IRCUS welcomes a new researcher to help fight kidney cancer, Professor Oraly Sanchez Ferras

The Université de Sherbrooke Cancer Research Institute (IRCUS) is pleased to welcome Research Professor Oraly Sanchez Ferras, from the Faculty of Science, whose expertise will strengthen the Institute’s capacity to better understand and treat kidney cancer. Through her research, Professor Sanchez Ferras aims to uncover the mechanisms that allow kidney cancer cells to invade other tissues, a phenomenon at the core of the metastatic process.

Her research could lead to the discovery of new biomarkers to monitor kidney cancer progression, as well as to the identification of new targets for developing more effective treatments against the majority of invasive epithelial cancers.

Collective cell migration and metastasis formation

Professor Sanchez Ferras’ research focuses on collective cell migration during the initial stages of kidney development. During this natural process, cells migrate together to build a functional organ. This model serves as a foundation for understanding how tumor cells can likewise cooperate to form an invasive tumor that, as it spreads, can lead to the formation of metastases.

Since her laboratory officially opened in June 2024, Professor Sanchez Ferras has been developing a bold hypothesis:

What if cancer cells were reactivating the same strategies used by cells in the developing kidney to invade other tissues? My goal is to identify gene signatures and shared mechanisms between kidney development and tumour invasion in renal cell carcinoma.

Oraly Sanchez Ferras, Researcher and Professor at IRCUS.

A multidisciplinary approach that offers hope

A specialist in kidney development, Professor Sanchez Ferras adopts an integrated and innovative approach. Her laboratory mobilizes real‑time confocal imaging on fluorescent preclinical models, single‑cell multi‑omics analyses, spatial transcriptomics, and CRISPR‑based genetic modification of mouse models. This combination of cutting‑edge tools makes it possible to examine cellular behaviours with unprecedented precision.

By combining developmental biology with cancer research, Professor Sanchez Ferras is paving the way for more targeted therapeutic approaches that could reduce side effects and improve the prognosis of people with aggressive cancers.

Over $1 million for state-of-the-art research infrastructure

In October 2025, Professor Sanchez Ferras secured $1.04 million in funding from the John R. Evans Leaders Fund of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). This major funding will support the establishment of an integrated platform for advanced multi‑omics in mice, dedicated to transgenesis, spatial multi-omics, and high‑resolution tissue analysis. This new infrastructure will strengthen the capacity of IRCUS to carry out large-scale projects on kidney cancer and on the cellular mechanisms underlying kidney diseases.

Professor Sanchez Ferras’s career at IRCUS will also be propelled by her Junior 1 career award ($286,986) from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS). These prestigious awards that acknowledge her excellence in research are a great source of pride for the Institute.

About Oraly Sanchez Ferras
– Professor at the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Université de Sherbrooke
– Professor and Researcher at the Université de Sherbrooke Cancer Research Institute (IRCUS)
– Researcher at the Centre de recherche du CHUS (CRCHUS)