70 new grants awarded this year worth $8.8 million
Each year, the Cancer Research Society awards two-year grants to support some of the most innovative cancer research projects.
Three of these grants were awarded through our Scholarship for the Next Generation of Scientists (SNGS) competition, a funding program with the goal of supporting the future generation of Canadian researchers. In addition, on the occasion of the Society’s 75th anniversary, five Young Investigators, who have distinguished themselves by the exceptional quality of their work, will receive special 75th Anniversary grants having a higher stipend.
The Cancer Research Society will also continue to fund all grants and research projects awarded in previous years. Therefore, the Society is very proud to fund more than 150 projects dedicated to cancer research worth $12.6 million in this pandemic year.
As our recent campaign reminds us, ‘’Cancer does not take a break’’ and this is why the Cancer Research Society remains committed to investing 100% of the funds raised to support research.
List of 2020 Grant Recipients
In May and June 2020, the Society held seven evaluation committee meetings, composed of more than 100 researchers and clinicians from across the country, to review the research projects.
Causes and prevention – the most effective approach to reducing the risk of developing the disease
Christian Baron
Université de Montréal – funded in partnership with the Fondation Bergeron-Jetté Fund.
Development of lead molecules for the prevention of cancer caused by Helicobacter pylori.
Jean-François Côté
Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM), Université de Montréal – funded in partnership with the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation.
Uncovering regulators of breast cancer dormancy.
Shokrollah Elahi
University of Alberta – funded in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
CD71+ erythroid cells impair tumour immunogenicity and promote tumour progression.
Gerardo Ferbeyre
Université de Montréal – funded in partnership with the Charlotte Légaré Memorial Fund.
Senescent macrophages promote pancreatic tumorigenesis: a link between cancer and aging.
Vincent Giguère
McGill University – funded in partnership with Génome Québec.
Transcriptional activity of the NuRD complex in prostate cancer.
Vikki Ho
Research Center of CHUM – funded in partnership with the Environment-Cancer FundTM of the Cancer Research Society and Read for the Cure.
The influence of occupational and genetic risk factors in breast cancer etiology.
Tae-Hee Kim
The Hospital for Sick Children.
Defining the mechanisms of lineage plasticity in intestinal tumorigenesis.
Peter K Kim
The Hospital for Sick Children.
Role of Peroxisomes in Renal Cell Carcinoma Tumorigenesis.
Darryl Leong
McMaster University – funded in partnership with the Environment-Cancer FundTM of the Cancer Research Society and Read for the Cure.
International Cancer Epidemiology (ICE) Study.
Ivan Litvinov
McGill University Health Centre Research Institute – funded in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Studying the biology and clinical utility of aberrantly expressed testicular cancer and embryonic stem cell genes for the treatment of advanced or recurrent non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs).
Marco Magalhae
University of Toronto.
Investigating TNFR1 signaling in invadopodia formation and malignant transformation of oral cancer.
Kirk McManus
University of Manitoba – funded in partnership with Ovarian Cancer Canada.
Exploring and exploiting aberrant RBX1 expression in high-grade serous ovarian cancer.
Christopher Moraes
McGill University – funded in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Targeting changes in tissue stiffness regulated by neutrophil-derived exosomes as a promoter of breast cancer liver metastasis.
William Muller
Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Research Centre, McGill University – funded in partnership with CURE Foundation.
The role of an alternative ErbB2 splice isoform in breast cancer progression.
Christiaan Righolt
University of Manitoba – funded in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Use of glycogen synthase kinase-3β inhibitors (GSK3Is) and prostate cancer risk and prognosis.
Manuela Santos
Université de Montréal Hospital Centre Research Centre.
Postoperative intestinal healing and anastomotic colorectal cancer recurrence and metastasis.
Joseph Torchia
University of Western Ontario.
The role of farnesoid X-receptor and bile acid signaling in liver carcinogenesis.
Alan Underhill
University of Alberta – funded in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Phase separation and epigenome reprogramming in cancer.
Jim Uniacke
University of Guelph – funded in partnership with CURE Foundation.
Hypoxic cancer cells coordinate cell adhesion and invasion decisions via cadherin-22.
Detection – early detection is critical to improving patient outcomes
Francois Benard
BC Cancer, part of the Provincial Health Services Authority – funded in partnership with the Herbert James Davies Memorial Fund.
Development of CXCR4-targeting fluorescent radiotheranostic agents via a novel cross-linking macrocyclization strategy.
