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November 1, 2025: Toronto Star
How Canadian researchers became collateral damage in Trump’s war on science
"The Liberal government needs to acknowledge what’s happening, and take stock of its impact on Canada’s reputation as a global leader in fields like biomedical research.
In fact, some leading scientists say, correctly, that Trump’s assaults should be a wake-up call. As Dr. Jim Whitlock, who heads SickKids’ department of haematology and oncology, says, “We’ve seen a lot of increased awareness here in Canada that we can’t be reliant on institutions outside our borders to meet the essential needs of the Canadian population.”
The wrinkle, however, is that the U.S. funding cuts are coming at a time when Canada’s national research agencies, including the Canadian Institute of Health Research, have been told, like the rest of the federal government, to slash spending by as much as 15 per cent over three years as part of Carney’s austerity budget, due out later this fall." (Toronto Star Website)
October 31, 2025: Globe and Mail
The slow-release dose: Canadians wait years for new drugs, even those already deemed safe, because public funding takes longer to arrive than in any other G7 country. Some want to change that. Will it work?
"In a study published in June of 160 drugs added to public plans between 2018 and 2023, Dr. Tadrous of U of T and his co-authors found that, on average, 906 days elapsed between Health Canada green-lighting a drug and at least one province listing it.
That is longer than the figure that Innovative Medicines Canada, the lobby group for brand-name drug makers, has been using in a public campaign arguing that “two years is too long” for Canadians to wait for drugs to be covered by the public system.
IMC says it took 732 days, on average, for a Health Canada-approved drug to be listed in provinces representing at least half the Canadian population between 2012 and 2021 – longer than in the United States, Germany, France, Australia, Japan, Italy and several other developed countries." (Globe and Mail Website)
September 26, 2025: CBC News
Why Canadian taxpayers spend millions on U.S. medical treatments
"CBC spoke with multiple radiation oncologists across the country who regularly refer children and teens to the U.S. for the newer treatment. Several pointed out that Canada is now the only G7 country without a clinical proton beam therapy facility. "The data I've seen suggests there's enough volume to justify having at least one machine in Canada, probably two," said Dr. Glen Bauman." (CBC News Website)
September 25, 2025: CTV Your Morning
Cancer Advocates Pushing for Faster Treatments & Funding
Vinesha Ramasamy highlights the need for more funding for research, clinical trials and faster access to treatment. (CTV Your Morning, YouTube)
September 25, 2025: CBC
U.S. policy changes mean Canadian children with cancer are losing access to clinical trials
"Canadian researchers say they've had to stop offering kids with cancer places in some clinical trials because of funding and policy changes in the United States. The U.S. government is halting funding for some pediatric clinical trials outside the U.S., and not renewing funding for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, a network of experts that conducts clinical trials and focuses on improving treatments for brain tumours. The network's only Canadian site is at Toronto's Sick Kids hospital." (CBC Website)
September 18, 2025: CBC The National
U.S. funding cuts shut Canadian children out of brain cancer trials
"The U.S. government is not renewing funding for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, a network of experts focused on improving treatments for brain tumours, and Toronto's SickKids Hospital has had to stop enrolling kids in some new trials as a result." (CBC The National)
September 11, 2025: Globe and Mail
Clinical trials for childhood cancer closed to new Canadian patients in wake of U.S. funding cuts
"At least five cutting-edge clinical trials for childhood cancer have been closed to new Canadian patients because of the Trump administration’s cuts to scientific funding and its directive that grants no longer be shared with foreign researchers. Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children halted enrolment in three trials for incurable brain cancer last month after the U.S. National Cancer Institute decided not to renew funding for a consortium of pediatric brain-tumour scientists whose only Canadian site was at SickKids." (Link to Globe and Mail Story)
December 10, 2025: Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation
More Federal Funding Cuts: NIH Pulls Support for Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium
"Additionally, it’s worth noting that PEP-CTN is broadly concerned with pediatric cancers in general where PBTC is focused specifically on researching treatments for pediatric brain cancers. In a public statement on its website, the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) argued against NIH’s decision to terminate funding for PBTC, noting that both PBTC and PEP-CTN play crucial roles in advancing outcomes and addressing the unmet needs of pediatric cancer patients." (PCRF Website)
November 19, 2025: Nature
Science on shaky ground: Canadian research shifts in the wake of US cuts. Scientists hunt for the silver lining amid the changing funding landscape.
"In August, news broke that the consortium would be stopping people from enrolling in its clinical trials across North America, after losing federal funding beyond March 2026. The decision was handed down by the NCI, part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). “The process of closing those studies, not just in Canada, but in the US, is beginning,” says Jim Whitlock, a paediatric oncologist at the Hospital for Sick Children. “This is a real tragedy.” (Nature Website)
September 20, 2025: PBS News
Federal funding cuts to pediatric brain cancer research ‘taking away hope’ from families
"Brain tumors are the leading cause of pediatric cancer-related death. In August, the Trump administration announced it would stop supporting a federally funded network dedicated to researching these deadly cancers. Misha Mehta, president of the Neev Kolte & Brave Ronil Foundation, and Dr. Paul Graham Fisher join Ali Rogin to discuss the implications of the loss of funding." (PBS News Website)
September 17, 2025: CNN
‘The rug has been pulled out from under us’: Cancer research funding turmoil leaves families scrambling
"In August, the National Cancer Institute, the federal government’s primary agency for cancer research and training, announced that it would no longer fund the consortium as it had for the past 25 years. The change comes amid broad turmoil within cancer research and publicly funded science under the Trump administration. With deep cuts to National Institutes of Health grants, dramatic staffing losses and a leadership vacuum at the National Cancer Institute, researchers are warning that cancer science could be set back for years to come — and that families like the Leskos will pay the price." (Link to the CNN Story)
September 15, 2025: National Brain Tumor Society
Protecting Vital Funding & Clinical Trial Opportunities for Children with Brain Tumors
"National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) is disappointed by the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) decision to not invite a renewal of funding proposal from the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC). As advocates for the brain tumor community, we’re urging the NCI to sustain the critical function and work of the PBTC for our most vulnerable patients." (National Brain Tumor Society Statement)
August 28, 2025: New York Times
Pediatric Brain Cancer Group to Lose Federal Funding
"A respected network of hospitals and cancer centers is halting enrollment in clinical trials for children with brain cancer after the federal government said it would no longer provide funding to the group. The Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, an association of 16 academic centers and children’s hospitals dedicated to trials of novel treatments for pediatric brain cancer, directed its members last week to stop enrolling new patients because it had been informed that the consortium would not be eligible to apply for funding beyond March 2026, said Dr. Ira Dunkel, a pediatric oncologist who is the chair of the group." (Link to the New York Times Story)