Dr. Don Rix

I am saddened to share with you the news that a longtime Foundation colleague, Board member and supporter – Dr. Don Rix – passed away last Friday.

Dr. Rix was a highly-respected businessman, philanthropist and community volunteer, and a dear friend to many of us.

Dr. Rix was the founder of MDS Metro Laboratory Services (now LifeLabs Diagnostics Inc.) and made many significant contributions in the medical, biotechnical and technology fields. He received many honours and awards in his lifetime for his leadership in both business and philanthropy, including the Order of British Columbia, the Order of Canada, the Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year Award in 2008 and most recently, the Canadian Medical Association’s highest award.

Dr. Rix gave a major gift to the Foundation to create the library in the BC Cancer Agency’s Research Centre for patients, families, staff and the public, which was named the Rix Family Discovery Centre in his honour. Another major donation from Dr. Rix in 2007 established the Agency’s Early Lung Cancer Detection and Translational Research Program under the leadership of Dr. Stephen Lam.

Dr. Rix will be very sadly missed by all of us at BC Cancer Foundation, and by many others across B.C. and beyond whose lives have been touched by this kind and generous man.

End of breast cancer month – and what a month!

As we wrap up the month of October, I can’t help but reflect back on all that has happened with, as always, your support.   

The month began with an amazing breakthrough in breast cancer research – it made the front page of the Globe and Mail and headlines around the world.  I know that our researchers at the BC Cancer Agency are more eager than ever to continue their work and make more discoveries that will lead to better and shorter treatments for you and your loved ones, as quickly as they can.

And they’ll have lots of support!  We’ve had a couple of breast cancer-inspired events recently that were really unique, so I wanted to highlight them.

The Canadian Women’s Field Hockey Team held their “Game for the Cure” in late September.  The entire team, wearing bright pink uniforms, raised over $30,000 for breast cancer research through a head shaving event and a pink ball toss – presided over by Canucks GM Mike Gillis, whose daughter Katie plays on the team. 

Blue Nude by Pnina Granirer

The Leighdon Studio Gallery presented its Nudes for Breast Cancer Awareness exhibit all month.   It featured over 80 original works of art by 28 established and emerging B.C. artists. And every kind of art – sculpture, photography, paintings and even digital media – is being shown.  Read what the North Shore Outlook had to say about it.  You have one more day to see the exhibit – it runs until tomorrow, October 31^st , from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm at 190 West 3^rd Avenue in Vancouver.

The BC Cancer Foundation has such talented, dedicated supporters who put on these wonderful events – I wish I could draw attention to all of them.

Thank you all for your support,
Nick

BC Cancer Foundation Holiday Cards are back!

Can you believe it’s already time to start thinking about the holidays again? 

I know that this is a time of year when many people think about socially conscious gifts, or ways they can support their favourite charities over the holidays.

Well, you can make a difference to cancer research and care in B.C. by purchasing BC Cancer Foundation holiday cards.  Many local businesses have chosen BC Cancer Foundation as the supplier of their corporate holiday cards – you might want to as well!

The cards are 5×7 inches and we have a nice selection of cover images to choose from.  You can even customize the inside with a personal greeting or company logo.

And, if you purchase before November 1^st, you get a 10% discount off any purchase!

You can order these online at www.bccancerfoundation.com/cards, or at any BC Cancer Foundation office, or by calling 604-675-8244.  There’s a minimum online order of 25 cards.

Wow, I feel a bit like a commercial! 

Best regards,
Nick

Inspirational Night

Last night was the BC Cancer Foundation’s 2009 Inspiration Gala. And what an inspiring night it was!

The Gala raised an amazing $1.27 million for the BC Cancer Foundation and colorectal cancer research at the BC Cancer Agency.

The guests were challenged to match $500,000 in donations already committed to support colorectal cancer research at the BC Cancer Agency – and they truly did step up. TELUS donated $100,000 (in fact, over the years, TELUS has donated over $1 million to BC Cancer Foundation) and two colorectal cancer patients who were unable to attend the event, donated $50,000.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer, and the second deadliest for British Columbians. And while we’ve made amazing advances in the last 10 years, there is still much room for improvements.

