The London Health Sciences Centre's (LHSC) cancer research facility has taken its first step toward a $5.6 million expansion plan.
The Gerald C. Baines Centre for Translational Cancer Research received a $1.7 million donation from the son of its namesake on Wednesday. The gift from philanthropist Kirk Baines and the Gerald C. Baines Foundation is being called "transformational."
It will allow the centre to scale up existing resources, personnel, and clinical trials. As well, the money will be used to explore and develop a new area of cancer diagnosis called computational theranostics, which brings imaging and therapy together. For this an endowed chair position will be created to focus on computational theranostics and an entirely new laboratory and research program will be developed within this research area.
"Theranostics involves the development of novel injectable substances like therapeutic isotopes or drugs, which are designed to target and treat cancer cells in the body but are also traceable using imaging,” said Dr. David Palma, radiation oncologist and clinician-scientist at LHSC. “This allows medical specialists to see and treat cancer at the same time.”
The cancer research centre at the LHSC was established in 2010. It allows scientists and clinicians a physical space to work in close proximity to patients to conduct clinical trials aimed at improving care.
Baines is hopeful the donation will help fundamentally change how cancer is analyzed, understood, and treated.
“We want to give physicians and scientists the tools that they need to develop new cancer treatments that can help save lives,” said Baines, chair of the Gerald C. Baines Foundation. "My hope is that we can eventually make cancer a treatable disease and not a fatal one.”
The $1.7 million donation is the first contribution toward a $5.6 million vision for the Gerald C. Baines Centre for Translational Cancer Research. The additional dollars would improve next-generation computing and data storage, allow for upgrades in radiochemistry instrumentation, and the advancement of state-of-the-art artificial intelligence tools to enhance physicians' capabilities in diagnosing and treating cancer. It would also expand the scope of new clinical trials and health research initiatives, according to the LHSC's fundraising arm the London Health Sciences Foundation.
A matching campaign by the Gerald C. Baines Foundation has now been launched to help raise the remaining $3.9 million needed for the expansion plan. The community is being asked to give what they can. Donations can be made online at lhsf.ca/baines.
