Current Research

OVCARE has grown from an idea to an internationally recognized team.

We have exceeded all of our expectations of the program’s success. OVCARE hopes to increase the scope of our discoveries and bring our discoveries into the clinic – to improve the lives of women with ovarian cancer or those who are at risk.

OVCARE’s research model first starts with a clinical question or problem – we then frame these clinical questions for research solutions. Our research cores that we have developed over the past several years, such as our Gynecological Tissue Bank, the Cheryl Brown Outcomes Unit and our Bioinformatics Core, provide us with the materials, resources and tools needed to conduct the type of research needed to answer the questions. Through partnerships and collaboration with our clinical members and researchers in Canada and worldwide, new discoveries will be translated into the development of new drugs and therapies as well as new diagnostic tools that will be validated through clinical testing and trials. Ultimately our goal is to transfer new knowledge into clinical practice and development of clinical guidelines for ovarian cancer management and control.

OVCARE's flagship research initiatives

With the generous support from the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation and the BC Cancer Foundation, OVCARE has embarked upon an ambitious cancer prevention campaign to reduce the incidence of ovarian cancer by 40% over the next 20 years and is becoming a centre of excellence in clear cell ovarian cancer research that will transform our understanding of this disease.

1. The Precursors to Prevention initiative focuses on learning more about the earliest changes leading to ovarian cancer. Through the development of new tools to detect precursor or occult lesions we hope to ultimately prevent ovarian cancer or "catch it" at its earliest stages when curative treatments can be given. Click here to learn more.

2. The second flagship is the Gray Family Ovarian Clear Cell Carcinoma Research Resource, an eight-year initiative that will reshape the scientific and medical understanding of clear cell carcinomas of the ovary and impact the way patients with this form of ovarian cancer are treated. Click here to learn more.