An anonymous donor has contributed $1 million toward cancer research in the Maritimes. A total of $1.75 million will be spent to make cancer patients and their families benefit from faster diagnoses, personalized treatments and shorter wait times. The funding partnership between the donor, the Province of New Brunswick and the Terry Fox Research Institute will be used to purchase cutting-edge technology. Two new pieces of equipment will be used at the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute [ACRI] in Moncton. The provincial government is spending $400,000 while the Terry Fox Research Institute is donating $350,000. Michael Cantwell of the CHU Dumont Foundation said the funding for the equipment was made possible due to the “transformative” million-dollar gift. “Today’s announcement shows how philanthropy, along with organizations – public and private – can work together for the benefit of all of the people in this province,” said Cantwell in a news release sent Thursday. The team at ACRI will now be able to use the Illumina NovaSeq X Plus and the Illumina NextSeq 2000. Both pieces of equipment offer more accurate data generation at a lower cost, stated the news release. ACRI Scientific Director Stephen Lewis said the Moncton institute is a leader in the field of genomics research and access to the new equipment and technology will deliver faster and more accurate results. “And most importantly improve the lives of patients and their families,” said Lewis in the news release. “It will strengthen our ability to help patients with inherited health conditions through rapid and accurate sequencing of their genetic information.” ACRI will spend an additional $145,000 per year to its next-generation sequencing platform to operate the new equipment. Both pieces are now at the NB Centre for Precision Medicine in Moncton which is located next to the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre. It’s expected they will be operational within a few weeks. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
