Leroy Lowe
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Leroy James Lowe (born May 22, 1963) is a
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
best known for his “Low Dose Theory of Carcinogenesis”, the “Broad-spectrum approach to Cancer Therapy”, and for his efforts to define “The Human Affectome” in the field of
neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...
. He is the Co-Founder and President of Getting to Know Cancer, the Founder and President of Neuroqualia, and a faculty member at the International Business at the
Nova Scotia Community College Nova Scotia Community College or NSCC is a Canadian community college serving the province of Nova Scotia through a network of 14 campuses and three community learning centres. The college delivers over 130 programs in five academic schools: Acc ...
.


Education and early life

In 1986, Lowe obtained a B.Sc. and a Diploma in Engineering at Saint Mary’s University and then joined the Canadian Airforce. While in the Airforce, Lowe trained to be a pilot on the CT114 Tutor Jet and eventually he become an Aerospace Engineering Officer at National Defense Headquarters in
Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
where he worked with scientists who were focused on research and development projects to create airborne equipment that could be used to track Soviet
nuclear submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion ...
s. After the Airforce, Lowe worked for Sparton of Canada (a subsidiary of Sparton Corporation), a company that produced
oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...
equipment. He subsequently started an international business program at the
Nova Scotia Community College Nova Scotia Community College or NSCC is a Canadian community college serving the province of Nova Scotia through a network of 14 campuses and three community learning centres. The college delivers over 130 programs in five academic schools: Acc ...
and while working there he earned a Master’s Degree in
Adult Education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained educating activities in order to gain new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralph G. ''The Pr ...
at
Mount Saint Vincent University Mount Saint Vincent University, often referred to as the Mount, is a public, primarily undergraduate, university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and was established in 1873. Mount Saint Vincent offers undergraduate Arts, Science, Edu ...
, an
MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...
at Saint Mary’s University, and he began a PhD in Management at SMU. Lowe earned a PhD by Publication at
Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...
in
Lancaster, England Lancaster (, ) is a city in Lancashire, England, and the main cultural hub, economic and commercial centre of City of Lancaster district. The city is on the River Lune, directly inland from Morecambe Bay. Lancaster is the county town, altho ...
. His thesis was entitled “Towards an integrated understanding of low dose chemical exposures in the development of human cancer”.


Scientific career

After 8 years of self-study, Lowe identified two major challenges in cancer research.  First of all, he believed that chemicals from plants and foods could be used to enhance cancer therapy.  He also believed that everyday exposures to common environmental chemicals (e.g., pesticides, food additives, etc.) might be conspiring to cause cancer. Lowe reached out to
Theo Colborn Theodora Emily Colborn (née Decker; March 28, 1927 – December 14, 2014) was Founder and President Emerita of The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX), based in Paonia, Colorado, and Professor Emerita of Zoology at the University of Florida, G ...
(an expert in low dose chemical exposures) for help in 2011.  She introduced him to Michael Gilbertson and together Lowe and Gilbertson co-founded Getting to Know Cancer (an
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
), formed an advisory board, and the two of them used a form of crowd-sourcing to launch the Halifax Project in 2012, an initiative involving 350 scientists in 31 countries.  The project was aimed at solving the two challenges that Lowe had identified.


Low Dose Theory of Carcinogenesis

In one half of the Halifax Project, 174 scientists from 26 countries were recruited to assess the potential role of low-dose chemical mixtures on the Hallmarks of Cancer. The aim of the project was to produce a series of overarching reviews of the cancer hallmarks that would collectively assess biologically disruptive chemicals that might be acting in concert with other seemingly innocuous chemicals and contributing to various aspects of carcinogenesis. Researchers were organized into twelve teams, and in total, the researchers reviewed 85 examples of chemicals for actions on key pathways/mechanisms related to carcinogenesis.  The taskforce concluded that low-dose exposures to disruptive chemicals that are not individually carcinogenic may be capable of instigating and/or enabling carcinogenesis.


