Finding new ways to tackle cancer

We are a community of researchers who are exploring how cancer develops and can be treated more effectively.

Through the work of many scientists and clinical trial teams, there are better treatment options for many types of cancer including breast, prostate, testicular, cervical, and thyroid cancer, melanoma and Hodgkin lymphoma.

However, there are over 200 types of cancer that still lead to 240 thousand incidences in Canada annually and 240 deaths here each day.

Our events feature a series of short, engaging presentations about cancer research that is making a difference. We collaborate with DiscoveryLab to connect funders, investors and business supports with teams aiming for clinical trials of new treatments, diagnostics and devices that combat cancer.

Researchers are studying the molecules and conditions involved in causing a wide variety of cancer types which lack effective treatment options.

Students, postdoctoral researchers, and established scientists are invited to present their cancer research projects in accessible ways to the public at our events.

Our aim is to design better medicines for patients at lower cost; our ambition is to improve healthcare for everyone living with cancer.

DiscoveryLab at EdmontonUnlimited

This event was held in partnership with ADEPT at Edmonton Unlimited on Friday November 29, 2024. We discussed the latest advances with biotech company leaders giving presentations on diagnostics, medical devices and therapeutics.

Michael Mengel, Professor, FoMD, UofA & Director, Alberta Transplant Institute will open the in-person diagnostics session

Presenters on November 29, 2024:

Ameneh Madjd, COO & Co-Founder, D2Type developing a mobile app to empower at-risk individuals to prevent & reverse Type 2 Diabetes.

Anooshirvan Shayeganpour, CEO, Invitvo Pharmaceuticals, PhD. University of Alberta

Asghar Fallah, CEO, RNA Revive Therapeutics; Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Alberta

Daniel Salamon, COO, Northernmost, modernizing kidney preservation & logistics. Previously at Health Innovation Platform Partnerships, NAIT

Hamid Abdelrhman, CEO, Canvita Canada Ltd; Clinical Pharmacist Shoppers Drug Mart; Hospital Pharmacist Alberta Health Services

Irene Harmsen, CTO & Co-Founder, Cove Neurosciences Inc. Neuroscience Researcher, University Health Network

Jumai Abioye, Founder and CEO, PanAccess Innovations Inc. Ph.D. University of Glasgow

Leyla Kara, CEO, SpectraCann; Business Mentor, Futurpreneur Skills; Board Member, Nia Health

Mahsa Mohseni, Researcher, University of Alberta. Previously Medical Laboratory Technologist, Resalat Medical Laboratory

Mehdi Mohammadi Ashani, CEO & Founder, Fluidome BioChipTech; Senior Scientist (PhD, MSc, PMP), University of Calgary

Milad Afshar, Co-Founder & CEO, Neurosense Technologies. Previously CTO, NeuronicLABs; Director of Product Development, NeuronisWorks

Mohammad Bani Amer, Director, KHYAL Inc. BSc, Chemical Engineering, Al-Hussein Bin Talal University

Roger Zemp, CSO, CliniSonix Inc. and Professor, Engineering-Biomedical Engineering, University of Alberta

April 17, 2024 talks include:

This meeting at UofA features 25 speakers from start-ups and small companies looking for advisors and funding through the University of Alberta Innovation Fund and DiscoveryLab. These include:

Colin Coros, COO, Nanostics, a clinical-stage precision health company developing diagnostic tests for cancer.

Jana Rieger, CEO & co-Founder, True Angle, developing wearable digital devices for restoring swallowing function in patients.

Daniel Nisakar Meenakshi Sundaram, RJH Biosciences, developing nucleic acid-based delivery agents for leukemia therapy.

March 5, 2024 talks include:

This meeting at UofA features 25 speakers from start-ups and small companies looking for advisors and funding through the University of Alberta Innovation Fund and DiscoveryLab. These include:

Jeremie Bourqui, Founder & CEO, Wave View Imaging is developing the Wave View Scanner for breast density assessment

Todd McMullen, Director, Pavonis Diagnostics Inc. is commercializing a label-free, thin film platform for performing immunoassays.

Piyush Kumar, President & CEO, WWiKY BioSciences offers precision theranostic (therapy+diagnostic) management of hypoxic tumors.

December 5, 2023 talks include:

This meeting features 22 speakers from start-ups and small companies looking for advisors and funding through DiscoveryLab. These include:

Aru Narendran, Founder & CEO, Teresagenics Pharma Inc. (Calgary), developing a small molecule drug for cancer treatment

Colin Coros, CCO, Nanostics, a clinical-stage precision health company developing diagnostic tests.

