Dr. Bright is a medical anthropologist at the University of Toronto and lead investigator on LSTN’s Roundtable Project, a mixed method study of research protocols and approval processes in therapeutics for lethal disease. Her recent ethnographic research has focused on the organization and ethics of cancer treatment in Canada, India, and the US, including transformations in personalized medicine and digital health. Dr. Bright completed her PhD in sociocultural anthropology at the University of California Santa Cruz in 1998 and postdoctoral training in public health at UC Berkeley in 2005. Previously she taught anthropology at Stanford University and New York University School of Medicine where she co-led international translational research in advanced breast cancer and helped develop programs in patient navigation and ethnographic training for medical students. Her experiences in Canada and internationally have provided her with a unique perspective on the impact of system factors including data sharing, institutional history, and regulatory cultures on how new therapeutics are made available, to whom, and when.

Greg holds a B.Sc. from Queen’s University in Engineering Physics, and consults in IT related matters, including database creation and management, website management and crowd sourcing. He will handle all of these tasks for the project, and manage any consultants related to them that the project engages. He is passionate about making a difference in the healthcare system.

Mrs. Gillespie is passionately committed to raising awareness about issues affecting people with serious diseases such as autism and cancer. She understands government relations and communication from an insider’s perspective, and from that of a patient / caregiver advocate. Laurel has worked on Parliament Hill, run as a candidate federally and provincially, and drafted several private members bills. She served as the Federal NDP Disability Rights Co-Chair under the leadership of Jack Layton. In the spring of 2006 Laurel co-drafted Motion 172 calling for a National Autism Strategy, which was passed by the House of Commons. In 2007, Laurel and Lisa Macleod, MPP for Nepean-Carleton, founded the South Nepean Autism Centre. Laurel also has a solid business background. She is past President and former owner of Spa Concepts, a destination spa consulting company. She has also served as Director of Business Development for Health and Fitness Group International.
Laurel was diagnosed with cancer in 2007. Now years in remission, she brings her straightforward, no nonsense approach to the LSTN.  It has helped her develop solid relationships with key players who represent a variety of viewpoints… to raise their awareness of issues and to bring them to together to find practical, helpful solutions.
Laurel currently serves as Chief Executive Officer at Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) and is a member of the Board of Directors for Autism Canada.

Our mission is to raise awareness of positive sexual and reproductive health practices through the implementation of comprehensive education programs while emphasizing HPV and its potential consequences. We empower culturally and ideologically diverse youth, families, and communities across the globe through the dissemination of critical, evidence-based knowledge.

Be the Choice is a Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to making breast cancer treatment information accessible and participatory. Be the Choice has built an interactive, fully bilingual, digital platform that enables patients and their advocates to navigate the labyrinth of clinical terms and pathways that accompany a diagnosis. The tool was designed by medical professionals and patients and is available at bethechoice.org. The goal of the tool is to help users learn the basics about breast cancer, see the range of treatment options available, and empower patients to participate in more informed conversations with their medical providers.

Louise Binder is a lawyer and health advocate who has been involved in informing the development of health policy and systemic treatment access practices from a patient perspective for more than 20 years. She started her work in this area in the HIV community in the early 1990s after her own diagnosis and before effective treatments were available for HIV.

She co-founded the Canadian Treatment Action Council (CTAC) in 1996, which successfully ensured access to treatments and quality care for people living with HIV by working with the federal and provincial governments and other relevant stakeholders to enhance drug review and approval systems, pricing policies and access to liver transplants for this community. She wrote a paper on universal drug coverage a decade ago while chair of CTAC.

She had a special interest in women’s issues, chairing the Ontario women’s organization Voice of Positive Women for more than a decade, and has been involved in these issues internationally as well. Two years ago, Louise began similar work in the cancer area and is presently a Health Policy Consultant with Save Your Skin Foundation. She has been recognized by many organizations for her work, including receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from her alma mater, Queen’s Law School; the Order of Ontario from the Province of Ontario; and two Queen Elizabeth II medals.

