Annual Seed Grant Competition
Call for Global Cancer Program Seed Grant Awards
The Princess Margaret Global Cancer Program aims to be an academic center of excellence in education, research, and knowledge translation in global oncology. Global cancer is an area of study, research, education, and practice that aims to improve outcomes and achieve equity in cancer care.
The call for the 2024 Global Cancer Program Seed Grant Awards is now open! View the
2024 Call for Global Cancer Program Seed Grant Awards and submit by October 25, 2024 at 5:00 PM.
Please direct any questions to
pmglobalcancer@uhn.ca.
2023 Awardees
Dr. Sara Mheid
Dr. Sara Mheid is a Radiation Oncology Clinical Fellow at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Sara and her team at the Princess Margaret (Meredith Giuliani, Nicole Harnett, and Rebecca Wong) and
King Hussein Cancer Centre, Jordan (Jamal Khader) aim to create a professional development model that will accelerate implementation in LMICs through subject-specific education and change management training.
Dr. Nadia Ghazalial
Dr. Nadia Ghazali is a Medical Oncology Clinical Fellow at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Nadia and her team at the Princess Margaret (Geoffery Liu, Trevor Pugh) and
Aga Khan University, Kenya (Mansoor Saleh, Shahin Sayed) aim to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing liquid biopsy next generation sequencing for lung cancer molecular testing for patients at the AKU.
2022 Awardees
Dr. Beverley Essue
Dr. Beverley Essue is an Associate Professor of Global Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Beverley Essue and her team at UofT (Sujata Mishra), Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (Anna Dare, Danielle Rodin),
Tata Memorial Hospital, India (TMH; Revathy Krishnamurthy) and
KIMS Cancer Centre, India (KCC; Bidhu Mohanti) are using a mixed-methods approach to examine the economic burden and equity impacts of breast cancer in India. Their findings will feature in the Lancet Commission on Cancer and Health Systems.
Dr. Arun Ghoshal
Dr. Arun Ghoshal is a Palliative Care Physician and Clinical Fellow at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Arun and his team at the Princess Margaret (Camilla Zimmerman) and
Tata Memorial Hospital, India (TMH; CS Pramesh, Jayita Deodhar) will survey oncologists in India to identify palliative care referral practices, attitudes and the impact of COVID-19 to inform the development of palliative care in India.
Dr. Madeline Li
Dr. Madeline Li is an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University Health Network and a clinician scientist in the Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care. Madeline and her team at the Princess Margaret (Gary Rodin) and
Aga Khan University, Kenya (AKU; Mansoor Saleh, Zul Merali, Zarafsheen Verjee) aim to adapt, implement, and evaluate the distress screening tool DART in a Kenyan population to promote cancer equity and improve outcomes in this population.
Dr. Funmi Wuraola
Dr. Funmi Wuroala is a Breast Surgical Oncology Fellow at the University of Toronto. Funmi and her team at the Princess Margaret (Anna Dare, Danielle Rodin) and
Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria (OAUTH; Olusegun Alatise, Adeleye Omisore) aim to facilitate greater rates of breast-conserving surgery in Nigeria by evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of using wire localization.
2021 Awardees
Fadwa Abdel-Rahman
Dr. Abdel-Rahman is a Clinical Research Fellow in the Breast and Lymphoma programs in
Radiation Medicine at the Princess Margaret. She completed her residency at the department of Radiation Oncology at the
King Hussein Cancer Center (Amman, Jordan). With her international, multi-institutional team at the Princess Margaret (Danielle Rodin, Anne Koch), King Hussein Cancer Center (Sarah Mheid),
A.C. Camargo (Guilherme Rocha Melo Gondim), and partners in the GTA, Dr. Abdel-Rahman aims to advance global knowledge of how to optimally treat women with breast cancer recurrence by identifying treatments that include breast preservation. The study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of a shorter 1-week ultra-hypofractionation regimen for re-irradiation with partial breast irradiation (rPBI).
