Wednesday, May 04, 2022 The Dr. Joseph Pater Founder’s Award has been presented to Dr. Warren Mason, MD, FRCPC for his excellence in clinical trials research, leadership and his body of work that has contributed to significant advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of cancer. Dr. Mason is a Professor in the Department of Medicine and a Staff Physician in the Divisions of Medical Oncology and Neurology at University Health Network. At Princess Margaret Cancer Centre he is the Medical Director of the Gerry and Nancy Pencer Brain Tumour Centre where he holds the Kirchmann Family Chair in Neuro-Oncology Research. Dr. Mason graduated in Medicine from the University of Toronto and trained in Internal Medicine and Neurology at McGill University and the University of Toronto. He received Fellowship training in Neuro-Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY. Dr. Mason's research focus is drug development for primary brain cancers. The drug development program for brain tumours at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is the largest of its kind in the country and work conducted at this facility has established new worldwide standards of care for gliomas. "I am deeply honored and humbled to be the recipient of the CCTG 2022 Founder’s Award-Dr. Joseph Pater Excellence in Clinical Trials research Award. Since the start of my career at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in 1996, the CCTG has played a central and pivotal role in my academic development and research activities. I was appointed co-Chair of the Brain DSG in 2002, and Chair in 2008, and, during this time, I have been privileged to work with so many exemplary investigators and colleagues at the CCTG. I thank Joe Pater for providing me with my initial leadership opportunities, Dr. Gregory Cairncross, a personal mentor throughout my career, for appointing me a co-Chair and eventual successor, Dr. Elizabeth Eisenhauer, who took a special interest in the Brain DSG and facilitated our practice-changing work with the EORTC, Dr. Chris O’Callaghan, who has been an invaluable colleague as Physician Coordinator of the DSG, and finally, Dr. Janet Dancy for her continued support of CNS oncology during the final stage of my leadership of the Brain DSG " "I have been exceptionally fortunate to have served as Brain DSG Chair during a time of unprecedented clinical and therapeutic progress in CNS oncology. I thank the entire Brain DSG Committee and others we have worked with at the CCTG, without whom these advances would not have materialized. We all should be proud of our remarkable achievements that have established new standards of care for primary and secondary brain tumours. CNS oncology remains a daunting area of investigation, with too many failures, but our research successes have significantly changed the lives of people with CNS cancers worldwide. This collective body of work and its impact at once humbles and astonishes me." "As my term ends, I know that my successors as co-Chairs of the Brain DSG, Drs. Marshall Pitz and David Roberge, will continue our important mission. We have much more work to do, and I look forward to ongoing participation in Brain DSG activities under their leadership."
