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Medical Oncology Research

The Division of Medical Oncology is a driving force in cancer research in Canada. Forty-eight per cent of the divisional faculty belong to clinician investigator or clinician scientist streams. In addition, some of the faculty in the quality improvement stream also perform research. The faculty have diverse research expertise, which ranges from molecular biological laboratory research to clinical trials and health-services research. Many individuals have key roles provincially (Ontario Health Cancer Care Ontario), nationally (Canadian Cancer Trials Group) and internationally (ASCO). A major strength of the Division is its collaborations and partnerships with external groups locally, nationally and internationally. Locally, the Division of Medical Oncology holds an annual grant competition with the aim of supporting junior faculty with proposals demonstrating cross-institutional collaboration.

 

 

Strategic Innovation Fund Grant

Recipients

Year

Strategic Innovation Fund Grant Recipients

2023
  1. Sanz Garcia E, Smoragiewicz M, Iafolla M. EGFR-targeted therapies in front - versus later lines of treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer: Real world clinical outcomes and practice patterns. 

2022
  1. Grant R, Gandhi S, Gallinger S, Krishnan R, Krzyzanowska M, Liu G, Tran W, Troung T, Xu Wei, Yokom D.  Harmonized Electronic Records in Oncology to Improve Care (HEROIC)

2021
  1. Gandhi S, Krzyzanowska M, Tran W, Fleshner L. Developing A Novel Risk Prediction Model Using Machine Learning to Decrease Potentially Preventable Emergency Department (PPED) Visits in Oncology Patients.
  2. Parmar A, Liu G, Wong W, Chan K, Leighl N, Louie A, Yokom D. Development of a pharmacoeconomic modeling framework to evaluate the cost effectiveness of novel therapeutics for advanced lung cancer.

2020
  1. Menjak, I, Lee, R, Leighl N, Alibhai S, Mehta R, Wong C.  Frailty screening as a predictor for functional decline, quality of life, and early death in older patients receiving palliative chemotherapy for lung cancer
 
  1. Haq R, Pezo R, Khanna S, Gulasingam S.  Design and implementation of a virtual exercise rehabilitation program for breast cancer survivors in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: A multi-center
    feasibility study

2019
  1. Jerzak, K, Goodwin P, Bratman S, Cescon D, Leong H, Williams K, Ennis M, Lohmann A, Tran W.  Liquid Biopsy- a Bold Step Towards Early Detection of Metastatic Breast Cancer
 
  1. Sacher A, Rose A,  Butler M, Cheng S, Doherty M, Higgins B, Lee R ,Petrella T, Sudha Rajagopal S, Veitch Z, Wang B, Ohashi P. Establishing InTRON: an Interdisciplinary Toronto RAS Oncology Network to investigate RAS mutations and immunotherapy outcomes in cancer

2018
  1. Chen, E, Bedard P, Chan K, Gupta A, Jarvi K, Malone E, Hamilton R, Spreafico A, Hansen A, Razak A, Mitchell, A. Persistence of platinum in semen of adolescent and young adult cancer survivors treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy and its potential impact on fertility
 
  1. Lheureux S, Ferguson S, O’Brien C, Mackay H, Gien L, Chawla T, Shlomovitz E, Stuart-McEwan T, Stewart J. Malignant Bowel Obstruction (MBO) in Advanced Gynecologic Cancers Program

2017
  1. Spreafico A, Singh S, Karam I, Abdalaty H. Oral Intestinal Microbiome Profiling in Locoregionally-Advanced Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
 
  1. Pezo R, Butler M. Tumor Immunotherapy and Microbiome Analysis Project (TIME).

2016
  1. Liu G, Brezden-Masley C, Eisen A, Eng L, Giuliani M, Jones J. Expanding an online tool to multiple University of Toronto hospitals, CEASE, to aid smoking cessation referral in cancer patients: A feasibility study.
 
  1. Kim R, Bedard P, Bjarnason G, Eisen A, Elser C, Faghfoury H, Morel C, Narod S, Razak A, Siu L. Integrative Sequencing In Germline and Hereditary Tumours (INSIGHT).
 
  1. Prica A, Cheung M, Crump M, Rozenberg D. Sarcopenia and functional predictors of chemotherapy toxicity in elderly lymphoma patients – a prospective pilot study.

2015
  1. Hansen, A, Petrella T, Parsons J, Davis A, Nisenbaum R, Cella D, et al. Development & Validation of a Health-related Quality of Life instrument: Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (FACT-ICI).
 
  1. Haq R, Wong C, Abosh D, Ailon J, Cheng S, Brezden-Masley C, Lee R, Hicks L, Trinkaus M,  Budd L. Feasibility and Implementation of the G8 Screening Tool and Goals of Care Discussions with Geriatric Patients in the Oncology Clinics.
 
  1. Eisen A, Scheer AS, Holloway C, Cordeiro E. Informing and personalizing the decision for contralateral prophylactic mastectomy: The development of evidence-based decision support tools for patients and practitioners to reduce the overtreatment of early breast cancer.
 
  1. Gandhi S, Enright K, Disperati P, Verma S. A Comprehensive Inter-disciplinary Care Model for Oral Anti-Cancer Medications (CICM-OACM).

2014
  1. Chan K, Cheung M, Prica A, Zaretsky Y, Charbonneau F. Wastage of Systemic Cancer Therapies: Financial Impact and Potential Savings with Mitigation Strategies.

2013
  1. Leighl N, Cheng S. Clinical Impact of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Mutation Fraction and Tumour Sample Cellularity on Clinical Outcomes
 
  1. Razak ARA, Cescon D. Real Time Evaluation of Freshly Implanted Cancers in Mice to Test Drug Response in Matching Hosts (REFLECT).
 
