Commitments and Research

Commitment and Research

Since its establishment in 2002, the Fondation des Gouverneurs de l’espoir has dedicated over $6 million to research on pediatric cancer and programs aimed at improving the well-being of sick children.

2003-2005 - $1.6 million

The François-Karl Viau Research Chair in Pediatric Oncogenomics, created and funded to the tune of $1.6 million by the Foundation between 2002 and 2005, is unique in Canada. This chair dedicated to research on the genetic factors of childhood cancers has led to significant advancements. Thanks to it, researchers now have a better understanding of pediatric cancers. Since 2005, this chair has been self-funded and continues its work and discoveries under the responsibility of its holder, Dr. Daniel Sinnett.

2006-2012 - $1.3M

The Center of Excellence in Pediatric Palliative Care and Long-Term Follow-Up of Patients with Serious Illnesses – Governors of Hope at CHU Sainte-Justine was established thanks to a major donation of $1.3 million from the Foundation between 2006 and 2012. It was the first centre of its kind in North America at the time! The Centre, which combines the expertise of the pediatric palliative care unit with that of researchers and physicians from the hematology-oncology department and the Research Center, has intensified the implementation and realization of several important research projects that have improved pediatric palliative care and mitigated the long-term consequences of patients with serious illnesses, particularly cancer.

2009-2012 - $700,000 - 6 Pediatric Palliative Care Rooms

CHU Sainte-Justine became the first mother-child hospital centre in Canada to offer palliative care services by creating six specially adapted rooms for difficult situations. Thanks to a donation of $700,000 from the Foundation between 2009 and 2012, four rooms were designed to provide families with a peaceful, intimate, and serene space to accompany their child at the end of life. Two additional rooms were set up in the maternity unit for cases of perinatal grief.

2009-2013 - $1M

Between 2009 and 2013, the Foundation provided $300,000 to fund research on Ewing’s sarcoma, a devastating neuroblastoma in children, while also providing $767,700 over ten years to purchase specialized equipment at CHU Sainte-Justine and CHUM.

2018-2022 - $320,000

In 2018, the Foundation resumed its health investments by confirming three funding initiatives totalling $320,000 with CHU Sainte-Justine. The first instalment of $100,000 over 3 years (2019-2020-2021) for research on pain during pediatric palliative care by Dr. Marc-Antoine Marquis, $130,000 over 2 years (2018-2019) for the Better Healing, Better Growing program by Dr. Daniel Sinnett aimed at reducing the long-term adverse effects of cancer treatments, and $90,000 over 4 years (2019-2022) to occupational therapist and researcher Catherine Demers to implement follow-ups for sick children from diagnosis.

2021-2023 - $617,000

Finally, in 2021, the Foundation reaffirmed its major support for clinical research on targeted therapy in neuro-oncology by Dr. Perreault for the next three years (2021-2023), allocating a sum of $617,000 to assess the effectiveness of a promising drug to replace current invasive treatments for low-grade gliomas and plexiform neurofibromas in children, the most common brain tumours in pediatrics.

2019-2023 - 50,000$

The Fondation des Gouverneurs de l’espoir announced a partnership of $50,000 spread over 5 years for the Gisèle Faubert Palliative Care House project, which will provide 12 beds for end-of-life care, including a pediatric-focused bed named after the Fondation des Gouverneurs de l’espoir.