OTTAWA — Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced $18.5M in funding for cancer and stem cell research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), an affiliated institute of the University of Ottawa. The announcement was part of an event at The Ottawa Hospital in which Premier McGuinty announced a total of $94M in new investments across the province, awarded through the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and the Ontario Research Fund (ORF).

The OHRI-led projects include:

• $10M for the Ontario Regional Biotherapeutics (ORBiT) program, led by Dr. John Bell

• $4.2M for Novel Strategies for Enhancing Oncolytic Virus-mediated Cancer Therapy, led by Dr. Michael McBurney

• $3.8M for Stem Cell Genomics Research, led by Dr. Michael Rudnicki

• $426,000 for the Ontario Health Study, led by Dr. Brent Zanke

“The work being done by our researchers is tremendously important,” said Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario. “First and foremost, this investment is about taking care of the health of our loved ones. But it is also about our ability to improve the quality of life of all Ontarians through the economic opportunities that research and innovation provide.”

“The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute is leading the way in developing a number of innovative new therapies, including oncolytic viruses for cancer and stem cell therapies for heart attack, multiple sclerosis and vision loss,” said Dr. Duncan Stewart, CEO and Scientific Director, OHRI, Vice-President of Research, The Ottawa Hospital and Professor of Medicine, University of Ottawa. “This new funding from the government of Ontario will greatly accelerate our work, so that we can get new therapies into the clinic more quickly and help people recover from devastating diseases.”

“Research is critical to our ability to identify emerging health issues, develop new cancer therapies and implement unique prevention approaches,” said Allan Rock, President of the University of Ottawa. “The Ontario Government understands that investments in research are vital to ensuring that the University of Ottawa continues to be ranked among the top for its research excellence and intensity.”

“Research is key to The Ottawa Hospital’s goal of providing high quality, sustainable health care to the people of Ottawa and Eastern Ontario,” said Dr. Jack Kitts, President and CEO, The Ottawa Hospital. “I would like to applaud the government of Ontario and Premier Dalton McGuinty in particular for strongly supporting both hospitals and hospital-based research institutes in Ontario.”