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Ella Zwep aiming to improve Indigenous representation in cancer research

The Laurier University undergraduate’s summer internship is focused on Indigenous recruitment to the Ontario Hereditary Cancer Research Network (OHCRN).

Despite their history of prostate cancer, Ella Zwep knows her family is lucky.

Living in southwestern Ontario not far from large cities, they have access to primary care and screening programs. Through those programs, her grandfather’s prostate cancer was detected in the earliest stages, and he was able to have successful surgery.

But Zwep, who is Métis, knows that is not the case for many Indigenous people in Ontario. Many Indigenous people face barriers to accessing health services, and when they do, the care they receive doesn’t always consider their unique cultural context.

Zwep hopes that her BioCanRx Indigenous Summer Student Internship with the Ontario Hereditary Cancer Research Network can help address some of these challenges.

She is researching the uptake of genetic testing and participation in hereditary cancer registries among Indigenous Peoples, aiming to understand gaps in access and barriers to recruitment. She will ultimately identify strategies for OHCRN to engage Indigenous participants as it builds a provincial database on hereditary cancer syndromes to help ensure that the registry is equitable, diverse and inclusive.

Zwep’s internship runs from May until the end of summer, when she will begin her fourth year studying health sciences at Laurier University. We spoke about how she got involved with OHCRN and about her experiences with the internship so far.

What appealed to you about this internship opportunity?

My biology and chemistry classes in high school really started my interest in science, and then I applied to health sciences programs at university because there are so many different paths you can take from there.

Throughout my undergrad I’ve really enjoyed classes on Indigenous health, health equity and the social determinants of health. This internship seemed like a great opportunity to apply what I learned in school to an important project like OHCRN. I am getting practical experience with health equity issues and learning about cancer research and the many careers in that field.

What have you learned so far about Indigenous engagement in genetic testing and hereditary cancer registries?

I’ve learned a lot about the barriers to participation that Indigenous people face. They include barriers to accessing primary cancer and genetic testing, and also the historical injustices and violations that sometimes make Indigenous people reluctant to participate in genetic testing and research initiatives.

That’s why it’s important for researchers and projects like OHCRN to build ongoing working relationships with Indigenous participants. You can’t just ask for their data and leave. You have to work together, communicate and build trust.

Why is it important for OHCRN to successfully engage with Indigenous Ontarians?

For example, I’ve learned that a lot of Indigenous people who do genetic testing will find out they have a genetic mutation of uncertain significance — meaning no one knows how that mutation could affect their health. That’s common because Indigenous people are not well represented in genetic databases, and so some mutations that are common to them are not well studied.

That’s why I’m excited to support OHCRN in recruiting Indigenous participants. Because if Indigenous people are well represented the OHCRN registry, which is going to be used in many important research projects, then that research should ultimately reflect the unique health issues of Indigenous people.

What are your plans for your future and how will this internship help you achieve them?

I’m planning on applying to med school and seeing where that takes me. But I’m also looking into doing a Master of Public Health, because I’m really interested in the policy and health equity side of working in healthcare.

This internship has provided me a lot of exposure to that policy and health equity side of things and opened my eyes to different careers in the field. The mentorship I’ve had and the connections I’ve made are really helping me understand the path I want to go down.

Ontario Institute for Cancer Research welcomes Dr. Aaron Schimmer as President and Scientific Director

Schimmer brings extensive experience as scientist, clinician and research leader.

Toronto, ON, August 4, 2026 — Dr. Aaron Schimmer officially steps into his role as President and Scientific Director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) today, marking a new chapter for cancer research in the province.

Schimmer brings a wealth of scientific, clinical, strategic and operational expertise to lead OICR. An internationally recognized hematologist, blood cancer scientist and research leader, he most recently served as Director of Research at University Health Network’s (UHN) Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, where he is also a longtime clinician-scientist.

As President and Scientific Director of OICR, Schimmer will lead the Institute and deliver on OICR’s provincial mandate to accelerate cancer research in Ontario for better health and a stronger economy.

