Melfort native named department head at University of Saskatchewan

Chelico said she has started some new initiatives before the start of the school year in the fall. Despite Chelico’s new role, her research program will continue.

“I’m training graduate students and I have research staff and an active research lab,” explained Chelico. She reduced the number of committees and other responsibilities to ensure she could keep her research program while being department head.

Chelico’s lab is focused on two main research projects. One involves the proteins in the human immune system that can restrict HIV replication. About five years ago, she was funded for research about the same function of the human immune system, but how it relates to cancer. She said cancer cells act differently than other cells in that they grow uncontrollably and can move to other parts of the body.

“Sometimes (people) are unsure where these mutations arise and what’s the role of these proteins that we code in our immune system that also cause mutations,” said Chelico. “We’ve been studying that and how (the proteins) they actually try to cause more mutations in the cancer cells to kill the cancer cells, but sometimes that doesn’t work because the cancer cells have their own ability to fight back.”

Chelico said they’ve been studying the relation between the human immune system proteins and cancer cells in an effort to find better ways to treat cancer, knowing the role of the immune system in cancer.

Chelico’s interest in science and biology began in Grade 12 at Melfort and Unit Comprehensive Collegiate (MUCC) when she was studying microorganisms, including bacteria. That interest in bacteria grew – pardon the pun – into a microbiology degree from the U of S. From there, her interests changed and expanded into organisms and DNA.

“I really was fascinated by how microorganisms like bacteria or fungus can acquire these mutations in their DNA and they can adapt, it helps them actually to adapt and it’s not a bad thing, whereas in humans, mutation is usually seen as something bad because…it relates somehow to cancer.”

She began to study many different aspects of that field, from DNA damage and repair in fungi and bacteria to the family of proteins she and her team are now researching.

“I realized about this family of proteins that…mutations are usually bad in humans, but actually they can be good, they can be part of the immune system,” explains Chelico. Microbial studies have always interested Chelico as they influence so many things that we cannot see.

Chelico said one of her goals is to increase the department’s social media presence so the community, university alumni, grad students, research staff, and prospective students can keep tabs on exciting developments and be more interactive. That includes an upcoming announcement on department members that were successful in procuring funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

“I just want to build on those successes to make a better system at a department level for our faculty to be successful in research, and that’s also how we can teach the next level of scientists the best cutting-edge techniques and ways of thinking.”

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Cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @northeastNOW_SK

by Cam Lee

Melfort native named department head at University of Saskatchewan

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