Jody Haigh

Dr. Jody Haigh is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba. He leads a research group at the Research Institute in Oncology and Hematology (RIOH), focusing on leukemia and cellular plasticity. His work involves investigating ZEB/SNAI transcription factors in blood cell development, identifying novel therapies for aggressive blood cancers, and exploring regenerative medicine applications.

Education: BSc (Honours) in Life Sciences (Queen’s University, 1992), MSc in Biochemistry (Queen’s Cancer Research Institute, 1995), PhD in Biochemistry (IMP/University of Vienna, 2000). Postdoctoral training at Mount Sinai Hospital (2000–2004). Prior academic roles include positions at Ghent University (Belgium) and Monash University (Australia).

Research Themes:

• Cellular plasticity in cancer and regeneration
• Leukemia biology and therapeutic targeting
• Epigenetic modulation in hematopoietic systems
• Generation of transgenic mouse models

Publications: Over 90 peer-reviewed articles in journals like Blood, Nature, and Nature Communications, with >7,000 citations. Recent work emphasizes ZEB2’s role in leukemia progression and novel combination therapies.

Awards: Larkins Fellowship (Monash University), Terry Fox Postdoctoral Fellowship, and Vienna Biocentre PhD Studentship. His research is supported by grants from CancerCare Manitoba and the University of Manitoba.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Haigh Lab at RIOH, collaborating with the Manitoba Epigenetics Network. Actively mentors students in PhD and Master’s programs, focusing on hematological malignancies and regenerative strategies.