Pam is a retired civil servant who is has been a caregiver for members of her family that have been afflicted with severe medical issues. She held progressively senior legal and policy advisory positions during a career that spanned 1971 to 1996, often in regulatory frameworks. She welcomes the opportunity to participate in this patient-oriented Life-Saving Therapies Network with its emphasis on improving quality of life for individuals with deadly diseases.  Highlights in her career include serving as a senior advisor to the Privy Council Office and the Federal-Provincial Relations Office on substantive policy issues related to Quebec-related constitutional issues. She also represented Canada on official government delegations to the United Nations (U.N.) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (O.E.C.D).  This work involved the links among migration, development assistance and human rights, and the implications of these links for Canadian domestic and foreign policy. She also managed a research team that supported Justice Canada lawyers on First Nations litigation matters, and helped design and start-up of an aboriginal economic development program, controlled by an aboriginal-majority advisory board and targeted at supporting small businesses and community-based financial institutions. Following her retirement from the federal public service, Ms. Devine worked for the Assembly of First Nations in Ottawa on health and governance issues and on an administrative review process aimed at improving the effectiveness of the organization’s advocacy activities. Pam is a graduate of the University of Ottawa (B.A. 66’ and LL.B 70’).

Starting her career in clinical research in the pharmaceutical industry, Martine has dedicated her career to helping patients get access to innovative medical treatments. She is a strong believer in ensuring the patient voice is included in all aspects of health policy decisions.

Martine is the Director Access, Advocacy and Community Relations at Myeloma Canada. Her role is to develop, lead and execute all advocacy strategies and programs for Myeloma Canada and support the Board of Directors in its goals of shaping access to new therapies and strengthening the Myeloma Canada patient and caregiver community across Canada. Martine has served as the Director, National Patient Engagement Strategy at JANSSEN Inc., with responsibilities for developing and executing an industry-leading national patient engagement strategy. She was also part of an international advocacy team working on a global patient advocacy strategy that engaged with patient groups in various countries around the world. She has been a tireless champion of patient advocacy and improved patient access to medications. Before that, she was National Director of Community Relations where she led the development of patient education, advocacy and access strategies. She has also been Vice-Chair of Rx&D’s (Canada’s pharmaceutical industry association) Stakeholder Strategic Advisory Team, whose role was to advise the Rx&D Board on strategic stakeholder relationship initiatives and best practices.

Prior to joining JANSSEN, Martine worked in clinical research at GSK (GlaxoSmithKline), before being appointed the Market Access and Health Economics team leader. Fully bilingual, Martine has a B.Sc. in Biology from the Université de Montréal and a Master’s of Science in Marine Mammal Biology from the University of Guelph.

Andrea became involved with lung cancer advocacy following her mother’s death from the disease in 2008. After receiving a diagnosis of stage IV lung cancer in 2006, Andrea’s mother underwent numerous treatments and clinical trials at several major academic institutions to no avail. Together with her father, Andrea was her mother’s primary caregiver during this time. Determined to drive more money into lung cancer research, Andrea left the successful software company that she helped launch, to found Protect Your Lungs, an organization focused 100% on funding early detection research. In 2010, Andrea merged Protect Your Lungs with LUNGevity, a Chicago based organization, to form the nation’s leading lung cancer focused non-profit.

Andrea’s strong business background combined with her connections to the worlds of research and advocacy have enabled her to build the preeminent patient advocacy organization in the lung cancer space. LUNGevity funds translational research into both early detection and more effective treatments of lung cancer as well as a highly coveted Career Development Awards program. LUNGevity also fills unmet needs for people diagnosed with lung cancer by providing education, support and survivorship programs. Recognizing the need to build awareness and understanding about lung cancer, LUNGevity has built the largest grassroots network of events and advocates across the country.