“After years of close collaboration with OICR, I can attest to the transformative impact the Institute has had on cancer research in Ontario and around the world,” Schimmer says. “I am honoured and humbled to help lead this outstanding organization as we deliver life-changing solutions to the biggest challenges in cancer.”

Schimmer is one of Canada’s preeminent leukemia researchers, with more than 320 peer‑reviewed publications and 27,000 citations. He is also a Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Medical Biophysics, and Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto, Past President of the Canadian Hematology Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. 

Schimmer’s appointment comes at an exciting time for OICR, which is launching its Strategic Plan 2026-2031 this year. As a highly respected Ontario research leader with connections across the province, Schimmer is perfectly positioned to deliver on the plan’s promise of a stronger, healthier future for Ontarians.

Schimmer says cancer research is at a watershed moment, full of unprecedented opportunities to transform how cancers are detected, diagnosed and treated. With world-class research talent, infrastructure and collaborations led by OICR, and the strong support of the Provincial Government, he says Ontario is poised to lead the next generation of cancer innovations.

“OICR has the unique ability to accelerate cancer research across the province that improves the health of Ontarians and people around the world, while producing economic benefits for the province of Ontario,” Schimmer says. “I look forward to working with everyone in the OICR community to write the next chapter for OICR and for cancer research in this province.”


OICR is funded by the Government of Ontario. As the province’s cancer research institute, we take on the biggest challenges in cancer research and deliver real-world solutions to find cancer earlier and treat it more effectively. We are committed to helping people living with cancer, as well as future generations, live longer and healthier lives. For more information visit http://www.oicr.on.ca.

The views expressed are those of OICR and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Province of Ontario.

Mya Thompson is helping shape the future of Indigenous data governance in cancer research

As part of a unique summer internship, Thompson is informing researcher training and data access procedures for the Ontario Hereditary Cancer Research Network (OHCRN).

With a lifelong interest in health sciences and a passion for promoting equity for Indigenous people, Mya Thompson may have found her niche.

The University of Toronto undergraduate is spending the summer researching Indigenous data sovereignty as part of a BioCanRx Indigenous Summer Student Internship with the Ontario Hereditary Cancer Research Network (OHCRN).

Indigenous data sovereignty is the right of Indigenous people to control how their data is collected and used. It is critical for a project like OHCRN, an OICR initiative building a provincial database on hereditary cancer syndromes that can be accessed by cancer researchers. OHCRN participants may choose to self-report ethnicity information, which includes options for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis.ƒ

Thompson, whose mother is Haudenosaunee from the Six Nations of the Grand River, says the project is a great match for her diverse interests.

“I’ve always loved science and had a passion for helping people,” says Thompson, who will enter the fourth year of an Honours Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and Psychology program this fall. “As an Indigenous person, I’ve also seen that not everyone has equitable access to healthcare, and it’s important to me to advocate to fill those gaps.”

After reviewing data and research guidelines on Indigenous data sovereignty, Thompson will develop recommendations that will help inform a cultural competency training package for researchers as well as procedures for accessing OHCRN data. OHCRN also intends to do further consultations before finalizing the training resources and putting policies in place.

We asked Thompson about her experience so far with her internship and what the experience could mean for her future.


Tell us more about how you became interested in health science and Indigenous equity.

I spent a lot of time on the reserve with my grandparents as a kid, and my mom was heavily involved with the Band Council. Her interest in policy and in strengthening the community definitely influenced me. My dad is a chiropractor, so I also grew up hearing about his work with patients. Above all, I found myself wanting to help people, understand their issues, and guide them through solutions.

Why is Indigenous data sovereignty so important in health research?

Throughout history, there are many examples of Indigenous Peoples being included in health research studies, but their data has not been culturally contextualized. For example, past genomic studies have pathologized Indigenous communities, ignoring social determinants of health such as socio-economic status and intergenerational trauma, which contribute to disease. This lack of consideration can cause further discrimination to Indigenous communities.

