OUR STORY
TOGETHER WE CAN FIND A CURE
Mission
Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) supports the best and brightest Israeli scientists conducting groundbreaking cancer research.
Vision
We envision a world where there is no longer any suffering caused by cancer.
VALUES
Innovation: We prioritise innovative projects involving creativity and originality while investing in those with the most potential.
Conviction: ICRF works with discipline and determination to actively seek and fund researchers who passionately pursue our shared goal of curing cancer. We invest in the most promising Israeli scientists to advance ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.
Research-First: The bulk of the work that ICRF supports is in basic research; that is, research to uncover the molecular biological events that lead to cancer in order to prevent or reverse the process. Virtually every drug, therapy and diagnostic test that is used in the clinic today originated from basic research. We cannot cure cancer if we don’t understand what causes it; and although basic, fundamental research may not result in an immediate cure, expanding our knowledge of the underlying processes is what will eventually lead to that “eureka” moment.
Funding: For close to 50-years, our team has worked tirelessly toward one goal, raising money to fund research to defeat cancer.
History
Since its inception in 1975, ICRF has raised over $98 million USD to support groundbreaking Israeli cancer research and funded over 2,885 cancer research grants. The results of these research projects have a significant impact in Montreal, across Canada and throughout the world.
Our rigorous grantmaking process is overseen by our volunteer Scientific Review Panel (SRP), a group of leading physicians and scientists from major research institutions throughout North America. These prominent, internationally renowned, professionals collectively donate thousands of hours to review each grant application in an intensive peer-review process.
Today, ICRF is the largest nongovernmental source of cancer research funding in Israel. ICRF-funded scientists have been instrumental in the development of breakthrough FDA-approved drugs Gleevec©, Doxil© and Velcade© and include the first two Israeli Nobel Prize Laureates in Chemistry. ICRF grantees continue to make major cancer research breakthroughs and are at the forefront of discoveries in nano-medicine, immunotherapy, stem cell research and targeted therapies.
OUR IMPACT
In Montreal, through our local fellowship program, we successfully created over 30 fellowship positions in Montreal hospitals, in areas such as paediatric blood cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer and other cancer therapies.
In 2024, we funded seven (7) post-doctoral fellows in Montreal. These Israeli experts are conducting groundbreaking cancer research in local laboratories under the guidance of our Scientific Advisory Board and supervising physicians at:
The Jewish General Hospital
McGill University Health Centre Glen Campus
Montreal General Hospital
Montreal Children’s Hospital
CHU Sainte-Justine
Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital
In Israel, ICRF funds scientists at Israel's top biomedical research centres, including the Weizmann Institute of Science and Tel Aviv University. The areas of research focus are: Ovarian, Endometrial, Prostate, Thoracic & Upper GI, Orthopaedic, Pediatric Hematology, BRCA1 and BRCA2 Liver, Melanoma and Immunotherapy.
Currently, ICRF Montreal is directly funding two Israel grant award recipients: Prof. Yosef Buganim at Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Prof. Shahar Frankel at Hadassah Medical Center.
ICRF CHAPTERS
Our collaboration-entered approach has led to other chapters in Toronto, Connecticut, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and Israel; all dedicated to finding a cure to Cancer.
““I have a naïve faith that the answer to cancer will come from Israel, because Israel has given to humanity a concept of celebrating life.””
Some of Our Breakthroughs
p53: A Key Tumor Suppressor that Prevents Tumor Growth – this is one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century and has inspired cancer researchers around the world. Many cancer researchers now consider the p53 gene to be a possible key to the cure for cancer.
The Philadelphia Chromosome – this is the first genetic link to cancer ever discovered and has led to the development of Gleevec®, a miracle drug for the treatment of chronic myelogynous leukemia. Gleevec® is now used by over 100,000 people worldwide.
Doxil®: A Drug Used in the Treatment of Breast, Ovarian and AIDS-related Cancers. Doxil directs drugs to the diseased tissues only, not to the rest of the patient’s body and releases them slowly. This greatly reduces the side effects normally associated with chemotherapy. The impact of Doxil on the efficacy and safety of treatment of advanced ovarian and breast cancer is already evident in the clinical practice.
RAD 51: A Key Genetic Factor for Higher Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk – this identifies the likelihood of breast cancer occurring in women who carry the BRCA 2 gene.
Velcade: A Drug for Treating Cancer of the Bone Marrow; Result of Discovery of the Ubiquitin System that Leads to Nobel Prize – ICRF funded Professors Avram Hershko and Aaron Ciechanover won for their discovery of the ubiquitin system. Their research resulted in the development of the drug Velcade®, positioned at the top of Wall Street Journal’s list of the ten “biggest medical Breakthroughs in 2003.” Velcade®, is used for the treatment of multiple myeloma, which is now used by more than 100,000 people in worldwide.