Philanthropy and Research

I’d like to briefly interrupt Dr. Bally’s blog with an exciting announcement:

Thanks to the generous support of 100,000 donors, the BC Cancer Foundation raised an incredible $52.2 million this year, to support cutting-...

It has been recognized for a long time that treatment outcomes for patients with cancer improve when drugs are used in combination. Yet my research into drug combinations formulated as a single product is still considered controversial.

Concepts developed decades ago recognized that two drugs could behave better than expected based on the activity of each drug when used alone - this is...

My work with reformulating the anticancer drug vincristine led to a pivotal moment in my training and development as a scientist at the BC Cancer Agency.

I was given the opportunity to discuss my work with a group of world renowned oncologists and five minutes into the conversation, a clinician asked, “Why are you contemplating developing a new...

Today, I’d like to share three major things that B.C.’s OVCARE team has contributed in the last decade:

1) TAKING STEPS TOWARD PERSONALIZED MEDICINE: A woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer today will be managed according to the SPECIFIC type of cancer she has. This may mean she can be spared toxic therapies that may not help her, or receive better therapies with higher success. (Message...

In my last two blog posts, I wrote about progress we’ve been making to improve outcomes for women facing endometrial cancer. Today, I’d like to tell you about the impact one family has had in supporting this research.

After losing their mother to endometrial cancer, the Gill family wanted to make a difference. They approached the BC Cancer Foundation and talked about supporting research...

A nice thing about being junior in your career is that sometimes if you work hard, think a bit, and play well with others, people can give you the benefit of the doubt in believing you might be able to achieve something. My first years at the BC Cancer Agency were like this; I came here with relatively rudimentary research experience, no protected research time in my new position per say, but...

At Pancreas Cancer BC, we are very interested in understanding what cellular and molecular changes initially lead to cancerous changes, and also how the environment surrounding the cancer cell interacts to cause the cancer to evade our bodies’ defence systems.

As I mentioned...

In my last several posts I discussed some of the new treatments being developed for pancreatic cancer. As more options become available it is becoming increasingly important to improve our ability to individualize treatment strategies. 

Our group at the BC Cancer Agency and Pancreas Centre BC is very interested in studying ways to better sub-classify pancreatic cancer in the hopes of...

Cancer has proven itself as a difficult disease to cure. With the continued support of BC Cancer Foundation donors, the BC Cancer Agency will maintain its bold direction in leading cancer research and care and one day, we will be fortunate enough to have a cure.  

I participate in as many Foundation events as I am able, and it is often at these events that I meet patients who have been...

The collaboration and partnership of the BC Cancer Foundation with the BC Cancer Agency is of great value to our patients and all British Columbians. We all have friends, family or loved ones who have been impacted by cancer. The BC Cancer Foundation brings donors, cancer patients, families, health professionals and scientists together to find a solution for this disease.

There is no...