What have you learned about how research projects can promote Indigenous data sovereignty.

Researchers should always keep in mind they do not own the data, it’s on loan to them. That means that Indigenous Peoples have the right to guide how their data is used and to be informed about what happens to it throughout all stages of a research project.

It is also important to understand that Indigenous Peoples are extremely diverse. Research has often used ‘Indigenous’ as an umbrella term, homogenizing Indigeneity rather than understanding specific identities like Métis, Inuit and First Nations. Ensuring these distinctions are clear can make research more relevant and beneficial to Indigenous people.

What are your plans for your future?

I don’t have concrete plans yet, but I want to continue advocating for Indigenous equity. Policy is very interesting to me because it’s an important lever to make social change, and I like being there at the beginning stages of decisions that help people in the future. Working with OHCRN has also reignited my interest in genetics and molecular biology, and it has opened my eyes to cancer research, which I’d like to explore in the future.

How will this internship help you achieve your goals?

Being able to contribute to key policies for a project like this is really meaningful. More practically, I got the opportunity to shape my own project, and that was really great experience. I also worked on a grant proposal for the first time, and I know that will be very valuable in the future. I’ve also really enjoyed networking and learning about other people’s career journeys and how they got to where they are.

3D ultrasound pioneer transforming cancer imaging around the world

Over two decades as Co-Director of OICR’s Imaging Program, Dr. Aaron Fenster has developed 3D ultrasound systems that are improving cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Aaron Fenster’s groundbreaking inventions in 3D ultrasound have sparked dozens of patents, two companies and a fundamental shift in how some cancers are diagnosed and treated.

But they all date back to a clinical need and an aha moment two decades ago.

Back in 2007, Fenster was leading an imaging lab at Western University’s Robart’s Research Institute and in the process of co-founding OICR’s Imaging Program. A young radiologist approached him in his lab, frustrated with the 2D ultrasound technology used to guide prostate biopsies at the time, and wishing Fenster could design something better.

That conversation was on Fenster’s mind a few weeks later as he watched a presentation at a radiology conference about the difficulties of interpreting ultrasounds. To Fenster, trying to make sense of three-dimensional tissue with a 2D image was like shining a flashlight through a small window into a dark room.

“All of a sudden it came to me,” Fenster recalls. “Why don’t we ‘turn on the lights’ by making ultrasound 3D?”

Fenster went back to London to work on a prototype for the world’s first-ever 3D ultrasound system for the prostate. The system he developed took dozens of 2D ultrasound images at different angles and used advanced software to combine them into a 3D image. After years of refining the technology, validating it through clinical trials, and working with industry partners to commercialize it, Fenster’s 3D ultrasound is now used to guide prostate biopsies in clinics around the world.

Today, Fenster is the past Director of Imaging Research Laboratories at the Robarts Research Institute, Scientist at the Institute, Professor at Western University, Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for Imaging Technology Commercialization in London, and Co-Director of the Imaging Program at OICR. He is recognized as a pioneer in 3D ultrasound and has helped make OICR’s Imaging Program one of the most impactful in the country.

“Having OICR’s continued support over the years has allowed us to build a large program and attract key collaborators, while giving us the flexibility to be innovative,” Fenster says. 

Dr. Aaron Fenster demonstrates his 3D ultrasound technology in a 2013 photoshoot

Fenster’s lab has become an important training ground for young researchers, with trainees leading much of the work. While the lab incorporates the latest technology like artificial intelligence, much of Fenster’s research has evolved from that first 3D ultrasound system.

That includes the 3D ultrasound whole-breast imaging system Fenster developed with students Dr. Claire Park and Amal Aziz. Offering safe, accurate breast cancer screening for women with dense breasts, whose cancer often goes undetected in mammographs, the system has received Health Canada approval and Fenster is hopeful it will be screening patients in Ontario hospitals before too long.

