Dr. Fui Boon Kai
Positions
Full Member
The Calvin, Phoebe and Joan Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases
Affiliations
Assistant Professor
Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Member
Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute
Contact information
Location
Office: HRIC4AC62
Main Lab: HRIC4B40/42
Background
Biography
Dr. Fui Boon Kai is an Assistant Professor in the Lung Health Research Group at the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, University of Calgary. Her research focuses on understanding how cells sense and respond to changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM) during lung disease, with the goal of identifying new therapeutic strategies for fibrotic disorders.
Dr. Kai completed her undergraduate and graduate training at Dalhousie University, where she earned her PhD in Dr. Roy Duncan’s laboratory studying how actin cytoskeleton remodeling regulates focal adhesion dynamics during cancer cell migration. She then pursued postdoctoral training with Dr. Valerie Weaver at the University of California, San Francisco, a leader in ECM biology and mechanobiology. There, Dr. Kai led research investigating how ECM mechanics and topographical cues regulate cellular tension to control signaling pathways and cell behavior.
After returning to Canada, Dr. Kai established her research program at the University of Calgary, where her lab integrates biophysical, bioengineering, and biochemical approaches to study pathological cell-ECM interactions in fibrotic lung diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and asthma. Her long-term goal is to translate fundamental mechanobiology discoveries into clinically relevant strategies that improve patient outcomes.
Research
Areas of Research
Extracellular matrix dysregulation in fibrotic diseases
Although extracellular matrix (ECM) dysregulation is a hallmark of various fibrotic diseases including lung cancer and pulmonary fibrosis, the molecular mechanisms that cells sense and respond to pathological ECM remain largely unclear. Dr. Kai's research program employs a combination of biophysical, bioengineering, and biochemical approaches to understand how ECM dysregulation affects lung cell fate decisions and function. Better understanding of pathological cell-ECM crosstalk will reveal the best strategies to target ECM-regulated signaling pathways for therapeutic benefit in fibrotic conditions including solid cancers.
Awards
- Lung Health Foundation Emerging Scholar Research Award, Lung Health Foundation. 2024
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research Research Excellence, Diversity and Independence (REDI) Early Career Transition Award, Canadian Institutes of Health Research. 2024
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship , Canadian Institutes of Health Research. 2016
- Edward F. Crease Memorial Graduate Studentship in Cancer Research , Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute. 2011
- Cancer Research Training Program (CRTP) Award , Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute. 2009
- Norah Stephen Oncology Scholars Award , 2007
Publications
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