Kirk Hartley is a trial lawyer and consultant with a passion for the intersections between law and science, including the medical and legal principles involved in many aspects of cancer.  His pro bono legal work is focused on articles, presentations and/or litigation regarding the rights of persons with cancer with respect to access to diagnostics and therapies. That work concentrates primarily on efforts to persuade or force private insurers or insurance plan administrators to provide access to precision medicine diagnostics and therapies. Over the years, Kirk has increasingly focused on the growing and changing intersections between molecular science, tort law, corporate law, and insurance, as well as the increasing use of bankruptcies and schemes of arrangement to resolve or limit underlying contingent liability claims. Kirk frequently speaks on and writes about law and science issues, and has been time and again recognized as being part of the top tier of US lawyers.

For over 30 years, Kirk has represented commercial clients in business litigation, including winning judgments for some of the largest companies in the US, as well as smaller entrepreneurs. Kirk’s practice has involved advising a wide range of corporations, associations, and individuals as both plaintiffs and defendants, but in different law firm settings.  In June 2011, Kirk created his own law firm, LSP Group LLC, to continue his focus on issues involving law, science and policy. Kirk’s immediate prior practice focused on representing policyholders against insurers for a national insurance coverage boutique (Childress Duffy) that represented policyholders against insurance companies. Kirk also enjoyed over 25 years as a partner in a national law firm (Katten Muchin Rosenman) and, subsequently, a nationally known litigation boutique (Butler Rubin Saltarelli & Boyd). Immediately after law school, Kirk learned many lessons during a wonderful year spent as a law clerk for Howard C. Ryan, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Illinois.

Kirk also is a director in a boutique consulting firm, Gnarus Advisors LLC. Gnarus combines economic, scientific, engineering, and regulatory expertise to provide clients with multidimensional support on a wide range of challenges affecting their financial performance, risk management goals, and dispute resolution efforts. He also writes an independent blog, GlobalTort.com, which focuses on global tort claiming, science, cancer, insurance and mass tort bankruptcies.

Heather Hogan was born and raised in New Brunswick. In September 2012, she was diagnosed with Stage 3a Non-small cell Adenocarcinoma lung cancer and given a 15% chance of surviving 5 years. She endured two lung surgeries, four rounds of chemotherapy and 25 radiation treatments. Since finishing treatments, Heather has shown no signs of the disease.

Seeing a need for cancer support in her small town, Heather, along with two other cancer patients, began a Cancer Support group for both patients and caregivers. Heather has recently retired from a long career in teaching which has given her the opportunity to dedicate time to advocating for, and educating people about Lung Cancer by meeting with politicians, doctors, researchers and fellow advocates from across Canada and the United States. Her goal is to reduce the stigma related to lung cancer and to advocate for more funding, research and early detection of the disease.

Lung cancer advocacy has lead Heather to contacts with other organizations like Lung Cancer Canada and the Life Saving Therapies Network who are working to improve patient care in Canada.

Marcia K. Horn has been President and CEO of the International Cancer Advocacy Network (ICAN) since 1996. Based in Phoenix, ICAN’s mission is to accelerate the anticancer drug pipeline at every level. One of the most effective cancer patient advocacy organizations in the USA, its Personalized Medicine Cancer Case Navigation Programs cover every cancer and cancer subtype and emphasize molecular diagnostics and gene expression profiling. Under Marcia’s leadership, ICAN has received Top-Rated Health Care Organization (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015) and the number one Top Rated Breast Cancer Organization (2012) awards from GreatNonprofits. In November, 2014, ICAN was selected as the patient advocacy organization for the Stand Up 2 Cancer Dream Team “Molecular Early Detection of Colon Cancer,” working with Dream Team Leader Gerrit Meijer, MD, PhD of the Netherlands Cancer Institute and Dream Team Co-Leader Victor Velculescu, MD, PhD of Johns Hopkins. Its newsletter is consistently rated as one of the best in the country.

