$25 million donation to Queen’s will fund world-class cancer research facilities – The Queen’s Journal

Cara and Murray Sinclair, Comm ’84, are changing cancer patient’s lives.

Principal Patrick Deane announced the Sinclair’s $25 million donation on June 10, which will fund a new imaging and biomanufacturing facility at Queen’s, bringing world-class research and treatment to the heart of Kingston.

In recognition of their generosity, the Queen’s Cancer Research Institute has been renamed the Cara & Murray Sinclair Cancer Research Institute (SCRI).

This donation will advance immunotherapy research, uncover new drugs, and create personalized immunotherapy treatments for patients with various types of cancer.

Being a research-based University, the Sinclair’s realize the significant impact a donation to Queen’s could have on the development of cancer therapies, not just locally but across Canada.

“We’ve lived the ups and downs of being close to people with cancer, particularly Murray’s brother, and we just saw what was available and what was not available here in Canada,” Cara Sinclair said in an interview with The Journal.

Murray Sinclair’s brother battled glioblastoma, a severe form of brain cancer and the same illness Canadian musician and Kingston resident, Gordon Downie, passed away from in 2017. After enduring 36 months of treatment, which involved flying 10 hours to receive life-extending cancer drugs, Sinclair’s brother passed away.

“For [my brother] to get immunotherapy involved going from Vancouver, where we live, to London, England to spend the night, get one injection, and turn around and fly home the next day. When you’re sick and dying of cancer, the 20 hour round trip for a five-minute injection is impractical,” Murray Sinclair said.

“If the treatment was available here, it would affect a lot more people,” Cara Sinclair added.

Cathy Tidman, a cancer survivor, believes the Sinclair’s donation will be a game changer for patients across the country. Having undergone six rounds of chemo and an auto stem cell transplant, Tidman had to travel from Kingston to Ottawa, Mississauga, and eventually Cleveland, Ohio to receive treatment.

Because of this donation, nearby cancer patients and their families will no longer have to travel long distances to receive immunotherapy treatment.

Additionally, the donation will fund a new cancer training program for graduate students where they’ll receive hands on experience in SCRI’s three key disciplines—cancer biology and genetics, clinical trials, and cancer care and epidemiology.

“This gift will allow the institute to really move to the next level by securing these new cutting-edge laboratory facilities, not only the CAR-T manufacturing facility, but also having access to funds to support the next generation,” Chris Booth, director of the cancer care and epidemiology division at SCRI, said in an interview with The Journal.

The donation supports future trailblazers in cancer research, Booth added.

For Eman Radwan, a PhD student, the Sinclair’s gift is life-altering. She hopes the $25 million donation highlights the profound impact cancer has had on people’s lives, including her own. Radwan’s mom was diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago.

“This donation will impact patients, not only professors and students, so it affects everyone, even the families of relatives of patients who have cancer,” Radwan said in an interview with The Journal.

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