Drouillard, a Windsor native, recently won the Governor General's gold medal for a PhD thesis on how contaminants enter birds. Rob Letcher will show what happens to the chemicals after they enter the fish. Drouillard will demonstrate how chemicals get to the liver and Andrew Hubberstey will be responsible for the process of apoptosis. Chris Busch, a graduate student from the University of Northern B.C., will be responsible for processing the fish. Hubberstey's work is critical, said Haffner.
Apoptosis describes how defective cells are programmed to die, making way for new, healthy cells.
The researchers hope to prove that PAH prevents the defective, or cancerous, cells from dying, allowing them to live and divide. The Windsor Star Group Inc., a CanWest company.