RESEARCH BREAKTHROUGHS
Terry Fox believed research could change the future of cancer.
Today, Terry Fox-funded researchers across Canada continue to fuel that belief, advancing precision medicine, harnessing data and artificial intelligence, and driving discoveries with the potential to change how cancers are prevented, detected, diagnosed, and treated.
Together, this work is enhancing our understanding of cancer and bringing new hope to people facing cancer across the country.
PROGRESS IN NUMBERS
RESEARCH INVESTMENT
The Terry Fox Research Institute’s research portfolio supports three major initiatives designed to improve the lives of cancer patients through discovery science, translational research, precision medicine, data infrastructure, and patient-focused innovation.
| Programs | Investment | Projects | Researchers | Partners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TFRI Research Grants Programs | $25M | 68 | 319 | 40 |
| Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network | $44M | 200 | 602 | 146 |
| Digital Health and Discovery Platform | $3.6M | 2 | 5 | 128 |
| Total | $72.7M* | 269*** | 859** | 270 |
*This amount reflects our direct investment in research and does not include the costs of operating TFRI’s programs and projects. TFRI’s total expenses in the 2025-26 fiscal year were $78,284,702.
**A number of researchers work on several projects across program types. While these individuals are counted in more than one program type, the total number displayed at the bottom reflects the individual number of researchers we fund: 859.
***One project is co-funded by MOHCCN and TFRI’s Research Grants Programs. It is included in both program counts but counted only once in the total number of projects displayed here.
COMBINED INVESTMENT PER REGION
Terry Fox-funded research brings together patients, researchers, clinicians, and administrators at institutions across Canada, strengthening national collaboration and helping discoveries move further, faster.
From coast-to-coast-to-coast, Terry Fox-funded researchers are sharing expertise, data, and discoveries to help accelerate progress against cancer.
$20.2M Invested
70 Projects*
193 Researchers
32 Partners
$5M Invested
43 Projects*
97 Researchers
36 Partners
$27.5M Invested
115 Projects*
303 Researchers
69 Partners
$17.3M Invested
101 Projects*
198 Researchers
78 Partners
$2.7M Invested
29 Projects*
68 Researchers
23 Partners
*A number of our projects are multi-provincial in nature and their research is conducted in more than one region. Thus, project totals shown here should not be added up, as their sum will equal more than 269, which is the total number of projects we fund.
HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR RESEARCH
DRIVING DISCOVERIES THAT BRING PRECISION ONCOLOGY TO MORE PATIENTS
Precision medicine is improving outcomes for cancer patients by tailoring treatments to the unique characteristics of each patient.
Across the Terry Fox Research Institute’s programs, scientists are helping bring this promising framework for cancer care closer to patients. From identifying new biomarkers and treatment targets to helping test and develop new therapies, these discoveries are laying the foundation for better outcomes for patients.
See how Terry Fox-funded researchers are advancing precision medicine
Researchers have uncovered how synovial sarcoma begins, resolving a critical gap in the disease’s origins.
With sustained funding from a Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grant, they discovered new insights into the origins of this aggressive cancer, which often affects young people. By revealing how the disease starts, this work opens new paths to identify tumour vulnerabilities and develop more effective, personalized therapies.
Immunotherapy has changed cancer treatment, but it does not work for every patient.
Over the last year, researchers across the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network have made important discoveries that help answer why some patients with breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and multiple myeloma do not respond to these therapies. Their work is helping identify which patients are most likely to benefit, while creating opportunities to expand the reach of these life-saving treatments.
Researchers funded through a Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grant identified three distinct subtypes of aggressive high-grade gliomas, a rare brain cancer that causes the greatest loss of life among children and young adults.
This discovery helps explain why young patients can respond differently to treatment and is already guiding more precise treatment strategies and clinical trials.
For patients with aggressive pancreatic cancers, precision medicine is often considered only after standard treatments fail.
Thanks to a clinical trial led by Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network researchers in Ontario we now have compelling evidence that precision oncology may be most effective when used as a first-line treatment strategy.
This work could help change when and how precision medicine is used for patients facing hard-to-treat cancers.
