New fund supports research into environment/cancer links

Toronto, ON – A new fund has been launched by the Cancer Research Society, to support research into the relationship between environmental factors and cancer.

“While the lessons concerning the effects of environmental influences such as tobacco smoking and diet have translated into public health and cancer prevention strategies, research supported by The Cancer Research Society’s new Fund will contribute to our knowledge of the complex interactions between people’s genes and their environments. Such seminal research is the next frontier in effective cancer prevention,” says Dr Eduardo Franco, director of the cancer epidemiology unit at McGill University and leading player in the clinical development of the vaccine against human papillomavirus (the cause of cervical cancer).

Canadian research supported by the new Environmental Cancer Fund will explore emerging links between genetics, epidemiology and behavioural sciences.

The new fund will be guided by a national advisory board with members of the board John Blanchard, president, Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada; Dr Eduardo Franco, director, cancer epidemiology division, McGill University; Dr John McLaughlin, VP, preventive oncology, Cancer Care Ontario; Dallas Petroff, executive director, Lung Cancer Canada; Ann Rowan, director, sustainability committee, David Suzuki Foundation; Rick Smith, executive director, Environmental Defence; and Barry Stein, president, Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada. ECF grant applications from Canadian cancer scientists will be reviewed by a distinguished panel of scientific experts.