PhD student
University of Alberta, Canada
Madhumita S. Manivannan, B.Tech., is a PhD student in the Department of Oncology at the University of Alberta, supervised by Dr. Spencer B. Gibson. Her research focuses on targeting lysosomal pathways to overcome therapeutic resistance and microenvironmental protection in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). She is currently investigating how lysosome-disrupting agents, such as pimozide, affect leukemic survival, secretory signaling, and the protective bone marrow microenvironment using 3D spheroid co-culture and in vivo models.
Madhumita holds a Bachelor of Technology in Industrial Biotechnology from Anna University, India. During her undergraduate studies, she gained extensive research experience through national and international internships, including a Mitacs Globalink Research Internship at the University of Saskatchewan, where she worked on synthetic dosage lethality for anticancer drug development. She also completed her thesis at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, focusing on the cloning and characterization of IMPDH1 and IMPDH2 promoters.
She has been a first author on multiple peer-reviewed publications and has presented her research at several national and international conferences. Notably, she was awarded Best Oral Presentation at CRINA Research Day 2024 and Best Poster at the 2024 Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Meeting, Winnipeg.
Beyond her research, Madhumita is an active mentor to junior graduate and summer students, provides training in experimental techniques and data analysis, and has served as a judge for oncology student presentations. She is passionate about translating basic science discoveries into therapeutic advances and is committed to contributing to the future of cancer research through both academic excellence and collaborative engagement.
