PATIENT PARTNERSHIP
We believe that the best research is built through partnership.
By working alongside patient partners and the broader community, we gain perspectives that help shape our research priorities, strengthen our studies, and ensure our discoveries remain connected and relevant to the people they are intended to benefit.
WHY DO WE DO THIS RESEARCH?
“I am endlessly fascinated by the complexity and adaptability of cancer, and by the extraordinary power of the immune system to recognize and overcome disease. Research gives me the opportunity to think creatively, ask difficult questions, and tackle problems that have no easy solutions. What makes this work especially meaningful is knowing that every discovery has the potential to improve the lives of people living with cancer and autoimmune disease. Working alongside patient partners ensures that our research is informed not only by scientific discovery, but also by the experiences, priorities, and hopes of the people we aim to help.” - Laura
"I find it incredibly intriguing not just how our bodies react to the presence of cancer, but also how we can harness the inherent power of our immune system in really creative ways to overcome barriers that limit the effectiveness of current therapies. Getting to witness breakthroughs in the lab, even the smallest ones, on a near-daily basis is a constant reminder that things are moving in the right direction. Fundamentally, the collaborative spirit and shared sense of purpose within the cancer research community and those affected by disease provides endless motivation and gives me real hope for the future of treatment." - Zach
"My primary motivationfor participating in this research is my strong belief that personalized medicine will shape the future of cancer treatment. I am particularly fascinated by the advances that have enabled us to utilize and modify a patient's immune system to fight cancer. Another aspect of this research that motivates me is that I thrive in an environment that continually presents new challenges and opportunities for learning, whether through insights gained from our results or through direct and meaningful engagement with patient partners who have gone through cancer treatments in Canada and British-Columbia. This engagement has strengthened my commitment to increasing accessibility of immunotherapies and improving the quality of life of patients living with and beyond cancer." - Lauralie
"My “why” is simple: to help improve the cancer journey for those who will walk this path after me. Staying connected to preclinical research fills me with hope and gives me a meaningful way to bring my lived‑experience perspective into the science. It fulfills my personal mission of supporting better experiences and outcomes for others, and it keeps me looking forward with optimism rather than revisiting the difficult parts of my journey." - Nadine
MEET OUR PATIENT PARTNERS
Nadine F
Drawing on her lived experience with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), Nadine holds a Bachelor of Social Work and brings skills of advocacy, project and change management to her patient partner role in preclinical cancer research. I contribute the perspective of someone who has navigated treatment for ALL, including immunotherapy, helping keep preclinical cancer research closely connected to the realities patients face. I bring a focus on knowledge translation, supporting teams in communicating research in ways that are clear, accessible, and meaningful.
Rod N
Born in Montreal, worked in Vancouver and Calgary. Father of 3 great adult kids. I got involved when I learned that my experience could help patients, caregivers and medical professionals. By bringing a survivor's perspective to researchers, I hope to inspire their drive to discover future treatments.
OUR PARTNERSHIP JOURNEY
Our approach to patient partnership began in 2023, when we met Nadine Frisk through the BioCanRx Summit for Cancer Immunotherapy. Nadine was paired with Lauralie through the Learning Institute, and what began as a co-mentorship opportunity has grown into an ongoing and meaningful partnership.
Nadine is now an integral part of our lab community. Through regular meetings, she contributes to scientific discussions, provides feedback on our research and its communication, and helps us consider our work from the perspective of someone with lived experience of immunotherapy. These conversations have helped our team better understand the experiences and priorities of patients, while also giving Nadine an inside view of how research moves from an initial idea to experiments, results, and ultimately new knowledge.
Nadine’s close collaboration with Lauralie over the years has also created opportunities for her to become more directly involved in sharing our research. In 2026, Nadine and Lauralie co-presented a poster at the Summit4CI, highlighting how patient partners can contribute not only to discussions about research, but also to communicating research findings to the broader community.
Our partnership also extends to knowledge translation and outreach. Nadine has played an important role in our podcast, What the HEK is Immunotherapy, helping us think about how to explain complex scientific concepts in language that is accessible and meaningful to a broader audience. As a guest on the podcast, she has also shared her perspective on patient–researcher partnerships and how these relationships can make science more human.
In 2025, we were paired with Rod through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Building on our experience working with Nadine, we worked with Lab Partners to thoughtfully develop this new relationship, with Nadine also helping to welcome Rod into our research community and share her experience of working alongside our team. Together, we have been steadily building a relationship with Rod through regular conversations and opportunities to learn from his perspective and experiences with lymphoma and immunotherapy. As this partnership continues to grow, we are exploring meaningful ways for Rod to contribute to our research and help us think about the questions we ask, how we communicate our findings, and what matters most to people affected by lymphoma.
We are grateful to be learning from Rod and Nadine and look forward to continuing to build new projects together.