Robert Britton
Simon Fraser University.
18F-Fluorinated amino acids as PET radiotracers for multiple myeloma.
Benjamin K. Tsang
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.
Plasma gelsolin as a biomarker for early diagnosis of ovarian cancer & chemo- responsiveness, as well as a predictor of residual disease & patient survival.
Treatment – the development of new treatments, including targeted or personalized therapies
Rebecca Auer
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.
Investigating the role of impaired mTOR signaling in the loss of NK cell effector functions in cancer patients following surgical stress.
Christian Beauséjour
Research Centre of the Sainte-Justine University Hospital.
Impact of a senescent stromal environment on the tumor immune response.
Byram Bridle
University of Guelph.
Advancing a promising infected cancer cell vaccine platform into the translational research pipeline.
Apostolos Christopoulos
Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal.
Targeting autophagy in combination treatment for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Javier Clemente-Casares
University of Alberta – funded in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Transcriptional requirements for pro-cachectic monocytic and granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (gMDSC) amplification.
Shoukat Dedhar
BC Cancer, part of the Provincial Health Services Authority.
Overcoming cancer recurrence and metastatic progression by targeting “anastasis”.
Sonia Victoria del Rincon
Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital – funded in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Aberrant MNK1/2 signaling as a mechanism involved in breast cancer liver metastasis.
Fred Dick
Western University.
Netrin signaling in dormant ovarian cancer cell survival.
Lorenzo Ferri
Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center – funded in partnership with the Aristotle Fund.
Identifying mechanisms and salvage therapies for chemoresistance in microsatellite unstable gastro-esophageal adenocarcinoma.
David Granville
University of British Columbia.
Granzyme B: A Novel Target for the Treatment of Radiodermatitis.
Jean-Philippe Gratton
Université de Montréal.
Role of ZO-1 in endothelial cell biology and in tumor angiogenesis.
Kevin Hay
BC Cancer, part of the Provincial Health Services Authority – funded in partnership with the Herbert James Davies Memorial Fund.
Novel multiple myeloma target identification by cell surface proteomics for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) immunotherapy.
Michiru Hirasawa
Memorial University.
Role of hypothalamic neuropeptides in metabolic effects of cancer.
Nada Jabado
Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre – funded in partnership with Génome Québec.
Understanding the impact of H3.3 G34 mutations on childhood brain tumors.
Arezu Jahani-Asl
Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital – funded in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
LGALS1 regulation of glioblastoma tumorigenesis.
Courtney Jones
University Health Network.
Targeting energy production in leukemia stem cells.
Jean-Philippe Lambert
Université Laval – funded in partnership with Génome Québec.
Using BET bromodomain inhibitors to create phenotypic lethality in melanoma.
Bruno Larrivée
Université de Montréal.
Characterization of the effects of vascular normalization on the tumor microenvironment.
Josée N Lavoie
Research Center of the CHU de Québec-Université Laval.
Deciphering mechanical stress-induced nuclear envelope remodeling in tumour cells.
Cheng-Han Lee
BC Cancer, part of the Provincial Health Services Authority – funded in partnership with the Ann Matyas Memorial Fund.
Therapeutic screening of patient tumour-derived malignant mixed Müllerian tumour (MMMT) disease models.
Benjamin Lok
University Health Network.
Employing small cell lung cancer patient-derived organoid cultures as an efficient high-throughput strategy to identify novel therapeutic approaches.
Honglin Luo
University of British Columbia – funded in partnership with the Katherine Campbell MacDonald Memorial Fund.
Novel oncolytic virus for lung cancer treatment.
Paola Marcato
Dalhousie University.
Identification of novel mediators of paclitaxel response in breast cancer for improving treatment efficacy.
Sylvain Meloche
Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer of the Université de Montréal (IRIC).
Role of ERK3 MAP kinase signaling in triple-negative breast cancer progression and metastasis.
Tarik Moroy
Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM), Université de Montréal.
Role of the DDX3X RNA helicase in Burkitt lymphoma.
Bhushan Nagar
McGill University.
Protein phosphatase PPM1G regulates colorectal cancer cells survival and migration by targeting eIF4E phosphorylation.
Hanne Ostergaard
University of Alberta.
Contribution of the hematopoietic cytoskeletal adaptor protein leupaxin to the immune response to cancer.
Jerry Pelletier
McGill University.
Manipulating the process of translation termination to uncloak tumor cells.
