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- About us
- What we do
- Take action
- Give
- Researchers
- news
- Contact us
1 888 766-2262
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.
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.
Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM), Université de Montréal – funded in partnership with the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation
Uncovering regulators of breast cancer dormancy.
University of Alberta – funded in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
CD71+ erythroid cells impair tumour immunogenicity and promote tumour progression.
Université de Montréal – funded in partnership with the Charlotte Légaré Memorial Fund
Senescent macrophages promote pancreatic tumorigenesis: a link between cancer and aging.
McGill University – funded in partnership with Génome Québec
Transcriptional activity of the NuRD complex in prostate cancer.
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.
The Hospital for Sick Children
Defining the mechanisms of lineage plasticity in intestinal tumorigenesis.
The Hospital for Sick Children
Role of Peroxisomes in Renal Cell Carcinoma Tumorigenesis.
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.
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).
University of Toronto
Investigating TNFR1 signaling in invadopodia formation and malignant transformation of oral cancer.
University of Manitoba – funded in partnership with Ovarian Cancer Canada
Exploring and exploiting aberrant RBX1 expression in high-grade serous ovarian cancer.
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.
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.
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.
Université de Montréal Hospital Centre Research Centre
Postoperative intestinal healing and anastomotic colorectal cancer recurrence and metastasis.
University of Western Ontario
The role of farnesoid X-receptor and bile acid signaling in liver carcinogenesis.
University of Alberta – funded in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Phase separation and epigenome reprogramming in cancer.
University of Guelph – funded in partnership with CURE Foundation
Hypoxic cancer cells coordinate cell adhesion and invasion decisions via cadherin-22.
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.
Simon Fraser University
18F-Fluorinated amino acids as PET radiotracers for multiple myeloma.
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.
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.
Research Centre of the Sainte-Justine University Hospital
Impact of a senescent stromal environment on the tumor immune response.
University of Guelph
Advancing a promising infected cancer cell vaccine platform into the translational research pipeline.
Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal
Targeting autophagy in combination treatment for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
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.
BC Cancer, part of the Provincial Health Services Authority
Overcoming cancer recurrence and metastatic progression by targeting "anastasis".
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.
Western University
Netrin signaling in dormant ovarian cancer cell survival.
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.
University of British Columbia
Granzyme B: A Novel Target for the Treatment of Radiodermatitis.
Université de Montréal
Role of ZO-1 in endothelial cell biology and in tumor angiogenesis.
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.
Memorial University
Role of hypothalamic neuropeptides in metabolic effects of cancer.
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.
Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital – funded in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
LGALS1 regulation of glioblastoma tumorigenesis.
University Health Network
Targeting energy production in leukemia stem cells.
Université Laval – funded in partnership with Génome Québec
Using BET bromodomain inhibitors to create phenotypic lethality in melanoma.
Université de Montréal
Characterization of the effects of vascular normalization on the tumor microenvironment.
Research Center of the CHU de Québec-Université Laval
Deciphering mechanical stress-induced nuclear envelope remodeling in tumour cells.
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.
University Health Network
Employing small cell lung cancer patient-derived organoid cultures as an efficient high-throughput strategy to identify novel therapeutic approaches.
University of British Columbia – funded in partnership with the Katherine Campbell MacDonald Memorial Fund
Novel oncolytic virus for lung cancer treatment.
Dalhousie University
Identification of novel mediators of paclitaxel response in breast cancer for improving treatment efficacy.
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.
Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM), Université de Montréal
Role of the DDX3X RNA helicase in Burkitt lymphoma.
McGill University
Protein phosphatase PPM1G regulates colorectal cancer cells survival and migration by targeting eIF4E phosphorylation.
University of Alberta
Contribution of the hematopoietic cytoskeletal adaptor protein leupaxin to the immune response to cancer.
McGill University
Manipulating the process of translation termination to uncloak tumor cells.
Western University
Targeting PANX1 channels as a new strategy to reduce growth and angiogenesis of aggressive gliomas.
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.
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.
University of British Columbia – funded in partnership with the Charlotte Légaré Memorial Fund
Development of OEMRI as a biomarker for hypoxia in pancreatic cancer.
Université de Montréal – funded in partnership with the Katherine Campbell MacDonald Memorial Fund
Copper bioavailability as a new vulnerability in colorectal cancer.
University of Alberta
Development of heparanase radioligands for tumour imaging and staging.
Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM), Université de Montréal
Role of SLAMF7 in immune surveillance of AITL, a germinal center-derived T cell lymphoma.
University of Lethbridge
Regulation of mRNA translation by eIF5B in glioblastoma.
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.
University Health Network
Upregulation of immune response to reduce tumour progression and metastasis of melanoma using photodynamic therapy.
McMaster University
Multi-Antigen T cell Engagers (MATEs) for targeting cancer heterogeneity.
University of Guelph
Targeting RFWD3-RPA interaction to modulate DNA interstrand crosslink repair.
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.
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.
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.
Queen's University
Interrogating extracellular signalling factors involved in the development of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).
University of Toronto
Epigenetic regulator NSD2 in the biology and treatment of multiple myeloma.
University of Toronto
Targeting carboxylesterase 2 to predict and suppress anticancer drug resistance in pancreatic cancer.
Université de Montréal
Investigating the contribution of alpha-ketoglutarate in the modulation of chromatin landscapes in triple-negative breast cancer.
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.
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.