2026 HHS Breakthrough Awards - Personalized Medicine Focus

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The 2026 Breakthrough Awards: Personalized Medicine Focus are designed to accelerate promising, patient-impact-driven research that advances precision approaches to health and disease. We welcome applications spanning the full spectrum of personalized medicine, including biomarker discovery, genomics, diagnostics, targeted therapies, artificial intelligence and digital health, population health, health equity, implementation science, and other innovative areas that support more precise, predictive, and personalized care.

Please complete the following form to submit your application. Applications do not need to be completed in a single session; you will be able to save your progress and return to the application. Please complete all required sections before submitting your application. Incomplete applications will be removed from the competition.

Fall 2026 Breakthrough Awards Guidelines

Application requirements:

Application webform
3-minute video pitch
(Optional) Voluntary Disclosure of Equity Data

Application Deadline: September 15, 2026 @ 4:00 PM ET

Awardees will be honoured at the HHS Research & Innovation Awards of Excellence on Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at Liuna Station. Please save the date in your calendar!

First Name

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Last Name

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Email address

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Job Title

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HHS Department

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Which HHS site do you work from and/or report to?

Select all that apply

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Hamilton General Hospital (HGH)

McMaster University Medical Centre (MUMC) / McMaster Children's Hospital (MCH)

Juravinski Cancer Centre (JCC)

Juravinski Hospital (JH)

Regional Rehabilitation Centre

Ron Joyce Children's Health Centre (RJCHC)

Satellite Health Facility

St. Peter's Hospital

West End Clinic/Urgent Care Centre

West Lincoln Memorial Hospital

Other (option to specify)

If you selected "Other" in the previous question, please specify:

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Institute or Centre Affiliation

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If you selected "Other" in the previous question, please specify:

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Would you like to add a co-applicant?

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Yes

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First Name

* must provide value

Last Name

* must provide value

Email address

* must provide value

Job Title

* must provide value

HHS Department

* must provide value

If you selected "Other" in the previous question, please specify:

* must provide value

Which HHS site do you work from and/or report to?

Select all that apply

* must provide value

Hamilton General Hospital (HGH)

McMaster University Medical Centre (MUMC) / McMaster Children's Hospital (MCH)

Juravinski Cancer Centre (JCC)

Juravinski Hospital (JH)

Regional Rehabilitation Centre

Ron Joyce Children's Health Centre (RJCHC)

Satellite Health Facility

St. Peter's Hospital

West End Clinic/Urgent Care Centre

West Lincoln Memorial Hospital

Other (option to specify)

If you selected "Other" in the previous question, please specify:

* must provide value

Institute or Centre Affiliation

* must provide value

If you selected "Other" in the previous question, please specify:

* must provide value

List of Research Team/ Co-Investigators:

For each team member include their full name, position/title, professional discipline, and role in the project.

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Personal Statement

Please briefly describe why your experience and qualifications make you particularly well-suited for the HHS Breakthrough Award in alignment with the theme.

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Positions and Honours

Please list in chronological order current and previous positions and honours.

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Selected Peer-reviewed Publications

Please limit the list of selected peer-reviewed publications or manuscripts in press, to no more than 15. Do not include manuscripts submitted or in preparation. Applicants may choose to include selected publications based on recency and importance to the field.

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Research Support

Please list a selection of ongoing and completed research projects related to Personalized Medicine Research, within the past three years.

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Project Title

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Lay Summary

Using language accessible to a lay audience, please describe the proposed research. This information may be used by HHS to communicate the nature and importance of your research to internal/external stakeholders and/or the general public. Max. 250 words.

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Video Pitch

Please submit a Google Drive link to a 3-minute video pitch describing your research project. This pitch should provide a short, fun, and engaging lay summary, and your project's potential impact on Personalized Medicine Research.

Please follow these steps to submit the Google Drive link to your video pitch:

Open Google Drive and ensure you're logged into your Google account.
Click the '+New' button on the left hand side and upload your video from your computer.
If your video is already uploaded to Google Drive, locate it in your Drive's file list.
Click on the video file once to highlight it.
Right-click on the file name to open a menu of options.
Click 'Share' In the pop-up window that appears, select 'anyone with the link' under the General Access section.
Click 'copy link' and insert it into the REDCap application form.

Should you have any technical issues while creating/uploading your Google Drive link, please do not hesitate to contact Matthew Ratsep (ratsep@hhsc.ca) for assistance.

**By submitting a video pitch, you acknowledge and agree that your video may be used, in whole or in part, by Hamilton Health Sciences and the Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation for promotional, educational, or reporting purposes, including but not limited to use on websites, social media, and in presentations or publications.**

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Voluntary Disclosure of Equity Data

Achieving a more equitable, diverse and inclusive environment is essential to creating the excellent, innovative and impactful research necessary to advance knowledge and understanding, and to respond to local, national and global challenges. The aim of this self-identification data collection is to increase equitable and inclusive access to funding opportunities, as outlined in the Best Practices in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Research Practice and Design.

The personal information you provide in this questionnaire will only be used or disclosed for the following purposes:

Implementing funding equalization measures designed to ensure that underrepresented groups have access to HHS funding proportional to other groups;

Future program design and delivery, results measurement, and reporting purposes.

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Do you identify as a member of a visible minority as defined in the Employment Equity Act?

The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as "persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour".

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Do you identify as Indigenous, that is, First Nation, Métis, or Inuk (Inuit)?

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Which of the following best describes your racial group?

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Black (African, Afro-Caribbean, African-Canadian descent)

Asian (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese descent)

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The Accessible Canada Act defines disability as "any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment - or a functional limitation whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders a person's full and equal participation in society."

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