One of the reasons we participate in the annual BRIGHT Run is because we know where our fundraising dollars are going.
Better still, we know where they are staying: right here in our community at Juravinski Cancer Centre (JCC) and McMaster University to support breast cancer research that will improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care of breast cancer patients. While the impact is local for those of us who are breast cancer survivors, the implications of this important research are international.
Disbursing funds for research is serious business; forever mindful that we are accountable to our fundraisers, participants, and our generous donors and community partners.
That is why we committed ourselves, in 2025, to develop a proposal that we named the “BRIGHT Run Research Fund Disbursement and Administration Policy.”
To ensure that we “got it right,” we discussed the ideas and principles in this new policy with more than 13 medical, radiation, and surgical oncologists; researchers; and key Hamilton Health Sciences executives and administrative leaders.
In November, with the assistance of Dr. Mark Levine, we presented the policy to Anissa Hilborn, CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation (HHSF). Outcomes exceeded expectations when we received the great news in mid-January that the Foundation had accepted the BRIGHT Run Research Fund Disbursement and Administration Policy in full!
Sincere thanks to BRIGHT Run volunteer Helaine Ortmann for her invaluable assistance in helping to develop and write this document; and to Laurie Towns, Director Donor and Information Services of HHSF, for her strong support in helping us to position this policy and gain acceptance with HHSF senior management and leadership.
Policy highlights:
- Applications for funding will need to consider the patient populations that the Juravinski Cancer Centre serves from diverse cultural backgrounds, underrepresented groups, and younger patients.
- Each principal investigator (PI) is now eligible to have three projects underway funded by BRIGHT Run at any given time; a change from the current policy of one.
- Each PI is strongly encouraged (mandated) to engage at least one junior researcher on their investigation team. The PI will mentor them to achieve success with their research at JCC and McMaster, and get them engaged with the folks who know what research is all about and the importance of it.
- The research team on each project will include a statistician or research-trained methodologist as well as a patient advocate - someone who has walked “a mile in our shoes” and can share their opinions and ask questions about the research project. This will benefit the researcher as well.
BRIGHT Run funding:
We fund new and smaller projects to help establish a “proof of concept”: that this research is viable and worth digging into more deeply to support changes to standards of care.
Funded projects lay the groundwork for further studies that will go on to be funded by other outside sources such as the Canadian Institute of Health Research (with greater financial resources).
The minimum amount of the BRIGHT Run grants is set at $50,000 with a maximum available of $250,000 for qualifying projects. The funds have to start being used within six months of being granted. Ideally, the project needs to be completed within a three-year timeframe.
It is an understatement to say that we – BRIGHT Run participants, organizers and volunteers – are excited about the development and acceptance of this new guiding BRIGHT Run Research Fund Disbursement and Administration Policy that will engage young researchers, provide more money for projects, and encourage researchers who are doing terrific work to advance breast cancer identification protocols and life after breast cancer.
The call for grant proposal happened at the end of January. We anticipate outstanding research questions to be proposed. Then it is up to the Grants & Distribution committee at Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation to put the applications through a rigorous review and rating process for their funding consideration.
It is our goal to get the funds out to the qualifying projects as soon as possible to kickstart these new and innovative research projects.
Nancy McMillan
Event Chair, The BRIGHT Run
