Stronger Together: 25 Years of the Cancer Research Institute at Queen’s

Feature Stories | 16 Oct 2026 | Read time: 5+ min | Written by: Katrina Pidek

The creation of the Cancer Research Institute at Queen’s University was not the result of a single breakthrough or benefactor. It grew out of decades of cancer research, and a belief that researchers could accomplish more together than they could apart.

Its history is one of collaboration, generosity and a fair dose of serendipity. Leaders from three areas of cancer research came together to make the case for a shared institute. Philanthropic support helped create a physical home for that work, while an unexpected financial legacy from a clinical trial coincided with these efforts, providing seed funding that helped bring the vision to life.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Cancer Research Institute, but its story begins much earlier.

QCRI Founders and Queen's Health Sciences Leadership standing in front of a podium inside the new building. — Cal Stiller, Dr. Elizabeth Eisenhauer, Bill Leggett, then-Dean David Walker, Dr. Joe Pater and Dr. Roger Deeley during the speakers’ session at the grand opening of the Queen’s Cancer Research Institute in 2003.

Cancer research at Queen’s dates to 1968, when Dr. Nathan Kaufman established the Cancer Research Group within the Department of Pathology. Over the following decades, successive generations of researchers built the university’s reputation in areas like cancer metastasis and drug resistance, while new cancer research programs emerged across Queen’s.

By the 1990s, several of these groups had established strong reputations of their own, but their work remained organizationally and geographically separate. It was around this time that Dr. Roger Deeley began advocating for an institute that could bring these strengths together, working with colleagues including Drs. Elizabeth Eisenhauer, Joseph Pater and Lois Mulligan to envision what an institute could look like and accomplish.

Together, they helped shape a plan for an institute that could connect three distinct streams of cancer research at Queen’s: Cancer Biology and Genetics (CBG), Cancer Care and Epidemiology (CCE), and the Cancer Clinical trials division that is the headquarters of the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG).

When the Queen’s Cancer Research Institute (QCRI) was formally established in 2001, the goal was not simply to put researchers under the same roof. It was to bring disciplines together, translate discoveries into clinical practice, train the next generation of researchers, and make cancer research at Queen’s greater than the sum of its parts.

From idea to institute

Before coming to Queen’s in the 1980s, Dr. Deeley spent nearly a decade at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, where he worked in an environment that brought together scientists and clinical researchers from different disciplines. When he arrived at Queen’s, it was a very different atmosphere, one he remembers as a “very, very traditional academic institution,” where researchers largely worked independently within separate departments.

Dr. Deeley joined Queen’s growing cancer research community, initially working in biochemistry before being appointed the Joseph Stauffer Chair of Cancer Research in 1987. With support from the National Cancer Institute of Canada and the Ontario Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation, he recruited more researchers and expanded the university’s cancer biology program. His work helped build the research group that would later become part of the CBG within the QCRI.

Nine people pose along an indoor glass railing. — The CBG research group recruited by Dr. Deeley, including Dr. Mulligan of the research graduate training program. From left to right: Martin Petkovich, Peter Greer, Chris Mueller, Roger Deeley, Bruce Elliott, Lois Mulligan, Susan, Cole and David Lebrun.

By the late 1990s, Dr. Deeley was also serving as Director of Research at Cancer Care Ontario, giving him a broad view of cancer research across the province. From that vantage point, he saw that Queen’s stood out among Ontario’s leading research universities as one of the few without a dedicated cancer research institute, despite having several strong cancer research groups. As he put it, “We had these three jewels, each working in separate areas of cancer research.”

The CCTG already had an international profile. Cancer biology researchers were making important discoveries in the laboratory, while researchers in radiation oncology, cancer epidemiology and health services were emerging leaders.

Dr. Deeley could see the opportunity that was presenting itself. As he talked with researchers across the three research groups about what they might accomplish together, a vision for an institute began to take shape. Dr. Deeley would eventually serve as one of the institute’s directors, helping guide the vision he had championed from the beginning. Its purpose, he said, was simple: “The aim of the institute was to create something visible.”

