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institutionsInstitution
Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
Ontario's provincially funded cancer research institute, which coordinated the International Cancer Genome Consortium and runs pancreatic cancer genomics trials.
Also called: OICR
Overview
Founded in 2005 and funded by the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research in Toronto's MaRS Discovery District is a translational institute that hosted the secretariat and data coordination centre of the International Cancer Genome Consortium, with Lincoln Stein co-leading the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes. Steven Gallinger's COMPASS study brought real-time whole-genome sequencing to advanced pancreatic cancer, and Faiyaz Notta's work revealed how pancreatic tumours evolve. OICR runs drug discovery programmes (including WDR5 and other epigenetic targets), imaging and computational biology platforms, the Ontario Health Study and, through the FACIT commercialisation arm, spins out companies. It works closely with Princess Margaret and other Ontario centres. Its leadership page lists Aaron Schimmer as President and Scientific Director and Lincoln Stein as Head of Adaptive Oncology; Trevor Pugh directs its genomics programme and Janet Dancey led its precision medicine work before moving to the Canadian Cancer Trials Group.
Location
Toronto, ON, CA
Type
research institute
Website
Newsweek 2026 oncology rank
Not in top 300 listing used
OnCo score
#121 · 36 points (0 Newsweek + 0 NCI + 36 from 18 linked objects) · ranking
Research output
From OpenAlex, oncology works in the last five years (2022 to 2026, current year in progress); counted on 2026-09-16.
Matched to Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, including child institutions. 205 works · 2,569 citations · 70% open access · 9% clinical trials · 4% reviews.
Oncology works per year
412022
542023
402024
422025
282026
Most works
- Grainne M. O’Kane35 works
- Julie M. Wilson34 works
- Faiyaz Notta30 works
- Jennifer J. Knox28 works
- Gun Ho Jang28 works
- Steven Gallinger27 works
- Trevor J. Pugh27 works
- Robert C. Grant27 works
- Anna Dodd21 works
- Sandra E. Fischer17 works
Most cited
- Cancer genomics (ICGC, PCAWG)
- Pancreatic cancer (COMPASS)
- Drug discovery
- Commercialisation (FACIT)
Aaron D. Schimmer
Research Director, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; Senior Scientist
AMLMitochondrial metabolismDrug repurposing
Leukaemia researcher who found that AML stem cells depend on mitochondrial proteases and metabolism.
Trevor J. Pugh
Senior Scientist, Princess Margaret; Director of Genomics, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
Cancer genomicsctDNASingle-cell sequencing
Genomicist who applies cell-free DNA and single-cell sequencing to track cancer and immunotherapy response.
Janet Dancey
Director, Canadian Cancer Trials Group; Professor of Oncology, Queen's University
Clinical trialsPrecision oncologyDrug development
Runs Canada's academic cancer trials network, which has led practice-changing trials from PA.3 to CO.17 and beyond.
translationalCell 2021366 citations
Spatially confined sub-tumor microenvironments in pancreatic cancer
It explains why one biopsy can mislead and why chemotherapy selects for the protective neighbourhood, an argument for spatial rather than bulk profiling.
translationalClinical Cancer Research 2020307 citations
GATA6 expression distinguishes classical and basal-like subtypes in advanced pancreatic cancer
It is the number behind 'basal-like is chemoresistant' and the validation of the GATA6 stain that lets a pathology laboratory call the subtype without RNA sequencing.
translationalNature Genetics 2020591 citations
Transcription phenotypes of pancreatic cancer are driven by genomic events during tumor evolution
It explains why single-sample classifiers disagree on about one tumour in eight and why KRAS allelic imbalance and GATA6 copy number are being read alongside expression.
translationalClinical Cancer Research 2018531 citations
Genomics-driven precision medicine for advanced pancreatic cancer: early results from the COMPASS trial
COMPASS is the prospective evidence that transcriptional subtype predicts chemotherapy response, and it produced the practical GATA6 test that trials now use to stratify.
translationalJAMA Oncology 2017217 citations
Association of distinct mutational signatures with correlates of increased immune activity in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
Signatures find repair-deficient tumours that gene panels miss, and they mark the minority in which checkpoint drugs have a rationale.
translationalNature 2016429 citations
A renewed model of pancreatic cancer evolution based on genomic rearrangement patterns
The textbook PanIN-to-cancer ladder is only part of the story, and a screening programme cannot assume years of orderly progression in every patient.
Similar pages
- TermCOMPASS: real-time sequencing of advanced pancreatic cancer for treatment selection
Shares Genomics-driven precision medicine for advanced pancreatic cancer: early results from the COMPASS trial, GATA6 expression distinguishes classical and basal-like subtypes in advanced pancreatic cancer, Transcription phenotypes of pancreatic cancer are driven by genomic events during tumor evolution, Whole-exome & whole-genome sequencing.
- TermGATA6 as the marker of classical versus basal-like pancreatic cancer
Shares Genomics-driven precision medicine for advanced pancreatic cancer: early results from the COMPASS trial, GATA6 expression distinguishes classical and basal-like subtypes in advanced pancreatic cancer, Transcription phenotypes of pancreatic cancer are driven by genomic events during tumor evolution, Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
- IdeaBank three spatially separate tumour blocks from every resection
Shares Tumour heterogeneity and clonal evolution, Data silos, Whole-exome & whole-genome sequencing, Comprehensive genomic profiling.
- TermKRAS allelic imbalance and mutant KRAS dosage in pancreatic cancer
Shares A renewed model of pancreatic cancer evolution based on genomic rearrangement patterns, Transcription phenotypes of pancreatic cancer are driven by genomic events during tumor evolution, Whole-exome & whole-genome sequencing, Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
- CollectioncBioPortal for Cancer Genomics
Shares Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Tumour heterogeneity and clonal evolution, Data silos, Whole-exome & whole-genome sequencing.
- IdeaPool every multi-sample tumour genome into one open evolution atlas
Shares Tumour heterogeneity and clonal evolution, Data silos, Whole-exome & whole-genome sequencing.
- TermWhole-genome doubling (WGD)
Shares A renewed model of pancreatic cancer evolution based on genomic rearrangement patterns, Transcription phenotypes of pancreatic cancer are driven by genomic events during tumor evolution, Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
- InstitutionTerry Fox Foundation
Shares Terry Fox Research Institute, Data silos.
cancers
fronts
technologies
institutions
people
bottlenecks
key papers
A renewed model of pancreatic cancer evolution based on genomic rearrangement patternsAssociation of distinct mutational signatures with correlates of increased immune activity in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomaGATA6 expression distinguishes classical and basal-like subtypes in advanced pancreatic cancerGenomics-driven precision medicine for advanced pancreatic cancer: early results from the COMPASS trialSpatially confined sub-tumor microenvironments in pancreatic cancerTranscription phenotypes of pancreatic cancer are driven by genomic events during tumor evolution
Open-source projects
All open source in oncology →Open-source projects that this organisation maintains, from OnCo's own catalogue: licence and last activity as the repository reported them on the day of the fetch. Listing is not endorsement; check the licence before reuse and the validation before clinical use.
Overture's search and faceting layer for data portals such as ICGC ARGO.
The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research's open genomic data platform components behind ICGC ARGO.
The web portal of ICGC ARGO, the successor to the International Cancer Genome Consortium with 100,000 patients planned.