Results of the March 2018 Innovation Grants competition

We are pleased to announce the results of the most recent Innovation Grants competition to support unique and creative research ideas that will impact cancer. Below is a listing of newly awarded Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) Innovation Grants.

Out of a total of 236 eligible grant applications, 27 Canadian Cancer Society Innovation Grants have been approved – an 11% success rate. Funds committed to this competition are made possible by the significant efforts of CCS donors and volunteers across the country and by funding partners. CCS and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Institute of Cancer Research have partnered to support 19 Innovation grants. In addition, CCS and Brain Canada, with the support of CIBC, have partnered to support 1 Innovation grant focused on brain cancer research in this competition. This partnership leverages donations made to CCS with funds from Brain Canada, matched by CIBC, through the Canada Brain Research Fund, a public-private partnership established by the Government of Canada. These projects total almost $5.4 million in funding over the full term of these grants.

Summaries of awarded grants

Please note:

Amounts listed below represent the total dollars awarded by grant year and may include funds for salaries, supplies, and/or equipment.
The start date for these grants is August 1, 2018.
Only the Principal Investigator is named in this listing. Co-Principal Investigators, Co-Applicants and/or Additional Authors may also be associated with these grants.

Note Carefully:

Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the listing below, this list does not constitute an "official" notification.

Successful applicants will be informed, in writing, with an official Notification of Award giving the details pertaining to their grant.

Applicant Institution Title	Award
Berman, Jason IWK Grace Health Centre An in vivo model to study gold nanoparticle aided radiotherapy using a photon beam generated from a low Z target	2018/2019 : $99,500 2019/2020 : $99,500
Bridle, Byram University of Guelph Combining oncolytic virotherapy and epigenetic modifiers to treat acute leukemias *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $100,000 2019/2020 : $100,000
Cafazzo, Joseph The Toronto Hospital (General Division) UHN A virtual prostate cancer clinic for enhanced survivorship care *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $99,518 2019/2020 : $99,798
Carreno, Sebastien Université de Montréal Identification of anti metastatic compounds that blocks ezrin activity	2018/2019 : $100,000 2019/2020 : $100,000
Diallo, Jean Simon Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Novel oncolytic virus vaccines exploiting dendritic cell targeting *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $100,000 2019/2020 : $100,000
Diamandis, Phedias Princess Margaret Cancer Centre UHN Glioblastoma pharmacoproteomics: systematic proteomics based profiling and chemical interrogation of glioblastoma *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $100,000 2019/2020 : $100,000
Garzia, Livia The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC) Evaluation of electrical activity as a tumour suppressor in medulloblastoma *co-funded with Brain Canada and CIBC, with the support of Health Canada	2018/2019 : $99,674 2019/2020 : $99,674
Gorrini, Chiara Princess Margaret Cancer Centre UHN Targeting aryl hydrocarbon receptor as novel vulnerability in triple negative breast cancers *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $65,000 2019/2020 : $92,000 2020/2021 : $43,000
Grandy, Scott Dalhousie University EXercise to prevent AnthraCycline based Cardio Toxicity (EXACT 2.0) in individuals with breast cancer *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $100,000 2019/2020 : $100,000
Greer, Peter Queen's University Development of a biosensor for high throughput screening of novel compounds targeting ezrin for breast cancer therapy *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $100,000 2019/2020 : $100,000
Ilkow, Carolina Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Oncolytic immunotherapy driven synthetic lethality *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $100,000 2019/2020 : $100,000
Kislinger, Thomas Princess Margaret Cancer Centre UHN Identifying the molecular landscape of the triple negative breast cancer cell surface proteome – an avenue for new therapies *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $100,000 2019/2020 : $100,000
Kubes, Paul University of Calgary The cavity macrophage, a friend or foe in cancer metastasis progression *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $64,270 2019/2020 : $68,270 2020/2021 : $68,270
Kuruvilla, John Princess Margaret Cancer Centre UHN Engineering novel 3D hydrogels to better characterize molecular cues and cellular dynamics in the lymphoma microenvironment	2018/2019 : $99,320 2019/2020 : $99,500
Laplante, Mathieu l‘Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie (IUCPQ) Defining a new link between oncogenic growth factor signalling, mitotic defects and chromosome instability	2018/2019 : $100,000 2019/2020 : $100,000
Lu, Qing Bin University of Waterloo Development of novel combination therapy of cisplatin with a molecular promoter to treat multiple cancers *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $99,990 2019/2020 : $100,000
Marra, Marco BC Cancer Agency (Vancouver) Dissecting tumour heterogeneity using single cell genomics, epigenomics and transcriptomics *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $99,575 2019/2020 : $99,575
Moraes, Christopher McGill University Reconceptualizing cancer metastasis as a balance of intra tumoural mechanical forces *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $62,000 2019/2020 : $68,000 2020/2021 : $70,000
Perreault, Claude Université de Montréal The proteogenomic landscape of tumour specific antigens present in triple negative breast cancers *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $67,000 2019/2020 : $67,000 2020/2021 : $66,000
Prado, Carla University of Alberta Maximizing metastatic breast cancer patient outcomes using diet and exercise *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $72,684 2019/2020 : $100,000 2020/2021 : $27,316
Pratt, Christine University of Ottawa BRCA2 deficient fibroblasts in tumour promotion *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $99,610 2019/2020 : $100,000
Shmulevitz, Maya University of Alberta Multi mechanistic oncolytic reovirus variants for clearing cancer *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $99,800 2019/2020 : $99,800
Spreafico, Anna Princess Margaret Cancer Centre UHN Oral and intestinal microbiome profiling in intermediate risk locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients receiving chemoradiotherapy and immunoradiotherapy *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $59,860 2019/2020 : $64,560 2020/2021 : $75,000
Stagg, John Université de Montréal Immune stimulatory antibody drug conjugates for treatment of breast cancer *co-funded with CIHR-ICR	2018/2019 : $66,000 2019/2020 : $67,000 2020/2021 : $67,000
Stirling, Peter BC Cancer Agency (Vancouver) Promoting hypermutated genomes as a therapeutic strategy	2018/2019 : $100,000 2019/2020 : $100,000
Turcotte, Eric Université de Sherbrooke Early detection and in vivo estrogen receptor status determination of uterine and ovarian cancers using the novel PET tracer 4FMFES: a phase I/II study	2018/2019 : $40,220 2019/2020 : $76,485 2020/2021 : $81,067
Yamanaka, Yojiro McGill University Generation of platinum resistant ovarian cancer mouse model to study susceptible cell populations in the fallopian tube epithelium	2018/2019 : $100,000 2019/2020 : $100,000

Last modified on: December 2, 2019