News

BC Cancer researchers receive Cancer Research Society’s Doctoral Research Awards

Three BC Cancer graduate students are 2024 recipients of Doctoral Research Awards from the Cancer Research Society (CRS), receiving new funding to support their innovative research aimed at better understanding cancer.

Doctoral Research Awards recipients 

Doctoral Research Awards invests in the future of cancer research through the support of graduate students pursuing cancer research at an eligible Canadian institution.

Dr. Katey Enfield is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC), and a Scientist in the Department of Integrative Oncology at the BC Cancer Research Institute (BCCRI). Dr. Enfield received her PhD from UBC under the supervision of Dr. Wan Lam, where she employed a multiomics approach to discover and characterize oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes. 

As the most commonly diagnosed cancer, lung cancer accounts for a quarter of all cancer deaths — more people will die from lung cancer this year than from colorectal, pancreatic and breast cancers combined.

This is due to the fact that most patients are referred to BC Cancer once they’ve developed symptoms. As a result, nearly half of lung cancer cases are detected in Stage 4 after the cancer has metastasized. The five-year survival rate for the disease is 62% in Stage 1 but drops to just 3% in Stage 4.

Congratulations to Dr. Zhenwei Ma of Gao Lab (Integrative Oncology) for receiving a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship. 

The award is tied to the project titled, "Hydrogel adhesive artificial mucosa: a paradigm-shifting platform for esophageal cancer treatment and management.”

The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program provides funding to the very best postdoctoral applicants, both nationally and internationally, who will positively contribute to the country's economic, social, and research-based growth. 

BC Cancer 2024 Summer Research Studentship competition, sponsored by the BC Cancer Foundation, supports senior undergraduate university students and/or junior medical or dental students seeking hands-on training in cancer research in British Columbia. These summer studentships may address any discipline of cancer research including clinical, translational, basic, behavioural and population research areas.

The 2024 awardees are:

Congratulations to Fumiya Inaba (Integrative Oncology), for receiving a Canada Graduate Scholarships - Master's Award (CGS-M) from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

The award is tied to a project titled, "Deep Learning Nuclei Segmentation to Predict Risk Groups in Prostate Cancer.”

The CIHR CGS-M awards provide special recognition and financial support to students who are pursuing a Master's degree in a health-related field in Canada, and are expected to have an exceptionally high potential for future research achievement and productivity.