Faculty Profile: Lauren Endres

Growing up in Toronto, Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Lauren Endres has long held an interest in biology.

“My interest in biology first sparked as a senior in high school and then really took root while I was an undergraduate student at York University. I had fantastic professors who excited my interest in many biological process including those that control how cells express their genetic material, and the possible outcomes of altering genetic material by mutation.”

After completing a senior thesis project at York University in Toronto that studied gene recombination events, she found herself wanting to delve further into the field of molecular biology as a graduate student, leading her to a master of science degree as well as her doctorate at the University of Toronto. She says her ongoing interest in biology is fueled by trying to understand the precise ways in which cells respond to their ever-changing environments.

“In particular, I am fascinated by how cancer cells hijack the normal pathways that control cell division and survival in order to drive their own uncontrolled growth.”

All her post-secondary school experience was extremely positive, she notes, helping her achieve success as both a research scientist and a mentor. Now she works to instill the same excitement in biology that was instilled in her by her own mentors, sharing all of her accumulated knowledge about cells, genetics, development and cancer that comes from more than a decade of study and research.

It’s not just experience in the classroom that she brings with her to SUNY Poly either. In 2010, she was awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Fellowship to investigate the role of oxidative stress in cancer development, which she accepted at SUNY Poly’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. Her cumulative research and teaching experience has lead to sixteen publications in leading science journals and two book chapters. She has also been a member of the Ribonucleic Acid Society (or RNA Society) since 2013, and has acted as a peer-reviewer for a number of top-ranked scientific journals.

And what made her choose SUNY Poly as the place to bestow all that experience and knowledge and help educate future health care professionals who will go on to serve their communities as doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, veterinarians, chiropractors, and laboratory technicians? She says it’s the excitement.

“Excitement at being a part of a growing biology program and the opportunity to engage in collaborative research with faculty at a one-of-a-kind institute.”

At this one-of-a-kind institute, Dr. Endres hopes her students leave her classes with a solid foundation of biology that will enable them to pursue advanced studies in their chosen field and perhaps, more importantly, an excitement to study the biological processes that give life to organisms.

“I hope to develop new courses in development and cancer biology, engage undergraduate students in hands-on laboratory research, and secure funding for my research efforts from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).”