In 2007, Marcia was named an Affiliate Member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). In 2012, she was selected for the Drug Information Association’s (DIA) Patient Advocate Fellowship Program. In January 2013, she became the inaugural chairman of the DIA’s national Patient Engagement Community and was a grant reviewer for PCORI, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. In 2014, Marcia was named a PCORI Ambassador. In June 2012, Marcia was named to the Banner MD Anderson Institutional Review Board (IRB) Oncology Panel and in 2013, Marcia was a Finalist for the Organization of Non-profit Executives’ “Director of the Year” Award (in the Leader of Distinction category).   In February, 2015, Marcia was named to the DIA Editorial Board and in April 2015 co-authored an article for the DIA Global Forum with Eric Racine of Sanofi, “Are You Ready? Patient Empowerment is Here to Stay.” In March, 2016, Marcia was named the Patient Advocate for the SWOG (Southwest Oncology Group) Early Therapeutics and Rare Cancers Committee, which is part of the National Clinical Trials Network.  In March, 2009, Marcia was named a Foundation Associate of WBL, Women Business Leaders of the U.S. Health Care Industry Foundation, which is fast becoming one of the most prominent organizations for top women in health care. In October, 2009, she was asked to join The Health Alliance, a select group of leading women in health care.

Marcia graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University in 1977 in Political Science and received her J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1980. A member of the State Bar of Arizona for over 32 years, she is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. She was a commercial litigator at Streich Lang Weeks & Cardon, P.A. and later in her own practice, specializing in motion practice and the pretrial preparation of complex cases (trained by Ronald Jay Cohen, Dan M. Durrant, Deana S. Peck, Robert E. B. Allen, and the Honorable Michael Yarnell) as well as appellate litigation (mentored by William S. Hawgood II). In 1989, she was interviewed by the Judicial Nominating Commission for Judge of the Superior Court of Maricopa County. Marcia has also handled political asylum cases and State Department visa matters for Russian Jewish immigrants on a pro bono basis since 1990. She is an expert in non-profit board governance, lobbying and legislative activities, board development, ethics, accountability, transparency, and Form 990 issues.

Marcia has also served on major non-profit civic and Jewish community boards and was the first two-term president of the Arizona Opera League in 1986. From 1986 to 1988, Marcia chaired the Attorneys’ Division for the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix. She served as Vice Chairman of the United Jewish Campaign in Phoenix in 1987. She was named the first Arizonan to the United Jewish Appeal’s National Business and Professional Women’s Council. Marcia received the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix’s Lee Amada Young Leadership Award in 1989. Following a sabbatical in Israel for six months in 1990, she directed The Taste of Israel radio show (music/news/ interviews) from 1991-1992 on KLFF AM 1360 in Phoenix and oversaw advertising, marketing, and fundraising for the radio program. Marcia’s arts activism is influenced by having attended the Academy of the Washington Ballet in Washington, D.C. studying under Mary Day, Anne Bena, Martin Buckner, and Nolan Dingman. The ballet class ethic which encourages an unrelenting pursuit of perfection has served as a guidepost for her work in law, political consulting, non-profit management, and the War on Cancer.

Lisa Machado is the founder of The Canadian CML Network, a Toronto-based national organization dedicated to providing educational, emotional and social support to people living with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and those who care about them. A journalist when she was diagnosed in 2008, Lisa now spends her time advocating for patients, and helping health care providers and industry groups achieve a greater understanding of what it means to be a patient. Lisa also writes a regular column called Tilt, for the website CML-IQ.

The Canadian CML Network runs regular patient meetings, and also hosts an annual “Living Well with CML” educational conference in different cities across Canada. In September 2015, the Network published its first book, “Living Well with CML: What you need to know to live your best life with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia.” To order a copy, email info@cmlnetwork.ca.

