Rate My Professor Spencer Gibson

Dr. Spencer Gibson is a Professor in the Department of Oncology within the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta, holding the inaugural Dianne and Irving Kipnes Endowed Chair in Lymphatic Disorders since 2021. He graduated with a PhD from the University of Toronto's Department of Clinical Biochemistry in 1997, completing a pre-doctoral fellowship at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, Colorado, that same year. Gibson began his independent career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba in 1999, advancing to full professor. There, he contributed to the creation and expansion of the Manitoba Tumor Bank, served as Director of the CancerCare Manitoba Research Institute from 2012 to 2015, and as Director of Translational Research, developing infrastructure that united multidisciplinary researchers and led to changes in clinical cancer practices in Manitoba.

Gibson's research examines cell survival and death signaling pathways, particularly in the lymphatic system and leukemias. With over 140 peer-reviewed publications on cell death responses to stress and therapies, he has secured more than $20 million in funding. At the University of Alberta, his program investigates stress responses in lymphatic cells and their microenvironment causing dysfunction and death, using human cells, animal models, and lymphedema patient samples. Key areas include oxidative stress, lipid toxicity in cancer-related lymphedema progression, and radiation-induced cellular senescence blocking lymphatic repair. He also studies chronic lymphocytic leukemia mechanisms in lymph node microenvironments and drug resistance to targeted therapies, developing strategies to overcome resistance. Gibson leads networks such as the Alberta Lymphedema Network, collaborations with the University of Calgary, Salutaris, and others, plus a CLL Prairie Consortium between Alberta and Manitoba, spanning basic, clinical, and population sciences to advance translational research and patient outcomes.