Fenster’s 3D ultrasound technology is also transforming brachytherapy, a cancer treatment where radioactive “seeds” are placed inside a tumour. Cervical brachytherapy usually needs MRI to guide the precise placement of the seeds, requiring the patient to go back and forth between the operating room and the MRI. Fenster is developing 3D ultrasound systems to guide the placement of the radioactive seeds for cervical brachytherapy that will allow the entire procedure to happen in the same room.

Fenster and colleagues have also developed 3D ultrasound technology to guide liver tumour ablations that has been patented and licensed, 3D ultrasound for kidney cancers that is being studied clinically, as well as several other applications. And just like that first 3D ultrasound prototype in 2007, nearly all these applications were inspired by clinical needs.

“That’s usually how it happens,” Fenter says. “A clinician comes to us with an unmet need, and we develop a solution that works for them and their patients.”

Dr. Aaron Schimmer to join OICR as President and Scientific Director

OICR will welcome the internationally recognized clinician-scientist and research leader in August 2026.

We are very excited to announce that Dr. Aaron Schimmer has been appointed OICR’s new President and Scientific Director beginning August 4, 2026.

Aaron is an internationally recognized hematologist, clinician-scientist and research leader who brings a wealth of scientific, clinical, strategic and operational expertise to lead OICR.

Aaron has served as Director of Research at University Health Network’s (UHN) Princess Margaret Cancer Centre since 2019 and has been a leading clinician and scientist at UHN since 2003. He is one of Canada’s preeminent blood cancer researchers, with more than 320 peer‑reviewed publications, 27,000 citations and 20 patents. He is also a Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Medical Biophysics, and Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto, Past President of the Canadian Hematology Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. 

Aaron has a long history of collaboration with OICR through the many close partnerships between OICR and UHN. With in-depth knowledge of Ontario’s life sciences ecosystem and deep connections across the province, he is perfectly positioned to deliver on OICR’s provincial mandate to advance research for better health and a stronger economy in Ontario. 

“I am honoured and humbled to join OICR and help lead such an incredible organization,” Aaron said. “We are at an inflection point in cancer research with unprecedented opportunities for new cancer therapies and diagnostics. OICR has the unique ability to accelerate cancer research across the province and thereby create and protect highly skilled STEM jobs, produce economic benefit for the province of Ontario, and improve the health of Ontarians and people around the world. I look forward to working with everyone in OICR and across the province to write the next chapter in OICR’s history.”

As we welcome Aaron to OICR, we also want to thank Dr. Christine Williams and Dr. Lincoln Stein for their skilled and thoughtful leadership as Acting President and Acting Scientific Director through this transition.

We look forward to sharing more about Aaron and this exciting new chapter for OICR once he begins his role in August. For now, please join us in congratulating Dr. Aaron Schimmer.

Reimagining the clinical report: How plain language can help patients make informed decisions

In the CAN-PREFER trial, OICR researchers are trialing accessible, patient-friendly reports from cancer biomarker testing.

You shouldn’t need a PhD to understand your own cancer.

Scientific advances are helping people with cancer live longer, but they are also changing how we talk about the disease. “Mutations” and “biomarkers” are becoming just as important to treatment planning as the stage or location of a tumour, and it’s making it harder for the average person to understand what it all means for their care.

Biomarker testing is one advancement that is now becoming commonplace. These tests look for genes, proteins or other substances in a patient’s tumour that can point to which treatment might work best against it. But look at a standard report from cancer biomarker testing and you’ll be confronted with medical jargon and unfamiliar acronyms like BRCA and TP53.

Dr. Felix Beaudry

“Biomarker reports have become critical to a patient’s treatment decisions, but they are highly technical and often pretty opaque,” says Dr. Felix Beaudry, a Scientific Associate with OICR’s PanCuRx research program. “We want patients to be able to interpret these reports so they can be more active participants in their treatment planning.”

To tackle this problem, Beaudry has brought together a multidisciplinary team including OICR researchers, PanCuRx patient partners, and clinicians at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre’s McCain Centre for Pancreatic Cancer, Legresley Biliary Registry, and Schwartz Reisman Centre for Research Innovation in HPB. With a standardized template and curated explanations written with the help of specialized artificial intelligence tools, the reports explain test results in clear, action-oriented language focusing on potential treatment options and resources.