Catalina Vasquez, COO, Nanostics, a clinical-stage precision health company developing diagnostic tests.

Sept 25-26, 2023 talks include:

This 2 day conference includes talks and panel discussions by:

Piyush Kumar,President & CEO, WWiKY BioSciences (Edmonton) is developing cancer theranostics that exploit hypoxia, which leads to metastatic progression and resistance

Risini Weeratna, Director, Disruptive Technology Solutions Cell & Gene Therapy Challenge Program and Senior Research Officer/Team Lead Cancer Immunology, National Research Council

Kevin Hay, Clinician Scientist at the Terry Fox Laboratory and Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program of BC in Vancouver, focuses on chimeric antigen receptor T cells toxicities and therapies

Jailal Ablack, Head of Preclinical Research, Entos Pharmaceuticals, focuses on delivery of genetic medicines, animal models of cancer, in vivo assay development and characterization of antibody therapeutics

Christy Holtby, Vice President - Philanthropy, Alberta Cancer Foundation, previously Managing Director, Investment & Partnerships, Amii) and VP, Strategic Partnerships, UHF

May 26, 2023 talks include:

Carrie Shemanko founded Crocus Biomedical, a University of Calgary-based startup that has developed a blood and tumour tissue-based molecular test for physicians to identify individuals at high risk of breast cancer bone metastasis. 

Colin Coros, CCO, Nanostics Inc., an Edmonton-based a clinical-stage precision health company with a detection platform for a range of diseases including prostate and bladder cancer.

Kathleen McMahon, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Wave View Imaging Inc. (Calgary) is developing pain-free and timely breast imaging systems using microwave technology.

Michael Weickert, CEO, Pacylex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.a University of Alberta spinout which is developing a first in class myristoylation inhibitor as a new oral daily therapy for hematologic and solid tumor cancers. 

March 14, 2023 with DiscoveryLab

Kathleen McMahon, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Wave View Imaging Inc. (Calgary) is developing pain-free and timely breast imaging systems using microwave technology.

Michael Weinfeld, Vice-President, CSO & Co-founder of WWiKY BioSciences (Edmonton) which is looking to build a cancer-free future by developing a spectrum of cancer theranostics (both therapy and diagnostics) that strike at the core of treatment failure.

December 13, 2022 with DiscoveryLab

Michael Stewart President, IMBiotechnologies (Edmonton) is developing FDA-approved Ekobi® Embolization Microspheres for minimally invasive control of blood supply to tissues. These biodegradable agents are detectable by ultrasound for the treatment of malignant and non-malignant vascularized tumors, uterine fibroids and enlarged prostates. Michael's experience spans the medical device and biopharmaceutical sector, he is an inventor on patents including IMB’s discoveries.

Nikhil Joshi, CEO, Clinical Trial Hero (Edmonton) leverages network effects for patient recruitment to help fill clinical trials faster. They have developed a free, unique Android & iPhone app designed to help people suffering from illnesses find clinical trials. Nikhil Joshi is an internist, clinical immunologist, cancer survivor, award-winning writer and former national radio host.

Shairaz Baksh, CEO, BioImmuno Designs (Edmonton) is a preclinical pharmaceutical company focused on the development of first-in-class anti-inflammatory therapeutics.This startup is dedicated to exploring the therapeutic potential of small molecules to treat conditions including inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, pancreatic cancer, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, inflammatory breast cancer.

September 13, 2022 with DiscoveryLab

Piyush Kumar, President and CEO of WWiKY BioSciences (Edmonton) is developing Hypoxin products for cancer imaging and treatment.

Randy Duguay CEO of Health Gauge (Edmonton) offers an AI-based personal digital health platform encompassing devices, software and cloud services.

May 17, 2022 with DiscoveryLab

Michael Weickert, CEO, Pacylex Pharmaceuticals spoke about the plans to complete phase 2 clinical studies of their first in class small molecule cancer therapeutic agents in leukemia and solid tumors.  Michael is an executive leader and health-tech entrepreneur, with contributions across the biotech, medical device, pharmaceutical, and drug delivery industries to bring multiple breakthrough therapeutic and medtech products through development.

Leanne Brownoff & Danielle Bragge, Co-Founders, VR Pathways Inc. is developing mental wellness apps including PocketBrain. These are designed to enhance evidenced-based psychological therapies for use by clinicians to treat stress, anxiety, PTSD and phobias, within a safe virtual reality environment.

February 15, 2023 with DiscoveryLab

Aru Narendran, Professor, University of Calgary, spoke about his development of a “trial-in-a-cell” approach for future personalized cancer treatment in children.

