UBC’s Dr. Kristin Campbell is part of a team that has been awarded a $2.37 million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canadian Cancer Society as part of the largest cancer survivorship research initiative in Canada.
Dr. Kristin Campbell
The project, entitled CanRehab and funded over five years, is focused on research that will lead to sustainable change to cancer supportive care in each community and will focus on exercise programs and educational workshops. The goal is to make cancer rehabilitation more effective and accessible so that cancer survivors can recover more fully after their treatments end.
Dr. Campbell, a co-principal investigator on the project, is associate head research and professor in the faculty of medicine’s department of physical therapy.
“The overall goal of this team grant is to facilitate testing cancer rehabilitation programs in a real-world setting, in order to improve the adoption, adaptation, and scale-up of services within the cancer care system in B.C.,” Dr. Campbell said. “The projects aim to improve the systematic identification of the adverse effects of cancer and its treatments, increase access to cancer rehabilitation using innovative eHealth solutions, and extend reach to people living with and beyond cancer across the vast geography of the province, including those living with incurable or metastatic cancer.”
Three concurrent projects involved with this team grant will be conducted at BC Cancer, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (Ontario), Saint John Regional Hospital (New Brunswick), and Dr. H Bliss Murphy Cancer Centre (Newfoundland) and will include breast, colorectal, head and neck, and lymphoma cancer sites.
The nominated principal investigator is Dr. Jennifer Jones, with the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network.
This project is one of six announced as part of the inaugural CCS/CIHR Cancer Survivorship Team Grants in partnership with the Alberta Cancer Foundation. With a joint investment of $13.4 million, the grants represent the largest, first-of-its-kind cancer survivorship research initiative in Canada.
Each grant is nationwide in scope, bringing together researchers, clinicians, survivors and caregivers to address key questions in cancer survivorship. With integrated strategies for patient engagement and knowledge translation, teams will work collaboratively to deliver results that will make a real difference in the lives of people affected by cancer.
A version of this story originally appeared on the Canadian Cancer Society website.