The Research you fund

Touches real people

As the Advisor of the Cancer Research Society’s Major Gifts and Planned Giving department, Réginald Godin is no stranger to cancer. Every day, he talks to some of our most generous donors who were affected by cancer or who’ve lost loved ones to the disease. Réginald’s story with cancer isn’t only professional. It’s also a … Read more

Lucy’s cancer story and the Cancer Research Society go hand-in-hand. The CBC Ottawa broadcaster is no stranger to Read for the Cure, an annual fundraising event for the CRSLucy hosted for the first time in 2014. The following year, when Lucy was invited to return as host, she had to decline. “On the day of … Read more

“When you’re given a cancer diagnosis it’s pretty dark. Cancer research can provide a beam of light. We need to broaden this beam of light. We need to bring more hope to more people.” Shirley Hesje is a retired elementary school teacher, mother of two, breast cancer survivor, and the founder of the Read for … Read more

“In this day and age especially, cancer affects everyone. Investment in research is critical.” Between 2005 and 2006 Christine Biggar’s Toronto-based book club was hit hard by cancer. “Two members were undergoing treatment and two other members were dealing with family members affected by cancer. I also lost both of my parents to cancer at … Read more

They helped outsmart cancer one step at a time “There’s still so much to learn about cancer, and cures and what we can do for people. Our mom was able to stay with us 11 more years because of cancer research.” Catelyn, Michelle, April and Cassandra Passchier know better than most that there will never … Read more

“Research is fundamental. It is so important because understanding how we prevent disease from occurring in the first place will allow us to live long and healthy lives with all our loved ones.” Vikki Ho is a professor at the Université de Montréal who is a recipient of the Cancer Research Society’s GRePEC salary award. … Read more

“Funding research is close to my heart because it is the key to give us all more time. For me, the Cancer Research Society represents our best hope to outsmart cancer.” Cancer is a disease that touches so many people. We all know a person or loved one who has faced cancer. But for Canadian … Read more

“We’re dealing with cancer better but there’s still a lot of suffering. In another five years there might be a different treatment to address this awful disease.” A parent is everything to their children, and for people like Brad McMurray, who lost his father to cancer when he was just 9 years old, the pain … Read more

“To leave something behind that helps save lives or make lives better is a great motivator when we’ve spent much of our adult lives in research.” Carolina Alfieri is working on concurrent projects at Montreal’s CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre, including one that aims to build a human antibody to prevent the effects of Epstein-Barr, a … Read more

“She saw me enter this world and I got to see her leave, which is a blessing in a sense. But it was tough — I’m not going to lie — for a young person to see death like that so close.” There are few things more profound, and heartbreaking, than holding a loved one’s … Read more

“30 years after my first cancer, I’m now in great shape. My mother and my sisters were not as lucky.” It’s a terrifying thing, to live believing that you will die young.  But this is something that Michelle Armand has lived with for much of her life. Having lost her mother and sisters to breast … Read more

“We were luckier than our mother was 25 years ago, and I want to thank gene research and genetic testing for saving people’s lives, including ours.” Nathalie Dupont’s cancer journey began in 2018, with a pain she’d never experienced and a certainty that something wasn’t quite right.  Within 24 hours, she was having an abdominal … Read more