A Historic Investment in Cancer Prevention Research – Ministerial Announcement Recap

Event Highlights & Photo Gallery – February 26, 2026

On February 26, 2026, Canada's Minister of Health, the Honourable Marjorie Michel, announced the 19 teams funded in the CIHR Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)'s Team Grants: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto.

The announcement represented a historic $41M+ investment in cancer prevention research in collaboration with the Terry Fox Research Institute, Canadian Cancer Society, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, Cancer Research Society and BioCanRx. This initiative marks CIHR's largest investment in cancer prevention research to date, reflecting the strength of national and international partnerships and as well as a renewed focus on cancer prevention, risk reduction, and early detection research.

ICR's Scientific Director, Dr. Fei-Fei Liu, opened the event, highlighting that this funding opportunity is the implementation of ICR's first of three research priorities. University Health Network (UHN)'s President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Kevin Smith introduced the Honourable Marjorie Michel, who announced the 19 funded research teams across Canada, underscoring Canada's leadership, excellence, and collaboration in cutting-edge cancer prevention research. Minister Michel was followed by CIHR President Dr. Paul Hébert, who reiterated the significance of this investment for the future of cancer prevention in Canada.

Two funded researchers—Dr. Faiyaz Notta from the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Dr. Rayjean Hung from the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute—also briefly described their research projects, investigating cancer risk factors such as aging and obesity, respectively.

The event concluded with a powerful story from Ms. Melissa Tobros, a two-time cancer survivor who also lost her sister to breast cancer. Both Melissa and her sister carry the BRCA1 gene mutation, highlighting the importance and timeliness of this investment in early detection for future generations, including Melissa's two daughters and two nieces.

As cancer remains the leading cause of death in Canada, this investment aims to transform cancer prevention research and protect more Canadians and their families from a cancer diagnosis.

ICR thanks the research team members, government and healthcare leaders, funding partners, people with lived/living experience and trainees who joined us in-person or virtually to celebrate this milestone investment.

Read the news release.

Read the Lancet Oncology article (access required).

Watch the announcement.