Medical oncologist leading precision oncology initiatives, breast cancer and tumor agnostic clinical trial teams at the Ottawa Hospital. I am actively involved in phase 1 clinical trials in solid tumors. I have a strong interest in precision oncology, breast cancer, melanoma, clinical trials, artificial intelligence and education with the goal to enhance patients access to molecular testing, clinical trials and treatments! 

Dr. Booth is a Medical Oncologist and Health Services Researcher at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. He is a Professor of Oncology and Public Health Sciences and holds the Canada Research Chair in Population Cancer Care. Dr. Booth is the Director of the Division of Cancer Care and Epidemiology at Queen’s Cancer Research Institute. In his clinical practice he provides care to patients with GI cancer. Dr. Booth’s research program explores access, quality, and value of cancer care. He serves as policy advisor to the World Health Organization and across health systems of Canada and many other countries. In 2016 Dr. Booth spent a sabbatical at the Regional Cancer Centre in Trivandrum, India. Dr. Booth has published 400 peer-reviewed manuscripts and served as research supervisor for dozens of trainees from around the world. In 2022 he received the Exceptional Healer Award at Kingston Health Sciences Centre for embodying compassion, respect, and clinical excellence. He was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2022. Dr. Booth is one of the founding leaders of the Common Sense Oncology initiative.

Dr. Connors grew up in Labrador City, she completed her bachelor’s degree at UNB. She has a Bachelor of Science in medicinal chemistry. She returned to NL for medical school and stayed for her internal medicine training. She completed her medical oncology training in Halifax at Dalhousie. She is currently practicing as medical oncologist in Fredericton, NB. She treats breast, lower GI and lung cancers. She is interested in quality improvement research and medical education.

Dr Ed Hardy grew up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where he completed medical school, internship and Internal Medicine Residency training.  He received his Hematology/Oncology training at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.  On completion in 1999 he was hired by BC Cancer as a Community Oncologist in the McMurtry-Baerg Cancer Centre in Vernon BC.  Besides maintaining a busy practice, he chairs the hospital MAC, sits as Physician representative on the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation board, and is a member of the Interior Health Medical Oncology Leadership Council, the CAMO Fellowship committee, and the Royal College Medical Oncology Examination Board.  He is passionate about his family, his spare time, quality improvement, physician engagement, preventing staff burnout, teaching new learners, and the future of Community Oncology.

Safiya Karim is a Medical Oncologist and Clinical Associate Professor at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and the University of Calgary.  She completed her medical school at the University of Calgary in 2011 and subsequently completed her medical oncology residency at the University of Toronto in 2016. She completed a fellowship in health services research at Queen’s university as well as a Master’s degree in health care quality and patient safety.  She serves as the director of the Medical Oncology Fellowship Program and Assistant Director of the Oncology Outcomes (02) program.  She is also the Chair of the Choosing Wisely Canada Oncology working group.  Her clinical practice is in gastrointestinal and genitourinary cancers. Her research interests including real world evidence and outcomes, quality improvement, and global oncology.  She has published more than 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts in high quality journals including Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA Oncology, and Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology.  In her free time, she enjoys jogging, biking, yoga and reading. 

Deb Maskens is a long-time kidney cancer patient and patient advocate. Along with one other patient, she co-founded Kidney Cancer Canada in 2006 and played an active leadership role for 10 years. At a global level, she also served 10 years as a Founding Member and Vice Chair of the International Kidney Cancer Coalition based in Amsterdam.

Deb is a frequent speaker at national and international cancer meetings where she provides an evidence-based patient perspective, along with sound advocacy knowledge and experience. She has recently been appointed as one of two international patient advocates to the Scientific Advisory Board of the German NCT (National Center for Tumor Diseases).

Among her achievements in patient advocacy, in 2016, Deb was awarded the Canadian Governor General’s Meritorious Service Medal, Canada’s highest award for her volunteer service, dedication and professionalism in patient advocacy.

Dr. Marie-France Savard is a Clinician Investigator at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Cancer Therapeutics Program), Staff Medical Oncologist (Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre) and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. She also serve as the Co-Lead for the Rethinking Clinical Trials (REaCT) Program and the cardio-oncology program within the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre. Dr. Savard’s specific research interest focuses on optimizing breast cancer care, reducing treatment toxicity, and pragmatic clinical trial. Since being appointed as a staff medical oncologist at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre in Nov 2019, she has become involved in the Rethinking Clinical Trials (REaCT) pragmatic trials program (Canada’s largest such program in oncology). She has developed quickly as an early-stage investigator, and she has already launched 3 randomized, multicentre clinical trials as a principal investigator: REaCT-CHRONO study (accrual completed March 2022), REaCT-70 pilot study (accrual completed Jan 2024) and REaCT-TEMPO (ongoing accrual). All these trials have the common aim of improving tolerability and reducing toxicity of treatment.

Dr. Segal received her Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy at McGill University and initially pursued a career in Sports Medicine Rehabilitation at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, followed by the Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston.  Thereafter, she returned to McGill University, where she received her medical degree.

Dr. Segal obtained her post-graduate training in Internal Medicine followed by Medical Oncology at the University of Ottawa, and then completed a Fellowship year in Gynecology Oncology in Toronto.  She is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Integrated Cancer Program Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, and became the Medical Director of the Oncology Rehabilitation Program in 1995.

The Oncology Rehabilitation Program was initially designed from a research platform but quickly developed a duo role serving as a clinical exercise program for patients in the region.  This clinical portion of the program has now been enveloped into the Psychosocial Oncology Program.  The research component continues to do work in Breast and Colon cancer Lifestyle trials.

In 2011, Dr. Segal’s became Medical Lead of the Breast Disease Site as well as Head of the Survivorship Program.

Her main clinical area of expertise is in Breast Malignancy with Rehabilitation Oncology her main Research focus.  She taught at the Undergraduate, Graduate as well as Post Graduate levels and contributed to CME at the Provincial and National Levels.

In 2014 Dr. Segal joined Partners in Health and travelled to the northern region of Rwanda to help educate the medical staff and advance the oncologic care that existed in the region.

“The hospital had local Rwandan general physicians, internists and U.S.-trained internal medicine physicians who would go over for a period of time to provide care as consultants,”. “But they didn’t have an oncologist. I offered my services. I didn’t quite appreciate what I was getting into.”

Dr. Sheffield is an anatomic and molecular pathologist. He is the founder of the Advanced Diagnostics division at William Osler Health System, and is currently serving as the Divisional Lead.  Dr. Sheffield also serves as the Director of Molecular External Quality Assurance for the CPQA, Canada’s national pathology quality organization, and the Regional Lead for Mississauga Halton West region with Cancer Care Ontario.  He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications and recently published his first textbook on molecular pathology. Dr. Sheffield’s main clinical and research interests lie in the delivery of biomarkers to support precision cancer care in real world scenarios.