Alberta Cancer Foundation

Local startup Oncobiotix to receive $100,000 to advance cancer and microbiome researchCALGARY, Alberta, May 31, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Alberta Cancer Foundation is pleased to announce the latest recipient of the novel Breakthrough Fund—Calgary start-up Oncobiotix will be awarded $100,000 to further advance its project focused on cancer and microbiome research. The Breakthrough Fund is a transformative approach to philanthropy, designed to propel Alberta’s most promising cancer research from the lab to the market, leading to improved patient outcomes. This project, led by Dr. Saif Sikdar, CEO of Oncobiotix and postdoctoral research fellow at the Riddell Centre for Cancer Immunotherapy, aims to harness microbiome-derived compounds to enhance cancer immunotherapy. Immunotherapies, particularly immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies, offer new hope for patients with certain cancers. However, the efficacy of ICB therapy is limited, with only 20-30 per cent of patients responding to treatment. One factor contributing to this is the composition of bacteria in the patient's gut, referred to as their microbiome, which is often very different from patient to patient. A microbiome is a ‘community’ of tiny organisms—bacteria, viruses, fungi—that live in and on a body, particularly in the gut. Microbiomes play a crucial role in digestion, immunity and mood regulation, acting like a mini ecosystem that supports your overall health. Oncobiotix is looking to overcome these limitations by identifying the chemical mediators of ICB enhancement that are secreted by the “good” bacteria and develop them into adjuvant drug treatments for immunotherapy. These drugs would be more affordable than bacterial transplantation, easier to manufacture, delivered in hospitals and unaffected by antibiotic treatment. “Our drug holds the promise to improve the lives of cancer patients by harnessing the power of their microbiome to enhance their response to immunotherapy,” says Saif Sikdar. “The Breakthrough Fund will significantly help us optimize our drug dosing regimen before initiating the IND-enabling studies and subsequent clinical trials. This is a crucial step towards bringing a promising therapy to patients. We deeply appreciate the support from the Alberta Cancer Foundation and Breakthrough Fund investors.” “Congratulations to Dr. Sikdar and his team on this well-deserved recognition,” says Wendy Beauchesne, CEO, Alberta Cancer Foundation. “The Breakthrough Fund was created to bridge the gap between research and practical application, ensuring that big ideas like theirs reach the market, becoming accessible and beneficial to patients with cancer. This project aligns with the Foundation’s mission to enhance the quality of life for Albertans facing cancer by supporting advancements in early detection and treatment.” Alberta is home to some of the world's brightest scientific minds working on innovative cancer treatments for better patient outcomes. The Breakthrough Fund supports these innovators by providing the financial backing needed to move ideas from research labs to global markets. By harnessing the business instincts of Alberta’s private sector and donors, the Fund aims to accelerate the commercialization of these projects, which may include new therapeutics, diagnostics or medical devices, all of which focus on improving how cancer is treated. “The Breakthrough Fund combines the strengths of philanthropy and investment to propel promising research towards commercialization,” says Cory Janssen, chair, Breakthrough Fund and co-founder and co-CEO, AltaML. “This model not only supports the development of new cancer treatments but also attracts investment to our province, driving economic growth and enhancing our global competitiveness in health innovation.” The Breakthrough Fund’s model invites local investors to make a five-year commitment, supporting proof of principle grants annually, helping advance research to a stage where venture capitalists and partners can bring the solutions to market. Successful commercialization will lead to returns reinvested into the fund, creating a sustainable cycle of innovation and support. This is the inaugural year of the Alberta Cancer Foundation Breakthrough Fund, with the first two recipients named in Edmonton earlier this year. For media inquiries, contact: Ryan Kelly | VP, Communications and Community PartnershipsAlberta Cancer Foundation | 780.220.8791 | ryan.kelly@albertacancer.ca About the Alberta Cancer FoundationCreating more moments for Albertans facing cancer by inspiring our community to give to innovation in detection, treatment and care. Albertans helping Albertans is at the core of everything the Alberta Cancer Foundation does. As the official fundraising partner for every cancer centre in Alberta, our very purpose comes from our desire to create more moments for all Albertans facing cancer, no matter where they live or the type of cancer they are facing. From the Canmore mountains to the canola fields in Lloydminster, we make life better for Albertans facing cancer by supporting world-class research and patient care, close to home. For more information, visit albertacancer.ca.

