Sinai Health Foundation Puts Chronic Inflammation in the Spotlight

New campaign calls on Canadians to help fund what could be one of the biggest medical breakthroughs of the 21st century

TORONTO, ON., Nov. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Many of today’s most serious diseases look different on the surface, but growing evidence suggests they share a common driver: chronic inflammation. This November, Sinai Health Foundation is bringing this hidden link into the spotlight and calling on Canadians to help unlock new ways to prevent, detect and treat some of today’s most urgent health challenges.  

Chronic inflammation occurs when the immune response that normally protects us fails to switch off, damaging healthy cells and tissues over time. It has been linked to conditions ranging from cancer and heart disease to diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and pregnancy complications. To draw attention to the disease behind the disease, the campaign reveals Flammy—a mysterious character that has been appearing across Toronto—as the personification of chronic inflammation and highlights the need to fund research closing in on answers. 

“Inflammation doesn't stop at the boundaries of one department or one disease, so our research can't either,” said Dr. Anne-Claude Gingras, Vice-President, Research, Sinai Health. “With the rapid increase in younger Canadians being diagnosed with cancer and the long-term health impacts of chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease, we need to act quickly.  We can’t afford to keep studying them in isolation if we want to uncover new ways to detect disease earlier, prevent lasting damage and develop more precise treatments.”  

At Sinai Health, discovery scientists and clinical researchers are working together to understand how chronic inflammation begins and persists, pursuing insights across disease areas that might otherwise remain hidden. This integrated approach is already producing results, helping move discoveries closer to care and uncover better ways to predict, prevent and treat disease.  

Canada has one of the highest rates of IBD in the world, making earlier detection and prevention critical. Through a landmark study led by Sinai Health's Dr. Kenneth Croitoru, researchers identified an immune response detectable through a blood test years before Crohn's disease symptoms appear, moving the field closer to identifying disease before symptoms appear and potentially preventing lasting damage.  

​​​IBD isn’t the only area where Sinai Health researchers are producing results. Dr. Daniel Drucker’s foundational GLP-1 research helped lay the groundwork for medicines now transforming diabetes and obesity care. Now, Dr. Drucker is exploring how GLP-1 pathways may lessen chronic inflammation without broadly suppressing immunity—and what that could mean for diseases well beyond diabetes and obesity. 

“What started as diabetes research has shown us just how connected these diseases really are,” said Dr. Daniel Drucker, Senior Investigator, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health. “We're now investigating not only how inflammation causes harm, but how we might target it precisely, without taking away the immune defenses people need.” 

Discoveries like these could shift medicine toward earlier detection and prevention, but Canada's research environment is under pressure. Chronic underfunding, fragmented systems and less industry investment in early discovery mean many promising ideas never get the time, tools or talent they need. Philanthropy makes the ambitious, early work possible while researchers build the evidence that traditional grants require. 

“By introducing Flammy and this campaign, we hope to bring attention to the role chronic inflammation can play in major diseases and the urgent need to tackle questions about how to address it. With the support of our community, Sinai Health's researchers can move faster, follow promising leads and turn one of the biggest opportunities in modern medicine into better health for Canadians,” said Louis de Melo, President and CEO of Sinai Health Foundation.  

To support Sinai Health's inflammation research and help find the answers, visit ItsTimeForAnswers.ca.

- 30 -

About Sinai Health Foundation 

Sinai Health Foundation is the bridge between generosity and innovation, bringing the community together to fund transformative care across Sinai Health. For half a century, the Foundation has helped to support the vision of our health-care leaders, fuel groundbreaking research, and modernize equipment, technology, and spaces, shaping the Sinai Health we know today. Together, we are reimagining the future of care to do more for the patients and families we serve. Learn more at supportsinai.ca. 

Attachments

• Sinai Health researchers are working to advance understanding the role of chronic inflammation in driving disease
• Sinai Health Foundation introduces Flammy character to highlight need for investment in inflammation research

Emily Wiles
Sinai Health Foundation
647-797-4609
emily.wiles@sinaihealthfoundation.ca