Previous Speakers include:

Courtney Mowat is a member of CRINA and a graduate student in Cancer Science within the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on immunotherapy and the genetic instability of colorectal cancer.

Nicholas Ruel is a member of CRINA and a graduate student in the Department of Pharmacology and is studying how transporters interact with purine nucleobases like adenine, hypoxanthine, as well as 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP), which is used during the maintenance phase of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Speakers on November 6, 2018:

Olena Bilyk is a Postdoctoral Researcher in experimental oncology working with Dr. Lynne Postovit and will present Embryonic protein Nodal as a novel marker of progression and drug resistance in ovarian cancer.

Rashmi Panigrahi is a Postdoctoral Researcher from Mark Glover's lab in the Department of Biochemistry, and is working towards gaining structural insights into DNA damage repair pathway.

Jingjie Xiao will present on the importance of measuring body composition in cancer patients, and is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Departments of Oncology and of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences working in Dr. Carla Prado's lab.

Speakers on March 6, 2018:

David Eisenstat, Chair of the Department of Oncology, is a pediatric oncologist who is passionate about helping children conquer cancer, and focuses on better understanding retinoblastoma, a malignant tumour of the eye, as well as other pediatric cancers and brain tumours with origins during development.

Clayton Bell is pursuing a Master of Science in Oncology and Cancer Biology at the University of Alberta, and is part of a team that is developing a therapeutic agent for bladder cancer.

Mohammad Ali, a postdoc working with Michael Hendzel and Leo Spyracopoulos, found that the protein RYBP prevents DNA repair in cancer cells, including breast cancer, which in turn could make chemo or radiation therapy more effective.

Speakers on December 5, 2017:

Justin Bailey, Research Associate at the University of Alberta's Medical Isotope and Cyclotron Facility and Department of Oncology, works with Professor Ralf Schirrmacher on developing new imaging agents for oncology including nanoparticles and radionuclides.

Nawaid Usmani, Radiation Oncologist and Associate Professor, Department of Oncology, University of Alberta, focuses on prostate brachytherapy, which is an increasingly popular treatment option for localized prostate cancer. He will speak on Prostate brachytherapy: Treating patients with radioactive pellets.

Speakers on September 5, 2017:

Lynne Postovit studies how cells develop into tumours in response to cues in their local microenvironment.
Co-director, Cancer Research Institute of Northern Alberta and Professor, Department of Oncology
Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry

Tina Rinker directs the Centre for Bioengineering Research and Education at the University of Calgary, and founded Syantra Diagnostics and KRS Biopharma to detect breast cancer earlier and improve outcomes.

Larry Fliegel studies how breast cancer cells grow, invade and metastasize due to altered proteins that control acid levels. He is a member of CRINA and the Membrane Group, and a Professor, Department of Biochemistry in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry

Speakers on March 7, 2017:

Ashlee Matkin is developing new ways to detect cancer in thyroid nodules.

Nasim Danaei is tackling a new kinase target involved in triple negative breast cancer.

Matthew Benesch is discovering biomarkers and autoinflammatory agents for cancer treatment.

Speakers on December 6, 2016:

Cameron Smithers, PhD student studying a new prostate cancer target using drug fragments and research magnets.

Lian Willetts, Post-doctoral Fellow exploring signaling pathways and identifying drivers for human cancer metastasis.

Kausar Saboohi, Scientist developing molecular libraries and protein thermal shift assays to stabilize and exploit drug targets.

Speakers on September 6, 2016:

Steffane McLennan was awarded her Bachelor of Science (Honors) in Biochemistry in 2016 from the University of Alberta. She is plans to find new ways using drug fragments to inhibit an oncogenic kinase that causes triple negative breast cancer.

Frodo Bark is an undergraduate student at the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Science who is studying how the Fyn signaling protein interacts with cell surface lipids and receptors to regulate growth thanks to support from NACTRC.

Sonya Soh is an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biochemistry at the University of Alberta. She is studying the phosphatase SHP2, and is using structure-based methods to investigate the effects of mutations including those responsible for its hyperactivity in leukemia.

Anna Jutla is finishing her undergraduate studies in the Faculty of Science majoring in Chemistry. She is working with Dr. Michael Overduin as a summer student on an oncogenic phosphatase, SHP2, and is using an array of biophysical methods to assess binding affinities between the enzyme and drug-like molecules.

Other involved and looking forward to presenting their stories include many others from the community of hundreds of researchers at the Cancer Research Institute of Northern Alberta (CRINA).

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