New Investigator Biographies 2017

 

 

 

Alison Urton graduated with a Masters Degree in Biology from the University of Waterloo and began her career in clinical research at Kingston General Hospital in 2001. She took the position of Monitor at the Canadian Cancer Trials Group in 2003 and since 2006 held management positions in both Audit and Monitoring and Compliance. Alison took the position of Group Administrator in 2013 and in that role is responsible for providing administrative leadership and direction for the Group’s operations, both internally at Queen’s University and in the broader national and international clinical trials communities. Alison facilitates the development and implementation of the Group’s strategic direction and collaborations.

 

Andrew Robinson is a graduate of the University of Manitoba Medical School, and completed residency training in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology at the University of British Columbia (2005). He has completed a Masters in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University. He worked as a clinical oncologist at the Northeastern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre, and subsequently has worked at the Cancer Center of Southeastern Ontario where he is affiliated with Queen’s University, Kingston ON. He is the disease site lead for breast cancer, a member of the Provincial Lung Disease Site Group, local PI for many studies, and co-director of the oncology clinical trials unit. His research interests include population based data on bladder cancer outcomes, lung cancer patterns of practice, and breast cancer and lung cancer clinical trials.

 

Dr. Hay is a Hematologist and clinician scientist within the Department of Medicine, cross appointed to the Department of Oncology, and a Senior Investigator with the Canadian Cancer Trials Group. Having completed medical and hematology training in Scotland, Dr. Hay undertook 2 ½ years of fellowship with the Canadian Cancer Trials Group, transitioning to a Senior Investigator position in 2014. In this role her responsibilities include development and conduct of clinical trials for patients with hematological malignancies, economic evaluations of cancer interventions, and improving opportunities for adolescents and young adults with cancer to participate in clinical research. Interests also include exploration of more efficient means to conduct clinical trials, whilst upholding patient privacy and safety.

 

Dr. Chen joined the Canadian Cancer Trials Group as senior biostatistician in July 2008. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Queen's University. Dr. Chen received his PhD in Biostatistics at the University of Waterloo in 2003. He spent 4 years at the United Sates National Cancer Institute in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, first as a Postdoctoral Fellow and then as a Research Fellow. Prior to coming to Queens University, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Concordia University in Montreal. His research interests are survival analysis, computational statistics, Bayesian statistics, biomarker-treatment interaction, design and analysis of clinical trials and epidemiology.

 

Chris O'Callaghan received his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine and MSc and PhD degrees from the University of Guelph. He became a Senior Investigator with the Canadian Cancer Trials Group in 2001 and oversees the Gastrointestinal and Brain Site Committees. He is also a Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Queen’s University. His research interests are diverse and include clinical trials design and methodology and infectious disease epidemiology.

 

Dr. David LeBrun obtained his M.D. from Queen’s University in 1984. He completed residency in anatomical pathology at the University of Toronto in 1990 then moved to Stanford University where he underwent postdoctoral training in lymphoma diagnosis and, as an MRC Research Fellow, in experimental research pertaining to molecular mechanisms of leukemogenesis. He has held a faculty appointment in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at Queen’s University since 1994 and holds the rank of Professor. He conducts correlative and mechanistic research on lymphoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. His research has been supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the National Cancer Institute of Canada, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada and the Cancer Research Society. Dr. LeBrun serves as the senior consultant in lymph node pathology for the Southeastern Ontario region.

 

Dr. Vera-Badillo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology. He completed his medical training and internal medicine residency at The Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. He completed his Medical Oncology Training at The Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon in Monterrey, Mexico. This was followed by a fellowship in Medical Oncology at The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and a Masters in Science at The Institute of Medical Sciences – University of Toronto. He joined the Canadian Cancer Trials Group in September 2015. In his role as Senior Investigator, his responsibilities include development and conduct of clinical trials for patients with thoracic and genitourinary malignancies. Interests also include exploration of prognostic and predictive biomarkers in breast and genitourinary cancer and evaluation of quality of reporting clinical trials in oncology.