Susan Marlin is the President and CEO of Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO), an organization established by the Province of Ontario in 2012 to make Ontario a preferred location for global clinical trials while maintaining the highest ethical standards. She has led the establishment of the CTO and the implementation of a province-wide streamlined research ethics review system. Prior to serving in this position she spent a decade working in research administration at Queen`s University, most recently serving as the Associate Vice-Principal of Research. Before this Susan worked with the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group for many years, initially coordinating cancer clinical trials and later leading the development and implementation of the Ethics and Regulatory Office.

Susan has been actively engaged in research ethics over the years and has served on several research ethics committees. She served as President of the Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards, as a member of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Research Integrity Committee, the Ontario Cancer Research Ethics Board and the Tri-Agency Panel on the Responsible Conduct of Research. Susan serves on several boards and committees supporting clinical research and innovation in health care including the National Advisory Group for the Canadian Clinical Trials Coordinating Centre and the Management Team for the Ontario SPOR (Strategy for Patient Oriented Research) Support Unit.

Susan was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She holds a BSc (Hons) from Dalhousie University, and an MSc in Community Health and Epidemiology from Queen’s University. She was awarded the Queen’s Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal in 2012 in recognition of her work in support of military and veteran health research.

As co-founder of Kidney Cancer Canada (KCC), a national non-profit patient support and advocacy organization, Deb has worked tirelessly as a patient advocate to ensure equal access to high quality care for kidney cancer patients across Canada. As a long-time kidney cancer patient herself, Deb has been highly instrumental as a media spokesperson, government advocate, and peer supporter for fellow patients.

Deb has previously served as a Board Director of the Canadian Cancer Advocacy Coalition (CACC) and served as Chair of the Drug Access Working Group, Canadian Cancer Action Network (CCAN). Currently, she is the Past Chair of Kidney Cancer Canada and Vice Chair of the International Kidney Cancer Coalition based in Amsterdam. In Canada, she is leading a coalition campaign of 35 cancer organizations (CanCertainty) for full coverage of oral/take-home cancer medications in all provinces: www.cancertaintyforall.ca. Most recently Deb has been awarded the Canadian Governor General’s Meritorious Service Medal, Canada’s highest award for dedication and professionalism in volunteer service.  Twitter: @DebMaskensKCC

Patrick is a passionate childhood cancer advocate. He became an advocate after his son Finn was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in 2007 and he heard the word “incurable” for the first time. Patrick serves as President of the Team Finn Foundation, a volunteer based organization dedicated to raising childhood cancer awareness and which carries Finn’s name. Since 2009, the Team Finn Foundation has raised over two million dollars for pediatric cancer research.  Patrick is also Chair of Ac2orn, which advocates for childhood oncology research.

Patrick other ongoing commitments include: Chair of Bio-CanRX Cancer Stakeholder Alliance; Member of Terry Fox Research Institute Regional Advisory Counsel; Director Childhood Cancer Canada; Member CCCTN Research Ethics Board Accreditation Committee, PPI Committee and Scientific Advisory Committee; CAPTUR Trial Committee; and others.

By profession, Patrick is a securities and corporate-commercial litigator and a founding partner of Taylor Veinotte Sullivan.

Save Your Skin Foundation (SYSF) is a Canadian not-for-profit advocacy group dedicated to leading the fight against skin cancer through nationwide education, advocacy, and awareness, while providing direct support to those touched by the disease. SYSF was founded by North Vancouver resident and melanoma survivor Kathleen Barnard. In 2003, Kathleen was diagnosed with stage 4 malignant melanoma, and by the time Save Your Skin Foundation was established in 2006, Kathleen’s cancer had spread to her vital organs and her treatment options were limited. Fortunately, one of her sons discovered a trial treatment taking place in Alberta; this trial would save Kathleen’s life. While her cancer treatments have finished, the battle with melanoma is not over for Kathleen. Save Your Skin Foundation is committed to ensuring equal, timely, affordable, and appropriate access to skin cancer treatment for all Canadians, to play an active role in reducing the incidence of skin cancer in Canada, and to provide compassionate support to those living with all skin cancers.

