Hi everyone,
I am pleased to share some terrific news. Today, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), a federal organization mandated to support innovative research infrastructure, announced that five of our research teams will receive approximately $28-million in grants. This is the largest amount awarded to UHN by the CFI in a single round.
The CFI awarded operating and infrastructure funding to the following research teams:
- Dr. Richard D. Weisel, Director of the Toronto General Research Institute/Toronto General Hospital and scientist with the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, is leading "The Regenerative Medicine Project (REMEDI)" that will use computers to visualize images taken by sophisticated equipment to create models that will drive the advance of regenerative medicine research to clinical applications.
- The "Disease Genomics: Reduction to Practice" project is being led by Dr. Kathy Siminovitch, a senior scientist of the Toronto General Research Institute/Toronto General Hospital and Director of the Molecular Therapeutics Program, McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine. The project focuses on creating and disseminating novel and broadly-applicable tools to accelerate genomic medicine initiatives worldwide.
- Dr. Igor Jurisica with the Ontario Cancer Institute is launching a "Comprehensive Systems Biology Approach to Profiling and Modeling of Cancer." The goal of this project is to understand cancer at a molecular level to develop early methods of detection, accurate prognosis and effective therapies.
- Dr. John Dick, a Senior Scientist with the Ontario Cancer Institute and Toronto General Research Institute, is launching the world's first "Cancer Stem Cell Centre" to focus expertise, infrastructure and technologies on developing breakthrough cancer stem cell (CSC) therapies. CSCs are rare cells within a tumour that are responsible for sustaining it. By investigating CSC, more specific targeted therapies that do not kill normal stem cells may be developed, leading to reduced morbidity.
- Dr. Pamela Catton, Medical Director of the Breast Cancer Survivorship Program at Princess Margaret Hospital, is leading a project entitled "The Electronic Living Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Cancer Survivorship Research." The focus is on developing a dynamic research collaboration between cancer survivors and investigators to explore new approaches for predicting, preventing and managing the long-term adverse effects of cancer and its treatment.
UHN has some of the top medical researchers in the world. Without the federal government's support, we cannot build a thriving biomedical industry in Ontario and continue attracting and retaining leading talent. But more importantly, we cannot continue pushing the boundaries of science in search of breakthroughs for patient care without this kind of support. Congratulations to Dr Chris Paige and his team!
Bob