The BC Cancer Agency’s Dr. Hagen Kennecke spoke about how the Gala funds will make a difference by funding critical research at the BC Cancer Agency. They’ll be able to investigate ways of personalizing colorectal cancer treatment with the genetic sequencing methods recently seen in breast and ovarian cancer research discoveries. Also, they’ll be able to offer more clinical trials to develop new targeted therapies for colorectal cancers.

Inspiration Gala Co-Chairs Karen Fleck (left) and Christine Jennings (right) with husbands Greg and John (who is also BC Cancer Foundation's Board Chair) respectively.

The sold-out event was held at Rocky Mountaineer station, with almost 400 guests in attendance. Special thanks to CTV’s Pamela Martin for being our Emcee for the evening. You can read more here.

I have to say, aside from the obvious highlight of the funds raised, and a very moving speech by stage 3 colon cancer survivor (who finished second year law at UBC while in treatment) Brenda Osmond, my favourite part was when our Board Chair, John Jennings, serenaded the audience with a piano rendition of the Beatles’ hit “A little help from my friends”.

Help from our friends indeed John.

Best regards,
Nick

Thrifty Foods wants to Inspire the World too!

I told you last month about our amazing Inspire the World capital campaign on Vancouver Island.  Well, it just keeps growing and getting more and more exciting! 

Today, Thrifty Foods announced a $300,000 donation to the campaign, to help build the Thrifty Foods Patient Information Library in the BC Cancer Agency’s Vancouver Island Centre.

This library will be a source of information for patients before, during and after treatment, to help answer their questions and concerns and support their journey through treatment and recovery.

Thrifty Foods has always been a very generous supporter of the BC Cancer Foundation.  So it’s very fitting and gratifying that Thrifty’s has given this major gift to the Inspire the World campaign.

So a huge thank-you to Thrifty’s and a special acknowledgement of Thrifty Foods CEO Milford Sorensen for his leadership on behalf of the BC Cancer Foundation and the campaign.

We are now one big step closer to our $10 million goal – if you haven’t donated yet, please consider doing so here!

Best regards,
Nick

Signals Design Group “leafing” a legacy

When you open your Globe and Mail today, on page R6 you will see a full page donated ad for one of the coolest looking fundraisers I have ever seen.

For a long time now, BC Cancer Foundation has worked with Vancouver’s Signals Design Group on projects such as our Annual Report.  They are a dedicated and talented group of designers and people.

But sadly, their office was profoundly touched by cancer in the last year.  One of their staff members lost her mother to ovarian cancer, and another lost her husband quite suddenly to colorectal cancer.

So, this year, Signals decided to celebrate its 25^th anniversary by giving back and supporting a cause that has affected them all.

Signals’ Creative Director John Belisle conceived and created a beautiful piece of art, which they have used to develop the Leaf a Legacy campaign.  Just visit the website, make your donation and add a leaf to the tree in honour or in memory of someone. 

Every cent of this campaign comes back to the BC Cancer Foundation and directly supports BC based research that is going to benefit all those affected by cancer.

And the first 250 people to donate $250 or more will receive a signed limited edition print of the artwork.

You can also see CBC coverage of this fundraiser here (it’s at 16:52 in the video).

A special thank you to our wonderful friends and colleagues at Signals, and I hope you all will consider visiting their site to “leaf” your legacy.

Best regards,
Nick

BC Cancer Agency researchers’ first-in-world breast cancer discovery

Well I can finally share our big news with you!

Dr. Sam Aparicio, head of the breast cancer research program at the BC Cancer Agency, along with a team that included Dr. Marco Marra, head of the Genome Sciences Centre, have successfully decoded a lobular breast cancer tumour – for the first time in the world anywhere.

Your DNA is like a book, with three billion different letters, and cancer develops because of a spelling mistake somewhere among all those letters. Ultimately, researchers want to be able to find those spelling mistakes so that they can correct them.

Well they found the 32 genomic mutations – or spelling mistakes – in this patient’s metasatatic tumour.  But then the researchers were able to go back to the primary tumour from the same patient and see that there were only eleven spelling mistakes!  And, of those 11, six mutations were present in only a fraction of the cells – which means that right from the outset, not all of the cells contained the same mutations.

Okay, what does all that mean?

