Susan Patricia Lees-Miller

Dr. Susan Patricia Lees-Miller is a Professor with joint appointments in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Cumming School of Medicine) and Department of Biological Sciences (Faculty of Science) at the University of Calgary. She holds the Engineered Air Chair in Cancer Research and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Her laboratory investigates DNA damage response mechanisms, particularly non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) repair of radiation-induced DNA damage.

Her research focuses on DNA-PKcs and ATM kinase signaling in double-strand break repair, with applications in cancer therapy. Current projects explore PARP inhibitors for ATM-deficient cancers and PI3 kinase involvement in cisplatin resistance. Her group uses structural biology approaches, including cryo-EM to visualize DNA repair complexes, as featured in Nature (2021).

Dr. Lees-Miller teaches cancer biology and DNA repair courses and has received numerous honors including multiple SAGE Awards and the Killam Annual Professorship. Her work connects DNA repair mechanisms to therapeutic strategies for cancer treatment.