Team Grants: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention

Backgrounder

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research and its partners, the Terry Fox Research Institute, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, the Cancer Research Society and BioCanRx, are investing more than $41 million to support 19 research teams that will work over the next five years to develop and share new approaches that advance cancer prevention, reduce cancer risk, and improve early detection for some of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in Canada and the world.

Lead Researcher Project Title Funding
Sheela Abraham
Queen's University
Kingston, ON
Extracellular Vesicle-Derived Biomarkers for Early Leukaemia Detection and Monitoring Exercise-Based Risk Reduction $1,988,650
Mark Basik
Jewish General Hospital
Montreal, QC
Advancing Risk Stratification in Young Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer $1,999,957
Steven Chan
University Health Network (Princess Margaret Cancer Centre)
Toronto, ON
GLP-1 Receptor Agonists as a Preventive Strategy for Clonal Hematopoiesis-Driven Hematologic Cancers $1,999,999
Maziar Divangahi
Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
Montreal, QC
Unlocking the Power of Trained Immunity in Cancer $2,000,000
Keith Fowke
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB
Inflammation, Sex hormones, and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Expression:  Assessing their Relationship in Menopausal Women and Evaluating Interventions to Prevent Cervical Cancer in Older Women $2,000,000
Vincent Fradet
Université Laval
Quebec, QC
Harnessing the gut microbiome-prostate cancer crosstalk to discover predictive biomarkers of risk and potential preventive strategies $2,000,000
Aaron Goodarzi
University of Calgary
Calgary, AB
Radioactive Air Pollutant Induced Disease (RAPID) Prevention - Understanding and preventing health risks from particle radiation-emitting radioisotope inhalation, as modified by genetic ancestry and mixed exposure with combustion particulates. $2,000,000
Vikki Ho
Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal
Montreal, QC
Environmental eXposure Profiling for Signatures of Early ColoRectal Cancer (EXPOSE-CRC) $2,000,000
Rayjean Hung
Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute
Toronto, ON
Prevention of Adiposity-related Cancers via Biology and Evidence Triangulation (PROBE) $1,999,985
David Huntsman
BC Cancer
Vancouver, BC
Biologic basis of contraceptive choice associated ovarian cancer risk: from populations through cells to action $2,000,000
Alberto Martin
University of Toronto
Toronto, ON
Therapeutic interventions to prevent colon cancer caused by pks+ E.coli $2,000,000
Christopher Maxwell
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC
Targeting breast involution for the primary prevention of breast cancer among women who inherit a pathogenic variant in breast cancer 1 (BRCA1) $1,996,790
Luke McCaffrey
McGill University
Montreal, QC
Decoding Breast Cancer: How Intrinsic Factors and Distinct Tissue Microenvironments Collaboratively Drive Breast Cancer Initiation $2,000,000
Rachel Murphy
BC Cancer
Vancouver, BC
Ultra-processed foods and cancer: advancing evidence on the biological mechanisms linking the gut microbiome, ultra-processed foods and colorectal cancer (UPFront) $2,000,000
Faiyaz Notta
University Health Network (Princess Margaret Cancer Centre)
Toronto, ON
The ELDER Study: Timing cancer by tracking how tissue-specific aging shapes malignancy $5,300,000
Gina Ogilvie
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC
Subsequent to LEEP Evaluation of Disease Recurrence – Systemic and Comprehensive Pan-optic Exploration (SLEEPER-SCOPE 360) – A Comprehensive Exploration of post-LEEP HPV Infection and Cervical Dysplasia Recurrence and its Associated Factors $2,000,000
Michael Pollak
Jewish General Hospital
Montreal, QC
Incretin-mimetic drugs for cancer prevention: Mechanisms and clinical potential $1,975,000
Isabella Tai
BC Cancer
Vancouver, BC
Bridging gastric cancer biology to prevent progression of pre-cancerous gastric lesions $2,000,000
Gustavo Ybazeta
Health Sciences North Research Institute
Sudbury, ON
CANCER-WISE: Cancer Associated Nucleic acids in Community Environments-Risk Detection through Wastewater-based Integrated Surveillance and Epidemiology $2,000,000

Page details

2026-02-26