CRP  |  Cancer Research Program

Livia Garzia, PhD is a Scientist in the Cancer Research Program at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (The Institute) and an Associate Professor in McGill University’s Department of Surgery. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms driving metastasis and therapy resistance in pediatric solid cancers, particularly bone sarcomas and brain tumors.

After completing her PhD in Life Sciences at the Telethon Institute for Genetics and Medicine in Naples, Italy, Prof. Garzia trained in cancer genetics at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Her team uses functional genomics to identify the genetic and epigenetic factors behind tumor progression and relapse. Recent work has revealed the role of histone mutations in neurodegeneration (Cell, 2023) and the impact of the epigenetic regulator EZHIP in osteosarcoma (Nature Communications, 2025).

She also established Quebec’s largest sarcoma biobank, advancing translational research and redefining how pediatric brain tumors metastasize. Recipient of awards from the FRQS, CIHR and the Nicole et François Angers Sarcoma Research Chair, Prof. Garzia’s research continues to shape the future of pediatric oncology.

Originally from Montreal, Thomas Kucharski, PhD did his bachelor’s degree at McGill University in Microbiology & Immunology where he performed studies on how retroviruses enter host cells with Shan-Lu Liu. He then performed his doctoral work in the laboratory of Jose Teodoro in the Goodman Institute and Department of Biochemistry at McGill University where he worked on oncolytic viral proteins and mitosis. The title of his thesis was “Interactions Between the DNA Damage Response and Anaphase Promoting Complex during Viral Infection and Normal Cell Cycle”. For his postdoctoral work, he then joined the laboratory of Duane Compton in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in the United States where he studied the phosphorylation-dependent mechanisms that control mitotic fidelity. He then worked as a Research Associate in the laboratory of Susanne Bechstedt in the Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology at McGill University where he studied mitotic spindle dynamics.