Research that changes what’s possible

Among those researchers was Dr. Eisenhauer, a clinician scientist with the CCTG. During the early 1990s, Dr. Eisenhauer led the CCTG’s Investigational New Drug Program, working with Dr. Pater, then Director of the CCTG, and colleagues across Canada and internationally to study promising cancer treatments.

One of those treatments was Taxol, a drug derived from the Western yew tree that had shown promise against breast and ovarian cancers. There was just one problem: it was difficult to administer safely. So, Dr. Eisenhauer set out to test both the dose and the way Taxol was delivered, through a large randomized clinical trial. The study found that while the higher dose was more effective, a shorter, three-hour infusion was safer than the standard 24-hour schedule. This was a breakthrough for cancer care, showing that patients no longer needed overnight hospital stays for treatment. Dr. Eisenhauer’s findings helped establish the new standard of care for Taxol chemotherapy, that remains part of cancer care globally to this day.

There was an added bonus—this research resulted in one of the largest intellectual property patents in the university’s history, generating a $10 million windfall. From that funding, Dr. Eisenhauer received a $3.8 million share which she diverted back to cancer research. Of that, $2.5 million established the Edith and Carla Eisenhauer Chair in Clinical Cancer Research, named in honour of her mother and sister who both died of cancer.

A procession during the 2002 dedication ceremony for the Eisenhauer Chair in Clinical Cancer Research, with Elizabeth Eisenhauer, Carla Eisenhauer and Joe Pater among those participating. Audience members watch, applaud and take photographs. — *2002 dedication ceremony for the Eisenhauer Chair in Clinical Cancer Research, featuring Elizabeth Eisenhauer, Carla Eisenhauer and Joe Pater, then Director of the CCTG, who became the chair.*

The remaining $1.3 million became seed funding for the concept that Drs. Deeley, Eisenhauer and their colleagues had been dreaming up: the creation of a cancer research institute.

Reflecting on the Taxol research, Dr. Eisenhauer emphasized the collaborative nature of the work. “Although I was instrumental in designing it, overseeing it, analyzing it, and writing it up, it was a real team effort,” she said. “So, I decided it made sense to give my portion to support clinical research.”

Creating a home for cancer research

Aerial view of the construction site behind Botterell Hall, with a large crane and excavation pit in the foreground and Lake Ontario visible in the background. Photo by Dr. Roger Deeley. — *Construction behind Botterell Hall, photographed by Dr. Roger Deeley during the development of the Queen’s Cancer Research Institute.*

Meanwhile, conversations about bringing QCRI research together under one roof continued to gain momentum. Now there was seed funding to work with. The CCTG had grown substantially, and its researchers were working across scattered facilities. “We were really spread out,” Dr. Pater recalled. “And desperate for space.”

Principal William Leggett saw an opportunity to address that need while advancing the broader vision for cancer research at Queen’s. As Dr. Deeley recalled, Dr. Leggett said, “We will build a new home for the CCTG, but it’s got to be part of a cancer research institute.”

Creating that home required more than a building. The university needed to establish the institute formally, with its own purpose and governance. The six researchers who developed the proposal represented the breadth of cancer research they hoped to bring together: Drs. Eisenhauer and Pater from the CCTG, Drs. Deeley and Mulligan from cancer biology, and Drs. William Mackillop and Kristen Aronson from the Radiation Oncology Research Group and Cancer Epidemiology and Health Services Research, respectively.

“It seemed obvious we needed to create a home,” said Dr. Eisenhauer. “And it was clear from the university that you couldn’t just build a building and call it an institute. You had to create an institute on paper before you created an institute in bricks and mortar.”

Senate approved the institute in 2001, establishing the QCRI before construction began. Fundraising for its physical home followed, with support from the Ontario Innovation Trust, the CCTG, the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Bracken family and individual donors. Ultimately, $16 million was raised for the new facility. Ground was broken in 2002, and the QCRI building officially opened its doors in 2003, bringing these three established areas of cancer research together under one roof.

