Dr. Jolie Ringash receives the 2023 Joseph Pater Founder’s Award

CCTG is very pleased to present the Joseph Pater Founder’s Award for Excellence in Clinical Trials Research to Dr. Jolie Ringash, a radiation oncologist at the University of Toronto. The award is presented yearly at the Spring Meeting to a clinical trials research investigator whose leadership and body of work has contributed to significant advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of cancer.

“I feel exceptionally honoured to be chosen to receive this award from the CCTG.  Not everyone knows that CCTG was among the first cancer trials groups in the world to have a dedicated QOL committee, and the very first to have a default policy to include QOL outcomes in all phase III trials.  It has been a productive and welcoming home for my research throughout my career. I am especially delighted to receive an award named for our founder, the amazing Dr. Joe Pater, who was an early champion of QOL research and to this day, remains actively engaged as the senior investigator of the CCTG QOL Committee.  Joe has been a mentor, a friend and an inspiration.  It’s incredible to see my name linked with his on this award. Thank you to everyone who has supported and collaborated with me through CCTG over these many years”.

Dr. Ringash is a Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto, cross appointed to Otolaryngology-Head/Neck Surgery, and to the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation.  She is President of the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology, and Co-Chair of the Head and Neck Cancer Survivorship Programme at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.  She is recent past co-chair of the Quality of Life (QOL) committee at the Canadian Clinical Trials Group (CCTG), and serves as QOL coordinator/advisor for projects with the US NCI Head and Neck Steering Committee, the EORTC, RTOG/NRG, ECOG and TROG.  She has served on the Advisory Council for Research (ACOR) for the Canadian Cancer Society, and is a current member of the Strategic Executive Advisory Council (SEAC) for CCTG.  Her research interests include QOL, cancer survivorship, and high-precision radiotherapy.  She is also celebrating her 25^th wedding anniversary this year!