2022 Recipient – Qingchuan Zhao
2020 Recipient – Allen Zhang
2018 Recipient – Yikan Wang
Our research spans the ovarian cancer continuum; from discovery to survivorship, addressing prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. We're dedicated to studying social determinants of health, promoting equity, and securing funding for less common ovarian cancer types.
We convene a national, multidisciplinary, collaborative network of experts dedicated to ovarian cancer including clinicians, scientists, trainees, and patient partners, and provide diverse opportunities to share research findings and improve study recruitment.
We enable groundbreaking translational research on all types of ovarian cancer through investments in foundational resources such as the OCC Tissue Banking Network and OCC’s collection of high-fidelity research models.
The Ovarian Cancer Canada (OCC) Tissue Banking Network is a virtual network of biobanks which collect, store, and distribute biological samples (e.g., tumour tissue/cells, normal tissue/cells, blood) generously donated by individuals with ovarian cancer to enable ovarian cancer research in Canada and abroad.
OCC currently provides support to biobanks in five provinces: British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. In 2023, there were 50 peer-reviewed scientific publications on studies involving samples and/or data from the OCC Tissue Banking Network. These publications contribute to new knowledge in diverse areas such as genetic risk factors, rare ovarian cancers, omics, treatment resistance, prognostic factors, and novel treatment strategies.
Scientists interested in accessing human ovarian cancer biospecimens for their research are encouraged to contact the individual biobanks for more information.
Ovarian Cancer Canada is proud to make available to researchers the OvCAN Collection, which is a virtual collection of high-fidelity research models of ovarian cancer. The development and/or characterization of these models has been funded by OCC.
The purpose of the OvCAN Collection is to facilitate the creation and sharing of these gold standard models among the ovarian cancer research community, to enable and expedite high-quality research focused on improving ovarian cancer outcomes.
If you are interested in incorporating one of these models into your study, please contact the individual lab for more information.
$1,2000,000
August 2024 - July 2027
2 Grants available ($600,000 each)
OCC and the Cancer Research Society are proud to launch the Bridging the Gap for Ovarian Cancer Treatments Grant Competition, which will fund clinical and translational research projects aimed at improving precision oncology in ovarian cancer.
Competition process
Applicants to the Bridging the Gap for Ovarian Cancer Treatments Grants Competition submitted a Letter of Intent (LOI) in January 2024. Selected applicants have been invited to submit a full application, due in April 2024. A peer review committee made up of scientists, clinicians and patient partners will rank the applications and choose the best ones. Stay tuned for future calls for applications in 2025/26.
$1,500 each
Ongoing
To ensure that Canadians diagnosed with gynecologic cancer receive specialized care from a gynecologic oncologist, OCC facilitates grants to obstetrics and gynecology residents who choose gynecologic oncology as an elective.
OCC provides recipients with $1,500 to fund housing and travel costs for the duration of a one-month elective working with a gynecologic oncology team at a cancer centre in Canada or the United States.
Submission Procedure:
Please download and send your completed form and accompanying documentation to Alison Ross, Director, Knowledge Mobilization, Ovarian Cancer Canada at aross@ovariancanada.org.
$5,000 + registration and travel for the Canadian Conference on Ovarian Cancer Research
Details for the next submission will be available in late 2025.
In 2016, the Anita Unruh Prize was established by Patrick McGrath in honour of his wife, a former associate dean and professor. The Prize rewards excellence in trainee research on ovarian cancer and encourages trainees to establish careers in research related to this disease. Offered biannually, this is a peer-reviewed prize for a published paper that both focuses on ovarian cancer and has a trainee as first author. Applications from trainees of all levels and disciplines will be considered.
Eligibility:
This competition is open to all trainees doing research on ovarian cancer.
Interested in discovering how you can involve patient partners in your research?
See OCC's innovative research projects.
Discover our collaborative research community.