CHANGING WHAT’S POSSIBLE
The Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network (MOHCCN) is transforming how cancer research is conducted by bringing together researchers, clinicians, patients, hospitals, genomic data, and artificial intelligence through one national precision oncology network.
Rather than working in isolation, Canada’s leading cancer centres are collaborating at an unprecedented scale, sharing expertise, data, and discoveries to answer cancer’s toughest questions faster.
This collaborative model is accelerating precision medicine, expanding access to clinical trials, strengthening data-driven discovery, and helping bring more personalized cancer care to patients across Canada.
MOHCCN in numbers:
- 54 Member institutions across Canada
- 100+ Funding and Research Partners
- 1,300+ Individuals involved in MOHCCN
- 16,766 Patients whose data is part of MOHCCN
- 200 Research projects funded
- 1,500+ Patients whose treatment was informed by MOHCCN Sequencing
HARNESSING NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO ACCELERATE PRECISION MEDICINE
New technologies are transforming cancer care, making it more personalized and precise than ever before. By investing in the development of innovative new technologies and enabling researchers to generate and analyze large-scale clinical and genomic data, we are fueling discoveries that improve treatment effectiveness, personalize care, expand access to clinical trials, and ultimately improve outcomes and quality of life for people with cancer across the country.
See how new technologies are transforming care
Over the last five years, patients, researchers, clinicians, nurses, and administrators across Canada have come together to build a game-changing national resource.
De-identified genomic and clinical data from more than 16,000 cancer patients treated nationwide is now available to support research and care. This unique dataset can help researchers better understand why some patients respond to treatment while others don’t and help match future patients to the right treatment at the right time.
Through the Digital Health & Discovery Platform, researchers are building secure systems to accelerate precision medicine across Canada.
Instead of moving sensitive patient data out of hospital systems, researchers can send advanced AI and machine learning tools to the data. This approach protects privacy while allowing researchers to unlock insights with the potential to improve care.
In a world-first study, researchers funded by a longstanding Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grant are combining specialized ultrasound technology with machine learning to predict how patients respond to chemotherapy early in treatment. Instead of waiting to see whether a treatment is working, this approach opens new opportunities for clinicians to adapt care sooner.
Clinical trials can give patients access to promising new treatments, yet fewer than six per cent of newly diagnosed adult cancer patients in Canada enrol in one.
Researchers supported through the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network are developing an AI-powered platform to help match patients with clinical trials more quickly. The goal is to expand access to potentially life-saving care.
With funding from a Terry Fox New Investigator Award, researchers are bringing a highly targeted radiation therapy closer to the clinic for patients with prostate cancer.
The team recently received Health Canada approval to evaluate its state-of-the-art micro-ultrasound technology in clinical studies, helping pave the way for more accessible, affordable, and precise treatments for prostate cancer.
THE NEXT ERA OF CANCER RESEARCH
Terry Fox-funded researchers are building the systems, tools, and collaborations needed to make life-changing new discoveries and bring them closer to patients.
The opportunity now is to accelerate: to bring precision oncology to more Canadians, use data and artificial intelligence to unlock insights faster, prevent cancer before it starts, and move promising treatments into clinical trials sooner.
This is the work ahead: ambitious, urgent, and full of possibility.
BRINGING PRECISION ONCOLOGY TO MORE CANADIANS
The Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network has built a pan-Canadian foundation for precision oncology. Its next phase will focus on improving equitable access to more personalized care and building the evidence needed to help health systems adopt precision medicine more widely.
“From Day 1 to Day 1046, my care portrayed what precision medicine really means: using data, biology, and personal context to make thoughtful, individualized decisions.”
Lindsay Gustafson
A Manitoba-based member of MOHCCN’s Patient Working Group.
ACCELERATING DISCOVERY THROUGH DATA AND AI
The Digital Health & Discovery Platform will help connect researchers and data providers through one secure national platform. By making it easier to discover, prepare, and analyze data, this work can help researchers move faster and increase access to personalized therapies for patients across Canada.
EXPANDING IMPACT THROUGH PREVENTION AND CLINICAL TRIALS
The Terry Fox Research Institute is expanding its focus beyond discovery research and precision medicine to advance cancer prevention and accelerate clinical trials. This work will help prevent cancer before it starts and bring more effective treatments to patients sooner.