The reports are now being tested as part of the CAN-PREFER randomized control trial where patients will be asked to evaluate and provide feedback on the reports.

“We hope the reports can help start a conversation and give patients the right words and resources to understand implications of their test,” Beaudry says.

The idea for accessible biomarker reports came about a few years ago, when Beaudry and colleagues ran a study that found only half of patients who had biomarker testing understood the results of their report. Around the same time, he interviewed oncologists about biomarker reports as part of a different study, and some clinicians said they also found the reports hard to understand.

“They said the reports were dense and jargony — and these are the specialists,” Beaudry says.

To design the new patient-facing reports, Beaudry and PanCuRx Clinical Co-Lead Dr. Robert Grant engaged a broad range of stakeholders, including a team of patient partners like Neil Marr.

Marr’s wife Priscilla was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma in 2019, and he remembers when she received the report from her biomarker test.

Neil Marr

“It was a struggle to understand those reports without having an advanced understanding of genetics,” he says.

Though Neil and Priscilla were grateful to have biomarker testing done, her test did not show any biomarkers that could influence her treatment. She ultimately passed away from cancer in 2021.

After a harrowing two years navigating the health system with his wife, Marr says that how medical information is conveyed is extremely important. Most medical documents are cold by their nature, so he encouraged the research team to infuse the patient-facing biomarker reports with a sense of optimism wherever possible.

“It’s important to do all we can to make the difficult experiences of patients and caregivers better,” Marr says.

OICR supports four new studies seeking cancer insights from existing patient samples and data

CATALYST will speed progress toward better detection, diagnosis and treatment for patients.

May 13, 2026, ONTARIO — Four new research studies funded by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) will deliver cutting-edge innovations by maximizing the impact of existing research and making the most out of patient contributions.

OICR is supporting the studies through CATALYST, a new funding stream for research that leverages available patient data and donated samples to advance new insights about detecting, diagnosing and treating cancer.

Led by top Ontario researchers, the first four CATALYST studies explore a range of groundbreaking approaches, from a blood test that could predict the chances of head and neck cancers returning, to evaluating whether a common diabetes medication can help prevent blood cancers. All four make use of available datasets, building off existing research to take the next step toward transforming clinical practice.

“It’s important we maximize every opportunity to push new discoveries past the finish line so they can make an impact on the lives of people with cancer,” says Dr. David Cescon, Scientific Director of OICR’s Clinical Translation research theme. “CATALYST was designed to do just that, while also honouring the patients who make research possible.”

Cancer patients are critical partners in cancer research, generously donating their time, insights and samples to enable new innovations.

“Patients who take part in research want to know that their participation is making a difference for the future of cancer care, and these studies are doing justice to their contributions,” says Vivian Simbul Sim, a cancer survivor and patient partner with Clinical Translation who helped review patient partnership plans for the CATALYST projects.

The first four CATALYST research studies include:

  • Dr. Neil Fleshner of University Health Network’s (UHN) Princess Margaret Cancer Centre exploring if a common diabetes medication can slow the progression of clonal hematopoiesis, a condition that dramatically increases the risk of blood cancers. Fleshner and others recently showed that a drug called metformin impedes the growth of cells that have a genetic mutation that causes clonal hematopoiesis. The new study will use genetic testing to further explore metformin’s potential to prevent blood cancers and other disease.
  • Dr. Hon Leong of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Dr. Lillian Siu of UHN’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre are studying whether a new blood test can predict which cancer patients will benefit most from immunotherapy. In a previous study, patients whose tumours had high amounts of genetic material called ‘endogenous retrotransposable elements’ (ERE) responded better to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Now, Leong and Siu will use the same cohort of patient samples to see if measuring EREs in blood can also predict treatment response.
  • Dr. Enrique Sanz Garcia and Dr. Scott Bratman of UHN’sPrincess Margaret Cancer Centre are exploring if a blood test can help identify patients whose head and neck cancer has a high risk of returning after treatment. The study will build on earlier research by applying more advanced genomic sequencing technology to look for tiny fragments of tumour DNA in blood samples and see whether the presence of those tumour fragments is associated with cancer recurrence. 
  • Dr. Vikas Gupta of UHN’s Princess Margaret Cancer and Dr. James Kennedy of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre are developing a system to predict how patients with rare blood cancer will respond to therapy. Bone marrow transplant is the only curative treatment for myelofibrosis, but it has serious side effects and is only used for high-risk patients. Having already developed a risk scoring tool for myelofibrosis, the research team will reanalyze the data to see if the score can identify which patients are suitable for transplant and at what time during treatment they will benefit most from it.

