Allen C Eaves
Encyclopedia
Allen C. Eaves was the founding Director of the Terry Fox Laboratory
for Hematology/Oncology Research, which over a 25 year period (1981–2006) he grew into an internationally recognized centre for the study of leukemia and stem cell research. His own research on chronic myelogenous leukemia
(CML) has led the way to a new understanding of the disease. As Head of Hematology at the British Columbia Cancer Agency and the University of British Columbia
for 18 years (1985–2003) he engineered the building of one of the first and largest bone marrow transplant programs in Canada. In recognition of his research accomplishments and leadership in moving basic science discoveries in stem cell biology into the clinic, he was elected President of the International Society of Cell Therapy (1995–1997), Treasurer of the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (1995–2002) and President of the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (1999–2000). In 2003 he was awarded the prestigious R. M. Taylor Medal by the Canadian Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute of Canada.
In 2006 Eaves retired as required by provincial law at that time, becoming Professor Emeritus of Hematology and spending more time on several companies he founded to further the fields of cellular therapy and regenerative medicine - STEMCELL Technologies Inc, STEMSOFT Software Inc. and Malachite Management Inc.. These companies continue to grow under his leadership and in 2010, STEMCELL had 400 employees and was declared British Columbia’s largest biotech company.
. Interested in science, he attended Acadia University
and graduated with a BSc in Biology and Mathematics in 1962. He then went to Dalhousie University
, completing his MSc in cell physiology under Dr. Gordon Kaplan on A Radiological Investigation of Two Cellular Enzyme Systems of Yeast (1964). The untimely cancer death of a family friend led him to switch to medicine, completing his MD and internship in 1969. During his medical training he was greatly influenced by Dr. Ross Langley, a research-oriented hematologist who suggested that Eaves do a PhD at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto where Dr. Robert Bruce was collaborating with Drs. James Till and Ernest McCulloch (Lasker Award) on how different types of cancer chemotherapeutic agents killed tumour stem cells while sparing normal stem cells.
Working under the supervision of Bruce (AACR Award), and in association with Till and McCulloch and a vibrant group of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, Eaves completed his PhD in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto with a thesis entitled Studies on the Control of Murine Bone Marrow Function (1974). Eaves then decided to complete his clinical specialist training in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology in Canada so that he could be licensed to work in Canada and have access to human material for studying leukemia directly in humans, rather than in mice. He received this further clinical training in Toronto and Vancouver, becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (FRCPC) in 1979 and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP) in 1980. He then joined the staff of the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA), the Vancouver General Hospital
and the University of British Columbia
in 1979 as an assistant professor, becoming associate professor in 1984, professor in 1989 and Professor Emeritus of Hematology in 2006.
In 1985 Eaves became Head of Hematology at UBC, the VGH and the BCCA where for the next 18 years he focused on building the world class Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program of British Columbia. This was one of the first BMT programs in Canada and by the early 1990’s over 1500 patients had been transplanted of which 300 were from other provinces (generating revenue for BC of over $30 million). The program also trained a significant number of BMT specialists, many of whom have played a role in starting BMT programs elsewhere in Canada and abroad. In recognition of his interests in BMT he was elected President of the International Society of Cell Therapy(1995–97), President of the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (1999-00) and Treasurer of the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (1995–2002). He has also been a member of Health Canada’s Expert Working Group on the Safety of Organs and Tissues for Transplantation, and the Canadian Standards Association’s Task Force to develop standards and an accreditation process for cellular therapies and transplantation in Canada (1998–2006).
