THU KL, Soria-Bretones I, Mak TW, Cescon DW. Targeting the cell cycle in breast cancer: towards the next phase. Cell Cycle. 2018 Sep 11; 17(15):1871-1885. 

Kawakami M, Mustachio LM, Zheng L, Chen Y, Rodriguez-Canales J, Mino B, Kurie JM, Roszik J, Villalobos PA, THU KL, Silvester J, Cescon DW, Wistuba II, Mak TW, Liu X, Dmitrovsky E. Polo-like kinase 4 inhibition produces polyploidy and apoptotic death of lung cancers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2018 Feb 20; 115(8):1913-1918. 

THU KL, Silvester J, Elliott MJ, Ba-alawi W, Duncan MH, Elia AC, Mer AS, Smirnov P, Safikhani Z, Haibe-Kains B, Mak TW, Cescon DW. Disruption of the anaphase-promoting complex confers resistance to TTK inhibitors in triple-negative breast cancer. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2018 Feb 13; 115(7):E1570-E1577. 

Honours and Awards

Tier 2 Canada Research Chair Renewal, Lung Cancer Therapy Response

Appointments

Scientist, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto

Assistant Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto