Ryan D. Morin MSc, PhD

Ryan D. Morin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Simon Fraser University. Dr. Ryan Morin has been studying the genetic nature of lymphoid cancers using genomic methods for more than a decade. During his doctoral training at the University of British Columbia and BC Cancer, he pioneered the use of transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing to identify driver mutations in non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Over the course of his training, he published a series of papers describing some of the most common genetic features of diffuse large B-cell (DLBCL) and follicular lymphomas including EZH2, KMT2D, CREBBP, and MEF2B. Following his transition to an independent position at SFU, Dr. Morin has continued to identify genetic features of these and other aggressive lymphomas including non-coding (silent) regulatory drivers of cancer. His laboratory has implemented novel assays for the sensitive detection and genetic characterization of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). These “liquid biopsy” approaches continue to be developed as non-invasive methods for monitoring treatment response and resistance. Using these and other modern genomics tools and bioinformatics techniques, his team continues to explore the genetics of relapsed and refractory DLBCL with the ultimate goal of identifying novel biomarkers that predict treatment failure on specific therapies. This work has helped refine our understanding of genetic and gene expression differences that predict poor outcomes in DLBCL.