Marathon of Hope - Québec

The Marathon of Hope – Québec (MOH-Q) brings together leading scientists and clinicians from hospitals and research centres including the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), the Jewish General Hospital (JGH) and Segal Cancer Centre (SCC), the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute (GCI), and the McGill Genome Centre (MGC), all affiliated with McGill University, and the Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CR-CHUM) and Centre de Recherche de l'Hôpital Maisonneuve Rosemont (CR-HMR), affiliated with l’Université de Montréal. It is expected that additional institutions across Quebec will join the initiative.

Founding members of MOH-Q have developed strong partnerships through initiatives such as the Montreal Cancer Consortium, a TFRI-funded pilot project of the MoHCCN led by Drs. Ian Watson (McGill University-GCI) and John Stagg (CR-CHUM), to work on projects that focused on immunotherapy treatments for melanoma and acute myeloid leukemia. 

Together, MOH-Q partners will work to harness the power of data derived from over 20,000 new patients treated annually across the consortium, driving innovation in clinical trial strategies and research in biomarker discovery, immuno-oncology and precision medicine. We will leverage the expertise of clinical and biomedical scientists of international stature, investments from the Terry Fox Research Institute, the private sector and philanthropy to form a large cancer patient-centric innovation hub and accelerate the implementation of precision medicine for cancer in Quebec and across Canada.

Initially, the MOH-Q will contribute patient data derived from 18 cohorts spanning multiple cancer types, including melanoma, colorectal, ovarian, prostate, head and neck, gastro-esophageal, breast, lung, pancreatic and rare cancers. The MOH-Q aims to include projects aligned with the MOHCCN white papers from across the province in a second phase.

Partners

• Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)
• Centre de recherche de l'Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont/CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île de Montréal et Institut universitaire d'hématologie-oncologie et de thérapie cellulaire
• Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CR-CHUM)
• McGill Genome Centre
• Research Institute of the MUHC
• Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute (GCI) at McGill University
• Segal Cancer Centre/Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital
  

Goals and Objectives

Goal

Recruit Quebec cancer patients for the genomic profiling of their tumours as part of the 15,000 Gold Cohort.

Objectives

• Promote and facilitate multicentre clinical trials and translational research projects.
• Integrate patient partners of diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds to our team where they will contribute to setting research priorities, outreach to remote and underserved populations and the governance of the MOH-Q.
• Expand to include additional cancer care centres across Québec.
• Promote innovation through our technology platforms
• Facilitate partnerships between industry and researchers to commercialize technologies generated from public funding.
• Provide a rich training environment for the next generation of clinicians and researchers.

Projects

Expression of Interest Letters were requested to identify studies to become part of the MoHCCN initiative. A selection committee composed of scientists and clinician scientists across the MOH-Q evaluated the studies to determine

• Alignment with at least one of the scientific questions of the MoHCCN
• Scientific and clinical merit of the study
• Feasibility and readiness of the study
• Ability to share data and biospecimen
• Availability of matching funds