TORONTO, ON – October 21, 2026 – Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) has announced that The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, on behalf of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, has joined the CDL Cancer program as its first Global Cancer Research Advisory Partner. The partnership connects founders commercializing cancer technologies with the scientists and clinicians of one of the world’s leading cancer research and treatment centres.
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation joins founding partner, the Canadian Cancer Society, and the Alberta Cancer Foundation in supporting CDL Cancer.
Two in five Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and cancer remains the country’s leading cause of death. The World Health Organization projects that new cancer cases worldwide will rise 77% by 2050. Discoveries reach those patients only when they are built into companies that can carry them through trials and into care.
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is the largest cancer research and treatment facility in Canada, home to more than 200 cancer scientists, and runs the country’s largest cancer clinical trials program. Its researchers discovered stem cells and cloned the human T-cell receptor, the basis for immunotherapy.
As Global Cancer Research Advisory Partner, Princess Margaret scientists and clinicians will contribute scientific and clinical perspectives to CDL Cancer programming and take part in technical reviews of participating ventures. CDL and The Princess Margaret will also run an annual technical bootcamp for CDL Cancer ventures, on topics such as clinical trial design and regulatory pathways. For founders, this means guidance from clinicians who see more than 21,000 new patients each year across more than 200 cancer types.
The partnership also gives Princess Margaret researchers and scientific entrepreneurs new opportunities to engage with the CDL Cancer community and prepare to apply to the program.
“Philanthropy can only go so far. It can finance research, but the solutions discovered in the lab still need to reach the bedside, and that takes commercialization and scale,” said Dr. Miyo Yamashita, President & Chief Executive Officer of The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. “Joining forces with CDL will help us close that gap. In cancer, progress is measured by the number of lives changed and the tomorrows that are made possible for patients and their loved ones.”
Launched in 2022, CDL Cancer is a program for founders commercializing transformative technologies that aim to change the standard of cancer care and improve patient outcomes. Over nine months, ventures work through objective-setting sessions with experienced mentors to sharpen their strategy, scale business operations, and attract capital. CDL Cancer is hosted at CDL-Toronto, CDL-Vancouver, CDL-Rockies, and CDL-Paris.
“Our vision for CDL Cancer has always been to attract the best oncology researchers, scientists and investors from around the world,” said Sonia Sennik, Chief Executive Officer of Creative Destruction Lab. “With The Princess Margaret joining as Global Cancer Research Advisory Partner, world-class scientists will engage directly with our ventures. When inventions and treatments reach patients sooner, they can help save lives, not just here in Canada, but around the world.”
About Creative Destruction Lab
Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a nonprofit organization that delivers an objectives-based program for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies. Founded by Professor Ajay Agrawal in 2012 at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, the program has expanded and now has 17 sites across ten countries: Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Halifax, Paris, Madison, Seattle, Estonia, Berlin, Melbourne, College Station, Milan, London, San Sebastian, Doha, and Cleveland.
About The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation is Canada’s largest cancer charity. We’re dedicated to raising funds for Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, one of the world’s leading cancer research and treatment centres, known for its breakthrough discoveries that transform patient outcomes. Together, our work benefits cancer patients everywhere in our mission to create a world free from the fear of cancer. Through philanthropy, fundraising events, and our world-leading lottery program, we’re changing how the world understands, prevents, diagnoses, and treats cancer, benefiting patients at The Princess Margaret, throughout Canada, and around the world.
Media Contact
Amarpreet Kaur
Director, Creative Destruction Lab
amarpreet.kaur@creativedestructionlab.com
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation:
Parker Varnai
Senior Public Relations & Communications Advisor, The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation
parker.varnai@thepmcf.ca