Broad Spectrum Approach to Cancer Therapy

In the other half of the Halifax Project, Lowe focused on the fact that cancer research had centered primarily on molecular targets for therapeutics, which had achieved notable successes in some cancers, but noted that disease relapse is still common in many cancers due to disease heterogeneity.  Lowe noted that attempts to treat this sort of relapse often involves simple combinations of chemotherapy that cannot reach enough molecular targets so many refractory cancers are unstoppable. In this effort, 180 researchers were organized into twelve teams using the Hallmarks of Cancer as an organizing framework. The researchers then tried to identify friendlier chemicals, many of which come from plants and foods that could be combined to reach many targets (key anticancer receptors, pathways, and mechanisms) with little to no toxicity at therapeutic doses.  This was intended to address the two major issues of therapeutic resistance and cost. The interdisciplinary teams reviewed each hallmark area and nominated a wide range of high-priority targets (74 in total) that could be modified to improve patient outcomes. For these targets, corresponding low-toxicity therapeutic approaches were then suggested, many of which were
phytochemical Phytochemicals are naturally-occurring chemicals present in or extracted from plants. Some phytochemicals are nutrients for the plant, while others are metabolites produced to enhance plant survivability and reproduction. The fields of ext ...
s. The task force concluded that a broad-spectrum approach should be feasible from a safety standpoint, that the approach would be relatively inexpensive to implement, and that it should help us address stages and types of cancer that lack conventional treatment, and potentially reduce risk of relapse.


The Human Affectome

Lowe’s research and focus on feelings and emotions began in 2001 when he was working on his
PhD in Management PhD (Doctor Of Philosophy) in management is one of the highest academic degrees awarded in the study of management science. The degree was designed for those seeking academic research and teaching careers as faculty or professors in the study of ma ...
. Although his first PhD attempt was interrupted, he explained that while he spent a decade-and-a-half focused on cancer research, he continued to follow the research on feelings and emotions and ultimately had the idea that affective neuroscientists needed a comprehensive and robust functional model that could serve as a common focal point for research in the field. To develop this model, Lowe used the same approach that he used for the Halifax project. He launched an NGO called Neuroqualia and described the problem on a dedicated project website. He coined the term Human Affectome to describe the entire complex of affective experience and then recruited an advisory board, along with 12 team leaders and 12 teams to help him develop a functional model that could capture the scope of the research being undertaken in this field.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews ''Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering behavioral neuroscience published by Elsevier. The journal publishes reviews, theoretical articles, and mini-reviews. It is an official journal of the Interna ...
agreed to create a special issue for the project, guest editors were used, and so far, 12 open access articles have been published by the 12 teams.


Selected works


Low Dose Theory of Carcinogenesis

* Assessing the carcinogenic potential of low-dose exposures to chemical mixtures in the environment: the challenge ahead, 2015, WH Goodson III, L Lowe, et al, Carcinogenesis 36 (Suppl_1), S254-S296 * Low-dose mixture hypothesis of carcinogenesis workshop: scientific underpinnings and research recommendations, 2017, MF Miller, WH Goodson III et al, Environmental health perspectives 125 (2), 163-169 * Testing the low dose mixtures hypothesis from the Halifax project, 2020, WH Goodson, L Lowe, M Gilbertson, DO Carpenter, Reviews on Environmental Health 35 (4), 333-357


Broad-Spectrum Approach to Cancer Therapy

* Plant-based anticancer drug development: advancements and hurdles, 2012, A Amin, L Lowe, Journal of Gastrointestinal & Digestive System 2 (5) * Designing a broad-spectrum integrative approach for cancer prevention and treatment, 2015, KI Block et al, Seminars in cancer biology 35, S276-S304 * Affordable cancer medications are within reach but we need a different approach, 2016, DW Felsher, L Lowe, J Clin Oncol 34, 2194-2195           


The Human Affectome

* The role of hedonics in the Human Affectome, 2019, S Becker et al, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 102, 221-241        * Physiological feelings, 2019, EF Pace-Schott, et al, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 103, 267-304       * The neuroscience of social feelings: mechanisms of adaptive social functioning, 2021, PJ Eslinger, et al, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Sep, 128, 592-620 * The neuroscience of positive emotions and affect: Implications for cultivating happiness and wellbeing    2021, R Alexander, et al, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 121, 220-249       * Anticipatory feelings: neural correlates and linguistic markers, 2020, E Stefanova, et al., Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 113, 308-324       * A sensorimotor control framework for understanding emotional communication and regulation, 2020, JHG Williams, et al, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 112, 503-518        * Neuroimaging the consciousness of self: Review, and conceptual-methodological framework, 2020, P Frewen, et al, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 112, 164-212       * The neuroscience of sadness: A multidisciplinary synthesis and collaborative review, 2020, JA Arias, et al, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 111, 199-228       * The feeling of anger: From brain networks to linguistic expressions, 2020, N Alia-Klein, et al, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 108, 480-497       * Current understanding of fear learning and memory in humans and animal models and the value of a linguistic approach for analyzing fear learning and memory in humans, 2019, J Raber, et al, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 105, 136-177


References


External links


Getting to Know Cancer website

Neuroqualia website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Leroy Mount Saint Vincent University alumni 1963 births Canadian biologists Canadian neuroscientists Canadian cancer researchers Living people