Each of these projects were rigorously evaluated through an iterative process, and they are poised to rapidly deliver on the study objectives.

“By reanalyzing samples and data that have already been collected using new and innovative methods, these studies are maximizing research efficiency and narrowing the gap between science and clinical practice,” says Dr. Lincoln Stein, OICR’s Acting Scientific Director. “Their work will make Ontario healthier and make the most of every dollar invested in our province’s world class research ecosystem.”

“In order to save and improve lives, we need to stay one step ahead of cancer,” says Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security. “Our government is proud to support the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research and commend their CATALYST program that will drive life-saving discoveries in cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatments.”


OICR is funded by the Government of Ontario. As the province’s cancer research institute, we take on the biggest challenges in cancer research and deliver real-world solutions to find cancer earlier and treat it more effectively. We are committed to helping people living with cancer, as well as future generations, live longer and healthier lives. For more information visit http://www.oicr.on.ca.

The views expressed are those of OICR and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Province of Ontario.

Imaging tech to minimize nerve damage during surgery wins FACIT award

NerView Surgical took home the $100,000 Ernsting Entrepreneurship Award at FACIT’s 2026 Falcons’ Fortunes pitch competition for its real-time nerve visualization technology.

There is a lot for patients to consider as they prepare to have cancer surgery.

Will the surgery successfully remove their tumour? How will they feel afterward? Are there long-term risks?

NerView Surgical founder and CEO Mann Parikh — who recently won top prize at FACIT’s 2026 Falcons’ Fortunes pitch competition — hopes his company’s innovative technology can help reduce surgical risks, ease patients’ minds and spare them from potentially life-changing side effects.

NerView has developed NerveSense™, a handheld imaging tool that allows surgeons to visualize nerves in real time during cancer surgeries and other ‘open’ surgeries involving large incisions. Having a clearer view of nearby nerves — often obscured or distorted by other tissues — could help surgeons avoid accidentally damaging one, which is one of the biggest risks for post-operative complications. The technology could also help improve operating room efficiency.

“We want patients to have peace of mind when they’re going into a surgery,” Parikh says. “We’re trying to bring the risk of nerve damage as close to zero as possible by supporting surgeons with an effective, streamlined tool to visualize nerves.”

Parikh started developing his nerve visualization technology as an undergraduate at McMaster University, where he studied Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization, and then launched NerView Surgical in August 2023.

He was one of six Ontario entrepreneurs selected to pitch their innovations to an expert panel of judges at this year’s Falcons’ Fortunes competition, a sold-out event held in Toronto in April. Now in its 13th year, Falcons’ Fortunes is FACIT’s premier annual event for cancer innovators.

As the winning pitch, Parikh will receive the $100,000 Ernsting Entrepreneurship Award. He will also get access to FACIT’s continuum of funds and support as he continues to advance his innovation.

We asked Parikh about NerView and how FACIT’s support will help him take the next steps.

How did the idea for NerView come about?

During my undergraduate studies, I took a health ventures course that was essentially an accelerated version of the Stanford Biodesign process. It pushed us to get out of the classroom, cold email stakeholders, speak directly with users and understand the problems they faced before trying to build a solution.

