7th Annual Patient-Centered Approach to Clinical Trial Conference

Welcome

The theme of our 7^th Annual Patient-Centered Approach to Clinical Trials Conference is: Embedding Cancer Clinical Trials Research into Clinical Practice.

Over the course of the past several years, we have made significant progress in fostering patient and patient group partnerships among researchers and stakeholders engaged in cancer clinical trials and their engagement in the clinical trial continuum.

Our objectives this year are:

Lay out the case for embedding clinical trials into clinical practice
Educate on how embedding clinical trials into clinical practice supports and builds a learning health system
Explore, using the CTTI model as a foundation, how embedding clinical trials into clinical practice can be achieved in Canada
Gain cross stakeholder perspective and input on barriers and facilitators to moving forward

The 7^th edition of this Conference is structured as follows:

“When research data is collected separately from a clinical care setting, studies may produce results that do not reflect the real-world performance of medical products in the populations that will use them. Researchers can bridge these gaps by embedding adequate and well-controlled trials into regular clinical practice. The bigger question that remains is how best to facilitate the integration of interventional trials into clinical practice.”

CITTI 2022

Registration Form

Speakers

Alan J. Forster

Executive Vice President, Chief Innovation and Quality Officer at the Ottawa Hospital

Alan J. Forster

Executive Vice President, Chief Innovation and Quality Officer at the Ottawa Hospital

Alan J. Forster MD, FRCPC, MSc is the Executive Vice President, Chief Innovation and Quality Officer at the Ottawa Hospital, Canada’s largest Academic Health Sciences Center. His focus is enabling teams to create higher value health care – in which patient centered health outcomes are realized and health system costs are lowered.

Over his career, he has led research on patient safety and quality improvement. He performed the seminal work evaluating the incidence of adverse events following discharge from hospital. He has also led the Ottawa Hospital’s data strategy which has been used to support research, operations, and planning. Overall, his work has led to over 240 publications in peer review journals and innumerable advances in quality of care.

In addition to his role at the Ottawa Hospital, Alan is a leader in the field of healthcare quality. He is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa and Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He provides ongoing advice to agencies at the local, national, and international levels, and he has served as associated editor for several prestigious peer-review journals.

Anne Marie Wright

President, Elements Strategy Inc.

Anne Marie Wright

President, Elements Strategy Inc.

Driven by a strong mission to make a difference across the healthcare community, Anne Marie is President of Elements Strategy Inc., providing services to the healthcare industry where transformation through patient centered innovation is critical to success. She is also the Co-Founder of YouAreUNLTD, an advisory and communications group, working with diverse organizations to identify potential, unlock opportunity and confront the challenges of a global aging society and longevity. With over 30 years as a senior executive in private, public and not for profit healthcare organizations, Anne Marie is a champion of innovation and “next level” growth to build organizational value. Educated in business management at Queen’s University, Anne Marie is a lifelong learner, continuing her education through extensive executive development and leadership programs. Throughout her life, she has also been an active volunteer in the healthcare field, including most recently, healthcare innovation and research networks.

Camille Leahy

Cancer Survivor & Patient Advocate

Camille Leahy

Cancer Survivor & Patient Advocate

"Camille is a cancer survivor. In 2020, at age 35, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Her treatment journey led her to participate in the first made-in-Canada CAR T Clinical Trial, led by Dr. Natasha Kekre, at The Ottawa Hospital, and funded in part by BioCanRx.

Camille underwent various standard treatments for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, but unfortunately without success. With all treatments exhausted, in March 2021 she applied for and met the criteria for the first made-in-Canada CAR T-cell therapy Clinical Trial. Today she is a 38-year-old mother of a teenage daughter and cancer-free thanks to this innovative treatment.

Camille enjoys spending time with her daughter Michela, family and friends. She is a strong advocate for the CAR T-cell therapy that saved her life and is currently involved in efforts to make sure it is available in Canada to others who face an uncertain future like she experienced."

Dr. Angie Marsh

Global Clinical Program Lead, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca

Dr. Angie Marsh

Global Clinical Program Lead, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca

Angie has been working for AstraZeneca for over 10 years and has experience at the local and Global level, across the Oncology Business Unit and Oncology R&D. Angie has held various roles within Medical Affairs, including Medical Science Liaison, Medical Advisor, and Global Medical Affairs Lead. Angie transitioned from Medical Affairs to Oncology R&D to take on the role of Senior Director of Study Management, focused on leading Global clinical operations teams based out of Canada and Poland. She is currently Global Clinical Program Lead responsible for the clinical development of studies in lung cancer. Angie holds a PhD in Immunology and has experience in oncology, immunology, and infectious diseases.

