The Atlantic Cancer Research Institute's (ACRI) work in the improvement of kidney cancer treatment and in the better understanding of cancer cell functions has been given a boost thanks to two prestigious grants recently obtained. Dr. Sandra Turcotte, research scientist at ACRI, professor with the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department at the Université de Moncton and Canadian Cancer Society Research Chair, specializes in the development of targeted therapies for kidney cancer. She has received the KRESCENT New Investigator Award worth $180,000 over a threeyear period. In addition to this award, Dr. Turcotte will receive $25,000 in infrastructure support under the same program. KRESCENT, awarded by the Kidney Foundation of Canada is a national program aimed to support researchers specialized in renal studies.

This is the first time a New Brunswick researcher receives this prestigious award. Since late stage and metastatic kidney cancer tumors are often resistant to conventional radiation and chemotherapy treatments, my team is looking into how we might develop new and more effective targeted treatments explains Dr. Turcotte.

Leah Carr, Manager, Funding Programs, New Brunswick Health Research Foundation; Dr. Michael Wall, Postdoctoral Fellow at ACRI; Dr. Michael Johnston, Terry Fox Research Institute's Atlantic Node Leader; Dr. Stephen Lewis, Research Scientist at ACRI; Françoise Roy, Executive Director at ACRI; Dr. Bruno Battistini, CEO, New Brunswick Health Research Foundation

Dr. Michael Wall, a Postdoctoral Fellow and member of Dr. Stephen Lewis' research team at ACRI has been awarded the Terry Fox Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI). The grant, in the amount of $73,500, will fund Dr. Wall's project entitled Uncovering the Mechanisms Regulating Cytoplasmic hnRNP A1 Function . Since the hnRNP A1 protein has been associated with several types of cancer, we are studying how its functions are controlled by human cells and to ultimately better understand how it contributes to the development and progression of cancer said Dr. Wall.

Both the KRESCENT and the Terry Fox Postdoctoral Fellowship awards were co-funded by the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation (NBHRF).

About ACRI

ACRI was established in 1998 as a private, not-for-profit organization. Located at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton, with state-of-the-art facilities, ACRI has become a centre of excellence in cancer research. The research team of approximately 45 people is working to discover the genetic origins of cancer, develop new diagnostic tools and therapies, to improve the survival rates of those affected by cancer and ultimately, to find ways to beat the disease.

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