Advanced facilities at Queen’s University will transform cancer research

A $25m contribution is set to significantly advance cancer research at Queen’s University.

With support from Murray and Cara Sinclair, the university will build research capacity in an area of existing strength, establish advanced facilities, create training opportunities, and work to improve cancer care and treatments locally, nationally, and around the world.

In recognition of their contribution, the Queen’s Cancer Research Institute (QCRI) will be renamed the Cara & Murray Sinclair Cancer Research Institute (SCRI).

Patrick Deane, Principal and Vice-Chancellor at Queen’s, commented: “The funding will enhance the Cara & Murray Sinclair Cancer Research Institute’s ability to discover new potential treatments, test new drugs, and evaluate the impact that these treatments have on patients.

“It will also help develop highly skilled trainees who will be the next leaders in cancer research.”

Uniting experts to advance cancer research

The SCRI is the only Canadian centre uniting experts from three key disciplines—cancer biology and genetics, clinical trials, and cancer care and epidemiology—to share knowledge, advance treatments, and evaluate patient impact.

The SCRI’s clinical trials division is already an international leader in cancer research and drug development, and the institution is home to world-class researchers.

These include Dr Paul Kubes, the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Immunophysiology and Immunotherapy, and several other Canada Research Chairs.

New state-of-the-art facilities

The funding will support two new science facilities equipped to help researchers advance new discoveries and therapies for patients.

A state-of-the-art imaging facility will give researchers a real-time view of the immune system interacting with cancer cells. It will advance our understanding of how cancer cells defend against the immune system and resist treatments, allowing researchers to advance new drugs and therapies.

A second specialised biomanufacturing facility will be developed to enable personalised cellular immunotherapy treatments that harness the power of the body’s own immune system to target and destroy cancer cells.

These therapies are among the most promising new approaches to cancer treatment, and this facility aims to make them faster available to Canadian patients for clinical trials.

Training the experts of the future

A new training programme will be established to enable students and early-career researchers to gain hands-on experience and mentorship from senior cancer researchers in a multidisciplinary environment, so they can emerge as highly skilled leaders in the field.

“From basic science research and testing new drugs in trials to assessing the value of treatments, this gift supports the institute’s approach to taking cancer research from labs all the way to patients, and back,” says Andrew Craig, SCRI Director.

“This gift has the potential to dramatically improve the way that we treat cancer.”