World Cancer Day and Amplifying Impact Report 2025
Message from the Scientific Director, Dr. Fei-Fei Liu
To mark World Cancer Day this year, I am delighted to share the CIHR Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)'s Amplifying Impact Report 2025, summarizing another exemplary year of impactful and innovative opportunities, initiatives and events. After the successful launch of Team Grants: Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention in 2024―a $41.5M, multi-partner funding opportunity in cancer prevention research―ICR will now be focusing this year's efforts on its second research priority in cancer survivorship.
In early 2025, ICR embarked on a 4-month engagement strategy to engage people with lived/living experience (PWLLE) and the cancer survivorship research community to identify key priority areas within this research domain. The Institute was able to capture feedback from over 150 PWLLE through its survey for Priority-Setting in Understanding the Long-Term Effects of Cancer Treatments to help identify important priorities in this area.
Informed by these perspectives, ICR hosted its Bringing Biology to Cancer Survivorship Workshop in April in Vancouver to bring together PWLLE, cancer survivorship researchers, and researchers from disciplines outside of cancer, to further develop these priorities and foster interdisciplinary collaborations. After incorporating these invaluable inputs, ICR launched Beyond Treatment: Advancing Cancer Survivorship Team Grants, an $18M investment in cancer survivorship research supported by a number of CIHR partners and the Cancer Research Society. This funding opportunity is currently open, with a registration deadline of February 24, 2026.
ICR also started to focus on its third research priority of data strategy and advanced analytics, by co-hosting the Canadian Health Research Data Workshop in collaboration with the CIHR Institute of Genetics and Genome Canada. This workshop convened leading data experts from across Canada to identify opportunities and challenges in developing a pan-Canadian health research data sharing strategy. I encourage you to read our 'What We Heard Report' to learn more about the key themes and action points discussed at the workshop, which can be requested via e-mail at cihr.icr@uhn.ca.
2025 marked another partnership-driven year for the Institute, defined by 19 unique partnerships across CIHR, nationally and internationally, including collaborations with several CIHR Institutes and entities, the Cancer Research Society and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Together, we were able to invest in cutting-edge cancer research, promote capacity building, engage in knowledge mobilization, and recognize research impact. Partnerships are the backbone to the Canadian cancer research ecosystem, and the success of ICR's initiatives would not be possible without these essential collaborations.
As we embark into 2026, I would like to once again extend my sincerest gratitude to the entire ICR community for all of your support and engagement. I look forward to sharing more exciting initiatives with you during the course of this year.
Best wishes,
Fei-Fei Liu, MD, FRCPC, FASTRO, FCAHS
Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Cancer Research
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