In the 1980’s, to raise money to support running the Terry Fox Laboratory
, Eaves sold urinary erythropoietin and tissue culture reagents to research colleagues around the world. By the early 1990’s it became necessary to make the tissue culture media in a clean room. However, the BC Cancer Foundation
did not have the $1 million needed to build such a facility and encouraged Eaves to buy the business from them and raise the money himself, which he did by fully mortgaging his home and obtaining a loan from Western Economic Diversification. Starting with 8 employees in 1993, STEMCELL Technologies Inc has grown at 20 to 30% per annum and in December 2010 had 400 employees. STEMCELL is the largest biotech company in BC in terms of BC-based employees. It has 800 products in its catalogue, the lead ones all made in its manufacturing facility in Vancouver. STEMCELL remains profitable with 2010 sales of $50 million. An internationally competitive and export-orientated company, 95% of its customers are outside of Canada. In addition to its Vancouver facilities, STEMCELL has distribution and sales offices in the USA, Europe, Australia and Singapore plus distributors in all other major countries. A spin-off company, STEMSOFT Software Inc, makes software for managing data in BMT centres, cord blood banks, cellular therapy companies and tumour/tissue repositories. A second spin-off, Malachite Management Inc, does society and meeting management for such organizations as the Canadian Blood and Marrow Transplant Group, the International Society for Cell Therapy, the American Society for Apheresis
and the Canadian Association of Oncology Nurses. As of 2010, the STEMCELL Group had 300 employees in Vancouver, most of whom are located in the STEMCELL Building at 570 West Seventh Avenue. It should be noted that STEMCELL Technologies Inc supports Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Program, including: the Stem Cell Network
where STEMCELL Technologies Inc is the major corporate supporter and Eaves is a member of the Board, and the Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems where Eaves is Chairman of the Board of Directors. Eaves is passionate about helping British Columbia become a more science-oriented culture and economy that is knowledge-based, high tech and environmentally friendly.
Terry Fox Laboratory
The Terry Fox Laboratory is the major research unit of the BC Cancer Agency.The TFL was originally established in 1981 when "a gift of one million dollars from the province of British Columbia to the Marathon of Hope " was used to renovate an old bakery and equip 1,800 square metres of laboratory...
for Hematology/Oncology Research, which over a 25 year period (1981–2006) he grew into an internationally recognized centre for the study of leukemia and stem cell research. His own research on chronic myelogenous leukemia
Chronic myelogenous leukemia
Chronic myelogenous leukemia , also known as chronic granulocytic leukemia , is a cancer of the white blood cells. It is a form of leukemia characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of predominantly myeloid cells in the bone marrow and the accumulation of these cells in the blood...
(CML) has led the way to a new understanding of the disease. As Head of Hematology at the British Columbia Cancer Agency and the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
for 18 years (1985–2003) he engineered the building of one of the first and largest bone marrow transplant programs in Canada. In recognition of his research accomplishments and leadership in moving basic science discoveries in stem cell biology into the clinic, he was elected President of the International Society of Cell Therapy (1995–1997), Treasurer of the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (1995–2002) and President of the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (1999–2000). In 2003 he was awarded the prestigious R. M. Taylor Medal by the Canadian Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute of Canada.
In 2006 Eaves retired as required by provincial law at that time, becoming Professor Emeritus of Hematology and spending more time on several companies he founded to further the fields of cellular therapy and regenerative medicine - STEMCELL Technologies Inc, STEMSOFT Software Inc. and Malachite Management Inc.. These companies continue to grow under his leadership and in 2010, STEMCELL had 400 employees and was declared British Columbia’s largest biotech company.
Education
Born in Ottawa, Eaves moved at an early age to Nova ScotiaNova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. Interested in science, he attended Acadia University
Acadia University
Acadia University is a predominantly undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada with some graduate programs at the master's level and one at the doctoral level...
and graduated with a BSc in Biology and Mathematics in 1962. He then went to Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...
, completing his MSc in cell physiology under Dr. Gordon Kaplan on A Radiological Investigation of Two Cellular Enzyme Systems of Yeast (1964). The untimely cancer death of a family friend led him to switch to medicine, completing his MD and internship in 1969. During his medical training he was greatly influenced by Dr. Ross Langley, a research-oriented hematologist who suggested that Eaves do a PhD at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto where Dr. Robert Bruce was collaborating with Drs. James Till and Ernest McCulloch (Lasker Award) on how different types of cancer chemotherapeutic agents killed tumour stem cells while sparing normal stem cells.
