Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Research News

	Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital awarded $3.9M from BioCanRx to develop new cancer immunotherapies April 9, 2025 - Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital have been awarded $3.9 million from BioCanRx to develop cutting-edge biotherapeutics that harness the immune system to fight cancer.
	Potential colorectal cancer treatment combines immunotherapy and viral therapy in a powerful new way February 16, 2023 - Immunotherapy is revolutionizing the treatment of many kinds of cancer, but for colorectal cancer, success has been limited to patients with rare genetic mutations. To tackle this challenge, researchers at The Ottawa Hospital engineered a new kind of
	ELEVATE seed grants to help researchers at The Ottawa Hospital develop better treatments and improve patient care February 1, 2023 - The Ottawa Hospital’s Research Institute is awarding five ELEVATE seed grants to early-career researchers to spur the development of innovative treatments and better patient care.
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	Outside-the-box thinking saves young man with colorectal cancer January 11, 2023 - When Dr. Auer left the exam room after meeting Haydn for the first time, she remembers feeling heartbroken, thinking about this young man’s life, his future, and the diagnosis he faced.
	Bench to bedside: the quest to prevent cancer from coming back after surgery October 20, 2022 - Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital have made another important step forward in their quest to find innovative ways to stop cancer from coming back after surgery. While surgery often provides the best option for removing all or most of a tumour, resea
	Arginine supplement prevents cancer spread after surgery in mice, but more research in humans is required September 1, 2022 - Two new papers from Dr. Rebecca Auer’s group are shedding light on how cancer spreads after surgery and how we might stop it.
	Clinical trials offer strong foundation for better patient care May 16, 2019 - Clinical trials are an important step toward developing new treatments and learning more about diseases and conditions. In honour of International Clinical Trials Day, read how some of the researchers at The Ottawa Hospital are making huge contribut
	Award-winning immunology research shows how cancer surgery paralyzes part of the immune system January 11, 2019 - Surgery is very effective in removing solid cancers, but it also suppresses the immune system in a way that makes it easier for remaining cancer cells to survive and spread. New research led by Dr. Rebecca Auer shows that surgery paralyzes immune cel
	Targeting cancer stem cells improves survival in certain kinds of colorectal cancer August 16, 2018 - An international clinical trial led by Dr. Derek Jonker found that a drug that targets cancer stem cells improved survival in patients with a specific form of colorectal cancer. Cancer stem cells make up a very small part of a some tumours. However,
	Colonoscopies save lives, but study finds room for improvement May 16, 2018 - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in Canada. Colonoscopy can reduce the risks of CRC and CRC-related death through early detection and treatment of pre-cancerous growth. A new study led by Dr. Sanjay Murthy found that while co

