McGill and Weizmann Institute join forces to fight cancer

Over 150 researchers to share basic and clinical research
McGill University and the Weizmann Institute of Science have forged a partnership on cancer research that encompasses the exchange of researchers, scientific staff and students between the two institutes, as well as co-partnering of research activities and publishing, and the organization of conferences permitting the pooling of the most recent cancer data.

Denis Thérien, Vice-Principal, Research and International Relations at McGill University, and Haim Garty, Vice-President of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, will sign the agreement Thursday, July 12, at the University Club of Montreal, 2047 Mansfield St., between noon and 2 p.m.

“For McGill University, this partnership agreement with an internationally renowned institute such as the Weizmann marks an important turning point in cancer research,” Vice-Principal Thérien says enthusiastically. “The McGill University Cancer Centre will not only be able to accomplish ambitious research projects, take advantage of a financing arrangement established by the two institutes and have access to important technological platforms, but will also be in a position to recruit high-level researchers.”

The McGill Cancer Centre was founded in 1978 with the goal of coordinating cancer research efforts among the different university departments and its affiliated hospital centres. Through its own activities and its international collaborations, the Centre concentrates on new discoveries and knowledge leading to improved prevention and treatment of cancer. About 20 renowned researchers work there full-time. Another 50 researchers are associated directly with the Centre.

The Weizmann Institute of Science was created in 1934 by an eminent chemist who later became the first president of the state of Israel, Chaim Weizmann. The Institute currently enjoys an international reputation in research and post-secondary education and has about 30 researchers specializing in the different aspects of cancer research.