MUHC scientist receives 2013 Movember Discovery Grant

Prostate Cancer Canada, with the help of the Movember Discovery Grants program, announced today that 40 grant recipients from across the country involved in early-stage breakthrough research in prostate cancer have been awarded funding. With a total funding envelope of close to $8 million in support of innovation, Prostate Cancer Canada has more than quadrupled mission investment since last year.

Dr. Alice Dragomir, a scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Urology at McGill University, is one of the recipients of these grants. Dr. Dragomir and co-investigators – Dr. Armen Aprikian, MUHC’s urologist-in-chief and head of the Division of Urology at McGill University, Dr. Marie Vanhuyse, medical oncologist and Dr. Fabio Cury, radiation oncologist – were awarded $194,800 over a two-year term.      

"I am delighted because it is one of the first times I have received a grant as lead investigator," says Dr. Dragomir. "I am a junior investigator and this will open the doors for me to carry out my research on health economics and health outcomes of prostate cancer."

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer mortality in Canadian men. Canadian Cancer Statistics reported 25,575 new cases of prostate cancer in Canadian males and 4,100 prostate cancer related deaths in 2011.

Dr. Dragomir and colleagues will focus their research on the analysis of health services utilization, drug costs and clinical outcomes in patients with advanced prostate cancer, from 2001 to 2013. “Our study will show if efforts such as healthcare resources utilization and associated costs are correlated with clinical outcomes observed over this period in a real-life setting,” she explains. “This will be an additional tool for decision makers when they evaluate public funding of new treatments.”