From the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation website:
Thanks to numerous fundraising activities and the many partnerships formed in the last three years, the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation is able to announce that it will grant $8.1 million to several Quebec-based research teams. Foundation spokesperson Mitsou Gélinas and Quebec’s minister of Health and Social Services, Dr. Yves Bolduc, attended the announcement of the record investment, the Foundation’s largest contribution to the scientific community in its history. In all, the organization has distributed more than $23 million in research grants over the past 17 years, making a substantial contribution to the fight against breast cancer.
The Foundation selected Quebec’s most promising and innovative research products through a new round of its funding competition. The grants range from $100,000 to $300,000 annually, depending on the area of research, and were awarded for a period of three years. In all, 14 teams of researchers will receive the grants. Among other things, their research examines better treatment for patients, improved understanding of behaviours related to screening, and the identification of genetic changes that contribute to susceptibility to breast cancer. The Foundation is also funding three supplementary research projects in collaboration with the Cancer Research Society, for an additional investment of $240,000.
As in 2008, when the Foundation granted more than $4 million to nine research teams, the funding competition relied on the expertise of the Cancer Research Society for a rigorous, objective scientific review process.
The McGill-affiliated researchers include:
Dr. William Muller from the Goodman Centre for his research on integrin mediated signal transduction in transgenic mouse models of human breast cancer.
Dr. Morag Park from the Goodman Centre for her research on the development of prognostic predictors integrating tumor-intrinsic and microenvironmental information and translation into clinical tests for ER-negative breast cancer.
Dr. Volker Blank from the Lady Davis Institute for his research on bZIP transcription factor mediated regulation of breast cancer cells.
Dr. Michael Witcher from the Lady Davis Institute for his research on the regulation of CTCF poly(ADP)ribosylation in breast cancer.
Dr. Antonis E. Koromilas from the Lady Davis Institute for his research on mechanisms of anti-tumor activity of Stat1 in ErbB2-positive breast cancers and therapeutic implications.
Dr. Moulay A. Alaoui-Jamali from the Lady Davis Institute for his research on the optimization of novel therapeutic approach targeting breast cancer cell plasticity and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition for metastatic breast cancer.
Dr. William Foulkes from the Lady Davis Institute for his research on a multimodal genomic analysis strategy to identify novel breast cancer genes (project co-funded by the Cancer Research Society and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation).
Dr. Svetlana Komarova from McGill for her research on tumor-induced osteoclast resistance to bisphosphonate action (project co-funded by the Cancer Research Society and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation).
Montreal Gazette
La Presse (in French)