Working under the supervision of Bruce (AACR Award), and in association with Till and McCulloch and a vibrant group of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, Eaves completed his PhD in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto with a thesis entitled Studies on the Control of Murine Bone Marrow Function (1974). Eaves then decided to complete his clinical specialist training in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology in Canada so that he could be licensed to work in Canada and have access to human material for studying leukemia directly in humans, rather than in mice. He received this further clinical training in Toronto and Vancouver, becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (FRCPC) in 1979 and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP) in 1980. He then joined the staff of the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA), the Vancouver General Hospital
Vancouver General Hospital
Vancouver General Hospital is a medical facility located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the largest facility in the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre group of medical facilities...
and the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
in 1979 as an assistant professor, becoming associate professor in 1984, professor in 1989 and Professor Emeritus of Hematology in 2006.
Career
In 1981, as one of the first Scholars of the BC Health Care Research Foundation, Eaves founded the Terry Fox Laboratory for Hematology. As Director of the TFL over the next 25 years, he built the TFL into an internationally recognized research group with a staff of over 150 including 13 senior scientists, 35 graduate students and 40 post doctoral fellows (www.bccrc.ca/tfl). The TFL is a leader in understanding the regulation of hematopoietic (blood-forming) stem cell growth and differentiation. The TFL played a leadership role in obtaining the CFI grant that initiated funding for the new $100 million, 15 storey, BC Cancer Research Centre (opened on March 1, 2005), where the TFL occupies the top several floors of this cutting-edge facility. Eaves’ personal research has focused on leukemia where he pioneered “culture purging” as a novel approach to doing autologous bone marrow transplantation for chronic myelogenous leukemia. He has over 200 papers in leading peer-review scientific journals. In 2003 he was awarded the prestigious R. M. Taylor Medal by the Canadian Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute of Canada.In 1985 Eaves became Head of Hematology at UBC, the VGH and the BCCA where for the next 18 years he focused on building the world class Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Program of British Columbia. This was one of the first BMT programs in Canada and by the early 1990’s over 1500 patients had been transplanted of which 300 were from other provinces (generating revenue for BC of over $30 million). The program also trained a significant number of BMT specialists, many of whom have played a role in starting BMT programs elsewhere in Canada and abroad. In recognition of his interests in BMT he was elected President of the International Society of Cell Therapy(1995–97), President of the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (1999-00) and Treasurer of the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (1995–2002). He has also been a member of Health Canada’s Expert Working Group on the Safety of Organs and Tissues for Transplantation, and the Canadian Standards Association’s Task Force to develop standards and an accreditation process for cellular therapies and transplantation in Canada (1998–2006).
In the 1980’s, to raise money to support running the Terry Fox Laboratory
Terry Fox Laboratory
The Terry Fox Laboratory is the major research unit of the BC Cancer Agency.The TFL was originally established in 1981 when "a gift of one million dollars from the province of British Columbia to the Marathon of Hope " was used to renovate an old bakery and equip 1,800 square metres of laboratory...
, Eaves sold urinary erythropoietin and tissue culture reagents to research colleagues around the world. By the early 1990’s it became necessary to make the tissue culture media in a clean room. However, the BC Cancer Foundation
BC Cancer Foundation
Established in 1935, the BC Cancer Foundation is an independent charitable organization that raises and stewards resources to directly support breakthrough research and compassionate care at the BC Cancer Agency throughout the province of British Columbia...
did not have the $1 million needed to build such a facility and encouraged Eaves to buy the business from them and raise the money himself, which he did by fully mortgaging his home and obtaining a loan from Western Economic Diversification. Starting with 8 employees in 1993, STEMCELL Technologies Inc has grown at 20 to 30% per annum and in December 2010 had 400 employees. STEMCELL is the largest biotech company in BC in terms of BC-based employees. It has 800 products in its catalogue, the lead ones all made in its manufacturing facility in Vancouver. STEMCELL remains profitable with 2010 sales of $50 million. An internationally competitive and export-orientated company, 95% of its customers are outside of Canada. In addition to its Vancouver facilities, STEMCELL has distribution and sales offices in the USA, Europe, Australia and Singapore plus distributors in all other major countries. A spin-off company, STEMSOFT Software Inc, makes software for managing data in BMT centres, cord blood banks, cellular therapy companies and tumour/tissue repositories. A second spin-off, Malachite Management Inc, does society and meeting management for such organizations as the Canadian Blood and Marrow Transplant Group, the International Society for Cell Therapy, the American Society for Apheresis
American Society for Apheresis
The American Society for Apheresis is an organization of physicians, scientists, nurses, and allied health professionals whose mission is to advance apheresis medicine for patients, donors and practitioners through education, evidence-based practice, research and advocacy...
