A national research network to drive discoveries in palliative care for people with advanced cancer
People living with advanced cancer need treatments that relieve their symptoms and improve their quality of life. Unfortunately, existing treatments are not always effective. Dr. James Downar and Dr. Kieran Quinn and their collaborators in the Pan-Canadian Palliative Care Research Collaborative are building a national clinical trials network to accelerate Canada’s ability to be a world leader in the discovery of promising new treatments for people with advanced cancer. The goal is to ensure these treatments reach the people who need them faster.
Funded in partnership with
Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life of people with cancer and can be provided at any point in the cancer experience. Although new cancer treatments have improved survival dramatically in the past 20 years, palliative treatments for people with advanced cancer have changed little in that time. To improve people’s quality of life and relieve their symptoms, new and more effective treatments are needed.
With funding from the Canadian Cancer Society in partnership with Brain Canada, a diverse team of experts led by Dr. James Downar and Dr. Kieran Quinn and their collaborators in the Pan-Canadian Palliative Care Research Collaborative will build a nationwide research platform to accelerate clinical trials that evaluate new and promising palliative care treatments for people living with advanced cancer. First, they will focus on psychological distress, which patient partners have deemed a high priority. The team will establish 10 hubs across Canada to enroll patients and caregivers onto the platform, enabling them to choose the trials they will participate in and accelerate the creation of new knowledge. Researchers will assess each treatment to determine whether it improves meaningful outcomes for people with cancer and their families. The platform will also be used to support and train the next generation of palliative care researchers and help Canada become a world leader in clinical trials in palliative care.
This network will speed up the process of discovering and delivering new and effective treatments that improve the lives of people with advanced cancer and their families.
Team Members
- James Downar, Bruyère Research Institute
- Kieran Quinn, University of Toronto
- Joshua Black, BC Centre for Palliative Care
- Paul Daeninck, University of Manitoba
- Jonathan Downar, University of Toronto
- Andrea Feldstain, University of Calgary
- Bruno Gagnon, Laval University
- Catherine Goldie, Queen's University
- Peter Greenstreet, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
- Diane Guay, University of Sherbrooke
- Philippa Hawley, University of British Columbia
- Paul Hebert, Bruyere Research Institute
- Leonie Herx, University of Calgary
- Danielle Kain, Kingston Health Sciences Centre
- Christian La Riviere, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
- Caitlin Lees, Dalhousie University
- John Marshall, University of Toronto
- Kate Nelson, SickKids Research Institute
- Stuart Nicholls, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
- Jana Pilkey, University of Manitoba
- Jessica Simon, University of Calgary
- Zhimeng Jia, Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care
- Tim Ramsay, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
- Julia Ridley, University of British Columbia
- Justin Sanders, McGill University
- Aynharan Sinnarajah, Queen's University
- Amol Verma, St. Michael's Hospital
- Dong Vo, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
- Pete Wegier, Humber River Regional Hospital
- Gaelle Parsons, Pan-Canadian Palliative Care Research Collaborative (PCPCRC)
- Gwenn Boryski, PCPCRC
- Andree Chartrand, PCPCRC
- Roberta Casabon, PCPCRC
- Sonja Crosby, PCPCRC
- Amanda Dominey, PCPCRC
- Tim Monds, PCPCRC
- Jarshini Nanthakumar, PCPCRC
- Suzanne Bays, PCPCRC
- Rachel Boehm. Hospice Halifax
- Deanna Bryant, Ontario Palliative Care Network
- Shelly Cory, Candian Virtual Hospice
- Phillip Devereaux, Accelerating Clinical Trials Consortium (ACT)
- Neil Drimer, Healthcare Excellence Canada
- Laurel Gillespie, Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association
- Christine Gordon, Hospice Palliative Care Ontario
- Eman Hassan, BC Centre for Palliative Care
- David Henderson, Nova Scotia Health Authority
- Louise Kashuba, Covenant Health Palliative Institute
- Jeffrey Moat, Pallium Canada
- Ainslie Peggy, Health Canada
- Katherine Kortes-Miller, Lakehead University
- Liv Mendelsohn, Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence
- Erika Nicholson, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
- Koby Anderson, Bruyère Research Institute
- Mathieos Belayneh, University of British Columbia
- Julie Lapenskie, Bruyère Research Institute
- Nadia Polskaia, Bruyère Research Institute
- Colleen Webber, The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
- Bruno Battistini, CANTRAIN McGill University Health Centre
- Pierre Gagnon, RQSPAL
- Kimberlyn McGrail, Health Data Research Network Canada
- Harriet Richardson, Canadian Trials Group
- Shem Singh, Lung Cancer Canada
- Claudio Soares, Centre for Psychedelics Health and Research