The project brings together Ontario's leading cancer research institutions, including Princess Margaret Hospital - University Health Network, Mount Sinai Hospital, The Hospital for Sick Children, the University of Toronto, McMaster University Health Sciences Centre, and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa.
"This historic collaboration represents a significant step toward making cancer treatment much more effective, as well as less invasive for patients," said Dr. Tom Hudson, OICR's President and Scientific Director. "We're bringing together Ontario's best medical and research professionals to improve cancer discovery and validation through development of better screening and analysis techniques."
The goals of the project are to:
- Establish a fully integrated, interdisciplinary team of clinician-scientists, biologists and technical support personnel from across Ontario;
- Improve the capacity of key cancer screening facilities; and
- Develop new algorithms that will significantly enhance the speed and accuracy of data analysis, and improve the cancer screening process by reducing "false-positive" results.
"There is no better role model than Terry Fox when it comes to believing in the power of research - and the hope of finding a cure for cancer," said Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation, John Wilkinson. "Ontario is proud to have invested $15 million in this partnership between TFRI and OICR to help fulfill Terry's dream. Working together, we're bringing renewed hope to families dealing with cancer and ensuring that Ontario remains at the forefront of life science innovation."
This is the first project funded through the joint TFRI / OICR agreement signed in November 2007, which will provide up to $30 million over five years, to support translational research projects in new cancer-based biological model systems and screens. Projects will focus on four research areas: chemical genomics and programmed cell death, DNA damage and stress response, cancer stem cells, and morphogenesis and tissue homeostasis.
About the Selective Therapies Target Identification Program
The Selective Therapies Target Identification Program is a unique initiative designed to deliver research projects with the potential to improve the health of cancer patients as quickly as possible. The focus of the TFRI/OICR collaboration in Ontario is on developing cancer therapies that target and destroy cancer cells without harming healthy ones. This will minimize the adverse reactions experienced by cancer patients using current therapies.
About the Organizations
Founded and funded by the Terry Fox Foundation, the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI), with headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, is a national organization for cancer research. It focuses on translational research that enables discoveries to move quickly into practical solutions that will benefit cancer patients within three to five years. The Institute was established in October 2007, with funding from the Province of British Columbia and the Terry Fox Foundation.
The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) is dedicated to research in prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The Institute is an independent, not-for-profit corporation funded by the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Research and Innovation.
For more information: www.tfri.ca or www.oicr.on.ca
Media Contact:
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Toronto: Ontario Institute for Cancer Research Rhea Cohen Director of Communications Telephone: 416-673-6642 Mobile: 416-671-2846 |
Vancouver: Terry Fox Research Institute Dr. Victor Ling, O.C., O.B.C. Scientific Director Telephone: 604-675-8109 |
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