I am interested in the use of molecular techniques to address oceanic ecosysteminteractions, in particular in areas where human impact may be an issue. Thisinterest began with molecular research on a childhood eye cancer called retinoblastoma.I was profiling development of retinoblastoma tumors subsequent to loss ofthe rb1 gene (summer studentships, directed studies and employment at theUniversity of Toronto). There, my understanding of the importance of moleculartools in addressing fundamental questions in biology developed, as did anincreasing desire to understand what is happening in our environment. Later,while taking a field course in Bamfield, I read Dr. Pauly's paper, "Fishingdown marine food webs". This was enough to convince me that more workis needed on oceanic ecosystems. While undertaking a Salmon research Internshipat the Alaska SeaLife center (Seward, Alaska), I discovered a combinationof molecular and field studies in the Steller sea lion projects, which leadme to my Master's thesis.

My current focus is in developing a real-time PCR assay to enable quantificationof prey species in Steller sea lion scat. This assay will be independent ofpredator DNA, so can theoretically be used to test prey quantity in any animalprovided they share prey type. In Western Alaska, Steller sea lions have declinedsteadily for the past thirty years, and diet is the mechanism underlying manyof the hypotheses for the decline. In any ecological study where diet is afactor it is important to be able to reconstruct the diet, and at this pointthere are problems accurately quantifying Steller diet. This technique willlikely be used in addition to many of the traditional scat analysis techniquesto provide a more complete picture of diet.
 

Publications

Peer-reviewed

Mellone N. Marchong, Danian Chen, Timothy W. Corson, Cheong Lee, MariaHarmandayan, Ella Bowles, Ning Chen, and Brenda L. Gallie. Minimal 16q GenomicLoss Implicates Cadherin-11 in Retinoblastoma. Mol Cancer Res 2004 2: 495-503.

Ella Bowles, Timothy W. Corson, Jane Bayani, Jeremy A. Squire, Nathalie Wong,Paul B.-S. Lai and Brenda L. Gallie. Profiling Genomic Copy Number Changesin Retinoblastoma Beyond Loss of RB1 Genes Chromosomes and Cancer 2007 46:118-129.

Abstracts

Marchong MN, Chen D, Corson TW, Lee C, Harmandayan M, Bowles E, Chen N &Gallie BL. 2004. Minimal 16q genomic loss implicates cadherin 11 in retinoblastoma.Proceedings of the American Society for Human Genetics 54:505. Poster presentationat the American Society for Human Genetics 54th Annual Meeting, Toronto, ON,November 2004.

Other

Ella Bowles. Anything is possible. keynote speaker, second National RetinoblastomaSymposium, Toronto, ON. Spoke about the attitudes and boundaries affectingpeople with retinoblastoma, in particular those who are visually impaired.Talk subsequently made part of the Society's educational DVD. 2003

Ella Bowles and Nicolette Watson. Light levels, mirror images and lateralizationin shiner surfperch: Cymatogaster aggregata. Bound Journals, Fish, BamfieldMarine Science Center. 2005. also presented orally

Ella Bowles, Tim Corson, Brenda Gallie. Profiling Hot Spot Gain and Lossin Retinoblastoma Tumors. Poster presentation at annual summer student posterday, Medical Biophysics, Ontario Cancer Institute/Princess Margaret Hospital,Toronto ON, 2004

Ella Bowles, Tim Corson, Brenda Gallie. Profiling Hot Spot Gain and Lossin Retinoblastoma Tumors. Poster presentation at British Columbia Cancer Associationannual meeting, Vancouver BC, 2004

Ella Bowles, Timothy W. Corson, Brenda L. Gallie. QM-PCR identifies associationsbetween common genomic changes and a novel amplification in retinoblastoma.Poster presentation at annual summer student poster day, Medical Biophysics,Ontario Cancer Institute/Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto ON, 2005

Ella Bowles, Timothy W. Corson, Brenda L. Gallie. QM-PCR identifies patternsof association of common genomic changes in retinoblastoma. Oral presentationat the International Society of Genetic Eye Diseases/International RetinoblastomaSymposium, Whistler BC, 2005

Ella Bowles, Timothy W. Corson, Brenda L. Gallie. Genomic copy number profilessuggest order of genomic changes in retinoblastoma and identify amplification.Applied Molecular Oncology Divisional Seminar, Toronto ON, 2005

E. Bowles, A. Bowles. Challenging the norm: systemic barriers to educationfor people with visual impairments. Oral presentation. International Societyfor Genetic Eye Diseases/International Retinoblastoma Symposium, WhistlerBC 2005