The Canary Center at Stanford (CC@S) is the only center in the world with dedicated full-time faculty focused on the early detection of cancer. It is the only facility that integrates both blood and imaging-based diagnostic research. The Center supports multiple faculty and more than 100 research affiliates dedicated to research in the early detection of cancer. The Canary Center at Stanford occupies space in a newly renovated School of Medicine building in Palo Alto, along with the Department of Radiology. The Center's scientific director is Dr. Sanjiv (Sam) Gambhir who leads a variety of programs at Stanford, including the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS). The center will help accomplish our goal of delivering diagnostics tests for all major solid tumor cancers to clinical trial by 2015.

Since our founding in 2004, Canary Foundation has partnered with leading institutions in North America to build a network of scientific teams operating as a virtual institute. While the virtual model has been effective, an opportunity to take our program to the next level presented itself in the form of a strategic partnership with the Stanford University School of Medicine, the Stanford Department of Radiology, and the Stanford Comprehensive Cancer Center. Stanford University has contributed substantially to the center. The Department of Radiology has committed to four new faculty members in molecular imaging, as well as $4 million to support faculty recruitment. The Stanford University School of Medicine has also committed to four new faculty members for the Center and has committed to supporting facility renovations and lease costs.

The Center is supported by research "cores" that provide scientific capabilities to the research teams. The initial cores are chemistry, proteomics, and bioinformatics. The Center will also have a clinical trials component to move diagnostic tests to clinical trials.

Proteomics Core

Proteomics is the study of proteins, and the technology used for it is mass spectrometry. Biological materials that are cancerous, including blood, tissue, and cells, are studied by this technology. We strive to find proteins associated with the cancer that are cancer-specific, i.e., not present in healthy individuals. This equipment is used for both discovery and validation of these novel proteins.

Chemistry Core

Molecular imaging and blood biomarker tests rely on the production of antibodies that recognize novel proteins. Essentially, an antibody provides a target that can be used to measure concentrations for the blood tests (assays) or used to link to a molecular imaging agent to "light up" the cancer. The chemistry core supports the development of these antibodies, assays, and linkers.

Bioinformatics Core

State-of-the art discovery technologies such as proteomics and next-generation sequencing generate enormous amounts of data. The bioinformatics core will support software technologies to manage and analyze these data sets for the scientific teams. Additionally, the bioinformatics core will participate with the clinical trials core to link test outcomes in the clinical setting.

Clinical Trials

The goal of the clinical trials is to move the diagnostic tests to clinical trial, which will be focused initially on high-risk communities. With our support, high-risk clinics will be able to test our diagnostics in parallel with existing diagnostics and patient support. Investments in this area will include bioinformatics to manage the programs, plus funding to expand support to existing high-risk clinics.

The Molecular Imaging Clinic of the Nuclear Medicine Division is being constructed and will be an integral service at Stanford Hospital and Clinics. The Clinic will aid in the development of molecular imaging for tumors, which will allow us to "see" tumors in a living subject based on specific, unique, molecular characteristics. More.

Navigate to Stanford website for Canary Center

Download Canary Center Brochure

Press Release