and the Canadian Association of Oncology Nurses. As of 2010, the STEMCELL Group had 300 employees in Vancouver, most of whom are located in the STEMCELL Building at 570 West Seventh Avenue. It should be noted that STEMCELL Technologies Inc supports Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Program, including: the Stem Cell Network
Stem Cell Network
The Stem Cell Network is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 2001. SCN funds applied stem cell research in Canada and facilitates collaboration between universities, industry, government and non-governmental organizations....
where STEMCELL Technologies Inc is the major corporate supporter and Eaves is a member of the Board, and the Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems where Eaves is Chairman of the Board of Directors. Eaves is passionate about helping British Columbia become a more science-oriented culture and economy that is knowledge-based, high tech and environmentally friendly.
Honours
- National Cancer Institute of Canada Fellowship, 1979-1974
- Research Scholar, British Columbia Health Care Research Foundation, 1979–1983
- Distinguished Alumni Service award, Acadia University, 1997
- Polish National Hematology Society Medal, 2000
- Distinguished Medical Lecture Award, University of British Columbia, 2001
- R.M. Taylor Medal, Canadian Cancer Society and Nationals Cancer Institute of Canada, 2002
- Lifetime Membership Award, International Society of Cell Therapy, 2002
- Genome BC Award for Scientific Excellence (Co-recipient with Dr. Connie Eaves), 2007
Internal links
- James TillJames TillJames Edgar Till, OC, O.Ont, FRSC is a University of Toronto biophysicist, best known for demonstrating – with Ernest McCulloch – the existence of stem cells.-Early work:...
- Ernest McCullochErnest McCullochErnest Armstrong McCulloch, OC, O.Ont, FRSC was a University of Toronto cellular biologist, best known for demonstrating – with James Till – the existence of stem cells.-Biography:...
- Connie EavesConnie EavesConnie Jean Eaves, FRSC , Director and co-founder with Allen C Eaves of Terry Fox , is internationally recognized for her pioneering research in basic blood stem cell biology, which led to a breakthrough in treatment for leukemia. She is one of the world leaders in the field of hematopoietic stem...
- Stem Cells
- Hematopoiesis
- Hematopoietic stem cells
- Cellular therapy
- Bone marrow transplantation
- Chronic myelogenous leukemiaChronic myelogenous leukemiaChronic myelogenous leukemia , also known as chronic granulocytic leukemia , is a cancer of the white blood cells. It is a form of leukemia characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of predominantly myeloid cells in the bone marrow and the accumulation of these cells in the blood...
- Polycythemia veraPolycythemia veraPolycythemia vera is a blood disorder in which the bone marrow makes too many red blood cells. It may also result in the overproduction of white blood cells and platelets. Most of the health concerns associated with polycythemia vera are caused by the blood being thicker as a result of the...
- Terry Fox LaboratoryTerry Fox LaboratoryThe Terry Fox Laboratory is the major research unit of the BC Cancer Agency.The TFL was originally established in 1981 when "a gift of one million dollars from the province of British Columbia to the Marathon of Hope " was used to renovate an old bakery and equip 1,800 square metres of laboratory...
- BC Cancer Research CentreBC Cancer Research CentreThe BC Cancer Research Centre is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
- BC Cancer AgencyBC Cancer AgencyThe BC Cancer Agency is part of the Provincial Health Services Authority in British Columbia, Canada.-Mission:The Agency has a three-part mission:* To reduce the incidence of cancer.* To reduce the mortality rate of people with cancer....
External links
- Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program of British Columbia
- Canadian Cancer Society
- STEMCELL Technologies Inc
- STEMSOFT Software Inc
- Malachite Management Inc
- Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems
- Canadian Stem Cell Network
- Robert Bruce – Am. Assoc. for Cancer Research Award
- James Till and Ernest McCulloch – Lasker Award
- International Society of Cellular Therapy (ISCT)
- American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (ASBMT)
- Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT)
- Cell Therapy News