Thanks to an outpouring of generosity from the community and $1.5 million from the Gerald C. Baines Foundation, the Gerald C. Baines Centre for Translational Research’s $3 million fundraising goal was completed. 

Opened in 2010, the Baines Centre began as a physical space to encourage collaboration between behind-the-scenes scientists and frontline clinicians. Once it successfully proved that this type of collaboration helps patients, generates new clinical trials and attracts bigger grants leading to further research, the Baines Foundation put forth $1.5 million and challenged the community to match the amount.

This new funding will allow the centre to bring in a new Imaging Scientist to help clinical research collaborators like Dr. Stephen Welch conduct translational imaging research and build off of the proven success of the research group currently based in the Baines Imaging Laboratories. The centre will also recruit a Translational Research Project Manager to manage clinical trials, go after grants and acquire imaging laboratory software and hardware.

These additional resources will give the Baines Centre a greater capacity to explore new ideas in patient care and create new clinical trials. It will also give the existing team members at the Baines Centre new collaborators and help facilitate even more innovative and ground-breaking research.

A substantial part of the funding came from Archie Verspeeten and his family, who are all too familiar with cancer, as his late wife Irene and two of their sons fought the disease. Back in 2008, Irene helped support the building of the Baines Centre and now, in Irene’s honor, Archie has recently given $500,000 to help the Baines Centre take the next step.  

“The success of the Baines Challenge is incredibly inspiring,” says LHSC Chair/Chief, Oncology Dr. Glenn Bauman. “It will allow the Baines Centre to bring together a collaborative group of scientists and clinicians who will advance cancer care together.”