# Sheila K. Singh
**Sheila K. Singh** (Sheila Kumari Singh) is a Canadian physician-scientist and pediatric neurosurgeon who studies brain tumors, known for identifying the stem-like cells that drive brain tumor formation and for developing CAR T cell immunotherapies against glioblastoma. She is the Richard Dimbleby Professor of Cancer Research, Joint Head of the School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences and Head of the Comprehensive Cancer Centre at [King's College London](https://www.edgepedia.org/kings-college-london), while remaining Professor of Surgery and [Biochemistry](https://www.edgepedia.org/biochemistry) (part time) at [McMaster University](https://www.edgepedia.org/mcmaster-university).[1](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/sheila-singh) At McMaster she was Professor and Head of Neurosurgery, a pediatric neurosurgeon at McMaster Children's Hospital, and Founding Director of the Centre for Discovery in Cancer Research.[1](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/sheila-singh)
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Field | Brain tumor stem cell biology and neuro-oncology; pediatric neurosurgery |
| Current positions | Richard Dimbleby Professor of Cancer Research and Head of the Comprehensive Cancer Centre, King's College London; part-time Professor of Surgery and Biochemistry, McMaster University[1](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/sheila-singh) |
| Training | BSc McGill 1994; MD McMaster 1997; neurosurgical training and PhD at the University of Toronto under Peter Dirks[2](https://surgery.utoronto.ca/where-are-they-now-sheila-singh) |
| Signature work | "Identification of human brain tumour initiating cells", *Nature*, 2004[3](https://globethesis.com/?t=2454390008461413) |
| Best-known recent result | ROBO1-targeted CAR T cells doubled median survival in recurrent glioblastoma models (*Nature Medicine*, 2024)[4](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03138-9) |
| Companies | Co-founded Empirica Therapeutics (acquired by Century Therapeutics, 2021) |[5](https://www.hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/share/century-therapeutics-canada-brain-cancer-research/) • [6](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-singh-14a735136)
| Honors | 2024 Canadian Cancer Society Robert L. Noble Prize; fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada[1](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/sheila-singh) |
## Training and career
Singh obtained a BSc in Neurobiology and Molecular Genetics at [McGill University](https://www.edgepedia.org/mcgill-university) in 1994, followed by an MD at McMaster University in 1997.[2](https://surgery.utoronto.ca/where-are-they-now-sheila-singh) She trained in neurosurgery at the [University of Toronto](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-toronto) from 1997 to 2007, and during her clinical training completed a PhD in the Surgeon-Scientist Program under supervisor [Peter Dirks](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-dirks); according to her thesis, "Identification and characterization of brain tumour initiating cells", it was submitted at the University of Toronto.[2](https://surgery.utoronto.ca/where-are-they-now-sheila-singh) • [3](https://globethesis.com/?t=2454390008461413) She was certified in neurosurgery by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 2006, completed a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children in 2006 to 2007, and then took up her position at McMaster University, near her home town of Dundas, Ontario.[2](https://surgery.utoronto.ca/where-are-they-now-sheila-singh) She later moved to King's College London while keeping her part-time McMaster professorship.[1](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/sheila-singh)
## Brain tumor stem cells
Her doctoral work established that human brain tumors contain a small fraction of cells with stem-like behavior. According to her Ph.D. thesis, in the 2004 *Nature* paper that published her thesis findings, only the CD133-positive fraction of brain tumor cells was capable of initiating tumors when injected into the brains of NOD-SCID mice; as few as 100 CD133-positive cells produced a tumor that was serially transplantable and phenocopied the patient's original tumor, whereas injection of 100,000 CD133-negative cells engrafted but did not cause a tumor.[3](https://globethesis.com/?t=2454390008461413) According to the Ph.D. thesis *Identification and characterization of brain tumour initiating cells*, CD133 was expressed in a minority of tumor cells, ranging from about 0.1 to 25 percent across tumors of varying phenotype, with self-renewal highest in medulloblastoma and glioblastoma samples.[3](https://globethesis.com/?t=2454390008461413)
According to her Cancer Research UK Manchester Centre profile, since 2007 her laboratory has applied a developmental neurobiology framework to brain tumorigenesis, using xenograft models to study brain tumor initiating cell self-renewal.[7](https://www.crukcentre.manchester.ac.uk/team-members/sheila-singh/) The lab's current work uses single-cell sequencing, measures of spatial heterogeneity, and multi-omics characterizations across programs in medulloblastoma, glioblastoma, and brain metastases.[8](https://www.macneuro.com/research)
