The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research will participate in a research initiative dedicated to the young Canadian whose Marathon of Hope has inspired people in 60 countries to run to raise money for cancer research.

Representatives of the federal government and two provinces joined members of the late Terry Fox’s family on October 29 to unveil a new institute that will establish research nodes in partnership with existing research agencies in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. The Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI) will help scientists translate their laboratory discoveries into new therapies for cancer.

The “virtual” institute of nodes dispersed across the country offers an exciting new model for cancer research that will overcome geographic and professional boundaries. It will focus on cancer research projects with the potential to improve the health of cancer patients within three to five years.

“Terry Fox had a way of giving Canadians a new fresh way to look at their country, the geography, the distances and the differences of people. He effectively transformed the distances between people by inviting them to focus on what could bring us together rather than divide us. Terry was able to close a gap and unite a nation around a common cause,” said Darrell Fox, national director of the Terry Fox Foundation.

OICR and the Terry Fox Foundation will each contribute up to $3 million per year in matching funds to establish the Ontario node. Dr. Tom Hudson, President and Scientific Director of OICR, attended the launch.

“Canadians have become deeply aware of the need to develop new treatments for cancer. As a researcher I find it inspiring to see people take an interest in this field, and I think we owe a lot to Terry Fox for the public interest and support for the fight against cancer. It is an honour that OICR will help conduct the research that Terry Fox had hoped would be his legacy,” Hudson said.

Under the direction of Dr. Robert Rottapel, a professor at the University of Toronto, physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and scientist at the Ontario Cancer Institute at Princess Margaret Hospital, the Ontario node will identify new cancer targets and develop a deeper knowledge of cancer and cancer progression. Their goal is to discover new treatments that can selectively destroy cancer cells and minimize adverse reactions to cancer treatments.

“The Ontario Node of the Terry Fox Research Institute will seek to find new and innovative therapeutics for cancer patients that will enhance their clinical outcomes. To do this, we will draw on the exceptional talent of scientists across this province in universities and in hospital-based research institutes,” Dr. Rottapel explained at the launch.

Dr. Victor Ling, Scientific Director of TFRI, says the Canada-wide collaboration that will take place within the virtual institute is unprecedented. “Our vision at the Terry Fox Research Institute is to improve significantly the outcomes for the patient by having teams of academic and clinical researchers work in concert with one another sharing insights, knowledge and discoveries. The TFRI links hospitals, cancer organizations and universities provincially and nationally. The focus is to improve patient care by quickly moving the discoveries from the bench to clinical application.”

TFRI was launched with a $50-million, five-year commitment by the Terry Fox Foundation. These funds were raised during the 25th anniversary celebration of Terry Fox’s 1980 Marathon of Hope and through the annual Terry Fox Run, held each September in cities across Canada to commemorate the 22-year-old cancer patient who ran from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Thunder Bay, Ontario to raise money for cancer research.