Overall Goal

As more Canadians are diagnosed with rare forms of Cancer, TRaC is striving to provide hope and visibility to these individuals, as well as more precise treatment options to drive more positive outcomes. Our Research includes

Knowledge generation

an enhanced understanding of DNA repair mechanisms and how they evolve as cancer progresses.

Drug targets

a series of validated protein targets for GBM and STS that can be leveraged to treat cancers that share their DNA repair defects.

Drug lead compounds

pathway-altering experimental compounds that target key “decision gates” in repair, and drive cell death in preclinical models of disease.

Companion diagnostics

gene sequences and pathology markers that support clinical targeting of new precision therapies emerging from the program.

Enabling technology

major innovations in instrumentation, software, and methodology that support integrative structure determination, a new paradigm in biomolecular research.

The TRaC program is integrating proteomics, genomics, structural and computational biology with the goal to identify the molecular changes that drive cancer progression, discovering new targets for therapy, and select drugs based on the “multi-omics” profile of the tumor. These approaches are critical to guiding the discovery and selection of combination therapies for cancer patients, minimizing the use of potentially ineffective therapeutics, and hence lessening any potentially harmful side effects of administered therapeutics.