Five Canadian cancer research teams have launched bold and innovative projects supported by $33 million in funding through the Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grants. This marks the largest investment ever made through a single funding competition in the Terry Fox Research Institute’s (TFRI) history.
Designed to support high-impact cancer research, these grants bring together leading researchers to pursue ambitious questions and make discoveries that would not be possible alone, advancing our understanding of cancer and improving diagnosis, detection, and treatment.
This investment is made possible through donations raised by the Terry Fox Foundation and the generosity of Canadians across the country, whose support continues to drive progress toward Terry Fox’s dream of a world without cancer. Grant recipients are selected through a rigorous review process involving international experts, ensuring funding is directed to projects with the greatest potential for impact.
"Congratulations to this year's Terry Fox New Frontier Program Project Grant awardees, including both new and renewed teams. These outstanding researchers are bringing together expertise across disciplines and institutions to tackle some of the biggest challenges in cancer research,” says Dr. Jim Woodgett, TFRI President and Scientific Director. “Their bold, collaborative approaches exemplify the innovation and excellence that make this TFRI's signature research program.”
"We are also grateful to the international reviewers and members of the Standing Committee on Research Excellence whose expertise and thoughtful assessments help ensure the program supports the most promising and impactful research,” he adds.
Together, these awards will advance innovative research in treatment resistance, immunotherapies, personalized care, and precision prevention, and gather the knowledge needed to improve outcomes and transform cancer care in Canada and beyond.
Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grant recipients
The 2026 Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grants support five leading cancer research teams studying some of the most challenging cancers, including glioblastoma, acute myeloid leukemia, lung, breast, colorectal, and endometrial.
Renewed projects
Drs. Liliana Attisano and Daniel Schramek (Sinai Health, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, and University of Toronto) will lead a research team investigating how cancers, specifically breast and colorectal, adapt and resist treatment, with the goal of developing targeted therapies that block these processes and improve long-term outcomes.
Dr. Jessica McAlpine (University of British Columbia) and her team will continue transforming endometrial cancer care—from preventing the disease to improving treatments for advanced cancer—and help deliver more precise, personalized care and better outcomes for patients.
Drs. Rama Khokha and Christopher Maxwell (UHN's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of British Columbia, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute) will lead a program to understand the earliest changes that lead to aggressive breast cancer, develop precision prevention strategies for women at high risk, and ultimately advance these approaches through clinical trials.
New projects
Dr. Pam Ohashi (UHN's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre) and her team aim to understand why aggressive non-small cell lung cancers resist treatment and develop new immunotherapies to personalize care and improve patient outcomes.
Dr. Peter Dirks (The Hospital for Sick Children) will lead a team investigating how cancer cells adapt following stress and injury—focusing on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), glioblastoma, and breast cancer—with the goal of developing new therapies that block these changes, reduce treatment resistance, and make them easier to eliminate.