TORONTO, ON — March 24, 2026. CanPath is proud to support a major new research initiative aimed at transforming colorectal cancer prevention. Dr. Vikki Ho, Associate Professor at the Université de Montréal, researcher at the Centre de recherche du CHUM (CRCHUM) and co-scientific director of CARTaGENE, has been awarded $2 million over five years by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to lead the project EXPOSE-CRC — Environmental eXposure Profiling for Signatures of Early ColoRectal Cancer.

This ambitious program brings together an interdisciplinary team co-led by Drs. Vikki Ho (CRCHUM), Lee Hwa Tai (Université de Sherbrooke), Bouchra Nasri (Université de Montréal), and Daniel von Renteln (CHUM). This study aims to better understand how everyday factors that we can change, like what we eat, how active we are, and what we are exposed to at home or at work, may lead to colorectal cancer, and to identify early biological signatures that could guide prevention strategies. Working with a national team of public health scientists, lab researchers, doctors, and patient partners, the team hopes to better understand how these real-life multi-exposures affect the body over time to help prevent colorectal cancer before it starts.

“We know that many colorectal cancers can be prevented, but everyday factors that can cause colorectal cancers are inter-related. It is only when we understand how multiple real-world exposures interact to spark the earliest biological shifts toward disease that we can better design strategies to prevent colorectal cancers,” said Dr. Ho.

Colorectal cancer is one of the top causes of cancer death. Although 20 to 70% of cases could be prevented, researchers still do not fully understand how combinations of exposures increase a person’s risk. Most studies focus on exposures one at a time, but people experience many exposures at once and over a lifetime, and these multi-exposures may matter most.

What EXPOSE-CRC will do

The project has three main goals:

1. Identify exposures linked to colorectal cancer
   The team will study information from over 350,000 Canadians in CanPath, including data on diet, exercise, work, and the environment. They will look for patterns, especially combinations of exposures, that may lead to colorectal cancer. They will also examine differences between males and females and explore gender-related behaviours.
2. Study early changes in the body using “mini-organoids”
   Researchers will collect tissue from 10 people having routine colonoscopies and grow tiny organoids, which act like small versions of the colon. By exposing these organoids to key risk factors, the team will track early biological changes that happen before cancer starts.
3. Assess these findings in a real-world screening group
   The team will then recruit 700 colonoscopy patients. With tissue samples and questionnaires, they will examine whether early warning signs found in the lab — called biomarkers — can predict who has polyps, which sometimes develop into cancer.

A project built on inclusion and representation

EXPOSE-CRC is designed to include people of different ages, genders, backgrounds, and communities.

The team will study differences between males and females and include gender identity information when available. They will also look at how factors like ethnicity, income, and where people live affect exposure and risk, and work with patient partners to make sure that the research focuses on what matters most to the public.

Why population health data matters and how CanPath helps

To understand cancer risk, we need to study how people live in the real world, not just in a lab. That’s why population health data is so important, and why CanPath plays such a key role.

CanPath provides:

• Health data from over 350,000 Canadians.
• Information on lifestyle, environment, work, and overall health.
• Confirmed cancer diagnoses through links with provincial cancer registries.
• New and upcoming data on gender identity to support more inclusive research.

This large, diverse set of information helps scientists see how different exposures come together and who may be at higher risk, something smaller studies can’t capture.

“CanPath gives scientists the real‑world data they need to understand why diseases like colorectal cancer develop,” said Dr. Jennifer Brooks, CanPath Executive Director. “We’re proud to partner with EXPOSE-CRC as it searches for new clues that can lead to better prevention.”

Funding acknowledgement

EXPOSE-CRC is funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Cancer Research’s Bringing Biology to Cancer Prevention Team Grants program in partnership with the Cancer Research Society.

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact:

Megan Fleming
Communications & Knowledge Translation Officer
Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath)
info@canpath.ca

About CanPath

The Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath) is Canada’s largest population health study, following hundreds of thousands of participants across the country to support research on cancer and chronic disease prevention.