Nanostics and Alberta Health Services (AHS) agreement enables collaboration with AHS data scientists to develop new tools to improve the diagnosis of urological diseases. This collaboration will leverage Alberta's comprehensive digital healthcare assets to improve patient care while satisfying all AHS privacy concerns. EDMONTON, AB, April 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Nanostics Inc., a precision health company developing diagnostic tests with its ClarityDX® platform technology, is excited to announce a partnership with Cancer Care Alberta, Alberta Health Services (AHS) to leverage advanced data analytics from Connect Care and the Cancer Care Alberta Data Environment for Cancer Inquiries and Decisions (DECIDe). This agreement will streamline access to Connect Care's powerful and consolidated "one record, one patient, one health clinical information system" to help drive diagnostic and prognostic innovations in urological care in Alberta. Continue Reading Applying data to develop more accurate tools for early detection of disease, for better patient outcomes. Photo credit Nanostics (CNW Group/Nanostics) Access to Alberta's clinical information database will greatly boost the progress of an Alberta Innovates funded project, led by Dr. John Lewis, Bird Dogs Chair in Translational Cancer Research at the University of Alberta, in developing new tools for early detection of urological diseases such as bladder cancer. These disease detection tools use both biological and clinical information to accurately determine a patient's risk of having a specific urological disease so the best treatment can be provided. The agreement outlines AHS' commitment to supporting the project by anonymizing the data, running algorithms on the data internally, and sharing the results with Nanostics' research and development team. In turn, Nanostics' team will utilize the data and results to generate trained machine learning models to improve the diagnosis and prediction of urological diseases such as bladder cancer. The sharing of new intellectual property and revenue derived from the commercialization of any future technologies was also established. "Alberta's one healthcare system for all has created very valuable health-related data assets that are a great resource for researchers and clinicians looking to improve patient care", said Dr. John Lewis, CEO of Nanostics and Bird Dogs Chair of Translational Oncology at the University of Alberta. "Partnering with AHS provides an opportunity to apply the data towards developing more accurate tools for the early detection of disease, which will lead to better patient outcomes." "Innovative collaborations such as this have the ability to leverage data to improve patient care and outcomes benefiting patients for years to come.", said Dr. Lorraine Shack, Director, Cancer Advanced Analytics, Cancer Care Alberta, AHS. "As we look to the future of cancer care, providing as much anonymous data as we can only help improve the predictions, diagnosis, and outcomes for cancer patients. That is something we are honoured to be a part of." Nanostics recently launched the ClarityDX Prostate test at its newly accredited clinical lab in Edmonton, Alberta. This innovative blood test, that uses biological data, clinical information, and machine learning models to generate a risk score for aggressive prostate cancer, marks a significant advancement in prostate cancer screening. It provides critical support to men aged 40 to 75 and their healthcare providers in making more informed decisions, with 3X the accuracy, about whether a biopsy is required following a high prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test result. This project will allow Nanostics to expand its product offerings to other urological diseases. The Alberta Cancer Foundation is proud of the role philanthropy has played in advancing the innovative and foundational work happening at Nanostics," says Wendy Beauchesne, CEO, Alberta Cancer Foundation. "Congratulations to Dr. Lewis and Cancer Care Alberta on this transformative partnership, which is a reflection of all of our commitments to advancing cancer detection and treatment and making life better for people facing urological cancer." About Nanostics Inc. Nanostics is a private Canadian company that develops and commercializes novel and noninvasive diagnostic tests. Its core technology, ClarityDX®, uses advanced machine learning algorithms to create a disease risk score. ClarityDX is applicable to a wide range of cancers and other diseases. Nanostics' lead product, ClarityDX Prostate®, is a test that improves the accuracy of detecting clinically significant prostate cancer. Read more at: . Follow Nanostics on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. About Alberta Health Services Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than four million adults and children living in Alberta. Our mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans. Our current focus is on reducing emergency department wait-times, improving EMS response times, increasing access to surgeries, and improving patient flow. For more information, visit: albertahealthservices.ca About Alberta Cancer Foundation Creating more moments for Albertans facing cancer by inspiring our community to give to innovation in detection, treatment and care. Albertans helping Albertans is at the core of everything the Alberta Cancer Foundation does. As the official fundraising partner for every Alberta Health Services cancer centre in Alberta, our very purpose comes from our desire to create more moments for all Albertans facing cancer, no matter where they live or the type of cancer they are facing. the Canmore mountains to the canola fields in Lloydminster, we make life better for Albertans facing cancer by supporting world-class research and patient care, close to home. For more information, visit albertacancer.ca. SOURCE Nanostics

