黑料社

Simon Roy, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology, is one of four early-career clinician-scientists across Canada to receive the 2025 Clinician-Scientist Award from the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network (MOHCCN).听

The Award supports outstanding young clinician-investigators pursuing high-quality precision oncology research in collaboration with and under the mentorship of established MOHCCN-funded teams.听Each will receive $450,000 ($225,000 from the Network and $225,000 in matching funds).

A clinician-scientist and dermatopathologist, Professor Roy divides his time between clinical dermatopathology work at the 黑料社 Health Centre鈥檚 Glen site and leading his translational research laboratory at the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute.听听

鈥淚鈥檓 honored to receive the Marathon of Hope Clinician Scientist Award as I begin my independent career and launch my lab,鈥� said Professor Roy. 鈥淎cral melanoma has long been an understudied subtype, and this support will allow us to build the datasets and tools needed to better understand and treat this aggressive cancer, especially in patients who have historically been underrepresented in research."听

His research addresses critical gaps in melanoma care through spatial genomics, with a focus on rare subtypes such as acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM), an aggressive form of skin cancer that disproportionately affects patients with skin of color鈥攁 population that remains understudied in cancer research.听

ALM typically develops on the palms, soles, or under the nails, and is more challenging to detect and diagnose than other skin cancers. It also carries a more detrimental prognosis in patients of color. Existing skin cancer datasets include few ALM cases, particularly from individuals of mixed or non-European ancestry.听听

Professor Roy鈥檚 aim is to identify factors suggesting aggressive behaviour in ALM to help doctors better predict which patients are at highest risk of negative outcomes. Recent research by his team has uncovered specific DNA methylation marks, or small chemical tags, in tumor samples that may explain why some ALMs become so aggressive and resistant to immunotherapy.听

With support from the MOHCCN award, the team will collect and test ALM tumor and blood samples from patients of different ancestries. They will then use the data and clinical information such as age, ancestry, and disease stage to develop a predictive model that can help doctors predict a patient鈥檚 risk of aggressive ALM.听

By identifying new ways to detect and track ALM earlier, this work can help physicians personalize treatments for each patient鈥攅specially those underrepresented in skin cancer studies鈥�ultimately decreasing the number of serious cases of ALM and improving the quality of life and survival of people affected by this aggressive cancer.听