Team Finn is a volunteer based organization dedicated to raising childhood cancer awareness and to raising funds for cutting edge paediatric cancer research.  Team Finn is named after and celebrates the life of Finn Sullivan.

Team Finn participates in various events including the Ride to Conquer Cancer, the BMO Vancouver Marathon, the Vancouver Triathlon and PJs with a Purpose, a grass roots initiative that takes place at schools throughout Vancouver.

Since 2009, the Team Finn Foundation has raised over two million dollars.  Aside from participating in and organizing various events to raise funds and childhood cancer awareness, Team Finn works closely with pediatric cancer researchers and clinicians to help bridge gaps and quicken the pace of cancer research.

Team Finn continues to expand its efforts while staying true to the spirit of Finn: a boy who lived to love and loved to Run Jump Bounce Dance Sing Smile Love and Ride every moment he was given.

Dr. Batist was Chair of the Department of Oncology, McGill University from 2001 until 2011. He initiated and led the the McGill Centre for Translational Research in Cancer, which was established to stimulate rapid translation of new discoveries in the research laboratory into clinical benefits for patients. Along with a growing nucleus of clinician-scientists, he was successful in obtaining a major award from the Canada Foundation for Innovation led to expansion and to the creation of the Segal Cancer Centre at the JGH, which he also directs.

His research programs are in novel therapeutics, and he has made significant contributions to the development of new cancer treatments. Dr. Batist leads a highly successful laboratory and clinical research program, and has published over 200 scientific publications and a number of book chapters relating to his research interests. He also leads major Quebec, Canadian and international consortia that focus on personalized medicine, including a recently awarded Canadian National Centre of Excellence. In his capacity as Chairman of Oncology at McGill, he nurtured the development of a number of multidisciplinary programs that have been highly innovative and amongst the first of their kind in Canada. He has trained many scientists and clinical oncologists, and also practices medical oncology.

In September 2011, Dr Batist was made a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. In March 2012, Dr. Batist was appointed Deputy Director of the Lady Davis Institute.

Dr. Batist was born in Montreal, and though he was at University in New York City, he returned for medical school at McGill University. This was followed by post-doctoral training in New York, Boston and finally at the National Cancer Institute in Washington. There he trained in medical oncology and in molecular pharmacology.

Dr. Philip D. Bonomi is a Professor of Medical Oncology and Internal Medicine at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, an institution has been consistently ranked among the best hospitals in the Unites States. He earned his medical degree at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago, did his residency at Geisinger Medical Center in internal medicine and followed up with a fellowship in medical oncology at Rush University Medical Center.  His primary area of interest is thoracic and cardiothoracic oncology, with specialties in lung cancer and mesothelioma.  He has been the recipient of several awards and distinctions, such as America’s Top Doctors, America’s Top Doctors for Cancer, the Compassionate Doctor Recognition and the Patient’s Choice Award. Dr. Bonomi is considered one of America’s leading experts on lung neoplasm and non-small-cell lung cancer. He has lectured widely both nationally and internationally, and pursues substantial research in the area of lung cancer, in which he has published extensively, authoring or co-authoring over 150 publications. He is a member of a number of professional associations including the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. With over three decades of experience in the field of lung cancer research, he has served as the Chairman of the Thoracic Committee for the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. His most research has centered on the study of new chemotherapy agents for multi-modality  therapies in the treatment of small-cell lung cancer.

Dr. Cohen is medical oncologist in the Departments of Medicine and Oncology at the Sir Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital specializing in pulmonary oncology.  He joined the Department of Oncology in 2002 after completing a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the University of Texas, in Houston, Texas where he was involved in clinical studies of a farnesyl transferase inhibitor. His research interests include clinical trials, molecularly-targeted therapies, cancer prevention and Lung cancer.  He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology at McGill University, and Member, Montreal Centre for Experimental Therapeutics in Cancer.