Well, it’s really groundbreaking.  It’s the first time scientists have been able to identify all the spelling mistakes in one breast tumour from one patient.  It’s the first time they’ve been able to see the evolution of a tumour by DNA sequencing.  And it’s the first time researchers have seen that the original tumour was heterogeneous (not all of the cells had the same mutations).

The most significant aspect of this discovery is around the heterogeneity of these tumours – and the research team thinks this will have a huge impact on the way new drugs are developed and the way cancers are targeted in the future – because the previous assumption was that tumours are uniform.

This is such a big deal that it’s being published as the cover story in the journal Nature.  It’s very prestigious just to be published in Nature – but to be highlighted on the cover is amazing!

But most importantly to me, this discovery was made possible because of philanthropy.  And undoubtedly the Weekend to End Breast Cancer (now the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers) had the biggest impact.

The BC Cancer Foundation has invested over $15 million into breast cancer and Dr. Aparicio’s program over the past six years.  That would not have happened without you – the thousands of people who took millions of steps and raised those dollars.  I simply cannot thank all of you enough. 

I understand how important it is for people to see the impact of the dollars they raise and provide.  I hope this helps to show that you are making a difference and we are getting closer to a world free from cancer.  Please keep walking and keep donating – Dr. Aparicio and his team need you, as do the thousands of patients who will benefit from this discovery. 

Best regards,
Nick

Sneak peek at some very exciting news

October 1^st, marked the beginning of breast cancer awareness month.  So, in that spirit, I want to share some very exciting news!

Next Wednesday we are going to announce a major breast cancer research breakthrough at the BC Cancer Agency.

This breakthrough would not have been possible without support from BC Cancer Foundation donors, and especially, without support from The Weekend to End Breast Cancer (now The Weekend to End Women’s Cancers) over the past six years.

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you any more than that yet. 

So consider this a nice teaser, and stay tuned here (or at our website) for more information next Wednesday!

Best regards,
Nick

More awards for BC Cancer Agency researchers

Wow!  I feel like I could have a blog posting every month to tell you about all the amazing awards being bestowed upon BC Cancer Agency researchers!  They really are some of the finest in the world, and so I’m always very excited to see them get the recognition they deserve.

Dr. Connie Eaves, Vice President of Research at the BC Cancer Agency, has been appointed as Associate Dean, Research (BC Cancer Agency) at the University of British Columbia.  You can read her appointment notice here.

Dr. Stephen Lam with his award from the IASLC

Also, Dr. Stephen Lam, chair of the BC Cancer Agency’s lung tumour group, has been awarded the 2009 Joseph W. Cullen Award by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.  This award is given to a scientist for lifetime scientific achievements in prevention research of thoracic malignancies. 

Dr. Lam has been at the forefront of research to find a screening or early detection test for lung cancer.  As you may know, lung cancer is still the number one cancer killer in both men and women.  It is a truly devastating disease.

We at the Foundation know that these two awards are very well-deserved; but it’s terrific to see them win the recognition of their colleagues, so I wanted to be sure to highlight their achievements and give them both our congratulations.

Best regards,
Nick

Vancouver Island prepares to Inspire the World

If you live on Vancouver Island, something very exciting happened for you today.  The BC Cancer Foundation launched the Inspire the World capital campaign!

This $10 million campaign will see the renovation and construction of 10,000 square feet at the BC Cancer Agency’s Vancouver Island Centre.  The new area will house a state-of-the-art patient and family support centre, a predictive cancer research centre and a radiation innovation wing.

Patients consistently say that they are extremely satisfied by the quality of care at the BC Cancer Agency, but that they wish they had more psychological and emotional support before, during and after treatment.  This is something the BC Cancer Agency will be able to provide with the funds raised through this campaign. 

And the most exciting part, to get us started, campaign Chair and Thrifty Foods founder Alex A. Campbell and his wife Jo announced their $1 million personal gift to lead the Inspire the World campaign!  This will be used to create The Alex & Jo Campbell Patient and Family Support Centre within the Agency’s Vancouver Island Centre. 

Inspire the World supporters Mr. Alex & Mrs. Jo Campbell with BC Cancer Foundation President & CEO Douglas Nelson (centre)

You can find out more about the campaign, or donate to support it at www.inspiretheworld.ca, or by calling 250-382-4470. 

Best regards,
Nick