 

Dr. Gregory Pond received his Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Toronto and earlier received degrees from Simon Fraser University and Brock University. Having previously worked at the Mayo Clinic, Princess Margaret Hospital and in industry, Dr. Pond joined McMaster University in 2008 and is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology, a Research Scientist in the Escarpment Cancer Research Institute, and a Faculty Statistician in the Ontario Clinical Oncology Group. Dr. Pond is accredited as a Professional Statistician by the Statistical Society of Canada and was appointed a Level II Researcher by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. Dr. Pond’s research interests are primarily in cancer clinical trial methodology, however he is broadly interested in all applications of biostatistical methods.

 

Associate Professor, Dept. of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Queen's University
Service Chief, Laboratory Genetics and Director, Molecular Diagnostics, Kingston Health Sciences Centre
Dr. Feilotter is a Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at Queen’s University, where she maintains an active program dedicated to the assessment of methods for biomarker validation and to the transfer of clinically actionable molecular information to the clinical setting. She has a special interest in the integration of platforms designed to support studies of human DNA, RNA and protein biomarkers. Her roles as Service Chief of Kingston Health Sciences Center’s Laboratory Genetics and Director of the Queen’s Genomics facility allow her to focus on methods to bridge the gap between research and clinical application of biomarker findings.

 

Prior to becoming Director of the Canadian Cancer Trials Group on September 1, 2014, Dr. Dancey was Director, Translational Research – Clinical at Canadian Cancer Trials Group. She is also Scientific Director of the Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network and Director of the High Impact Clinical Trials Program at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. Prior to joining the Canadian Cancer Trials Group, Dr. Dancey was Senior Clinical Investigator in the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program at the US National Cancer Institute and then Associate Chief of the Investigational Drug Branch. Dr. Dancey received her MD from the University of Ottawa and completed her residency training in internal medicine and medical oncology at the University of Toronto. In 1994-95, she was a research fellow with the Canadian Cancer Trials Group and continued her fellowship training at the Institut Gustave Roussy in France. Dr. Dancey has special expertise in new anti-cancer drug development, linking drug and biomarker development, and associated clinical trials methodology. She is also Professor in the Department of Oncology at Queen’s University.

 

Janice Hodgson is a Lay Representative and a Member of the Breast Disease Site Executive with the Canadian Cancer Trials Group since 2015. She is a breast cancer survivor and volunteered with the Canadian Cancer Society for over 15 years. She was a founding member of the Ontario Public Issues Team for the Canadian Cancer Soceity and a member of the Board of Directors from April 2006 – 2010 and again from June 2012 - 2016. Janice was a 2010-2011 Relay For Life International Hero of Hope and was chosen to be a Global Cancer Ambassador attending a United Nation’s Non-communicable Disease Conference in New York in 2011 bringing the Canadian cancer patient voice to the world stage. Janice has been a Community Representative on 11 Grant Review Panels with the Canadian Cancer Research Institute. Janice is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her work in making an impact in her community by providing hope and encouragement to those affected by cancer and to raise awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle and screening. Currently, she is a board member with the Ontario Cancer Research Ethics Board, Rector’s Warden of her church, St. James the Apostle Anglican Church, Sharon, and is the Chair of the St. James’ Outreach Committee providing clothing and food for those in need in York Region. Janice works with her husband in their company and has two adult married children and is the proud Nana to William and Emily.

 

Dr. Shepherd is a Professor in the Department of Pathology & Molecular Medicine. She completed her medical school training at McGill and spent three years in England where her interest in hematology developed. She completed her training as a Hematopathologist at the University of Ottawa and came to Kingston in 1987. Dr. Shepherd is currently the Director of the Transfusion Medicine Service & Immunology at Kingston General Hospital. Since 1989, Dr. Shepherd has worked with the Canadian Cancer Trials Group as a Physician Coordinator. Her focus has been in Haematology and Breast Cancer, as well as the development of the National Tumor/Tissue Repositiory associated with the Canadian Cancer Trials Group and correlative studies in clinical trials.

 

Dr. Martin Chang is an anatomical pathologist with an interest in breast and gynecologic disease. He is Section Head of Surgical Pathology at Mount Sinai Hospital, a Senior Clinician-Investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. He obtained his PhD and MD degrees at the University of Toronto and completed both Residency and Fellowship training at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He is actively involved in biomarker and breast cancer guideline development for Cancer Care Ontario. Dr. Chang maintains a clinical-translational research program providing pathologic and molecular evaluation for clinical breast cancer trials.

