Leading cancer researchers win diamond jubilee awards

Toronto, ON – The National Cancer Institute of Canada has presented its first-ever Diamond Jubilee Awards to 10 of Canada’s leading cancer researchers.

The awards are a one-time event, created on the occasion of the NCIC’s 60th anniversary, to recognize researchers who have made truly outstanding contributions to cancer research in Canada over their careers.

The winners are:

– Dr Roy Cameron, Executive Director of NCIC’s Centre for Behavourial Research and Program Evaluation (CBRPE)/University of Waterloo, for his work in tobacco control, cancer control, public policy and population health. CBRPE is funded by the Canadian Cancer Society.

– Dr Anthony Pawson, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute/Mount Sinai Hospital, for his work in clarifying basic mechanisms of cancer cell signaling that has transformed our view of cancer biology.

– Dr Victor Ling of the BC Cancer Agency/BC Cancer Research Centre; Dr Roger Deeley of Queen’s Cancer Research Institute/Queen’s University; and Dr Susan Cole of the Division of Cancer Biology & Genetics/Queen’s University, for their paradigm-shifting discoveries related to better understanding of resistance to cancer treatment.

– Dr James Till of the Ontario Cancer Institute/University Health Network; Dr Ernest McCulloch retired from Princess Margaret Hospital; and Dr John Dick of the Ontario Cancer Institute/University Health Network, for their seminal work in cancer stem cell research.

– Dr Lesley Degner of the Faculty of Nursing, University of Manitoba, for her research into behaviours and supportive care leading to improved quality-of-life and supportive tools for cancer patients.

– Dr Joseph Pater of the NCIC Clinical Trials Group/Queen’s University, for his work in identifying new and effective cancer therapies which have improved patients’ survival and lives. The NCIC Clinical Trials Group is funded by the Canadian Cancer Society.

“Sixty years ago, when the NCIC was founded, little was known about cancer,” says Dr Michael Wosnick, Executive Director of the NCIC. “Today, it is a very different story, thanks to the combined efforts of our superb Canadian research community and the continued generosity of the Canadian public who make research possible. The progress in these years has been nothing short of astonishing; from a survival rate of only 25% in the 1940s, to 60% today. We can only imagine what research will contribute to growing this rate even higher.”