For our April Support Group Meeting, we welcomed our Guest Speaker, Dr. Siyaram Pandey, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Windsor.  He obtained his PhD from Jawaharial Nehru University (Delhi) and the Center for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India, did postdoctoral training at McGill University, worked at National Research Council as associate and Research Officer before joining the University of Windsor in 2000.

Dr. Pandey’s research is focused on apoptosis (cell suicide), which is central to various aspects of human health including neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. He has published more than 84 research articles, and has 5 patents. He was the President of Natural Health Product Research Society of Canada from 2013-2015, is  currently the Founder Director and CSO of the Windsor Botanical Therapeutics Inc. Toronto. His group is known for their discovery of the novel natural anti-cancer compound Pancratistatin, and Dandelion Root extract which is in clinical trial for blood cancer patients. His group in collaboration with Dr. Arnason’s lab at the University of Ottawa has pioneered discovery of different novel natural extracts with very selective anti-cancer activities.

Teaching and research are Dr. Pandey’s passion.  He has been awarded Teacher of the Year award two times (2004 and 2007), Mayor’s Innovation Award, City of Windsor 2017, Alumni Award for Distinguished Contributions to University Teaching 2007, Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Samman, 2016. This award is given to non-resident Indian at the House of Lords, London UK by NRI Society of India. Faculty of Science Performance Award for 2014, and Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Medal for Outstanding Young Scientists 1992. This is India’s most prestigious national award for young scientists and only 1-2 people receive this award every year in Biology.

Dr. Pandey and his team have been working since 2005 on pancratistatin, demonstrating its cancer-killing properties. He spoke to us about his team’s ongoing research into the anti-cancer effects of Dandelion root and lemongrass extracts  in human prostate cancer; interaction with standard chemotherapeutic drugs, and the possibility of using them as adjuvant with standard chemotherapy.P