The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research congratulates Dr. John Bartlett and team on receiving a $5 million Movember Team Grant

TORONTO, July 15, 2014 /CNW/ - Dr. Tom Hudson, President and Scientific Director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), today congratulated Dr. John Bartlett and his collaborators on receiving a 2014 Movember Team Grant for prostate cancer research. Dr. Bartlett is Director of OICR's Transformative Pathology Program and Director of OICR's Improved Management of Early Cancer Translational Research Initiative.

An international review panel, led by Prostate Cancer Canada, determined the project would have the greatest impact in translating prostate cancer research into improved patient care. The award is funded by Movember Canada.

Dr. Bartlett will use these funds to establish a multidisciplinary team that will develop a biomarker to help determine at the time of diagnosis if men need aggressive treatment for their prostate cancer or if less aggressive treatment options can be pursued instead. This has the potential to spare many men the harmful side effects of aggressive treatment while still effectively treating their disease.

"The award to Dr. Bartlett and his team will result in the creation of a personalized approach to treating prostate cancer, which is the future of oncology," said Dr. Hudson. "We know from our experience at OICR that collaborative research teams are the surest path to success. I am pleased that this grant supports research in the same spirit and look forward to seeing the results of this group's work."

"The Ontario government is proud to support leading-edge research to benefit Ontarians living with cancer," said Reza Moridi, Minister of Research and Innovation. "I congratulate Dr. Bartlett and his team on this grant and salute their collaborative approach to achieving important outcomes for patients — avoiding unnecessary treatment and preserving quality of life."  

The project, called the prostate cancer program project in rapid development of novel diagnostic markers for early prostate cancer (PRONTO) will be conducted by 15 scientists from British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, who together possess a diverse set of skills that will allow them to approach their research from many valuable perspectives. Team members include:

• Glenn Bauman: London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario
• David Berman: Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
• Paul Boutros: Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, Ontario
• Ralph Buttyan: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
• Craig Earle: Institute for Clinical Evaluative Studies and Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, Ontario
• Antonio Finelli: Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario
• Jacques Lapointe: McGill University, Montreal, Quebec
• Andrew Loblaw: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario
• Paul Park: Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario
• Eileen Rakovitch: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario
• Refik Saskin: Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario
• Axel Thomson: McGill University, Montreal, Quebec
• Theodorus van der Kwast: Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario
• Vasundara Venkateswaran: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario

About OICR
OICR is an innovative cancer research and development institute dedicated to prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The Institute is an independent, not-for-profit corporation, supported by the Government of Ontario. OICR supports more than 1,700 investigators, clinician scientists, research staff and trainees located at its headquarters and in research institutes and academia across the Province of Ontario. OICR has key research efforts underway in small molecules, biologics, stem cells, imaging, genomics, informatics and bio-computing. For more information, please visit the website at www.oicr.on.ca.

SOURCE: Ontario Institute for Cancer Research

Ontario Institute for Cancer Research: Christopher Needles, Manager, Strategic Communications, Email: [email protected], Telephone: [phone], Mobile: [phone], @OICR_news