New Research Initiative to Assess Canada’s Pancreatic Cancer Response
With growing attention on rare and hard-to-treat cancers, a student-led team in Newfoundland is examining how Canada delivers pancreatic cancer care — and where gaps in access may exist.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Community-Led Research Initiative to Assess Canada’s Pancreatic Cancer Response
St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador — The Heather Cutler Foundation has launched We Are Canada Too – A National Audit of Canada’s Response to Pancreatic Cancer, a community-led research initiative designed to better understand how Canadians experience pancreatic cancer care across regions and systems.
The project is supported by the Foundation’s in-house program, The Advocacy Lab, and is led by a newly formed Policy Research Team composed of students and alumni from Memorial University. The team includes Grace, Rhoda, Arafah, Kimia, Seriman, Charlotte, Comfort, Nhi, and Rayah — representing a range of disciplines and perspectives from across Newfoundland and Labrador.
Over the coming months, the team will examine how pancreatic cancer care is delivered across Canada, with a focus on access to diagnosis, treatment, biomarker testing, clinical trials, and regional variation. The project will involve data review, policy mapping, and engagement with stakeholders including healthcare professionals, researchers, and people with lived experience.
“This initiative is about asking meaningful questions and listening carefully to the answers,” said Christopher Cutler, Founder of The Heather Cutler Foundation. “We want to better understand how care is working across the country, and where there may be opportunities to support more consistent and equitable outcomes.”
The findings will help inform a formal brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health later this year, with the intention of contributing to broader national conversations on access, coordination, and system readiness in pancreatic cancer care.
About The Heather Cutler Foundation
The Heather Cutler Foundation is a registered Canadian non-profit established in 2024. We are Atlantic Canada's trusted voice for pancreatic cancer. We support Canadians living with pancreatic cancer, their caregivers, and work to advance research and care.
As a member of the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition, we work nationally to highlight systemic gaps in care, champion equitable access to clinical trials, and call for urgent federal action. Donations to the Foundation can be made through CanadaHelps.
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