Researchers

Name	Scientific appointment	Diseases, conditions and populations of interest	Research and clinical approaches
Ardolino, Michele PhD	Senior Scientist (CR)	Blood cancer, Brain cancer, Breast cancer, Cancer, Colorectal cancer, Head and neck cancer, Liver cancer, Lung cancer, Ovarian cancer, Pancreatic cancer, Prostate cancer, Skin cancer, Soft tissue sarcoma	Basic research, Cancer immunotherapy, Cell therapy, Clinical research, Disease models, Immunization, Immunotherapy, Model organisms, Molecular and cellular biology, Transgenic/knockout models, Translational research
Auer, Rebecca MD, MSc, FRCSC	Senior Scientist (CR)	Cancer, Colorectal cancer, Ovarian cancer, Pancreatic cancer	Basic research, Cancer biotherapeutics, Cancer immunotherapy, Cell therapy, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Immunotherapy, Molecular and cellular biology, Oncolytic viruses, Peri-operative medicine, Quality Improvement, Surgery, Translational research, Viral therapy
Dennis, Kristopher MD FRCPC PhD	Clinician Investigator (CR)	Cancer, Colorectal cancer, Gastric cancer, Liver cancer, Pain, Pancreatic cancer	Behaviour, Biomarkers, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Cohort studies, Health professional behaviour change, Health services research, Palliative care, Pragmatic trials, Qualitative methods, Quality Improvement, Systematic reviews
Martel, Guillaume MD, MSc (Epi), FRCSC, FACS	Senior Scientist (ACR)	Anemia, Bleeding disorders, Colorectal cancer, Liver cancer, Liver disease, Pancreatic cancer	Anesthesiology, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Peri-operative medicine, Surgery, Systematic reviews, Transfusions
Murthy, Sanjay MD, FRCPC	Scientist (ICD)	Colorectal cancer, Crohn's, Gastrointestinal disease, Inflammatory bowel syndrome	Clinical decision rules, Clinical research, Cohort studies, Epidemiology, Health economics, Health services research
Nair, Vimoj MBBS MD MSc FRCPC	Clinician Investigator (CR)	Blood cancer, Brain cancer, Colorectal cancer, Gastric cancer, Liver cancer, Pancreatic cancer	Artificial intelligence and data science, Biostatistics, Cancer biotherapeutics, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Health technology, Imaging, Pragmatic trials, Quality Improvement, Translational research
Nessim, Carolyn MD, MSc, FRCSC, FACS	Clinician Investigator (CR)	Cancer, Colorectal cancer, Gastric cancer, Gastrointestinal disease, Gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST), Soft tissue sarcoma, Skin cancer	Biomarkers, Clinical trials, Gene expression, Immunotherapy, Surgery, Translational research, Viral therapy, Clinical research, Immunotherapy
Ramsay, Timothy PhD	Senior Scientist (MIR)	Addiction, Alzheimer's, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Anxiety, Ataxia, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Autism, Bipolar, Brain and neuromuscular disease, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Colorectal cancer, Concussion, Cystic fibrosis, Dementia, Depression, First Nations, Inuit and Métis Health, HIV, Immigrant and refugee health, Influenza, Kidney disease, Lung cancer, Macular degeneration, Men's health, Multiple sclerosis, Muscular dystrophy, Myasthenia gravis, Obesity, Ovarian cancer, Parkinson's, Pulmonary hypertension, Septic shock, Spinal cord injury	Artificial intelligence and data science, Behaviour, Biomaterials, Biostatistics, Cell therapy, Clinical decision rules, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Cohort studies, Critical care, Drug development, Emergency medicine, Epidemiology, Health professional behaviour change, Health promotion, Health research methods, Health services research, Health technology, Immunization, Immunotherapy, Palliative care, Patient decision aids, Pharmacology, Pharmacy, Prevention, Psychology, Psychometrics, Public health, Qualitative methods, Quality Improvement, Regenerative medicine, Rehabilitation, Risk assessment, Shared decision making, Surgery, Surveys, Systematic reviews, Transfusions, Translational research, Transplantation, Viral therapy
Zayed, Sondos MD CM, FRCPC, MPH	Clinician Investigator (CR)	Brain cancer, Cancer, Colorectal cancer, Gastric cancer, Liver cancer, Pancreatic cancer	Clinical research, Clinical trials, Epidemiology, Pragmatic trials, Systematic reviews

Related Resources

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Cancer Research Program

The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Program

Clinical Trials

The following list of clinical trials is pulled from ClinicalTrials.gov using the search terms "Colorectal cancer” and “Ottawa Hospital.” More advanced search options are available. If you find a clinical trial that interests you, you can bring the information to the next appointment with your care team and ask if you are eligible for the study. If so, they may be able to refer you to the study team. Visit ohri.ca/patients to learn more about participating in research and clinical trials.

Note that ClinicalTrials.gov is hosted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and is only available in English. Please note that we cannot guarantee a response from the person listed in the ‘Contact’ column.

Publications

The following research publications are pulled from PubMed using the search terms "Colorectal cancer" and "Ottawa Hospital", with publication date of 2020 or later. More advanced search options are available. Note that PubMed is hosted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and is only available in English.

Efficacy and safety of extended duration postoperative thromboprophylaxis with low molecular weight heparin among subgroups of patients undergoing surgical resection of colorectal cancer: A post-hoc analysis of the PERIOP-01 trial.
2025-05-01

Machine Learning Models of Early Longitudinal Toxicity Trajectories Predict Cetuximab Concentration and Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Survival in the Canadian Cancer Trials Group/AGITG CO.17/20 Trials.
2025-04-01

Eastern Canadian Gastrointestinal Cancer Consensus Conference 2024.
2025-03-18

Real-world evaluation of treatment patterns and clinical outcomes in patients with BRAF-V600E metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) in Canada.
2025-03-12

Perspectives of international experts and the Danish citizens on the 'relevant knowledge' that citizens need for making informed choices about participation in cancer screening: Qualitative study.
2025-01-01

Implementation of a Hepatitis B Screening Program in Patients Receiving Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy.
2024-12-30

Ponsegromab for the Treatment of Cancer Cachexia.
2024-12-19

Plasma arginine as a predictive biomarker for outcomes with immune checkpoint inhibition in metastatic colorectal cancer: a correlative analysis of the CCTG CO.26 trial.
2024-12-04

A Population-Based Matched Cohort Study of Digestive System Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Individuals With and Without Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
2024-11-01

Management of Colorectal Neoplasia in IBD Patients: Current Practice and Future Perspectives.
2024-10-15

View more on PubMed