Advancing Research Together: The Terry Fox Research Institute and the GCI

Join us this Sunday, September 14 at the 45Th Terry Fox Run at Marché des Éclusier to raise funds for the many Terry Fox Research Institute Programs.

Click here for more information: https://run.terryfox.ca/93109

Thanks to the Terry Fox Foundation and its Research Institute, the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute (GCI) benefits from two major levers: sustained research funding and support for pan-Canadian networks. Together, they drive discoveries, strengthen our capacities, and keep the GCI at the forefront of cancer science in Canada.

$23M in Research Support

Over the past 19 years, the Terry Fox Research Institute has invested nearly $23 million in research at the GCI. This funding has driven advances in breast cancer and cancer metabolism and strengthened the GCI’s leadership in collaborative science across Québec and Canada. A prime example is the current New Frontiers Project, Targeting metabolic vulnerabilities in cancer, which brings together 14 researchers from five institutions—the GCI, University of Ottawa, Lady Davis Institute, Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, and the Van Andel Research Institute. Their work explores how changes in cellular and systemic metabolism, including obesity, affect cancer development, progression, and therapy response.

$6M through the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network

Building on this foundation, the Terry Fox Research Institute launched the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network (MOHCCN) in 2019, supported by a $150 million federal investment. The network is creating Canada’s first national cancer precision medicine platform by integrating genomic, clinical, and outcome data from 15,000 patients. The GCI played a pivotal role in establishing the Marathon of Hope Québec (MoH-Q) Consortium, alongside the Centre de recherche du CHUM, RI-MUHC, Jewish General Hospital, Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, IUCPQ, CHUQ–Université de Laval, Université de Sherbrooke, and CHU de Sherbrooke.

Since 2019, the GCI has received more than $6 million in MOHCCN-related funding, including $5.74M from Health Canada/MOH and $255,000 from the Terry Fox Foundation. This support has enabled Québec researchers to coordinate sample collection, genomic sequencing, and data analysis. To date, the MoH-Q has analyzed samples from over 3000 patients across seven institutions, providing insights that highlight the value of a unified national network.

Together, research support through project grants and network funding are advancing cancer biology, accelerating precision medicine, and moving us closer to Terry Fox’s vision of a world without cancer.