Four researchers. Four bold ideas. One shared goal: transform cancer research.
Across Alberta, women researchers are leading innovative work that is reshaping how cancer is understood and treated. Their work spans different diseases and scientific approaches, but each is focused on tackling some of the most complex challenges in cancer.
Through the We Cross Cancer campaign’s Game Changer Fund, early support helps accelerate promising ideas and move discoveries forward. In 2024, four women-led teams received funding, and their projects are already generating new insights and momentum in cancer research.
What sets these projects apart is not only the science but the momentum building behind them. Each researcher is working at the edge of what is known, tackling questions that could unlock more effective treatments, better quality of life and new options for patients facing advanced or complex disease.
Donors play a pivotal role at this moment. By supporting research at an early, high-impact stage, they help ensure promising ideas do not stall before they can make a difference. This support allows these leaders to move faster, think bigger and translate insight into action sooner.
Research progress highlights
Dr. Vickie Baracos
Exploring new approaches to address cachexia, a condition marked by severe weight and muscle loss in people with advanced cancer. Using advanced imaging and data-driven tools, her team is developing more personalized strategies that could significantly improve quality of life for patients.
Dr. Roseline Godbout
Examining why certain prostate cancers spread. Her team is creating organoids from tumour biopsies, miniature models that allow researchers to study metastatic disease in new ways. Promising compounds that may interfere with a key protein linked to cancer spread are now moving into testing.
Dr. Kristi Baker
Investigating why some late-stage cancers resist immune-based therapies. With donor support, her team acquired Alberta’s first multiplex imaging instrument, analyzing patient-donated cancer samples. This technology reveals how immune cells behave within tumours and is now available to Alberta researchers.
Dr. Ing Swie Goping
Advancing personalized breast cancer treatment through tumour “avatars” that help predict how patients may respond to therapy. Her team is growing patient-derived tumour models and sequencing original and treatment-resistant samples, revealing new insight into how breast cancer evolves.
Together, these projects highlight the growing momentum behind cancer research in Alberta. When donors invest in progress, novel approaches to treatment and care move closer to the people who need them most.