## Representative work
**Identification of human brain tumor initiating cells** (*Nature*, 2004). This paper, published from her PhD thesis, showed that a CD133-positive minority of cells, not the bulk tumor, initiates brain tumors in immunodeficient mice, and that 100 such cells reproduce serially transplantable tumors matching the patient's original disease.[3](https://globethesis.com/?t=2454390008461413)
## CAR T cell therapy for glioblastoma
Singh's group used large-scale gene editing to compare gene dependencies in glioblastoma at diagnosis and at recurrence, and found that recurrent tumor cells rely heavily on signaling through [Roundabout](https://www.edgepedia.org/roundabout) guidance receptor 1 ([ROBO1](https://www.edgepedia.org/robo1)), an axonal guidance protein; genetic disruption of ROBO1 activity or targeting it with synthetic antibodies was lethal to tumor cells.[9](https://news.mcmaster.ca/sheila-singh-glioblastoma-brain-cancer-cells-treatment/) • [10](https://www.braintumour.ca/research_recipients/sheila-singh-2020-feature-grant-recipient/) The 2024 *Nature Medicine* study reported that perturbing PTP4A2 acts through a dephosphorylation axis with ROBO1, exploiting a functional dependency on ROBO signaling, and that a single dose of ROBO1-targeted CAR T cells, immune cells engineered to recognize ROBO1 on the tumor cell surface, doubled median survival in cell-line-derived xenograft models of recurrent glioblastoma.[4](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03138-9) In xenograft models of adult lung-to-brain metastases and pediatric relapsed medulloblastoma, ROBO1 CAR T cells eradicated tumors in 50 to 100 percent of mice.[4](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03138-9) A small-molecule inhibitor against the same pathway was limited by poor blood-brain barrier penetrance, motivating the cell-therapy approach.[4](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03138-9) Singh has described the biology as a tumor hijacking the axonal guidance pathway that normally guides developing cells, using it to invade and infiltrate the brain; blocking it, she has said, could kill tumor cells that cannot be removed surgically.[9](https://news.mcmaster.ca/sheila-singh-glioblastoma-brain-cancer-cells-treatment/) • [11](https://www.genengnews.com/topics/cancer/car-t-cells-prevent-hijacking-of-axonal-signaling-caused-by-glioblastoma/)
The ROBO1 work grew out of a 2020 Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada Feature Grant, "Targeting Glioblastoma Recurrence with anti-ROBO1 Immunotherapy", and was presented at the AACR IO Conference in Los Angeles in February 2025.[10](https://www.braintumour.ca/research_recipients/sheila-singh-2020-feature-grant-recipient/) • [12](https://experts.mcmaster.ca/scholarly-works/3552855) Her group's CAR T pipeline extends beyond ROBO1: a uPAR-targeted chimeric CAR T cell candidate, developed with antibodies made in partnership with Canada's National Research Council, eliminated glioblastoma tumors that resist standard treatments in preclinical work published in *Science Translational Medicine*; the group has patented the therapy and is exploring commercial and clinical pathways toward trials.[13](https://news.mcmaster.ca/new-mcmaster-made-drug-candidate-shows-promise-as-a-brain-cancer-treatment/) Brain Canada funds an anti-GPNMB CAR T project targeting both glioblastoma cells and tumor-associated macrophages, including off-the-shelf cells from healthy donors tested in humanized mouse models; a published study found anti-GPNMB CAR T cells gave long-term disease control in orthotopic patient-derived xenografts and syngeneic models.[14](https://braincanada.ca/funded-grants/gpnmb-car-t-cells-as-a-multi-pronged-immunotherapeutic-approach-for-glioblastoma) • [15](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42386964/) In May 2025, Brain Cancer Canada awarded $85,000 to her team for CAR T cells targeting lamin B receptor (LBR), a nuclear envelope protein that mislocalizes to the cell surface only in medulloblastoma cells.[16](https://financialpost.com/globe-newswire/immunotherapeutic-targets-for-recurrent-medulloblastoma-receives-85k-grant-from-brain-cancer-canada)
## Funding, honors and industry roles
Singh's laboratory has been funded by CCSRI, CIHR, TFRI, CRS, the Stem Cell Network, McMaster Surgical Associates, Brain Canada, and the Boris Family Fund.[7](https://www.crukcentre.manchester.ac.uk/team-members/sheila-singh/) In 2016 she and her research colleagues won a Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grant providing about $2.2 million over five years, and, according to the University of Toronto's Department of Surgery, she was the first woman to lead such a program as principal investigator and the first McMaster scientist to do so.[2](https://surgery.utoronto.ca/where-are-they-now-sheila-singh) The Terry Fox Research Institute also records a $450,000 three-year grant to determine the role of the Bmi1 signaling pathway in brain tumor development.[17](https://www.tfri.ca/about/team/researcher-bio/sheila-singh) She won the 2024 Canadian Cancer Society Robert L. Noble Prize and is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada.[1](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/sheila-singh)
