The Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute was created in 2009 to foster a more collaborative, productive and capacity-building cancer research effort in Atlantic Canada. Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute is a virtual institute that brings together a diverse community of cancer researchers in pursuit of a common goal: to save lives and ease the burden of cancer on individuals, families and society. The Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute is named in grateful memory of the late Mrs. Beatrice Hunter, who in 1999, bequeathed $12.5 million to the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation for cancer research, in memory of her parents, Dr. Owen and Mrs. Pearle Cameron. The bequest was placed in the Cameron Endowment Fund, which generates approximately $500,000 per year for cancer research at Dalhousie Medical School. Beatrice Hunter’s bequest was a pivotal act. It sparked the creation of the Dalhousie Cancer Research Program (DCRP), which united key players to shape a thriving cancer research community. The DCRP and its partners established five endowed chairs in cancer research, recruited many talented researchers, and helped secure millions of dollars of research funding from outside granting agencies. The Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute represents an expansion of the DCRP by taking these efforts even further by encompassing the entire Atlantic region. The institute provides a meeting place for researchers to share ideas and forge new collaborations at universities, hospitals and research institutes across Atlantic Canada and beyond. It offers a key entry point for both students seeking training and careers in cancer research and for people and organizations that wish to support cancer research in our region,
The Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute aims to build a cancer research effort that:
-encompasses all aspects of cancer research
-transforms our understanding of cancer
-pioneers major improvements in cancer treatments and care
-discovers ways to detect cancer in its earliest, most treatable stages
-discovers ways to prevent cancer progression and metastasis
-is a leading force in cancer research in Canada.
