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Cole Foundation injects $1 million to bolster pediatric leukemia research in Montreal

Thanks to the Cole Foundation, pediatric leukemia research has again this year received support to recruit some of the best and brightest researchers in the field.

Published: 11 May 2012

New grants and fellowships in pediatric leukemia research to be created at Université de Montréal, ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ and INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier

Thanks to the Cole Foundation, pediatric leukemia research has again this year received support to recruit some of the best and brightest researchers in the field. The family foundation has generously pledged $1 million over the next 3 years in support of up-and-coming, Montreal-based researchers at the Université de Montréal, ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ and the Université du Québec's Institut national de la recherche scientifique - Institut Armand-Frappier. The Cole Foundation investment will include:

  • Three Cole Foundation Transition Awards, for a total of $375,000, to allow INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier and the Université de Montréal and their affiliated medical research institutes to hire postdoctoral researchers for tenure-track positions.
  • An additional $700,000 in fellowship grants to bolster research in the area of pediatric and young adult leukemia and lymphoma. ÌýThis new support builds on the Cole Foundation's Fellowship Programme, which was created 5 years ago to encourage young researchers in search of a cure for pediatric leukemia and related diseases. Since 2007, the Cole Foundation has generously funded over 80 post-doctoral and graduate research fellowships for a total of over $5 million dollars.

"The faculties of medicine at the Université de Montréal and ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ, along with the Institut Armand-Frappier, produce scientists who are at the forefront of the international battle against pediatric leukemia," said Barry Cole, President of the Cole Foundation. Ìý"These new investments, coupled with our ongoing Cole Fellowships, will serve as important tools to empower tomorrow's scientists - right here in Montreal - so they may find new ways to conquer pediatric leukemia and related diseases."

"This support from the Cole Foundation gives a major boost to the young scientists in Montreal focusing efforts on pediatric and young adult leukemia and lymphoma," said Dr. David Eidelman, Vice-Principal (Health Affairs) and Dean of Medicine. "Leveraging the research being conducted across sister universities and institutes helps us stay at the forefront in our fight against disease, especially in current economic times. The Foundation's support is invaluable to these efforts."

His opinion is seconded by Dr. Hélène Boisjoly, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Université de Montréal. Ìý"We are delighted that the Cole Foundation is supporting our research endeavours in this critical health field," she said. "These awards make a concrete contribution to both our researchers' work and to the future health of our wider community."

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Transition Awards

Sonia Cellot, MD, RCPSC, CHU Sainte JustineÌýProject: The role of histone demethylases in modulating hematopoietic stem cell fate, in both normal and leukemic cells

Hélène Decaluwe, MD, MSc, PhD, FRCPC, CHU Sainte JustineÌýProject: Role of common gamma chain-dependent cytokines in the prevention and treatment of relapsing leukemia

Krista Heinonen, PhD, INRS-Institut Armand-FrappierÌýProject: The role of non-canonical Wnt signaling in normal hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell biology and in pediatric/young adult leukemia

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2012 - 2014 Cole Foundation Fellows

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Daphne Dupéré-Richer, PhD program, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Experimental MedicineÌýProject: Molecular mechanism of acquired resistance to histone deacetylase inhibitors in lymphoma cells

Yi Fang, Post PhD program, Montreal Children's Hospital, ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ Health Centre (MUHC), Pediatric Oncology & HematologyÌýProject: Microvesicles as mediators and messagers of leukemogenesis in pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (pAML)

Johanna Mancini, PhD program, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Experimental MedicineÌýProject: Targeting Telomeres and Telomerase in Cancer and Leukemia using G-quadruplex Ligands

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Université de Montréal

Gloria Assaker, PhD program, IRIC, Molecular and Cell BiologyÌýProject: A genome-wide screen for regulators of ligand activity in Notch signaling

Nicolas Montpas, PhD program, CHU Ste-Justine, Molecular and Cell BiologyÌýProject: The role of CXCR7 as a negative modulator of leulemia bone marrow niche homing

Eustache Oussa, PhD program, Hôpital Maisonneve-RosemontÌýProject: Role de TRAF1 dans la survie des leucémie et lymphomes

Caroline Pabst, Post PhD program, IRIC, MedicineÌýProject: Identification of self-renewal agonists of primary human AML stem cells

Xavier Robellet, Post PhD program, IRIC, Molecular and Cell BiologyÌýProject: Rôle du complexe condensine dans l'intégrité génomique et la multiplication cellulaire

Sarah Tsao, Post PhD program, IRIC, Molecular and Cell BiologyÌýProject: Inhibition of histone deacetylation as a novel antifuntal therapy in leukemia patients

Diogo Veiga, Post PhD program, IRIC, Hematopoiesis & Leukemia Research UnitÌýProject: Multi-level approach to discover genetic mutations that drive T-cell transformation

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École Polytechnique de Montréal

Mohamed Aissiou, PhD program, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Biomedical EngineeringÌýProject: Leucémie aiguë chez l'enfant : détection précoce de la cardiotoxicité de la doxorubicine par IRM multi-paramétrique

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On the Web:

About ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ's Faculty of Medicine:

About the Université de Montréal's Faculty of Medicine:

About INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier:

About the Cole Foundation:

The Cole Foundation offers two-year fellowships to clinical, postdoctoral and doctoral graduate scientists dedicated to research in leukemia and leukemia-related diseases in children and young adults. ÌýThrough its fellowships, the Cole Foundation has committed more than $5 million to support leukemia researchers in Greater Montreal laboratories and hospitals. ÌýThe Cole Foundation was created in 1980 by the late businessman John N. Cole to support Montreal-based research in pediatric oncology and hematology. ÌýHe established the Penny Cole Laboratory at the Montreal Children's Hospital and the Jack Cole Chair in Pediatric Oncology and Hematology at ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ.

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