[Century Therapeutics](https://www.edgepedia.org/century-therapeutics), launched with a $250 million investment from Bayer and [Versant Ventures](https://www.edgepedia.org/versant-ventures), acquired Empirica in June 2021, creating subsidiary Century Therapeutics Canada at McMaster Innovation Park.[5](https://www.hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/share/century-therapeutics-canada-brain-cancer-research/)
## Recent developments
The ROBO1 CAR T work reached print in *Nature Medicine* in 2024 and was presented at the AACR IO Conference in February 2025.[4](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03138-9) • [12](https://experts.mcmaster.ca/scholarly-works/3552855) The uPAR CAR T candidate was patented, with discussions about clinical trials underway.[13](https://news.mcmaster.ca/new-mcmaster-made-drug-candidate-shows-promise-as-a-brain-cancer-treatment/) In January 2025, research led from McMaster and the [Hospital for Sick Children](https://www.edgepedia.org/hospital-for-sick-children) and published in *Neuron* identified a CCR5 signaling vulnerability in glioblastoma targetable with maraviroc, an approved HIV drug, building on the 2024 finding that a migration path used by cells during brain development can be hijacked for cancer cell invasion.[18](https://news.mcmaster.ca/scientists-uncover-hidden-cells-fuelling-brain-cancer-glioblastoma-and-promising-drug-treatment/) The 2025 Brain Cancer Canada grant added LBR as a new immunotherapeutic target for recurrent medulloblastoma.[16](https://financialpost.com/globe-newswire/immunotherapeutic-targets-for-recurrent-medulloblastoma-receives-85k-grant-from-brain-cancer-canada)
## References
1. [Professor Sheila Singh - King's College London](https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/sheila-singh)
2. [Where are they now? - Sheila Singh - Department of Surgery, University of Toronto](https://surgery.utoronto.ca/where-are-they-now-sheila-singh)
3. [Identification and characterization of brain tumour initiating cells (Ph.D. thesis)](https://globethesis.com/?t=2454390008461413)
4. [Targeting axonal guidance dependencies in glioblastoma with ROBO1 CAR T cells | Nature Medicine](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03138-9)
5. [HHS physician leads deal to expand brain cancer research in Canada - Hamilton Health Sciences](https://www.hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/share/century-therapeutics-canada-brain-cancer-research/)
6. [Sheila Singh (LinkedIn profile)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-singh-14a735136)
7. [Sheila Singh - Cancer Research UK Manchester Centre](https://www.crukcentre.manchester.ac.uk/team-members/sheila-singh/)
8. [Research | McMaster Neurosurgery](https://www.macneuro.com/research)
9. [Promising new brain cancer treatment blocks glioblastoma cells - McMaster News](https://news.mcmaster.ca/sheila-singh-glioblastoma-brain-cancer-cells-treatment/)
10. [Sheila Singh - 2020 Feature Grant Recipient - Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada](https://www.braintumour.ca/research_recipients/sheila-singh-2020-feature-grant-recipient/)
11. [CAR T Cells Prevent Hijacking of Axonal Signaling Caused by Glioblastoma - GEN](https://www.genengnews.com/topics/cancer/car-t-cells-prevent-hijacking-of-axonal-signaling-caused-by-glioblastoma/)
12. [Abstract A016: Targeting axonal guidance dependencies in glioblastoma with ROBO1 CAR T cells](https://experts.mcmaster.ca/scholarly-works/3552855)
13. [New McMaster-made drug candidate shows promise as a brain cancer treatment - McMaster News](https://news.mcmaster.ca/new-mcmaster-made-drug-candidate-shows-promise-as-a-brain-cancer-treatment/)
14. [GPNMB CAR-T cells as a multi-pronged immunotherapeutic approach for glioblastoma - Brain Canada Foundation](https://braincanada.ca/funded-grants/gpnmb-car-t-cells-as-a-multi-pronged-immunotherapeutic-approach-for-glioblastoma)
15. [Dual tumour-myeloid targeting of glioblastoma with anti-GPNMB CAR-T cells (PubMed)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42386964/)
16. [Immunotherapeutic Targets for Recurrent Medulloblastoma Receives $85K Grant from Brain Cancer Canada](https://financialpost.com/globe-newswire/immunotherapeutic-targets-for-recurrent-medulloblastoma-receives-85k-grant-from-brain-cancer-canada)
17. [Sheila Singh - Terry Fox Research Institute researcher bio](https://www.tfri.ca/about/team/researcher-bio/sheila-singh)
18. [Scientists uncover hidden cells fuelling brain cancer, and a drug that could stop them | McMaster News](https://news.mcmaster.ca/scientists-uncover-hidden-cells-fuelling-brain-cancer-glioblastoma-and-promising-drug-treatment/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Medical and health researchers › Researchers in cancer biology and oncology research › Cancer stem cells and cell cycle regulation*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license