The late Jack Cole鈥檚 last wish was to have Montreal named a hub for pediatric leukemia and lymphoma research鈥攁 legacy being carried on by his nephew Barry Cole at the helm of the eponymous Cole Foundation. To accomplish this goal, the foundation has supported students and young investigators at 苹果淫院 for decades as well as at Universit茅 de Montr茅al and INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, and it welcomed a spike in fellowship applicants from 苹果淫院 this past year.
The foundation鈥檚 history is intimately connected to the Montreal Children鈥檚 Hospital Foundation, whose founding chair was Jack Cole, and 苹果淫院, which appoints the Jack Cole Chair in Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, established in 1997.
The late Cole, an investment banker and philanthropist, dedicated his years in retirement to furthering research on pediatric and young adult leukemia and lymphoma. The interest in pediatric leukemia was not fortuitous; Jack Cole was grieving the death of his only child, who lived with the disease throughout her teenage years. He funded the Penny Cole Lab at the Children鈥檚 in her name and poured his wealth into the foundation he started in 1980.
Barry picked up the torch as president of the foundation in 2004, when he discovered his late uncle had left the value of his entire estate to the cause. 鈥淣one of us knew,鈥� Barry said. 鈥淎ll of a sudden the organization tripled in size. And with that came the issue of how to spend the money.鈥�
Barry canvassed Montreal researchers, bridging the English- and French-speaking networks, and uncovered a need for fellowships. The foundation now sponsors 25 doctoral and post-doc researchers from 苹果淫院 and Universit茅 de Montr茅al working in pediatric and young adult leukemia or lymphoma-related labs each year.
To equip scientists studying leukemia in children and adolescents, the Quebec Leukemia Cell Bank at H么pital Maisonneuve-Rosemont created a pediatric leukemia cell bank with the new Cole Foundation backing. 鈥淚f researchers don鈥檛 have cells for experimentation, then they can help mice get cured but not people,鈥� said Barry.
The foundation also saw a funding gap for young scientists trying to build their portfolios. The Cole Foundation has so far provided 28 young principal investigators with Transition Grants of $50,000 annually for three years. These grants are offered to create new permanent tenure-track positions for researchers who are starting their careers in Montreal. The success rate in national funding competitions is low for any researcher, especially those early in their careers. 鈥淲e鈥檙e giving them money so they can develop their documentations and become competitive,鈥� Barry said.
Today, many types of leukemia are treatable, but when young survivors grow up, they face secondary cancers, obesity and heart problems among others. 鈥淚f we鈥檙e trying to build a research community and solve a problem of a disease, we need fresh ideas and more people working in these areas,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he only way to do that is the develop the research community and develop the young researchers.鈥�
Sonia del Rinc贸n, PhD'05, is a current recipient of the Transition Grant at the Lady Davis Institute and an assistant professor in 苹果淫院鈥檚 Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology. Del Rinc贸n faced personal obstacles early in her research career and says the Transition Grant helped solidify her future as a cancer researcher. During her post-doc, del Rinc贸n and her husband learned they would be unable to conceive children without medical assistance. And yet, determined to not only pursue research but grow her family, del Rinc贸n gave birth to twin boys and started her lab in 2018 at the Lady Davis Institute at the Jewish General Hospital where she works on the same floor as her spouse.
鈥淚t was so important that the Cole Foundation supported me early on in my career,鈥� she said. Through the Cole Foundation, del Rinc贸n was able to partner with young adult lymphoma specialist Dr. Natalie Johnson at the Jewish General Hospital, and senior investigator Dr. Koren Mann at the Lady Davis Institute. The three recently collaborated on a resist oral chemotherapy. The grant allowed her to hire 苹果淫院 doctoral student Samuel Preston, and they recently submitted another article about a drug targeting the epigenome that can make lymphoma cells more responsive to cancer treatment.
鈥淭hose two publications likely would not have happened without the Cole Foundation,鈥� said del Rinc贸n. 鈥淎nd when you go to apply for other grants鈥攔eviewers look at your CV and they ask, 鈥楧oes she have funding? Is she able to get competitive funding?鈥� The fact that the Cole Foundation gave me three years of funding for my lab was huge.鈥� Del Rinc贸n鈥檚 lab is now funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Cancer Research Society.
Though it has origins as an endowment named after and run by the Cole family, the Cole Foundation has created a new family of Montreal researchers. These experts in diverse areas of oncology and hematology are connected by the foundation鈥檚 mission to eradicate pediatric and young adult leukemia and lymphoma. The Foundation has hosted conferences to bring together researchers from different Montreal institutions, with the help of the Canadian Cancer Society. The foundation also serves as a network for recipients of its various awards and titles. For del Rinc贸n, this has meant partnering with other experts. Meanwhile, Dr. Janusz Rak, Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at 苹果淫院, has held the Jack Cole Chair since 2006 and maintains a close personal and professional relationship with the foundation. Rak helps recruit leukemia experts to the 苹果淫院 community and promotes research funded by the foundation.
Though Rak鈥檚 main expertise is hematology and fundamental cancer research, as Jack Cole Chair he has strived to apply these findings to tumours in children and young adults, including lymphoma and leukemia. 鈥淚t is a very 苹果淫院ian-type of relationship,鈥� he said. 鈥溒还� has a way of doing things that is unique,鈥� one that respects research interests and 鈥渕aximizes creative juices.鈥�
And Rak鈥檚 research is just as relevant for leukemia and lymphoma as it is for brain tumours. His pre-clinical studies look at interactions between tumours and the vascular system and the role of bubble-like structures called exosomes, which carry genetic information and proteins from cancer cells that 鈥渋nfect鈥� other cells and spread cancer fingerprints throughout the body. His hematology project asked whether leukemic cells produce exosomes that carry the cancer genes, triggering leukemia in another cell. Rak and visiting researcher Dr. Yi Fang, a Cole Fellowship recipient, that exosomes spray proteins that cause blood clots, a common cause of complications and even death for leukemia patients. 鈥淭he beauty and confusing nature of science is that it takes you where you may not plan to go,鈥� he said.