Annual Report 2015

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A special way to remember a special young man
Ian Lawson Van Toch was beloved by all
who knew him. He loved life and was
grateful for all the opportunities that came
his way. When he died of heart failure at the
tragically young age of 22, he had started
on the path to his dream career. He was
conducting cancer research in the lab of
Dr. Igor Jurisica at Princess Margaret Cancer
Centre, specializing in cancer informatics.
To keep Ian’s legacy alive, his friends and
family organized an annual bike ride from
Kingston to Montreal. In the first three
years, they raised over $168,000 to provide
opportunities for other young scientists to
experience the same thrill of discovering
their passion and to help them launch their
careers in cancer informatics.
Already Dr. Jurisica has created two paid
summer internship positions, established
a memorial lecture series attracting
world-renowned scientists in the field of
computational biology, and introduced an
annual award for excellence in the study
of cancer informatics demonstrated by an
undergraduate student.
For more information about this ride, visit
Peter Freed and Special Events
Coordinator, Paige Cunningham
Freed Charity Golf Classic drives past 5 years
For the past 5 years, Peter Freed has held
a golf tournament at Muskoka Bay Club
to raise funds for the cancer centre that
took care of him when he was a patient in his
early 30’s. Collectively, the tournaments have
raised $200,000 which Peter has directed to
the research efforts of Dr. Malcolm Moore,
head of Hematology and Medical Oncology
for Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
Peter heads up Freed Developments, one
of Canada’s most progressive community
development companies—building ‘lifestyle
hubs’. Muskoka Bay is one of Freed’s award-
winning development projects.