Canadian Professor Chris Bakal aims to understand how cells change shape, become cancerous and form metastases. Professor Bakal has received numerous awards for his research.

Professor Bakal received his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at the University of British Columbia and his PhD in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto and the Ontario Cancer Institute.

He joined Harvard Medical School and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as a postdoctoral fellow in 2004. In 2006, he also became an affiliate of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as an affiliate of the Broad Institute.

In 2009, Professor Bakal started his own research team at the ICR on a Wellcome Trust Research Career Development Fellowship. His team is part of the integrative network biology initiative, which is a collaborative research effort between scientists of different disciplines to study the biological processes involved in cancer metastasis. In 2016, he was awarded the title of Reader at the ICR.

Outside work, Professor Bakal was a former world-ranked downhill ski racer who specialised in the super-giant slalom event. He is also a former track and field athlete who finished in the top eight three times at the Canadian National Championships 1500m event and has also run a mile in 4 minutes and 3 seconds.

Watch his video address for the Terry Fox Run here.