Faculty profile

Michael Witcher

ResearcherOncologyMcGill University

This profile is built from public research funding records (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) and PubMed. We have not imported them from a McGill University directory, so their courses may be missing. Find their university profile.

Michael Witcher

Researcher

Oncology

Health Sciences

McGill University

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Supervision signals

Has led research grants, which requires an independent research appointment. Ask their department whether they supervise graduate students.
7 publications in the last five years, latest in 2025.
Senior (last) author on 3 recent papers, a sign of leading a research group.
Principal investigator on 7 research grants (7 CIHR), most recently in 2025.
Supervised 1 trainee who won CIHR awards, most recently in 2012.

These signals come from public records, including CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions. Ask the professor or the graduate program whether they are taking new students.

Academic metrics

Publications

Citations

h-index

Collaborators

Grants

Publications by year

Counts cover the works listed on the university profile; citation counts come from Dimensions.

Profiles and links

Search on Google Scholar

Find them onX · LinkedIn · Bluesky · YouTube

Signals and details

Research

Breast Cancer Epigenetics Metastasis Therapeutics Cancer Biology Immune Response Progression Ctcf

Latest papers

Assessing radiosensitivity through sublethal damage recovery: a comparison of survival-based and molecular repair kinetics.
Physics in medicine and biology · 2025
Combined Inhibition of MNK Signaling and BET Proteins Reveals TGM2 as a Novel Vulnerability in Melanoma.
The Journal of investigative dermatology · 2025 · senior author
The Neurodevelopmental Protein POGZ Suppresses Metastasis in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer by Attenuating TGFβ Signaling.
Cancer research · 2024

All 34 publications

Latest funding

Defining mechanisms that drive, and mobilizing immune responses against, organotropic breast metastasis.
CIHR · 2025 · Nominated PI
$852,976
Cancer Translational Research Horizons 2024
CIHR · 2024 · Co-investigator
$20,000
Targeting changes to chromatin architecture that promote breast cancer metastasis.
CIHR · 2023 · Nominated PI
$100,000

All 12 grants and awards

34 publications.

Assessing radiosensitivity through sublethal damage recovery: a comparison of survival-based and molecular repair kinetics.

Chabaytah N, Dumančić M, Asante EC, Connell T, Witcher M, Abbasinejad Enger S

Physics in medicine and biology2025

DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ade221 PMID: 40480255

Combined Inhibition of MNK Signaling and BET Proteins Reveals TGM2 as a Novel Vulnerability in Melanoma.

Méant A, Moussa O, Lebeau B, Gonçalves C, Richard VR, Cai F, Prabhu SA, Langke M, Guettler EM, Su J, Gagnon N, Zahedi RP, Borchers CH, Miller WH, Del Rincón SV, Witcher M

The Journal of investigative dermatology2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2024.07.037 PMID: 39357785

The Neurodevelopmental Protein POGZ Suppresses Metastasis in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer by Attenuating TGFβ Signaling.

Heath J, Mirabelli C, Annis MG, Sabourin V, Hebert S, Findlay S, Kim H, Witcher M, Kleinman CL, Siegel PM, Orthwein A, Ursini-Siegel J

Cancer research2024

DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-23-3887 PMID: 39137399

MTOR modulation induces selective perturbations in histone methylation which influence the anti-proliferative effects of mTOR inhibitors.

Kim H, Lebeau B, Papadopoli D, Jovanovic P, Russo M, Avizonis D, Morita M, Afzali F, Ursini-Siegel J, Postovit LM, Witcher M, Topisirovic I

iScience2024

DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109188 PMID: 38433910

3D chromatin remodeling potentiates transcriptional programs driving cell invasion.

Lebeau B, Jangal M, Zhao T, Wong CK, Wong N, Cañedo EC, Hébert S, Aguilar-Mahecha A, Chabot C, Buchanan M, Catterall R, McCaffrey L, Deblois G, Kleinman C, Park M, Basik M, Witcher M

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2022Senior author

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2203452119 PMID: 36037342

Single base-pair resolution analysis of DNA binding motif with MoMotif reveals an oncogenic function of CTCF zinc-finger 1 mutation.

Lebeau B, Zhao K, Jangal M, Zhao T, Guerra M, Greenwood CMT, Witcher M

Nucleic acids research2022Senior author

DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac658 PMID: 35947648

POGZ promotes homology-directed DNA repair in an HP1-dependent manner.

Heath J, Cheyou ES, Findlay S, Luo VM, Carpio EP, Lee J, Djerir B, Chen X, Morin T, Lebeau B, Karam M, Bagci H, Grapton D, Ursini-Siegel J, Côté JF, Witcher M, Richard S, Maréchal A, Orthwein A

EMBO reports2022

DOI: 10.15252/embr.202051041 PMID: 34758190

STAT1 potentiates oxidative stress revealing a targetable vulnerability that increases phenformin efficacy in breast cancer.

Totten SP, Im YK, Cepeda Cañedo E, Najyb O, Nguyen A, Hébert S, Ahn R, Lewis K, Lebeau B, La Selva R, Sabourin V, Martínez C, Savage P, Kuasne H, Avizonis D, Santos Martínez N, Chabot C, Aguilar-Mahecha A, Goulet ML, Dankner M, Witcher M, Petrecca K, Basik M, Pollak M, Topisirovic I, Lin R, Siegel PM, Kleinman CL, Park M, St-Pierre J, Ursini-Siegel J

Nature communications2021

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23396-2 PMID: 34083537

Achieving clinical success with BET inhibitors as anti-cancer agents.

