(Back row left to right) Dr. David Cook, Dr. Michele Ardolino, Sara Asif
(Front row left to right) Dalia Ibrahim, Dr. Barbara Vanderhyden, Sydney Brown
A research team led by The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) has been awarded a prestigious Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grant to lead groundbreaking research on cancer immunotherapy. The five-year, $3 million grant will support a bold, cross-disciplinary investigation into how the immune system, nervous system and gut microbiome work together to fight cancer.
The project led by Dr. Michele Ardolino, aims to study how these three systems interact and identify new therapeutic targets that could overcome resistance, improving outcomes for patients with limited treatment options. Some patients respond well to immunotherapy while others do not, and it’s still unclear why.
Dr. Ardolino is joined by Dr. Nicolas Jacquelot, Dr. Kathy McCoy and Dr. Sebastien Talbot, whose combined expertise in immunology, microbiome research and cancer neuroscience makes this a uniquely collaborative effort. This project brings together leading researchers from The Ottawa Hospital, the University of Ottawa, the University of Calgary and Queen’s University, highlighting the cross-institutional nature of the Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Project Grant.
“This is exactly the kind of science Terry Fox embodied — ambitious, unconventional, and deeply collaborative,” said Dr. Ardolino, senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and professor at the University of Ottawa. “With this support, we’re not just conducting research. We’re pioneering a new way to understand and treat cancer.”
Dr. Ardolino’s team will work together with collaborators Dr. Barbara Vanderhyden and Dr. David Cook, a formidable example of the excellence and strength of the Cancer Research Program and ovarian cancer research at TOH.
L’Hôpital d’Ottawa est un centre universitaire de pointe dans le domaine de la recherche et de la santé et un hôpital d’enseignement fièrement affilié à l’Université d’Ottawa et soutenu par la Fondation de l’Hôpital d’Ottawa.
