Celebrating exciting milestones for our Network!

Dear Colleagues,   

The past two months have been full of exciting developments for our Network! Since our September newsletter, the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec-Université Laval has signed a Joinder Agreement and is an official member of the MOHCCN. We want to welcome them to the Team Canada of Cancer Research and thank the 32 institutions that are now working together with us to accelerate precision medicine for cancer in Canada!
 
We are also excited to announce that we have reached a new milestone in the creation of the MOHCCN Gold Cohort, which seeks to be the largest and most complete cancer case resource in Canada. We now have over 3,000 full genomes profiled as part of this initiative, nearly 700 of which already have their corresponding clinical data. This is a significant milestone for us, representing 20 per cent of 15,000 cases that will complete the Gold Cohort by 2026. We extend our thanks to all the hardworking patients, clinicians, researchers, nurses, technicians, lab managers, administrators and fundraisers who work tirelessly on this project.
 
Talking about patients, we are also happy to announce that earlier this month members of our Patient Working Group met in-person for the first time for a working and learning exchange meeting in Halifax, NS. In conversations with clinicians, researchers and Network leadership and staff, the group set key priorities for the integration of patients, survivors and caregivers in Network activities. We would like to thank all the working group members who contributed to making it a huge success!
 
Finally, we also want to remind everyone that we have officially launched our funding competitions for early-career researchers for 2024. Both the MOHCCN Clinician-Scientist and the MOHCCN Health Informatics & Data Science Awards are now open to eligible applicants. You can learn more about these competitions, and how to apply, here.
 
Sincerely,
 
Dr. André Veillette,
Executive Director, MOHCCN

Latest News

Patient Working Group

• Learning exchange event: 25 cancer patients, survivors and caregivers held an inaugural MOHCCN Patient Working Group Learning Exchange, with 19 members attending in Halifax, NS and 6 attending virtually.
• Media coverage: Local and national media provided coverage, notably Global in Nova Scotia, and Canadian Press, which resulted in national press. 
• Network Voices: “Precision medicine gives us hope for the future,” says Krista Breckman, a Patient Working Group member from Winnipeg, MB.

2024 Early-career funding competitions

The MOHCCN is excited to announce the following funding competitions for early career researchers:

• 2024 MOHCCN Clinician-Scientist Awards will provide outstanding young clinician investigators with funding to support high-quality research in precision oncology. Learn more, here.
• 2024 MOHCCN Health Informatics & Data Science Awards will provide outstanding trainees in health informatics and related fields with funding to support high-quality research in precision oncology. Learn more, here.

Other news

• Atlantic Cancer Consortium members held an in-person and virtual working meeting following the CCRC.
• New team member: Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, has joined the MOHCCN team as a Project Manager and Scientific Writer. She is based in Halifax, NS.
• MOHCCN Researchers and staff were in Halifax, NS for the 2023 Canadian Cancer Research Conference. Network updates were presented to researchers, clinicians and community members by Dr. Isabel Serrano, Senior Network Manager and Dr. Jim Woodgett, President and Scientific Director, TFRI.