Mads Daugaard

Dr. Mads Daugaard is a molecular biologist specialized in tumour-associated stress signaling pathways and tumour targeting systems. He earned his PhD from the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Copenhagen for his studies on heat shock proteins in relation to cancer cell survival mechanisms. After completing his PhD, he received a junior fellowship award to continue his work at the Danish Cancer Society Research Centre on stress signaling pathways related to DNA damage response mechanisms. In 2010, he received a research award from the Danish Cancer Society Scientific Committee to do postdoctoral training in molecular pathology at the BC Cancer Research Centre and the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Daugaard was recruited to the Vancouver Prostate Centre in 2014 as a senior research scientist and group leader. His ongoing research focuses on molecular and biochemical events underlying alternative polyadenylation of mRNAs, chromatin context-dependent DNA repair, development of resistance to chemotherapy, and immune-evasion mechanisms in cancer. Another aspect of Dr. Daugaard’s research relates to discovery and development of novel tumour targeting systems based on parasite-derived recombinant proteins relevant for therapeutic and diagnostic applications in cancer.

Dr. Daugaard has published original research in top-tier scientific journals and received competitive international funding support from institutions such as the US Department of Defense, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institutes of Health, Stand Up 2 Cancer, and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. In the 2014 competition, Dr. Daugaard received the Prostate Cancer Canada and Safeway Rising Star Award. Dr. Daugaard has served as an editor of Cell Death & Disease (Nature Publishing Group) since 2016. In 2012, Dr. Daugaard co-founded the biotechnology companies VAR2 Pharmaceuticals and OncoMal, and in 2017, the diagnostic company VarCT Diagnostics. In 2021 Dr. Daugaard co-founded the small-molecule cancer therapeutic company Rakovina Therapeutics.