Four research teams across Canada have received a total of $14.5 million though the 2025 Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grants (PPGs), a longstanding funding program supporting projects exploring new frontiers in cancer research.
Focused on sarcomas, bladder cancer, high-risk brain cancer and immunotherapies, each program shares a bold vision: to move beyond one-size-fits-all cancer care by detecting cancer earlier, tailoring treatments to each patient and reducing the long-term side-effects of current treatments.
Based in Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto, these project teams aim to improve and save the lives of people with cancer through collaboration, innovation and cutting-edge science.
“PPGs are TFRI’s flagship program, and we’re extremely proud to now be supporting 23 of them,” says Dr. Jim Woodgett, TFRI President and Scientific Director. “I attended the adjudication sessions for each of these projects and was immensely impressed by both the reviewers and the applicants. We couldn’t advance this important work without the generosity of donors to the Terry Fox Foundation and the dedication of these world-class research teams, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they accomplish.”
2025 PPG winners seeking new frontiers in cancer research
This year, awarded projects will be funded for three and five years, with new programs receiving $3 million and the renewal program receiving $5.5 million.
New projects
Dr. Peter Black, director and surgeon scientist at the Vancouver Prostate Centre and professor at the University of British Columbia, will lead a team working to personalize treatments for patients with bladder cancer. By developing tools that measure how a patient is responding to therapy in real time, the team aims to help clinicians tailor treatment. This could significantly improve the standard of care, resulting in better outcomes and reducing the number of patients who undergo unnecessary, but precautionary bladder removal.
Dr. Michele Ardolino, associate professor and senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and his team are taking an innovative approach to understand why some patients don’t respond to immunotherapy. Their research will explore how the immune system, nervous system and gut microbiome work together to identify what’s going wrong and develop more personalized strategies to help the body eliminate cancer more effectively.
Led by Dr. Uri Tabori, senior scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, this team is pioneering a new approach to treatment called “cancer interception.” Their goal is to detect aggressive childhood brain tumours (gliomas) earlier and eliminate them, using the body’s own immune system, before they become life-threatening.
Renewal project
Dr. David Huntsman, a professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and distinguished scientist at the BC Cancer Research Institute, and Dr. Torsten Nielsen, professor at UBC and sarcoma clinician-scientist at Vancouver General Hospital, will co-lead a team focused on improving early detection and treatment for six types of sarcoma that affect children, adolescents and young adults. Building on their previous breakthroughs and earlier project work in rare cancers, the team will study how sarcomas start and evolve to develop more targeted, less toxic treatments that improve care and long-term outcomes for young people affected by these cancers.
About the Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grants
The Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grants support highly impactful team science across Canada. Since 2009, the program has invested more than $213 million into bold and innovative team science that has the potential to transform care.
All funded teams are selected through a rigorous international peer-review process, ensuring that every dollar raised by the Terry Fox Foundation and invested through the Terry Fox Research Institute supports world-class, high-impact cancer research.
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