October 30, 2010

Today Dr. Tom Hudson, President and Scientific Director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) announced that Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) and Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute (TBRRI) are the joint-recipients of a four year pilot award in the amount of $300,000. This award, given by OICR through its High Impact Clinical Trials Program, will help to develop translational research - commonly known as clinical trials research - at TBRHSC and TBRRI. The award will support the infrastructure required to conduct translational research and be used to develop multi-disciplinary translational research teams.

“Today marks a first of many milestones to come for our newly created Translational Research Program. Being the recipient of an OICR grant is a great opportunity that will serve our organizations well into the future as we pursue our own clinical trials with our own scientific teams,” says Tarja Heiskanen, the new Director of Translational Research for TBRRI and TBRHSC.

Although the new translational research office at TBRHSC and TBRRI has only been up and running for a few short months, already the team of scientists and clinicians scientists, including Dr. John Rowlands, founding Scientific Director of TBRRI and Dr. Dimitrios Vergidis, Chief of Oncology at TBRHSC, are witnessing remarkable progress.

“We’ve had a clinical trials team at TBRHSC for many years, however the clinical trials we have supported up until now did not originate here in Thunder Bay. In the past we’ve been participants in wider provincial, national and international clinical trials,” says Heiskanen. “The difference now is that patient clinical trials will be led by our own scientists and clinician-scientists, for the very first time this award will support our own research that has originated right here,” Heiskanen explains.

Dr. Janet Dancey is Director, Clinical Translational Research NCIC Clinical Trials, Program Leader, High Impact Clinical Trials, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. She says OICR is looking forward to working with the TBRHSC and TBRRI.

“The TBRRI and TBRHSC’s growing strength in imaging research is exemplary and an obvious area of potential collaboration. It is very clear that TBRRI has great potential as a translational research clinical trial site. They have assembled and planned to recruit an impressive group of researchers and patient participation is increasing. We are very pleased to offer TBRRI and TBRHSC this award.”

Michael Power, CEO of Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute and VP of Cancer and Diagnostic Services at TBRHSC says the public will can expect to hear more and more about the translational research agenda that is starting to gain momentum.

“We are thrilled that OICR recognizes TBRHSC and TBRRI among provincial leaders in the field of translational research,” he says. “This award will assist us in establishing a robust trials program - one that will advance our Council of Academic Hospital’s of Ontario mandate and at the same time accelerate our discovery to translation agenda in cancer care through partnership with OICR. It marks another one of the many upcoming milestones in the history of our academic health sciences centre.”

Ontario Institute for Cancer Research

OICR is a new centre of excellence, moving Ontario to the forefront of discovery and innovation in cancer research. The Institute is dedicated to research in the prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The Institute is an independent, not-for-profit corporation funded by the Government of Ontario. For more information, please visit the website at www.oicr.on.ca.

Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute

TBRRI is an independent, not-for-profit research corporation partnered closely with Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. Scientists and clinicians work together with academic and industry partners to bring advanced diagnostic technology to our patients.

World-class research is conducted under three platforms: Advanced Detection Devices, Imaging Guided Interventions and Probe Development and Biomarker Exploration. TBRRI strives to improve the quality of patient-centred healthcare by advancing new standards of excellence in the clinical investigation of novel molecular imaging-based diagnostic technologies. For further information, please visit our website at www.tbrri.com.

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