Silvia Penuela
Western University.
Targeting PANX1 channels as a new strategy to reduce growth and angiogenesis of aggressive gliomas.
Janusz Rak
Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre – funded in partnership with Génome Québec.
Exosomal representation of new vulnerabilities induced in glioma stem cells by therapy.
Jüri Reimand
Ontario Institute for Cancer Research – funded in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Systematic study of regional mutation rates in multiple cancer types to identify the role of chemotherapies in metastasis.
Stefan Reinsberg
University of British Columbia – funded in partnership with the Charlotte Légaré Memorial Fund.
Development of OEMRI as a biomarker for hypoxia in pancreatic cancer.
Philippe Roux
Université de Montréal – funded in partnership with the Katherine Campbell MacDonald Memorial Fund.
Copper bioavailability as a new vulnerability in colorectal cancer.
Ralf Schirrmacher
University of Alberta.
Development of heparanase radioligands for tumour imaging and staging.
Woong-Kyung Suh
Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM), Université de Montréal.
Role of SLAMF7 in immune surveillance of AITL, a germinal center-derived T cell lymphoma.
Nehalkumar Thakor
University of Lethbridge.
Regulation of mRNA translation by eIF5B in glioblastoma.
Sandra Turcotte
Université de Moncton – funded in partnership with Canadian VHL Alliance.
Harnessing autophagy and lysosomes as a potential therapeutic approach in hereditary renal cell carcinoma with von Hippel-Lindau disease.
Brian C. Wilson
University Health Network.
Upregulation of immune response to reduce tumour progression and metastasis of melanoma using photodynamic therapy.
Ryan Wylie
McMaster University.
Multi-Antigen T cell Engagers (MATEs) for targeting cancer heterogeneity.
Wei Zhang
University of Guelph.
Targeting RFWD3-RPA interaction to modulate DNA interstrand crosslink repair.
Recipients of the Scholarship for the Next Generation of Scientists (SNGS)
Sampath Kumar Loganathan
Sinai Health System.
Part 1 : In vivo CRISPR to study tumor suppressors in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC).
Part 2 : An in vivo CRISPR screen of G-Protein coupled receptors to identify drug targets in Head and Neck Cancer.
Elena Kuzmin
McGill University.
Part 1 : Evolution of large copy number variants in breast cancer through genetic network rewiring.
Part 2 : Systematic mapping of genetic vulnerabilities of large chromosomal deletions in triple negative breast cancer.
Liis Uuskula-Reimand
The Hospital for Sick Children.
Part 1 : Understanding functions of type II topoisomerases in chromatin architecture regulation and transcription using auxin-inducible degron system.
Part 2 : Dissecting the functional role of topoisomerase associated non-coding mutations in hepatocellular carcinoma.
Recipients of the Special 75th Anniversary grants
Sheela Abraham
Queen’s University.
Interrogating extracellular signalling factors involved in the development of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).
Dalia Barsyte-Lovejoy
University of Toronto.
Epigenetic regulator NSD2 in the biology and treatment of multiple myeloma.
Andrew Beharry
University of Toronto.
Targeting carboxylesterase 2 to predict and suppress anticancer drug resistance in pancreatic cancer.
Geneviève Deblois
Université de Montréal.
Investigating the contribution of alpha-ketoglutarate in the modulation of chromatin landscapes in triple-negative breast cancer.
Laura Hulea
Centre de Recherche de l’Hopital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Université de Montréal.
Metabolic vulnerabilities in pediatric acute megakaryoblastic leukemia.
The financial support provided by the Cancer Research Society is made possible thanks to the generosity of thousands of donors, but also to partners who co-fund certain grants.
- Ann Matyas Memorial Fund
- Aristotle Fund
- Charlotte Légaré Memorial Fund
- Fondation Bergeron-Jetté
- Herbert James Davies Memorial Fund
- Katherine Campbell MacDonald Memorial Fund
- The Cancer Research Society’s Environment-Cancer FundMC funded in part by Read for the Cure
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Canadian VHL Alliance
- CURE Foundation
- Génome Québec
- Ovarian Cancer Canada
- Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation
Altum – Proposal Central: the new online grant management system
The Society wishes to inform the scientific community that researchers will now be able to submit their grant applications more easily and efficiently through the use of a new online grant management system. The launch of the 2021 Operating Grants competition and the call for proposals will be online, starting November 16, 2020.
Again, we thank our donors and partners warmly for their support.