Dr. Doble has a long-standing interest in cell, molecular, and developmental biology. He obtained his BSc (Hons) in Genetics and his PhD (Cardiovascular Cell Biology, Dept. Physiology) from the University of Manitoba. His doctoral research In Dr. Elissavet Kardami's lab focused on intercellular communication between cardiac cells. Dr. Doble's interest in stem cells emerged during his postdoctoral studies in Dr. Jim Woodgett's lab in Toronto, when he was introduced to techniques for manipulating the genome of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. By modifying the GSK-3ɑ and GSK-3β genes in ES cells, Dr. Doble was able to generate conditional knockout mice for these kinases, which have been shared with scientists world-wide and have yielded important new insights into the numerous functions of these critical enzymes.

Dr. Doble was fascinated with the relative ease with which targeted mutations could be introduced into mouse ES cells, which prompted him to generate double-knockokut mouse ES cells lacking both GSK-3 genes. Colonies of these cells displayed a striking inability to undergo trilineage differentiation, prompting Dr. Doble's strong, and enduring, interest in the Wnt signaling pathway. Wnt signaling is essential for normal developmental and regulates a wide spectrum of stem cells. It is frequently dysregulated in several human diseases, of which the most studied is cancer. Dr. Doble established his independent research program at McMaster University as a Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Signaling in 2006. Dr. Doble returned to his alma mater in July 2019 and is pursuing research that continues to focus on Wnt signaling and stem cell biology in normal and disease contexts. The Wnt subgroup of medulloblastoma, a pediatric brain cancer, is one disease context being studied in Dr. Doble's lab.