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Breast cancer survivor meets young scientists making creative new approaches to cancer research at BC Cancer Agency
Oct. 31, 2006, Vancouver, B.C. - “I am just one of the many CIBC employees who has been affected by this disease, which is why CIBC is so committed to the cause,” said Rita Galea, a senior director with CIBC. “These young scientists represent our best hope for a future free from cancer.”
Galea, a two-time breast cancer survivor, got a close-up look at new and innovative approaches to cancer research into the disease that twice threatened her life, during a personal tour of the BC Cancer Agency’s research labs today with the two young scientists awarded the first CIBC Studentships in Breast Cancer Research.
The CIBC Studentships program was created by Dr. Sam Aparicio, chair of breast cancer research at the BC Cancer Agency, with a $500,000 gift from CIBC to the BC Cancer Foundation. The program is designed to foster and support innovative and non-traditional approaches to research undertaken by graduate students at the BC Cancer Agency.
“Fresh insights and novel approaches are needed to solve the key questions of this complex disease,” Dr. Aparicio said. “Our aim is to foster the creativity that comes when individuals trained in different scientific disciplines work together to attack a common problem.”
Two fellowships of $25,000 each per year will be awarded for the next ten years, to support the research expenses of students at the doctoral or post-doctoral level. The first two awards are targeted in the area of breast cancer-related stem cell biology, to explore new ways to detect and understand how breast stem cells behave and are controlled. Future awards will target other areas of the Agency’s breast cancer research program.
The first two recipients are Angela Beckett, a UBC microbiology graduate student, and Peter Eirew, a math and physics graduate of Cambridge University, U.K. Beckett decided to pursue a career in cancer research when she was eight years old, during her father’s long and unsuccessful battle with cancer. “When I grow up, I’m going to find the cure for cancer: a pill you take three times a day,” she wrote to a relative.
Today Beckett is researching the genetic characterization of breast stem cells in Dr. Aparicio’s lab, looking for changes that may lead to the development of cancer. She is thrilled to be one of the first two recipients of the CIBC studentships. “This CIBC fellowship is so valuable because it allows us to consider very novel approaches that other funding agencies might consider too risky,” Beckett said.
Eirew, based in the BC Cancer Agency’s Terry Fox lab under the lab’s deputy director, Dr. Connie Eaves, said, “It is very exciting to work with someone who has pioneered breakthrough concepts in stem cell biology. The emerging idea that stem cells may play a central role in the development of breast cancers could have a considerable impact on how we understand and treat these diseases. It’s a very exciting research area, and I’m very grateful to CIBC for supporting this work.”
The students will produce a yearly report on their progress, and receive travel support through the program to attend a national or international meeting to present their findings.
The BC Cancer Foundation is an independent charitable organization that directly supports research and enhancements to care at the BC Cancer Agency, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority.
CIBC is committed to supporting causes that matter to its customers, employees and communities. CIBC aims to make a difference in communities it calls home through corporate donations, sponsorships and the volunteer spirit of employees.
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For more information, please contact:
Judy Hamill Penny Noble
BC Cancer Foundation BC Cancer Foundation
Tel: (604) 707-5934 Tel: (604) 707-5902
Cell: (604) 802-6984 Cell: (604) 805-5637
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