Canadian News

Government of Canada Invests $23 Million In Pediatric Cancer Research

Cancer is the leading cause of death from disease in children and adolescents in Canada. Approximately 10,000 children are living with cancer in this country and 1,500 more are diagnosed every year.

This week, the Government of Canada announced $23 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to establish the Canadian Pediatric Cancer Consortium (CPCC). This represents the largest investment in childhood cancer research in Canada to date.  CIHR has invested more than $1 billion in cancer research over the past five years (2016-17 to 2020-21).

The Consortium will be led by Dr. David Malkin and Dr. Jim Whitlock at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto and Pediatric Cancer Advocate Adrienne Co-Dyre in London, Ontario.

The vision is for every child in Canada with cancer to have access to the latest scientific advances, diagnostic tools, therapies, and supportive care to help support better outcomes and a better quality of life. The Consortium will do this by strengthening research, health supports, and clinical expertise in pediatric cancers through the creation of a national network of clinicians, researchers, community of practice caregivers, patients and their families.

By the end of the two-year funding period, the Consortium will have a framework on which to build and enable Canadian-led early phase clinical trials, faster access for patients to innovative technologies, therapies and care, a collaborative approach to education and training, and a robust network of national and international partnerships.

CIHR is committed to working with other health research funders, such as the Canadian Cancer Society, the Cancer Research Society, Genome Canada, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, and the Terry Fox Research Institute, to support investments into pediatric cancer.

Photo by Pixabay

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