 

Dr. Brundage is a Radiation Oncologist and professor of Oncology, and in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Queen's University. While frequently interfacing with both the NCIC Clinical Trials Group and the clinical setting of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Cancer Centre of Southeastern Ontario, Dr. Brundage's research program resides primarily within the Division of Cancer Care and Epidemiology at Queen's Cancer Research Institute, an applied research unit that he heads. Dr. Brundage has implemented the first Canadian Patterns of Care Study in prostate cancer radiotherapy. His work with psychologist Dr. Deb Feldman-Stewart addresses information provision and decision support for cancer patients. With regard to health-related quality of life (HRQL) and other patient reported outcomes (PROs), Dr. Brundage has worked to explore new methods of appropriately assessing and interpreting these outcomes in cancer clinical trials, as well as new ways of effectively communicating these outcomes to patients and clinicians.

 

Dr. Natasha Leighl is a medical oncologist at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada, and Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

After receiving her MD from the University of Toronto, Dr Leighl completed residencies in internal medicine at the University of Calgary and in medical oncology at the University of Toronto. She subsequently completed a Fellowship in Thoracic Oncology with Dr Frances Shepherd at the Princess Margaret Hospital, a Fellowship in Clinical Oncology with Professor Martin Tattersall at the University of Sydney, Australia, and received her MMSc in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

Dr Leighl’s main interest is in developing new treatments in lung cancer. She is a member of the Lung Disease Site Executive and co-chairs the Committee on Economic Analysis in the Canadian Cancer Trials Group. Dr Leighl is currently Web Editor of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, Section Co-Editor of The Oncologist and Current Oncology and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. She has served on several committees including as Lung Track Leader for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Cancer Education Committee, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Medical Oncology Examination Board and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) Career Development and Continuing Education Committees. She is currently President of Lung Cancer Canada and has recently been awarded the OSI Pharmaceuticals Foundation Chair in Cancer New Drug Development at the University Health Network, University of Toronto.

 

Following her training in hematology and oncology, Dr Assouline completed a Master’s program in clinical epidemiology and biostatistics at McGill University, and a CIHR funded drug development fellowship at the Canadian Cancer Trials Group. Since 2005, she has been involved in the design and conduct of numerous clinical trials testing novel therapies in patients with leukemia and lymphoma. These therapies include novel targeted monoclonal antibody therapies, proteasome inhibitors, histone deacetylase inhibitors, and drugs targeting protein translation. Dr. Assouline is the Director of the Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Clinic of the Jewish General Hospital and, in this capacity, has contributed to epidemiological research into the outcome of patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

 

Dr. Asmis is a Medical Oncologist at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He obtained his MD at the University of Ottawa and completed his postgraduate training in Internal Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He continued his training in Medical Oncology in Ottawa, followed by a fellowship year in Gastrointestinal Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is dedicated to a national strategy to cancer research, and improving patient care in oncology. He has played an active role with the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group (CCTG), Canada’s only Oncology Cooperative group. He is the lead of the GI DSG in Ottawa, Member of the Cancer Care Ontario PEBC and Chair of OMA Heme-Med. Onc. Advisory Board Member of CCAC (Colon Cancer Canada). He is also an active member of CAMO, ASCO and ESMO.
He has published work in peer-reviewed journals, and has presented at the national and international meetings. He also has a strong interest in teaching medical students, residents and other members of the oncology team. He was awarded the 2009 “Golden Throat Award” as the best teacher in Medical Oncology at the University of Ottawa.

 

Wendy Parulekar is a graduate of the University of Ottawa Medical School where she also completed residency training in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology (1996). This was followed by a fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology at the Toronto Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre. Since 1999, she has held a joint clinical/research position at Queen’s University. Within the Canadian Cancer Trials Group, she acts as Physician Coordinator for national and international studies in carcinoma of the breast, head and neck and genitourinary systems and is Chair of the Education Committee. In addition to her involvement in national and international scientific advisory committees, she is an active participant in the SPIRIT initiative whose goal is to define standard protocol items for randomized trials and is an associate editor for the journal Clinical Trials. In 2011, she was named a Fellow of the Society for Clinical Trials.
Her academic interests include the methodology of efficient clinical trial design and conduct from a non-statistician’s perspective and the art and science of mentoring in academic medicine.