I chose to focus on surgeons to understand the challenges they encounter in the operating room. After speaking with surgeons across North America, I started to notice a recurring pattern around the difficulty of identifying nerves during open surgery. Nerves are thin, white structures that can be mistaken for fat or fascia. Without an objective way to distinguish nerve tissue from surrounding tissue, surgeons often have to rely on experience and visual judgment alone. Some described it as operating in the dark.

How did you go about designing a technology to address this need?

I read a paper about using polarized light on a microscopic level to visualize white brain matter during neurosurgery, and I thought, “Why can’t the same technology be applied to visualizing peripheral nerves?” I don’t have a technical background, so I’m largely self-taught. I built the first prototypes by myself in my dorm room. After seeing some early validation on a chicken we bought from the grocery store, I brought on an engineer, and we started building higher fidelity prototypes.

What makes your technology a useful tool for cancer and other surgeries?

Identifying nerves during surgery is critical for preserving function and avoiding complications. NerveSense gives surgeons direct visual identification of nerves in real time, right in the surgical field. That clarity is critical in cancer surgeries, where tumours and treatments can distort normal anatomy and make nerves harder to identify. The system is label-free and contact-free, giving surgeons continuous visual feedback as they dissect. That’s especially valuable in head and neck, thyroid, and other oncologic procedures where preserving nerve function directly affects voice, swallowing, facial movement, and quality of life.

What stage is the technology at right now?

We’ve had some promising early validation results in various pre-clinical models in terms of sensitivity and specificity, and we are currently working on our sixth-generation prototype. We tested our earlier prototypes with mouse models and cadavers, and we’re hoping to do some early human testing soon.

How will this award from FACIT help you achieve your goals?

The opportunity to access this kind of capital is critical as an early-stage medtech start-up. We will most likely put the investment toward important pilot studies and validation work. It will also help us bring in more support on the software side as we continue developing our prototypes and prepare for manufacturing. We are also fortunate to get access to FACIT’s network and commercialization expertise as we continue to grow NerView.

What impact do you hope your work will have for patients?

I’ve been to a lot of conferences over the past few years. At almost every single conference, a patient comes up to me and tells me they had some kind of nerve injury from surgery. That really puts the potential impact into perspective. Our work is ultimately about providing patients with peace of mind, providing surgeons with an effective tool to make informed decisions during surgery, and avoiding unnecessary post-operative side effects.

Ontario collaboration aims to predict and prevent cancer recurrence before it happens

OICR is leading a province-wide initiative to advance molecular residual disease (MRD) research and bring tests to patients.

“Did you get it all?”

It’s often the first question a patient asks after cancer treatment, and one of the toughest questions for their doctors to answer.

While first-line cancer treatments like surgery, radiation and standard drug-based therapies aim to eradicate tumours, they can sometimes leave behind a small number of cancer cells. These cells are called molecular residual disease (MRD) — sometimes referred to as minimal residual disease — and they form the seeds of future recurrence.

MRD is linked with a high risk of cancer recurrence, but it is by definition impossible to detect with traditional scans, and present without any symptoms while a patient is in clinical remission.

But scientists have recently developed blood tests that can detect MRD by finding tiny fragments of tumour DNA circulating in the bloodstream. OICR has been at the forefront of this research, and now the institute is spearheading an Ontario-wide network to help bring these cutting-edge tests to the clinic, where they can help predict cancer recurrence before it happens.

Dr. David Cescon

Led by OICR’s Clinical Translation team, the network officially launched with a meeting in February. The meeting brought together scientists, clinicians and stakeholders from Hamilton, Ottawa, London, Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Toronto, who discussed the latest innovations in MRD testing and what needs to happen for these tests to make it into the Ontario healthcare system.

Dr. David Cescon is Scientific Director of Clinical Translation at OICR and a leading MRD researcher based at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (University Health Network). We asked him about MRD testing and how this new network can unlock its potential.

What’s the current state of MRD research, and how close are MRD tests to influencing treatment for Ontarians with cancer?

