The Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) congratulates its renowned researcher Dr. Tarik Möröy, Director of the Hematopoiesis and Cancer Research Unit, on being named one of the winners of a major European competition for major innovative research initiatives in the fight against cancer (TRANSCAN -ERA Net).
As part of this major project, 15 outstanding research consortia will receive a combined total of €16.7 million (26,79 millions in Canadian dollars) in funding from the joint transnational call Combination Therapies Against Cancer: New Opportunities for Translational Research.
This highly competitive funding initiative supports innovative, interdisciplinary cancer research, bringing together top scientists and clinicians from Europe, Turkey and Canada. Selected projects will focus on new combination therapies, based on a better understanding of drug mechanisms and their influence on cancer development and progression.
The project involves three international consortia including Canadian researchers, supported by co-funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Cancer Research Society (CRS).
‘’It is very gratifying to see that the cutting-edge research carried out in Dr. Möröy's laboratory is receiving international recognition and will thus be able to be deployed to the full, in the service of collective health.’’ - Dr. Jean-François Côté, President and Scientific Director of IRCM.
The project
Combination therapy research to target clonal hematopoiesis in solid malignancies.
With age, certain blood stem cells can develop mutations - a phenomenon known as clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) - which can increase the risk and development of certain cancers, such as lung or pancreatic cancer. These mutations can create a long-lasting, harmful inflammatory environment in the body and alter the immune system.
Scientists from Canada, Germany and Austria have formed SARAH, a consortium to study how these mutations affect cancer growth and response to treatment. Dr. Tarik Möröy is contributing to the project, which aims to identify new drug combinations that can target both cancer and the inflammation caused by these CHIP mutations. Dr Möröy and his team hope to improve treatment outcomes and personalize therapies for cancer patients, particularly those with CHIP mutations.
‘’I am convinced that with this project, we will finally be able to influence and remodel the tumor microenvironment to improve clinical outcomes for patients with lung and pancreatic cancers. These two types of cancer are among the most aggressive and difficult to treat. In the long term, this team of international experts aims to change treatment paradigms in oncology by addressing the microenvironment infiltrated by the immune system, thereby improving the efficacy and personalization of cancer therapy. ‘’- Dr Tarik Möröy
