Sharing Progress in ICR’s Research Priority Areas
Message from the Scientific Director, Dr. Fei-Fei Liu

As June comes to a close, I wanted to take an opportunity to share more about some of the exciting initiatives and events that have transpired at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) since the start of 2025. As you know, ICR launched its Research Priority Plan 2024-2029 last year, and we have now been working to implement strategic initiatives to advance each of our three priority areas in cancer prevention, survivorship and data strategy.

ICR had an eventful spring, building on our second and third research priority areas. We held our “Bringing Biology to Cancer Survivorship” Workshop in Vancouver on March 31 and April 1. This 1.5-day event convened an interdisciplinary group of researchers and persons with lived and/or living experience (PWLLE) from across Canada to accelerate discussions and identify priorities for ICR’s second research priority area, “Mitigate Treatment Toxicities to Improve Cancer Survivorship”. It was inspiring to learn from such a diverse group of experts and PWLLEs to develop priorities in this research domain, which aim to support the growing number of cancer survivors in Canada.

Later that week, ICR co-hosted the Canadian Health Research Data Workshop with the Institute of Genetics and Genome Canada, bringing together a small group of data experts with the goal of fostering dialogue on the health research data landscape in Canada. Within ICR’s third research priority area, “Transform Cancer Research through Data Strategy and Advanced Analytics”, the group discussed strategies to leverage Canada’s rich reservoir of health data to accelerate research and improve outcomes for Canadians. Whilst in Vancouver, we also held our 56th Institute Advisory Board (IAB) meeting and annual Community Event. We are grateful to our IAB members and the cancer research community at the University of British Columbia for their engagement and support for these events.

Later in April, ICR’s Assistant Director, Dr. Emma Ito and I attended the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Chicago, and had the chance to meet the inaugural cohort of the AACR-CIHR Scholar-in-Training Award winners, as well as our 2025 co-sponsored Patient Advocates who attended the AACR Scientist-Survivor Program®. These interactions are reassuring that the future of cancer research is bright, led by ambitious young minds and highly engaged patient partners who are deeply motivated to make strides towards a cancer-free world.

June also marks CIHR’s 25th anniversary, celebrating two and a half decades of funding impactful research. As we move into the latter half of 2025, ICR’s ambitious agenda continues to grow and I hope that the Institute can continue contributing to CIHR’s research footprint by supporting groundbreaking cancer research. Namely, I am looking forward to sharing more about the successful awardees in Team Grants: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention―a $35M investment in cancer prevention research from ICR and our partners―in early 2026.

Finally, I would also like to recognize that this month is National Indigenous History Month. In May, I had the privilege of visiting Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories to connect with the local Indigenous community and explore the possibility of establishing a radiotherapy center in the North to help improve accessibility to cancer care. I am grateful to have attended the Hotıì ts’eeda, the Northwest Territories SPOR Support Unit gathering in Aurora Village, and had the opportunity to learn about the incredible community-driven research taking place in the Northwest Territories. I wanted to express my sincere gratitude to all of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis members in ICR’s community and your invaluable contributions to advancing cancer research. I am keen to continue learning how ICR can best support and honour Indigenous-led health research.

As we progress into the rest of 2025, I am excited to continue advancing each of ICR’s research priority areas, and share more with you. I encourage you to stay connected with ICR and explore some of the current and upcoming opportunities below:

Thank you for all of your engagement with us!

Best,
Fei-Fei Liu, MD, FRCPC, FASTRO, FCAHS
Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Cancer Research

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