Shorstova T, Foulkes WD, Witcher M

British journal of cancer2021Senior author

DOI: 10.1038/s41416-021-01321-0 PMID: 33723398

Glioblastoma cell populations with distinct oncogenic programs release podoplanin as procoagulant extracellular vesicles.

Tawil N, Bassawon R, Meehan B, Nehme A, Montermini L, Gayden T, De Jay N, Spinelli C, Chennakrishnaiah S, Choi D, Adnani L, Zeinieh M, Jabado N, Kleinman CL, Witcher M, Riazalhosseini Y, Key NS, Schiff D, Grover SP, Mackman N, Couturier CP, Petrecca K, Suvà ML, Patel A, Tirosh I, Najafabadi H, Rak J

Blood advances2021

DOI: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2020002998 PMID: 33720339

Defining mechanisms that drive, and mobilizing immune responses against, organotropic breast metastasis.

Nominated PICIHR2025Project Grant

Principal investigators: Witcher, Michael; Ursini-Siegel, Giuseppina

Keywords: Breast Cancer; Cancer Biology; Immune Response; Metastasis

$852,976

Cancer Translational Research Horizons 2024

Co-investigatorCIHR2024Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Principal investigators: Abbasi Nejad Enger, Shirin

Keywords: Artificial Inteligence; Biomarkers; Cancer; Innovation; Medical Physics; Medtech; Oncology; Precision Medicine; Translational Research

$20,000

Targeting changes to chromatin architecture that promote breast cancer metastasis.

Nominated PICIHR2023Project Grant - PA: Breast Cancer Research

Principal investigators: Witcher, Michael

Keywords: Breast Cancer; Epigenetics; Progression; Therapeutics

$100,000

Targeting changes to chromatin architecture that promote breast cancer metastasis.

Nominated PICIHR2023Project Grant

Principal investigators: Witcher, Michael

Keywords: Breast Cancer; Epigenetics; Metastasis; Therapeutics

$1,097,775

Targeting changes to chromatin architecture that promote breast cancer metastasis.

Nominated PICIHR2022Project Grant - PA: Breast Cancer Research

Principal investigators: Witcher, Michael

Keywords: Breast Cancer; Epigenetics; Metastasis

$100,000

Exploring Social Insect Pheromones as a New Chemotherapeutic to Fight Cancer

Co-investigatorSSHRC2021New Frontiers in Research Fund - Exploration

Principal investigators: Abouheif, Ehab

Keywords: Queen Mandibular Pheromone Social Insects Honey Bees Ovarian Cancer Major Transitions in Individuality Evolutionary Biology of Cancer Novel Chemotherapeutics Cooperation Conflict resolution

$250,000

Capitalizing on an oxidative stress response to sensitize poor outcome cancers to PARP inhibitors

Co-investigatorCIHR2019Project Grant

Principal investigators: Ursini-Siegel, Giuseppina

Keywords: Chemotherapy; Mouse Models; Oxidative Stress; P66shca; Parp Inhibitors; Patient Derived Xenograft

$948,600

Epigenetic characterization and therapeutic targeting of cancers harboring dysfunctional CTCF.

Nominated PICIHR2018Project Grant

Principal investigators: Witcher, Michael

Keywords: Ctcf; Epiegentics; Oncogenes; Therapeutics; Transcription; Tumor Suppressors

$726,750

Oncogenic activity of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase.

Nominated PICIHR2018Project Grant

Principal investigators: Witcher, Michael

Keywords: Breast Cancer; Poly (Adp-Ribose) Glycohydrolase; Smad Transcription Factors

$665,550

Overcome HIV-1 Resistance to CRISPR/Cas9 Attack

Co-investigatorCIHR2016Operating Grant: Innovative Biomedical and Clinical HIV/AIDS Research

Principal investigators: Liang, Chen

Keywords: Crispr/Cas9; Cure; Hiv/Aids; Viral Resistance

$250,000

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Something wrong or missing on this profile? Suggest a correction

Michael Witcher

Research

Latest papers

Latest funding

Assessing radiosensitivity through sublethal damage recovery: a comparison of survival-based and molecular repair kinetics.

Combined Inhibition of MNK Signaling and BET Proteins Reveals TGM2 as a Novel Vulnerability in Melanoma.

The Neurodevelopmental Protein POGZ Suppresses Metastasis in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer by Attenuating TGF&#x3b2; Signaling.

MTOR modulation induces selective perturbations in histone methylation which influence the anti-proliferative effects of mTOR inhibitors.

3D chromatin remodeling potentiates transcriptional programs driving cell invasion.

Single base-pair resolution analysis of DNA binding motif with MoMotif reveals an oncogenic function of CTCF zinc-finger 1 mutation.

POGZ promotes homology-directed DNA repair in an HP1-dependent manner.

STAT1 potentiates oxidative stress revealing a targetable vulnerability that increases phenformin efficacy in breast cancer.

Achieving clinical success with BET inhibitors as anti-cancer agents.

Glioblastoma cell populations with distinct oncogenic programs release podoplanin as procoagulant extracellular vesicles.

Exploring Social Insect Pheromones as a New Chemotherapeutic to Fight Cancer

Frequent collaborators

Morag Park

Luke McCaffrey

Ivan Topisirovic

Ivan Topisirovic

Sidong Huang

Mark Basik

Moulay Alaoui-Jamali

Sambasivarao Damaraju

Jerry Pelletier

Morag Park

Janusz Rak

Kevin Petrecca

Kevin Petrecca

Alexandre Orthwein

Claudia Kleinman

Julie St-Pierre

Sonia Del Rincon

Lynne-Marie Postovit

Genevieve Deblois

Marie-Claude Bourgeois-Daigneault

The Neurodevelopmental Protein POGZ Suppresses Metastasis in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer by Attenuating TGFβ Signaling.