close

Join our Mailing List

Receive the latest news, event invites, funding opportunities and more from the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

The launch of ICGCmed

The International Cancer Genome Consortium for Medicine (ICGCmed) is a new global initiative that will combine genomic data with clinical and health information.

ICGCmed - Image from white paper

In 2008 the International Cancer Genome (ICGC) launched with an ambitious goal: to map 25,000 cancer genomes from 50 different tumour types and make the data available to qualified researchers around the world. Today the ICGC is well on its way to this target, with over 15,000 genomes already available to researchers, and many more on the way.

About two years ago, it became clear to ICGC members that the future of cancer treatment would require far more than just the descriptive catalogue of genomic alterations that ICGC was building. While ICGC’s work was the essential foundation for further research, the members identified that the needed to explore tumour alterations more extensively for more rare events and link the genomic data to clinical information.

(more…)

A new method to grow stem cells for cancer patients

Stem Cell

Researchers uncovered the role of a protein called Musashi-2 in regulating the function and development of stem cells. The improved understanding of the role of Musashi-2 will allow researchers to employ new strategies to control the growth of blood stem cells which are used to treat many life-threatening diseases, but are usually in short supply. The research was published in April in the journal Nature.

(more…)

It’s time to start talking about clinical trials

Clinical trials have helped millions. Yet most patients still aren’t aware that they may be eligible for a clinical trial and that enrolling in a trial could help them.

CCCTN News banner

The first step in addressing this problem is to get a conversation started between patients and their health care providers, which is why this month the Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network (3CTN) launched the Ask Me Campaign in hospitals across Canada.

The Ask Me Campaign takes a low-tech, one-on-one approach to the problem. Using posters in clinics and buttons for health care providers to wear when seeing patients, the program has a simple goal: to let people know that asking questions about trials is OK.

(more…)

The Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network launches Ask Me Campaign to raise awareness of cancer clinical trials

TORONTO, ON (May 4, 2016) — Dr. Janet Dancey, Scientific Director of the Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network (3CTN) announced today the roll out of a new national campaign to raise awareness of cancer clinical trials in Canada ahead of International Clinical Trials Day on May 20.

The Ask Me Campaign will be introduced at more than 60 cancer centres across Canada and include hospital staff wearing “Ask Me” buttons, as well as posters and brochures placed in hospitals. These will be used to encourage patients to engage their healthcare team in a conversation about clinical trials and see if a trial may be a treatment option for them. The ultimate goal is to increase awareness about, and enrolment in, cancer clinical trials in Canada.

(more…)

Tracking Ebola with portable sequencers

Could this technology be the key to monitoring the spread of ZikJared Simpson with MinION sequencer

As West Africa was dealing with a massive outbreak of the Ebola virus, a group of researchers answered the call for assistance with a palm-sized device. Dr. Nick Loman and Mr. Josh Quick from the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., together with the help of OICR Investigator Dr. Jared Simpson, developed a ‘genome sequencing lab in a suitcase’ based around the tiny MinION sequencer. It was deployed to Conakry, Guinea in April of 2015 to test Ebola samples in the field.

(more…)

OICR joins the Collaborative Cancer Cloud

A connected cloud - decorative.

On March 31, Intel Corporation and the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Sciences University announced two new leading cancer centres have joined the Collaborative Cancer Cloud (CCC): Dana Farber Cancer Institute and OICR.

The CCC is a distributed precision medicine analytics platform that allows institutions to securely share and analyze large amounts of data while also preserving patient privacy and security. The CCC will make it easier, faster and more affordable to determine how genes interact to cause disease in individual patients.

(more…)

$2 million in new funding from Canadian Institutes of Health Research will help Ontario team study metabolic syndromes

Dr. Philip Awadalla

Dr. Philip Awadalla

Toronto (May 2, 2016) – Dr. Philip Awadalla, Senior Investigator at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and Principal Investigator for the Ontario Health Study has been awarded $2 million by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).  The award will fund the study of the role of both genes and the environment on the development of metabolic syndrome, a cluster of medical conditions that are common in aging adults, including obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, high blood sugar and insulin resistance.

These conditions are considered to be both risk factors and causal factors in the development of cancer and chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke and diabetes. A better understanding of how to prevent and treat the conditions of metabolic syndrome could also help in the design of new strategies to prevent these diseases before they develop.

(more…)

Dr. Gang Zheng named to AIMBE College of Fellows for nanotechnology research

Gang-ZhengThe American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) elected Dr. Gang Zheng to its College of Fellows for “outstanding contributions on activatable photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy and discovery of porphysome nanotechnology in cancer imaging and therapy.”

Joining the College of Fellows puts Zheng among some elite company.

Zheng is Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, and Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Senior Scientist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Core Lead, Techna Institute for the Advancement of Technology for Health (Techna), University Health Network.

(more…)

OICR invests in early-stage Ontario oncology drug development

OICR is supporting new early stage drug discovery research in Ontario, with a $1.2 million investment from OICR’s Drug Discovery Program into five promising oncology research projects selected through a province-wide call for proposals.

This was a new approach to selecting projects for the Drug Discovery team’s research pipeline and one that aligns well with the strategic direction of the team and the Institute, says Dr. Rima Al-awar, Director of OICR’s Drug Discovery Program.

“Traditionally we have relied on several means to generate interest from the community, including informal outreach to other institutions and word of mouth says Al-awar. She points to the recent success of BCL6, a drug target that OICR’s Drug Discovery team developed from early stage research by Dr. Gil Privé at University Health Network. Collaborating with Privé, the team brought the BCL6 project to the point where it attracted major investment from industry.

(more…)

Congratulations! Dr. Lincoln Stein appointed Fellow of ISCB for leadership role in consortia projects

Dr. Lincoln SteinOICR’s Dr. Lincoln Stein, Director of the Informatics and Bio-computing Program, has been named a Fellow of the International Society of Computational Biology (ICSB). The honour is being bestowed on Stein for his role in collaborative projects that established the basis for much of the computational biology research done today. Stein is well know for his work on the Human Genome Project, HapMap, Reactome, BioPerl and Wormbase, and for co-leading bioinformatics for ModEncode, and developing and leading GMOD.

Stein’s group at OICR undertakes the management and analysis of large integrative cancer research projects including the International Cancer Genome Consortium and its Data Coordination Centre. His research focuses on using network and pathway-based analysis to identify common mechanisms in multiple cancer types and to devise prognostic and predictive signatures to aid in patient management. His group also works on problems relating to the genome structure and function of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a model organism that has yielded many insights into cancer.

The ISCB gives Fellow status to members that have distinguished themselves through exceptional contributions to the fields of computational biology and bioinformatics. Stein and twelve others will be officially introduced as Fellows in July at ISMB 2016 in Orlando, Florida.