Investigators at the GCI Awarded $467,880 in the NSERC Discovery Research Program

Principal investigators at the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute (GCI) have secured a combined total of $467,880 in funding for 2024 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Research Program. The support obtained through this competitive grant program will finance two research projects as well as essential research infrastructure at the GCI.

Prof. Katherine Cockburn and a number of co-applicants from the GCI obtained $97 880 in support through the Research tools and Instruments grants program. The funding for the proposal “A histology platform to visualize cells, tissues and organs across living systems” will serve to renew essential infrastructure at the GCI Histology Innovation Platform. The platform services over 120 labs across multiple institutions and allows researchers to answer questions about cellular structure and tissue organization in disease and cancer.

A project entitled “Regulation of apical basal polarity and epithelial architecture” from prof. Luke McCaffery was awarded a $40 000 grant for 5 terms through the Individual Discovery Grants program. This investment will support the McCaffery lab’s research on how tissue organization is disrupted when breast cancer develops and invades surrounding areas. Understanding this process has the potential to improve breast cancer identification, prevention and treatment.

Prof. Jose Teodoro received $34 000 grant for 5 terms through the Individual Discovery Grants program for the project “Modulation of the Anaphase Promoting Complex by DNA Viruses”. Some viruses can effectively kill tumor cells while sparing healthy cells – researchers at the Teodoro lab aim to leverage these viruses to treat tumors. This funding supports their ongoing work to uncover how viruses kill cells to find more effective ways to destroy cancer cells.

The high level of success in securing competitive funding from the NSERC Discovery Research Program is a testament to the scientific excellence of GCI researchers. The groundbreaking projects and cutting-edge research infrastructure supported will further our mission to find the knowledge to cure cancer. See the full Discovery Research Program competition results here.