The City of Calgary to recognize April 18-24, 2024, as OWN.CANCER week; local organizations to support OWN.CANCER campaign through individual initiativesCALGARY, Alberta, April 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the Alberta Cancer Foundation, University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services kick off a two-month, multi-partner donation match drive for the OWN.CANCER campaign. All donations made to the OWN.CANCER campaign through UCalgary Giving Day between April 4-18 will be matched twice – once by Ucalgary up to $2,500 per gift, and again, up to $2,500, by Calgary OWN.CANCER donors Glen and Erin Rumpel. In addition, all donations made directly to OWN.CANCER between April 2-May 26, 2024, will be matched up to $250,000 thanks to the generosity of the Mid Southern Alberta Toyota Dealers (Canyon Creek Toyota, Charlesglen Toyota, Cochrane Toyota, Country Hill Toyota, Heninger Toyota, High River Toyota, Red Deer Toyota, South Pointe Toyota and Stampede Toyota). All funds raised will move the OWN.CANCER campaign one step closer to its $250 million fundraising goal for the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre, one of the largest cancer centres in North America set to open in fall 2024. The Arthur Child will be a global hub for cutting-edge cancer research and treatment, transforming cancer care for generations to come. “We are truly grateful for the generosity of the Mid Southern Alberta Dealers to make this matching campaign possible,” says Heather Culbert, OWN.CANCER campaign co-chair. “The success of the OWN.CANCER campaign would not be possible without the tremendous support of the community, and we look forward to generating more awareness about this incredible facility during the months of April and May.” As Albertans continue to come together to take a stand against cancer, several local organizations will be partnering with OWN.CANCER to support fundraising efforts alongside the ongoing donation match campaign. The City of Calgary has also declared April 18-24, 2024, as OWN.CANCER Week in the city. Calgarians can expect to see landmarks around the city lit up during this week, including the Calgary Tower and Reconciliation Bridge. Additionally, OWN.CANCER has partnered with the Calgary Flames, Calgary Roughnecks and Calgary Wranglers. In April, $5 from every home game ticket purchased through the OWN.CANCER or Calgary Flames webpages will be donated to the campaign. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here. Calgary-based Cabin Brewing has also launched a fundraising initiative in support of the campaign. The brewery has crafted a limited edition, non-alcoholic OWN.CANCER Hop Water, with $1 from every can sold going to support research and care the Arthur Child. “The unwavering resiliency and dedication from Calgarians and local organizations to OWN.CANCER once and for all is deeply inspiring,” says Deborah Yedlin, OWN.CANCER campaign co-chair. “The Arthur Child will be a beacon of hope for our friends, family and loved ones – but we can’t achieve its full potential without the continued support of all Albertans. Every bit helps.” For more information, or to donate to the OWN.CANCER campaign, visit www.owncancer.ca/match/. About OWN.CANCER The OWN.CANCER campaign is on a mission to raise $250 million in support of improved research, treatment and care at Calgary’s new world-class Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre. This game-changing initiative is backed by three trusted community institutions: Alberta Health Services, Canada’s first and largest fully integrated provincial health system; the University of Calgary, a globally recognized leader in medical research and home to tomorrow’s health-care professionals; and the Alberta Cancer Foundation, the official fundraising partner for all 17 cancer care centres across the province. Currently nearing completion, the Arthur Child will open its doors in fall 2024 as one of the largest comprehensive cancer centres in North America. About the Alberta Cancer Foundation Albertans helping Albertans is at the core of everything the Alberta Cancer Foundation does. Our very purpose comes from our desire to create more moments for all Albertans facing cancer, no matter where they live or the type of cancer they are facing. From the Canmore mountains to the canola fields in Lloydminster – we support leading edge treatment, care and research that is making a difference for cancer patients across the province. As the fundraising partner for the 17 Alberta Health Services cancer centres, including the new Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Calgary, we make life better for Albertans facing cancer by supporting world-class research and patient care, right here in our own backyard. About Alberta Health ServicesAlberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than four million adults and children living in Alberta. Our mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans. Our current focus is on reducing emergency department wait-times, improving EMS response times, increasing access to surgeries, and improving patient flow. About the University of CalgaryUCalgary is Canada’s entrepreneurial university, located in Canada’s most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 35,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada’s leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at UCalgary. For media inquiries, please contact: Rebecca HurlBrookline Public Relations, Inc. rhurl@brooklinepr.com