Over the last few years, scientists have established that we can accurately detect MRD in blood samples. We have also shown that a positive MRD test after initial treatment means an extremely high risk of cancer recurring. However, we still haven’t proven that acting on MRD test results by changing a patient’s treatment plan actually improves their outcomes. That’s the next  critical step toward implementing MRD tests in the healthcare system.

If MRD testing can be rolled out on a large scale, what could it mean for cancer patients and their treatment?

At the moment, there is often no way of knowing if first-line cancer treatments are working. Patients identified as high-risk at diagnosis are sometimes given additional treatment to help prevent recurrence, but there’s nothing to measure after treatment to know if there are still traces of cancer left. MRD testing could allow for a much more personalized and precise approach to treatment, sparing patients from unnecessary therapies and providing a second chance to cure a patient’s cancer even if initial treatments don’t work as expected.

How will the MRD Network help realize that potential?

The types of studies needed to bring MRD testing to the clinic require collaboration across institutions and disciplines to identify key questions and harmonize approaches. With a diverse population united under a single healthcare system, Ontario is ideally suited to this type of clinical investigation. The MRD Network will provide the links, infrastructure and support needed to take the next steps toward clinical implementation and allow Ontario to lead the field globally.

Why is OICR well-placed to lead this network?

OICR has already made a major impact in the MRD field, including by supporting groundbreaking research through the CATA, pre-CATA and CATALYST funding programs. As the province’s cancer research institute, OICR also works closely with Ontario Health to identify health system priorities and deliver much-needed technologies to Ontarians. I’m excited that we can lead this important effort through Clinical Translation.

To find out more about the MRD Network please contact Clinical Translation Project Manager Sonja Givetash at sgivetash@oicr.on.ca

Promising research could offer less toxic treatment to stop deadly childhood brain cancer

OICR Drug Discovery is teaming up with Dr. Sheila Singh to develop a potentially game-changing new treatment option for the most aggressive form of medulloblastoma.

A newly launched OICR study is hoping to develop a first-in-class drug against group 3 medulloblastoma, which could help more children survive the disease with fewer long-term side effects.

Medulloblastoma is the most common childhood brain tumour, and group 3 tumours are its most aggressive subtype.

The current standard of care treatment is a gruelling combination of high-risk surgery and intensive chemotherapy. The 70 per cent of children who survive often suffer from lifelong cognitive and developmental side effects. The other 30 per cent will not survive because their cancer relapses and becomes resistant to treatment.

“It’s a very difficult disease with a high risk of recurrence,” says Dr. David Uehling, Interim Scientific Lead of Therapeutic Innovation and Drug Discovery and one of the co-principal investigators for the study. “We need better, more durable therapeutic options and we need them to be safer, so they don’t affect children for the rest of their lives.”

The study builds on research by Dr. Sheila Singh of McMaster University, who recently discovered that medulloblastoma cells produce a specific type of fat and use it as fuel. Singh and colleagues found that blocking that fat production can stop tumour cells from recurring without damaging healthy brain cells.

Dr. Sheila Singh

It’s a promising target for new therapeutics — but to be effective, a new drug will need to cross the blood-brain barrier. So Singh is teaming up with Uehling and OICR Drug Discovery researchers to develop blood-brain penetrating compounds to target medulloblastoma fat production.

“OICR is a great partner in this research because their team has diverse talents and multiple platforms to tackle difficult scientific problems like this,” says Singh, Professor in the Department of Surgery and Biochemistry at McMaster, Head of the School of Cancer and Pharmaceutical Sciences at King’s College London (UK), and the study’s other co-principal investigator.

With an award from OICR’s Cancer Therapeutics Innovation Pipeline (CTIP) and the science already progressing, the study team could be on their way to a groundbreaking innovation that makes the future brighter for children with this common brain tumour.

“There’s an exciting potential here to offer more a more targeted treatment that prevents medulloblastoma recurrence, overcomes resistance, and spares children from potentially devastating side effects,” Singh says.