Gayathri Naganathan
Dr. Gayathri Naganathan is a General Surgery Resident Physician at the
University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada). Along with her supervisor Dr. Andrea Covelli and the team at the
University of Jaffna (Sreekanthan Gobishangar, Chishanthi Rajasooriya) and the University of Toronto (Anna Dare), Dr. Naganthan will evaluate surgeon perspectives on the approach to breast surgical oncology in a northern province in Sri Lanka. This qualitative research study aims to understand the experiences of surgeons in the Jaffna district who provide surgical care for breast cancer patients.
Nicole Harnett
Nicole Harnett is the Director of the
Accelerated Education Program and of the Radiation Medicine Skills Lab at the Princess Margaret in Toronto, Canada. Her team from the Princess Margaret (Rebecca Wong, Vanessa Wan, Kelly Guo), the
Michener Institute of Education at UHN (Renate Bradley, Reshika Balakrishnan) and
Tikur Anbessa (Black Lion) Hospital in Ethiopia (Wongel Bekalu, Eskadmas Yines, Edom Seif) will help support radiation training programs to build a radiation therapist (RTT) workforce to deliver high quality radiotherapy (RT) appropriate to the needs of Ethiopia. Building off previous training, the team will implement a 10-session education series including lectures, discussions and simulation sessions supplemented by asynchronous self-directed learning designed to provide the knowledge to prepare practising RTTs for advanced RT topics.
Aba Scott
Dr. Aba Scott is a Clinical Oncologist at the
Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (Accra, Ghana), with a special interest in gynecological and genitourinary cancers, and a Research Fellow with the Princess Margaret Global Cancer Program. With her team at the Princess Margaret (Michael Milosevic, Rebecca Wong) and the
National Centre for Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine (NCRNM; Evans Sasu, Toby Obeng-Mensah) Dr. Scott will design and implement an intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) planning and delivery program for cervical cancer at the NCRNM. The goal is to expand the scope and efficacy of radiotherapy in Ghana, providing patients with gynecologic cancers with best practice treatment.
Jacqueline Alcalde Castro
Dr. Jacqueline Alcalde Castro is a Palliative Care Fellow at the Princess Margaret who completed her training in Medical Oncology at the
National University Autonomous of Mexico (UNAM) and the
National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition "Salvador Zubirán" (INCMNSZ) in Mexico City, Mexico. With her supervisor Dr. Camilla Zimmermann (Head, Supportive Care), and their team, Felicia Knaul, Silvia Allende, Emma Verastegui Aviles, and Paula Cabrera, they will identify factors associated with earlier specialized palliative care (SPC) referrals before and during COVID-19, compare Mexican oncologists' SPC referral practices and the availability of SPC and cancer resources before and during COVID-19, and identify factors associated with the availability of SPC before and during COVID-19.
2020 Awardees
Monika Krzyzanowskao
Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Cancer Care Delivery
Co-Investigators:
- Melanie Powis (PhD Trainee, Princess Margaret)
- Rachel Riechelmann (Medical Oncology, AC Camargo)
In collaboration with
A.C. Camargo Cancer Center in Brazil, the primary aim of this study is to characterize the patterns of cancer care delivery during the peri-COVID-19 period compared to the year prior at both Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and AC Camargo Cancer Center. The study will evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on quality of cancer care delivered, examine potential disparities, and evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on patient outcomes.
Meredith Giuliani and Tina Papadakos
Closing the Global Cancer Research Gap: Advanced Training in Science Communication
Co-Investigators:
- Anet Julius (Princess Margaret)
- Jose Fregnani (AC Camargo)
- C.S. Pramesh (Tata Memorial Centre)
- Catherine Coolens (Princess Margaret)
- Philipp Gebhardt (DKFZ)
In collaboration with
A.C. Camargo Cancer Center,
Tata Memorial Hospital, and
DKFZ, this study will develop and pilot a globally focused course on advancing science communication to better translate research to practice. Impact of the course will be evaluated on knowledge and perceptions through a longitudinal impact assessment plan.
