Strategic plan
Strategic plan
Federating and optimizing oncology research in Quebec
Create a virtual network to develop and implement measures to accelerate the progress of oncology research in Quebec
Research funding
Through competitions, Oncopole will fund unifying and structuring research projects that capitalize on Quebec’s networks, platforms, resources, expertise and strengths in oncology. Funded projects should capitalize on these assets, thereby boosting Quebec’s national and international competitiveness. Selected projects must demonstrate that they meet a clinical need and will have a significant impact on patients.
Find out more about financing opportunities
Find out more about funded projects
Increasing bioinformatics capacity
As with many fields of research, cancer research generates a huge amount of data. Bioinformatics has become a cutting-edge discipline essential to scientific progress.
Following consultations with the scientific community, Oncopole, in collaboration with the FRQS, wishes to support the training of doctoral students in Quebec in this discipline.
Biobanks
Cancer research is increasingly dependent on access to human biological material and the quality of associated clinical data. However, this information is rarely coded in a form suitable for analysis, whether to assess the patient’s trajectory, the care obtained, or to provide relevant clinical indicators for diagnosis, treatment and disease progression. What’s more, samples and clinical information are fragmented and may be collected according to different standards across Quebec hospital research centers.
Through the creation of the Consortium contre le Cancer de Montréal by the Terry Fox Research Institute, Oncopole is investing in the optimization and development of the ATiM open-source database software, developed over the past 10 years by the Cancer Research Network and its partners, and already in use in several biobanks in Quebec.
To find out more about the Consortium contre le Cancer de Montréal (CCM)
Clinical research
Clinical research is an integral part of quality care. It is leading to considerable progress in the fight against cancer, notably by providing access to new treatment options for patients with advanced or metastatic cancer.
Oncopole aims to establish strategic partnerships with organizations with complementary missions. These partnerships should enable the development of new activities that will benefit healthcare facilities, pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, government agencies and the Quebec population.
Through the creation of the Consortium contre le Cancer de Montréal by the Terry Fox Research Institute, Oncopole is investing in the optimization and development of the ATiM open-source database software, developed over the past 10 years by the Cancer Research Network and its partners, and already in use in several biobanks in Quebec.
To find out more about the Consortium contre le Cancer de Montréal (CCM)
Facilitating entrepreneurship and promoting innovation
Oncopole works with centers of excellence, academia, technology transfer organizations and venture capitalists to foster the emergence and accelerate the development of entrepreneurship and innovation in oncology in Quebec.
Training: Providing business skills for up-and-coming researchers
A solid academic background combined with business skills can be an important asset for the next generation interested in an entrepreneurial profile.
With this in mind, and in partnership with players from industry and academia in the life sciences, Oncopole wants to enable researchers to familiarize themselves with the stages in the development of an innovative company, from the laboratory to the market, through current management models that apply to both the research stage and the commercialization of innovation.
Supporting and financing value-added projects
During the consultations that led to the creation of Oncopole, researchers expressed the need for support in determining the commercial potential of their innovations: how to determine competitiveness, market attractiveness, the ability to develop attractive intellectual property, or identify the most relevant route to market.
The programs put in place will help accelerate early-stage oncology projects from Quebec universities, and fill the gap in specialized industrial expertise and funding for the validation studies and maturation to proof-of-concept that are needed.
Accelerating the integration of innovations into the healthcare system
Oncopole aims to work in partnership with key players in the field to develop the best approaches for optimizing the integration of innovative therapies and care into the healthcare system.
The aim is to accelerate the adoption within the healthcare system of innovative technologies that meet expressed needs, and whose added value has been rigorously demonstrated.
Engaging patients
It is increasingly recognized that patients provide substantial information relevant to the challenges encountered along the cancer trajectory. In Oncopole’s extensive consultation process, there was a clear call to engage patients in setting priorities.
Oncopole is committed to developing and implementing a patient engagement strategy based on best practices to establish a patient-partner committee that will play a concrete and dynamic role in Oncopole initiatives.
Leading the scientific community
Oncopole wishes to support and encourage the outreach and mobilization of the oncology research community by contributing financially to the organization of events that are in line with its mission.