Dr. Roger Deeley, Dr. Elizabeth Eisenhauer and Dr. Joe Pater stand side by side outside the partially constructed Queen’s Cancer Research Institute building, with the unfinished exterior and construction work visible behind them. — *Dr. Roger Deeley, Dr. Elizabeth Eisenhauer and Dr. Joe Pater standing in front of the building under construction that would house the Queen’s Cancer Research Institute.*

The building’s location was deliberate. Constructed as an extension of Botterell Hall, the institute established a home for cancer research near the Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC). Some of Queen’s cancer research takes place within the hospital in partnership with KHSC, and in many instances, clinical care and research are happening in tandem. For Dr. Deeley, the close relationship between the university and the hospital was part of what made Queen’s such a promising place for an institute. “When I saw the layout with the hospital almost embedded in the university,” he said, “it just struck me that it could be an environment ripe for collaboration.”

Training the next generation

Uniting these three divisions was not only about creating a physical home for researchers; it also created an opportunity to change how the next generation of cancer researchers were trained.

While the institute was breaking down barriers between different types of cancer research, there was a movement towards training graduate students in the same way. In tandem, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research launched a national initiative to support transdisciplinary training. Dr. Mulligan took this opportunity head on. She helped develop a graduate training program that went beyond simply bringing students from different disciplines together. Each student was expected to undertake a research project that genuinely required expertise from multiple fields.

Aerial photograph taken from an airplane showing the completed Queen’s Cancer Research Institute building within a broad view of the surrounding Queen’s University campus. — *Aerial view of the completed Queen’s Cancer Research Institute building, photographed by Dr. Roger Deeley.*

“Each of the students has a multidisciplinary, translational experience in what they learn, who they learn it from, and how they take their research forward.” The approach was designed not only to change how students conducted research, but to prepare them for a field increasingly defined by collaboration across disciplines. “The cancer research world has changed,” says Dr. Mulligan who leads the institute’s Training Program and is a Principal Investigator with CBG. “We’re teaching our students how to be part of that world and giving them the tools to contribute to it.”

For Dr. Eisenhauer, the program became “the biggest evidence of transdisciplinary impact” the institute produced. Dr. Pater likewise identified it as “the most successful” collaborative initiative to emerge from the institute.

The training program gave the institute's founding vision a practical expression: researchers from different fields were not simply working alongside one another. They were training a new generation to approach cancer research across disciplinary boundaries, with some of these trainees now leading independent cancer research programs.

Looking ahead

For Dr. Deeley, the institute’s greatest promise was never simply bringing researchers into the same building. It was creating an environment where ideas could flow between disciplines, where students could learn from different fields, and where collaboration could strengthen the research itself. Looking back, he sees evidence that this has happened: “In terms of intellectual transfer, it goes on to a significantly larger extent than when we were all geographically separate.”

The founders of the Queen’s Cancer Research Institute reunite with current SCRI Director Dr. Andrew Craig at the 2026 Annual Retreat. — QCRI founders and current SCRI Director Dr. Andrew Craig at the 2026 Annual Retreat. From left to right: Dr. William Mackillop, Dr. Joe Pater, Dr. Elizabeth Eisenhauer, Dr. Lois Mulligan, Dr. Roger Deeley and Dr. Andrew Craig.

The institute now has an opportunity to build on those connections at a new scale. Inspired by the institute’s accomplishments and its potential future impact, Cara and Murray Sinclair made a $25-million gift to help advance its next chapter. Beyond the renaming of QCRI to the Sinclair Cancer Research Institute (SCRI), their generosity is funding new imaging and biomanufacturing facilities, a new cancer training program, collaborative research, and work to better understand the impact of cancer treatments on patients.

The gift also supports faculty recruitment and retention, research and educational programs, and new opportunities for students. Through the Sinclairs’ support, the institute will be better positioned to strengthen the connections between discovery, clinical research and patient care, expanding its impact across cancer research and training at the SCRI. The university community is deeply grateful to the Sinclairs for their commitment to advancing cancer research and training at Queen’s.

Twenty-five years ago, the founders brought three areas of cancer research together under one institute, with the ambition of creating something greater than the sum of its parts. Today, that founding vision continues to shape the SCRI, and the Sinclairs’ investment is helping build on that foundation, opening new possibilities for what the institute can achieve next.

Read time

5+ min

Written by

Katrina Pidek