  1. Buckstein R, Yee K, Prica A. Red blood cell transfusion thresholds and QOL in MDS: a pilot, feasibility study.

2012
  1. Bedard P, Siu L. Community Oncology Molecular Profiling in Advanced Cancers Trial (COMPACT).
 
  1. Chan K, Hicks L, Feld J. The Current Management Pattern and the Prevalence of Lymphoma Patients who are Hepatitis B Core-Antibody Positive but Surface Antigen Negative, and their Risk of Hepatitis B Virus Reactivation with Rituximab.

Current Competition

2024-2025 Request for Proposals

Intent to Participate Deadline: Monday, October 21, 2024; 11:59 p.m.
Final Submission Deadline: Friday, November 22, 2024; 11:59 p.m.

The Division of Medical Oncology is again holding a competition for funding of novel proposals that are aligned with our strategic planning. Applications are encouraged for research of any type including basic science, translational, and clinical investigation. We are particularly interested in receiving applications for research in areas that are traditionally difficult to fund, e.g. may include education and quality improvement. Additionally, research in the areas of our Strategic Priorities is desirable.
 
We offer potential initial funding of up to $30,000 per project. This is designed to be seed funding, which hopefully can be leveraged for future or concurrent peer-reviewed grants. Application for new projects will be prioritized over extension of existing work. We can fund up to 2 projects, depending on the quality of the proposals submitted. Support will begin early 2025. The funding for these projects is based on philanthropic donations attracted through the Division of Medical Oncology specifically for these types of projects as well as money raised by the Division of Medical Oncology. The funding term is 24 months and funds will be held at the Department of Medicine. Applicants are encouraged to plan these projects so that additional/matching funds can be requested from their individual hospital practice plan grant competition.
 
In order to build a city-wide effort, it is mandatory that proposals have Co-Principal Investigators from at least two institutions, at least one of whom is a tithing member of the Division of Medical Oncology. All projects should include two or more institutions in order to create a truly collaborative team that has the potential to develop and move forward in the future. Note that the investigators do not all have to be from the Division of Medical Oncology or the Department of Medicine; multidisciplinary teams are encouraged, as is seeking co-funding from other Departments (i.e. Surgery, Radiation Oncology). Members of the Division of Hematology who self-identify as “malignant Hematologists” are eligible as Medical Oncologists for the purposes of this competition.
 
In rating submissions, proposals that have more than one Medical Oncology PI, especially junior faculty in leadership roles, will be desirable. Each project will need to identify a single coordinating PI who will be primarily responsible for the conduct of the study and for completion of reports to the Department of Medicine. Each faculty member will only be allowed to submit one application as coordinating PI.
 
Examples of prior successful applications can be found on the Division's Research page. Successful applicants would be expected to present their work at a future Medical Oncology Research Day.
 
A virtual Information Session will be held on Wednesday, October 16, 2024; 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Junior faculty are encouraged to attend to learn more about this funding opportunity. RSVP to: jennifer.ryan@uhn.ca for log-in details.
 
We would like you now to consider taking advantage of this new funding opportunity by confirming your intent to participate in this competition by Monday, October 21, 2024; 11:59 p.m. Intent to Participate and Application requirements are outlined below.
 
Sincerely,

Drs. Philippe Bedard & Kelvin Chan
Co-Chairs, Strategic Innovation Fund Grant Competition
University of Toronto, Division of Medical Oncology

Step 1. Intent to Participate Requirements

1. Include your Project Title.

2. Include your Project Team (PI, Co-PIs & Collaborators). The Principal Investigator must be a member of the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Toronto. Junior faculty are defined as 5 years since initial appointment.

3. Your Project Team must demonstrate multi-site collaboration. For clarity: UHN & MSH (considered one site), Unity Health (considered one site), Trillium Health Partners (considered one site), Sunnybrook Health Sciences (considered one site)

4. Email your Intent to Participate by Monday, October 21, 2024; 11:59 p.m.

Submit your Intent to Participate to:

Dr. Eitan Amir
Department Division Director, Medical Oncology, University of Toronto
eitan.amir@uhn.ca; cc: jennifer.ryan@uhn.ca

Step 2. Application Template 

1.  Application template (10 pages max in total).

  • Only those proposals which follow this template will be considered.
  • Formatting Requirements. 12-point Arial font, single-spaced, 1-inch margins (not less).
  • 1-page maximum. Description of the applicant’s team including hospital affiliation of each individual. The PI must be a member of the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Toronto. In rating submissions, proposals that have more than one Medical Oncology PI, especially junior faculty in leadership roles, will be desirable. The description must also include all Co-Principal Investigators, their contact information, and include whether co-PIs are junior faculty or not. Junior faculty are defined as 5 years since initial appointment. This page must also list your project title and include a project abstract (250-word maximum).
  • Note: Each project will need to identify a single coordinating PI who will be primarily responsible for the conduct of the study and for completion of reports to the Department of Medicine. Each faculty member will only be allowed to submit one application as coordinating PI.
  • 5-page maximum. Please include a detailed description of the proposal. Please also indicate whether the project is new or an extension of an existing work.
  • 2-page maximum. Supporting tables and graphs.
  • 1-page maximum. Detailed budget request. If your application is part of a larger project, the budget must explicitly describe for which parts the funds will be used.
  • 1-page maximum. Reference page.

2.  Email your complete application by Friday, November 22, 2024; 11:59 p.m.

Submit Complete Applications to:

Dr. Eitan Amir
Department Division Director, Medical Oncology, University of Toronto
eitan.amir@uhn.ca; cc: jennifer.ryan@uhn.ca