Congratulations to ICR’s Spring 2025 Early Career Researcher in Cancer Awardees!

The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR)’s Early Career Researcher Award in Cancer is awarded to early career researchers with the highest-ranked applications in the Project Grant competition that fall within ICR’s mandate. Recognizing scientific excellence at the early career level, the Institute is proud to be supporting four outstanding awardees in the Spring 2025 Project Grant competition. ICR extends a warm congratulations to the following early career researchers:

Dr. Long V. Nguyen, University Health Network

Dr. Long V. Nguyen is a breast Medical Oncologist and Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and a Hold’em for Life Early Career Professor in Cancer Research in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. The Nguyen Lab studies clonal heterogeneity in human breast cancer to understand the relationship between genotype, phenotype and function in breast cancer – specifically the functional effects of genomic changes compared to the more transient effects of transcriptional plasticity.

Project funded: Functional properties and genetic dependencies of phenotypic plasticity in human triple-negative breast cancer

Dr. Marie-France Savard, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Dr. Marie-France Savard is a Clinician Investigator at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, a Medical Oncologist at the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa. She co-leads the REthinking Clinical Trials (REaCT) Program, Canada's largest pragmatic research program in oncology. Her research focuses on optimizing breast cancer care, reducing treatment toxicity, and leading patient-centered pragmatic trials. As a principal investigator, she has launched three multicentre randomized trials: REaCT-CHRONO, REaCT-70 pilot, and REaCT-TEMPO.

Project funded: A pragmatic, multicenter randomized study evaluating the benefits and risks of adjuvant endocrine therapy in patients aged 70 years or older with low-risk breast cancer (REaCT-70 Study)

Dr. Gilla Shapiro, University Health Network

Dr. Gilla Shapiro is a Psychologist and Clinician Scientist in the Department of Supportive Care at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Institute of Medical Science and within the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Dr. Shapiro’s research has focused on health decision making, health equity, and supporting patients with cancer. Her research is currently funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canadian Cancer Society.

Project funded: Improving Access and Wellbeing of Patients with Lung Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Lay Navigation Program

Dr. Robert J. Vanner, University Health Network

Dr. Robert Vanner is a Medical Oncologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre with the Gastrointestinal Site Group and Clonal Hematopoiesis Program. His research program uses large datasets, genomics, and animal models to define the impact of clonal hematopoiesis on clinical outcomes, with the goal of developing precision treatment strategies and novel therapeutics for patients with cancer and chronic disease.

Project funded: TET2-mutant clonal hematopoiesis as a determinant of breast cancer survival

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