Laurel was diagnosed with cancer in 2007. Now years in remission, she brings her straightforward, no nonsense approach to the LSTN.  It has helped her develop solid relationships with key players who represent a variety of viewpoints… to raise their awareness of issues and to bring them to together to find practical, helpful solutions.

Laurel currently serves as Chief Executive Officer at Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) and is a member of the Board of Directors for Autism Canada.

Dr. MacKenzie is principal investigator at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa (CHEO) Research Institute, Principal Investigator, Apoptosis Research Centre and a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He is a specialist in the field of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, where he has published extensively in the areas of molecular genetics of pediatric disease. Dr. MacKenzie and his team are developing a strategic toolbox and preclinical research pathway for inherited disorders and orphan diseases, including cancers. The lab has identified gene subsets for three disorders – Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Myotonic Dystrophy, and Spinal Muscular Atrophy – and the goal is to broaden the research to include other genetic disorders. He is also a practicing physician in the Division of Endocrinology at CHEO.

Dr. Morzycki obtained a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1988 from Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland. After moving to Nova Scotia, he subsequently specialized in Immuno-Pathology, Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. Hs is an Associate Professor at Dalhousie University and a Medical Oncologist at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is a Principal Investigator for a number of clinical studies on lung cancer, mesothelioma and cancers of unknown primary, which are his main areas of clinical care and research. He is also a member of the Provincial Thoracic Cancer Site Team and is actively involved in undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing medical education at Dalhousie University. He has been a member of Health Canada’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Oncology Therapies.

Robert A. Nagourney, M.D., is Medical and Laboratory Director at Rational Therapeutics, Inc., in Long Beach, California, and a Clinical Professor, University of California Irvine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.  He is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology.

Dr. Nagourney completed undergraduate education at Boston University, earning a B.A. in Chemistry (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa with Distinction in Biochemistry).  He received his M.D. at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where he was a University Scholar.  After completing his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California, Irvine, Dr. Nagourney received fellowship training in Medical Oncology at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.  He went on to complete a second fellowship in hematology at the Scripps Institute in La Jolla, California, where he was the recipient of the Scripps Institute Young Investigator Award.

Dr. Nagourney founded Rational Therapeutics, a cancer research institute located in Long Beach, California that has pioneered the development of “functional profiling” in human tumors.  The functional profiling platform uses human tumor microspheroids in primary culture to measure drug induced programmed cell death, both apoptotic and non-apoptotic. It has proven a robust method for the prediction of clinical response to therapy. Following its successful application to cytotoxic drugs and radiation, this platform has now been successfully applied in the development of novel compounds, drug combinations and to the study of signal transduction inhibitors and “targeted” agents.

With over 20 years’ experience in human tumor primary culture analyses, Dr. Nagourney has authored more than 100 manuscripts, book chapters and abstracts including publications in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Gynecological Oncology and The Journal of National Cancer Institute.  Dr. Nagourney is recognized for the introduction of Platin/Gemcitabine doublets to the treatment of advanced ovarian and breast cancer. A frequently invited lecturer for numerous professional organizations and universities, Dr. Nagourney has served as a reviewer and on the editorial boards of several journals including Clinical Cancer Research, British Journal of Cancer, Gynecologic Oncology, Cancer Research and the Journal of Medicinal Food. Dr Nagourney resides in Long Beach, California with his wife and two sons.

Dr. Nagourney also maintains an informative blog on the latest in cancer treatment and research along with related issues.  Please click here to read past articles and/or to sign up to receive new blog posts as soon as they are released.

Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO) is an independent not-for-profit organization established with support from the Government of Ontario. Our mandate is to work collaboratively with the clinical trials community, the public and strategic partners to improve Ontario’s clinical trials environment and bring more trials to the province, while supporting the highest ethical and quality standards.  CTO’s mandate is advanced through three key strategies:

1. Streamline processes to support the timely, efficient and cost-effective conduct of high-quality clinical trials.

2. Support and promote public and patient engagement with clinical trials.

3. Promote Ontario’s competitive advantages and clinical trial capacities to attract more clinical trial investment.

Dr. Hudson is President and Scientific Director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), which focuses on translational research in prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

He is internationally renowned for his work in genomics and human genome variation. At the Whitehead/MIT Center for Genome Research, he led a team that generated physical and gene maps of the human and mouse genomes. Dr. Hudson has been a founding member of the International Haplotype Map Consortium, the Public Population Project in Genomics (P3G) and the International Cancer Genome Consortium. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health, which is developing an international framework to allow genetic and clinical data to be collected, managed and shared in an effective, responsible, interpretive manner. Dr. Hudson’s laboratory at OICR is involved in the study of genome variation that affects cancer predisposition, progression, and response to therapy. His main project focuses on the genetic architecture of loci associated with risk of colorectal cancer.

Dr. Hudson is Professor in the Departments of Molecular Genetics and Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an Officer of the Order of Canada. He has co-authored more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Don Husereau is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at The University of Ottawa, Senior Associate with the Institute of Health Economics, and Senior Scientist at the University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology in Hall in Tirol, Austria. Don’s current research focuses on appropriate and innovative approaches to the use of evidence and economics to inform health policy based on sound principles of social justice, epistemology, and judgment and decision-making. He is currently Chair of an International Task Force that has developed consolidated health economic evaluation reporting standards (CHEERS) that is now endorsed by leading biomedical and health policy journals. Don is currently an Editorial Advisor for the biomedical journals, Value in Health and BMC Medicine. He also serves on the pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pCODR) Expert Review Committee (pERC) and Ontario Committee to Evaluate Drugs. Don received both his BSc and MSc from the University of Alberta’s faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

As CEO of 3Sixty Public Affairs, Bill Dempster develops and implements high-impact government relations, policy and business strategies for clients in the health and life sciences sector.  Over the past decade, Bill has drawn on his deep business, legal and government experience to help clients find mutually beneficial solutions to complex regulatory, reimbursement and policy problems.  Bill and the rest of the 3Sixty Public Affairs team is responsible for providing cross-Canada health policy support and informatics to clients that include IMS Health, Canadian Blood Services and many major multinational innovative pharmaceutical firms.  He was previously a member of the federal relations and health policy team at Pfizer Canada, and his experience also includes working for a Member of Parliament, the United Nations and major Canadian law firms.  Bill is fluently bilingual, and has degrees in history (King’s College, University of Western Ontario), law (Queen’s University), and a Masters of Arts in international affairs (Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University). He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 2002.

Ferg Mills is the Director of Strategic Consulting at Innomar Consulting, where his team is responsible for all aspects of economic analysis of health technologies. Ferg oversees a team of health economists who perform economic modeling for reimbursement submissions, pricing research, budget impact analyses and reimbursement strategy development. Ferg is deeply involved in the creation of all key submission documents to CDR and pCODR. In addition, Ferg and his team organize and run stakeholder insight projects, including advisory boards and interviews. He monitors the activities of CDR and pCODR closely, and is a regular contributor to ISPOR and other industry conferences.

Ferg holds a degree in economics from the University of Toronto and a Master’s degree in economic evaluation from the University of York in the UK. In addition, Ferg volunteers as the Vice-President of the Canadian Association for Healthcare Reimbursement, a professional association committed to providing educational and career development opportunities for market access professionals.

MolecularMatch (www.molecularmatch.com) was not possible before the advent of personalized medicine and the development of high-speed Internet aggregators (search engines). MolecularMatch combines these two technologies to instantly connect cancer patients and their caregivers to the very latest, most promising treatments—treatments based on the unique genetic structure of the disease. The list includes experimental medicines as well as those that have been FDA Approved. MolecularMatch does much more than present a list of medicines. It shows exactly where treatments are available and facilitates quick and easy requests for enrollment in clinical trials anywhere in the world.