Brenda Andrews is Professor and Chair of the Banting & Best Department of Medical Research within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, where she holds the Charles H Best Chair in Medical Research. She is also Director of the Terrence Donnelly Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Research (the Donnelly Centre), an interdisciplinary biomedical research institute with a focus on technology development for post-genome biology, functional genomics, systems & computational biology and bioengineering.
After receiving her PhD in Medical Biophysics from the University of Toronto, Dr. Andrews obtained her early training in genetics with the late Dr. Ira Herskowitz at the University of California San Francisco. In 1991, Dr. Andrews was recruited to the Department of Medical Genetics (now Molecular Genetics) at the University of Toronto. She became Chair of the Department in 1999, a position she held for 5 years before assuming her current positions. Dr. Andrews’ current research interests analysis of genetic interaction networks in budding yeast, using automated genetics platforms that include high content microscopy for systematic analysis of cell biological phenotypes. Specific interests in the Andrews lab include mechanisms of cell cycle control, control of cell function by kinases and other enzymes and the regulation of cell polarity and morphogenesis. Her research is currently funded by the CIHR, the National Institutes of Health, the Ontario Research Fund, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR).
Dr. Andrews is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and Director of the Genetic Networks Program of the CIFAR.