GLOBAL OVARIAN CANCER RESEARCH CONSORTIUM AWARDS $1 MILLION USD AI ACCELERATOR GRANT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MICROSOFT'S AI FOR GOOD LAB

The recipient of the inaugural global research grant will harness AI to uncover insights that could result in more personalized care for women diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

TORONTO, Feb. 19, 2026 /CNW/ - The Global Ovarian Cancer Research Consortium, of which Ovarian Cancer Canada is a founding member, has awarded its inaugural $1 million USD AI Accelerator Grant to an international team of researchers from Canada, United States, Australia, and United Kingdom. With this grant and an additional $1 million in compute support from Microsoft's AI for Good Lab, this group of experts will harness the power of AI to analyze one of the largest international collections of ovarian cancer data ever assembled to uncover new insights that could inform patient survival.

This cause has been too long overlooked. Enough is enough - it is time to take a stand against ovarian cancer.

"The complexity of ovarian cancer makes it difficult to predict how one patient's cancer will respond to today's treatments and improve their survival outcomes," shares Tania Vrionis, CEO of Ovarian Cancer Canada, the only national health charity focused on supporting Canadians facing gynecologic cancers. "This $1 million global collaborative investment and support from Microsoft's AI for Good Lab, harnesses the power of AI to uncover insights into the disease that could help doctors provide more personalized care. This project is exactly why we are a founding partner of the Global Ovarian Cancer Research Consortium; after decades without real change, women facing ovarian cancer deserve for the world's experts to come together and tackle the challenges that have stalled progress until now." 

The global, multi-disciplinary research team includes experts on artificial intelligence, medical oncology, epidemiology, immunology, and molecular oncology, along with two patient partners who will contribute their first-hand experience of an ovarian cancer diagnosis. Together, the team will use AI to analyze one of the largest international collections of ovarian cancer data to uncover patterns linked to patients' treatment response and overall survival; these are patterns that the tools available today cannot detect. The research team hopes that their AI models will create new tools that will enable doctors to provide patients with more personalized care, reducing unnecessary side effects, and improving survival rates.

"For me, this research project reads like it's been built by patients, for patients," reflects Donna Pepin, a Canadian woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer herself. "As an Ovarian Cancer Canada Patient Partner in Research, I am proud to have supported a research study that holds great promise. This project could transform the clinical management of high grade serous ovarian cancer and most importantly, save the lives of those who are suffering with this disease."

"New discoveries are urgently needed to unlock lifesaving treatments for ovarian cancer," said Juan Lavista Ferres, Microsoft Chief Data Scientist and Director of Microsoft's AI for Good Lab. "This work demonstrates what becomes possible when deep scientific expertise is paired with cutting edge AI. By equipping leading researchers around the world with advanced AI tools and computing resources, we can accelerate their critical efforts that have the potential to save lives."

The research team behind the project includes:

• Dr. Ali Bashashati, Director of Artificial Intelligence Research, Ovarian Cancer Research Program (OVCARE), University of British Columbia, Canada;
• Dr. (Celeste) Leigh Pearce, Lead Researcher, Professor, Rogel Cancer Center and Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan, United States;
• Professor Susan Ramus, Professor in the School of Clinical Medicine and Lead, Molecular Oncology Group, University of New South Wales, Australia; and
• Professor James Brenton, Professor of Ovarian Cancer Medicine, Senior Group Leader and Honorary Consultant in Medical Oncology, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

"Researchers in British Columbia have been leading the way on ovarian cancer care - including disease prevention, diagnosis and personalized treatment - for more than a decade. I am proud to be part of expanding our province and nation's leadership in artificial intelligence and ovarian cancer care on a global stage," shares Dr. Ali Bashashati, the Canadian lead researcher on the project and Director of Artificial Intelligence for the Ovarian Cancer Research Program at the University of British Columbia.

The AI Accelerator Grant was first announced in 2025 as the inaugural initiative of the Global Ovarian Cancer Research Consortium, marking a new, collaborative approach to accelerating ovarian cancer research using artificial intelligence. Formed in 2024, the Consortium unites four leading ovarian cancer research organizations from around the world -- Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (United States), Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation (Australia), Ovarian Cancer Canada, and Ovarian Cancer Action (United Kingdom). Together, the partners are combining resources, data, and determination to accelerate progress in a disease where survival rates have seen limited improvement for decades.

ABOUT OVARIAN CANCER CANADA
We are the only national health charity in Canada focused on uncovering key discoveries that can change what it means for women to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and other gynecologic cancers. We are building ovarian cancer research capacity and a strong network of support, bringing hope to people facing these diseases across the country. After decades without real change, improved outcomes are finally possible. Learn more at ovariancanada.org.

ABOUT OVARIAN CANCER

• While the five-year survival rate for breast cancer in Canada is 88%, for ovarian cancer it is a low 44%. These survival rates have not changed in 60 years.
• Globally, 324,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer (approximately 3,100 in Canada) and 207,000 women die from the disease each year.
• It's predicted that by 2050 the number of women around the world diagnosed with ovarian cancer will rise over 55% to 503,448 and the number of women dying from ovarian cancer is projected to increase to 350,956 each year.

SOURCE Ovarian Cancer Canada

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