Dr. Christopher Overall

October 23, 2014

Members of the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) elected Dr. Christopher Overall to its governing Council, and to its Executive Committee of the Chromosome–Centric Human Proteome Project (CHPP).

Overall, a Dentistry professor and Canada Research Chair in Metalloproteinase Proteomics and Systems Biology, was elected at the international organization’s General Assembly of Members this October in Madrid, Spain.

HUPO is an international scientific organization representing and promoting proteomics—the large-scale study of proteins, particularly their structures and functions—through international cooperation and collaborations by fostering the development of new technologies, techniques and training. Composition of HUPO’s Council is maintained with representation from the Americas, Asia/Oceania, and Europe. Overall is one of three representatives from North America.

The executive committee of the CHPP is in charge of organising and mapping the cellular location and function of every human protein in health and disease to enhance understanding of human biology at the cellular level.

In addition to the two elected posts, Overall was also made an associate editor of the prestigious Journal of Proteomics commencing 2015 and will be responsible for handling the review process for manuscript submissions.

Overall is an international leader in proteomics recognized for his seminal contributions to the field of degradomics, the systems level investigation of protein turnover by proteolysis, the term he coined, and in developing ‘polymers for proteomics’. His focus has been on understanding the role of proteinases in various pathologies, most particularly in cancer, infection and inflammation. He has been recognized over the years with many awards, most recently of which are the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award, International Proteolysis Society; 2012 Barry Preston Award (Lifetime Achievement Award in Matrix Biology) Matrix Biology Society Australia & NZ; 2013 Distinguished Scientist Award, International Association of Dental Research; and the 2014 Tony Pawson Award for Outstanding Contribution and Leadership to the Canadian Proteomics Community.

This tops off a very successful year for Overall who has just received notice of acceptance for his 20th paper, “Macrophage Matrix Metalloproteinase-12 Dampens Inflammation and Neutrophil Influx in Arthritis”, for publication in Cell Reports. This study demonstrate that macrophage MMP12 executes multiple protective roles in vivo in inflammation resolution. Other 2014 papers of Overall’s research have been published in in Nature Medicine, Nature Methods, and PLoS Biology. He is a highly influential scientist in the field with a citation h factor of 62.