CRS Doctoral Research Awards and Operating Grants 

Brain Canada is pleased to announce that, in partnership with the Cancer Research Society (CRS), will fund four outstanding research projects focused on brain cancer As part of the of 2025 Doctoral Research Awards and 2025 Operating Grants. 

Doctoral Research Awards:

Hussain Montdher, Queen’s University 

Mapping and targeting cellular heterogeneity in sonic hedgehog medulloblastoma  

Sneha Sukumaran, Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) 

Exploring New Therapeutic Approaches for Medulloblastoma  

 Medulloblastoma is the most common brain cancer in children. Though current treatments are generally effective, some fail due to cells within the tumour developing drug resistance, and those that work leave patients with long-term side effects like cognitive impairment.  

Montdher Hussain will investigate a new way to identify the cells within a tumour that are therapy-resistant by colour-coding the tumour , looking to see exactly which colour cells survive chemotherapy, and what the characteristics of those cells are. The goal is to then identify drugs that target those cells, offering effective and safer treatment options for patients.  

Sneha Sukumaran is looking at new ways to boost a process called nonsense-mediated decay in cancer cells, which researchers believe might be an Achilles heel of the tumour cells. The goal is to develop a therapy that increases the levels of this process in medulloblastoma cells, leading to tumour cell death. 

Operating Grants:

The Operating Grants fund fundamental and early translational research on all cancers. Brain Canada is proud to support two research teams focusing on brain cancer: 

Justin Hicks, Lawson Research Institute 

(with co-Investigators Matthew Fox (Lawson Research Institute), Matthew Hebb (London Health Sciences Centre), and Susanne Schmid (Western University)) 

Investigating the role of L-glucose as a therapy and [18F]fluoro-deoxy-L-glucose as a diagnostic for glioblastoma  

Scientists have found that glioblastoma, a brain cancer in adults with the worst prognosis, is addicted to sugar. Dr. Hicks and team are using a different form of the body’s natural main sugar D-glucose (called L-glucose) as a metabolic decoy that starves the tumour cells of the sugar they depend on but does not affect normal cells. They are also labelling the L-glucose so that it can be detected in a brain scan after a patient is treated, allowing scientists to see where it’s going and where the tumour cells are, potentially addressing two major challenges in the clinical management of this deadly disease. 

Marc-Étienne Huot, Université Laval 

(with co-Investigators Etienne Audet-Walsh and Samer Hussein (Université Laval)) 

New function for DEPTOR tyrosine 289 phosphorylation in glioma metabolism 

Low-grade brain cancers often have dysregulated metabolism within the tumour cells that promotes their continued growth and survival. This metabolic advantage of the tumour cells can lead to a more aggressive form of brain cancer. Dr. Huot and team are investigating how these metabolic dysfunctions work in low-grade cancers and how they can limit the progression to high-grade cancer. 

This funding program is part of Brain Canada and CRS’ ongoing efforts to support research aimed at improving the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer, while enhancing our understanding of these complex diseases.  

Support for these projects is made possible by the Canada Brain Research Fund, an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada, through Health Canada, and Brain Canada, and Cancer Research Society.