Dr.Salahedin Mahmud’s Cancer Research Receives Award

The Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life Junior Investigator Award in Prevention Research with a commitment of $50,000 a year for three years has been granted  to fund the research of Dr. Salaheddin Mahmud of University of Manitoba.

Dr. Mahmud is studying whether certain widely used medications, such as aspirin, cholesterol lowering drugs and anti-depressants, could prevent major cancers, such as prostate, colon and cervical cancer. His study proposal won the scientist a Prevention Initiative Junior Investigator Award from the Canadian Cancer Society in 2011.

The Canadian Cancer Society Prevention Initiative invests strategically in opportunities that will expand cancer prevention research activities in Canada, with the ultimate goal of reducing cancer incidence among Canadians.

“If Dr Mahmud’s research finds that a commonly used drug reduces cancer risk, this would build a case for conducting clinical trials,” said Dr Christine Williams, Vice-President, Research, Canadian Cancer Society. “The results of this study could also improve our understanding of how cancers develop, potentially leading to the development of more effective drugs.”

An Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba, Dr. Mahmud, was selected to receive this national award through a rigorous peer review process. His goal is to become a leading cancer researcher, based in a Canadian academic department, and working on a well-developed pharmacoepidemiology research program dedicated to cancer chemoprevention.

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