Cancer Epidemiology & Prevention

The team, led by Dr. François Bénard, has extensive experience in the pre-clinical development of radiotracers for PET/CT imaging, their translation to the clinic, and clinical trial design/execution. They have developed several new radiopharmaceuticals targeting tumour receptors, notably peptides and small molecule ligands. Dr. Bénard initiated the program that developed cyclotron production of 99mTc, now in clinical trials at multiple sites in Canada. A state-of-the-art cyclotron and molecular imaging facility was also established at BC Cancer.

This program focuses on cervical cancer prevention, primarily HPV-based screening. HPV FOCAL, a landmark BC study was conducted through BC Cancer and the findings continue to be used to evaluate the protection of HPV based screening for cervical cancer prevention. This program conducting ongoing prevalence of HPV in the province and evaluates the impact of HPV vaccination on the prevalence of cervical dysplasia in BC. All projects are conducted in collaboration with the University of British Columbia, Women’s Health Research Institute and the BC Centre for Disease Control.

A program focused on the study of the interaction between susceptibility genes and environmental factors (including lifestyle) in the causation of cancer. The program has conducted an ongoing series of studies examining the interaction between genetic predisposition and environmental and lifestyle factors for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, melanoma, and multiple myeloma, as well as breast, ovarian, prostate, bladder and skin cancers.

The Nutrition, Metabolism and Cancer Prevention Program is focused on the intersections of nutrition, human health, and public health challenges. Dr. Murphy's program of research draws on her PhD training in Nutrition and postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health in Epidemiology. Her research uses systems biology approaches, epidemiologic and administrative health data to a) provide novel insight on diet and health relationships including mechanisms underlying relationships, and b) identify novel strategies to promote health, particularly healthy eating.