$1M donation supports new post-grad leukemia research fellowships

Montreal, QC – McGill University and Universite de Montreal have created a series of post-graduate research fellowships aimed at finding a cure for leukemia. The fellowship program is supported by $1 million in funding from the Cole Foundation, a Montreal-based non-profit organization dedicated to promoting research to eradicate leukemia.

The initial fellowship program will last 16 months and will spread $1 million among 28 individual clinician scientists, post-doctoral researchers and students in the doctoral and master’s programs. Of the 28 recipients, 18 are associated with various medical departments at Universite de Montreal or with research laboratories at Le Centre Hospitalier de l’Universite de Montreal – Ste Justine Research Centre, Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer and Hpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont.

The remaining 10 fellowships are divided among the McGill University Health Centre – namely the Montreal Children’s Hospital Research Centre, the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Montreal Neurological Institute – as well as the Lady Davis Research Centre at the Jewish General Hospital and various medical departments at McGill. Subsequent fellowship awards are expected to last two years and will be funded with approximately $1,000,000 each year.

“The Cole Foundation’s notable investment in leukemia research at McGill and Universite de Montreal will enable both institutions to attract the best researchers to help us achieve our common goal, which is to one day find a cure for all forms of leukemia and related diseases,” says Dr Richard Levin, vice-principal, health affairs, and dean of the Faculty of Medicine at McGill.

“Thirty years ago, four out of five children suffering from acute forms of leukemia would die. Today, research has reversed that situation: four out of five children survive but these children are susceptible to secondary diseases and conditions later in life,” says Dr Jean L Rouleau, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Universite de Montreal. “Continuous follow-up is one of several objectives set by pediatric oncology and hematology research teams. Thanks to the essential and vital support of the Cole Foundation, our researchers are enabled to pursue this fight.”