Dr. Anne-Marie Mes-Masson

Associate scientific director Basic and translational research, CRCHUM, Director Cancer research network, FRQS, Full professor Department of medicine, University of Montreal

Dr. Anne-Marie Mes-Masson

Associate scientific director Basic and translational research, CRCHUM, Director Cancer research network, FRQS, Full professor Department of medicine, University of Montreal

Dr. Mes-Masson trained as a molecular oncologist, and obtained her Ph.D. from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at McGill University in 1984. From 1984-1986, she completed post-doctoral studies at the Molecular Biology Institute, University of California Los Angeles, in the laboratory of Dr. Owen Witte where she was the first to clone the full length BCR-ABL transcript implicated in Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. After a short period as a research associate at the Biotechnology Research Institute, Dr Mes-Masson joined the Institut du cancer de Montréal and the Department of Medicine at the Université de Montréal in 1989. A full professor since 2001, Dr. Mes-Masson was the scientific director of the Institut du cancer de Montréal and Director of cancer research at the Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’université de Montréal (CRCHUM) from 2003-2018 and in 2017 accepted the position of Associate Director, Basic and Translational Research, at the CRCHUM. From 2003-2023, Dr. Mes-Masson was the Director of the Réseau de recherche sur le cancer du Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS), a provincial cancer network of over 100 scientists focused on translational and clinical cancer research (www.rrcancer.ca). Dr. Mes-Masson is a founding member of the Canadian Tumor Repository Network that focuses on enhancing capacity and quality of biobanking to support research (www.ctrnet.ca).

Dr. Mes-Masson has authored over 300 publications in cancer research. In addition to her pioneering work in biobanking, the major focus over her research in the last three decades has been ovarian and prostate cancer. While maintaining an active basic research program that focuses on the molecular events that contribute to cancer initiation and progression. Dr. Mes-Masson has also established a translational research program largely focused on delivering personalized medicine in oncology. Her recent fundamental research focuses on the prediction of therapeutic responses and the development of new therapeutic agents for ovarian and prostate cancers.

Dr. Fahad Razak

Internist, St. Michael's Hospital

Dr. Fahad Razak

Internist, St. Michael's Hospital

Dr. Razak is an internist at St Michael’s Hospital (Unity Health Toronto), and Canada Research Chair in Healthcare Data and Analytics at the University of Toronto. He is an Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto

He co-founded GEMINI (https://www.geminimedicine.ca/), the largest hospital research network in Canada, and one of few such examples globally. He was the Scientific Director of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table and co-authored >50 science and policy briefs that shaped the policy, public health and clinical response to the COVID-19 crisis. He is active in science communication, he co-founded the Rounds Table, a free podcast about new research in medicine that has been downloaded >400,000 times in 150 countries. He has written extensively for news sources such as the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and Maclean’s.

Dr. Razak completed a degree in Engineering Science and Medical Doctorate at the University of Toronto. He was the first physician appointed as the David E. Bell Fellow at Harvard University. Notable recognitions include the President’s Impact Award from the University of Toronto, Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship from the PSI Foundation, and the Canadian Society of Internal Medicine’s New Investigator Award; He has received >$65 million in grant funding as Principal Investigator, has published >100 peer-reviewed publications (h-index 34, >50 as first/senior author), and is on the advisory board of the BMJ.

Dr. Razak has been primary supervisor of research projects for >40 trainees, resulting in >50 peer-reviewed publications with trainees as co-author. He received the Teaching Award for Excellence and the Dr. Robert Sargeant Award for mentorship at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Francois Lamontagne

Clinician Scientist at Centre de Recherche du CHU de Sherbrooke

Dr. Francois Lamontagne

Clinician Scientist at Centre de Recherche du CHU de Sherbrooke

Dr. Lamontagne holds a Master’s degree in pharmacology and another in health research methodology. He was recruited as a critical care specialist and clinician-scientist by the Université de Sherbrooke and the Centre de recherche du CHU de Sherbrooke in 2010. Dr. Lamontagne has received peer-reviewed funds from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé, the National Institute for Health Research, and the Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation. His research activities include clinical trials of resuscitation interventions (65 Trial - PMID 32049269, LOVIT Trial - PMID 35704292), and trustworthy clinical guidelines and health systems research. In 2020, he launched the Canadian Clinical Research Network to improve clinical research capacity and coordination across Canada by collecting and reporting information on the conduct of clinical research within the Canadian health research ecosystem.

Dr. Gerald Batist

Director, Segal Cancer Center, Jewish General Hospital

Dr. Gerald Batist

Director, Segal Cancer Center, Jewish General Hospital

Gerald Batist, MDCM, C.M., C.Q., FRCP (C), FACP, FCAHS

Director, Segal Cancer Centre (Chief, Dept. of Oncology), Sir Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital

Director, McGill Centre for Translational Research in Cancer

Professor, Department of Oncology, McGill University

Gerald Batist is former Chair of the McGill University Department of Oncology and Director of the McGill Centre for Translational Research in Cancer. A major award from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation led to the expansion of the Centre and its integration into the Segal Cancer Centre at the Jewish General Hospital, which he also directs.

Dr. Gerald 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. Batist is a clinician-scientist, trained in medical oncology and molecular pharmacology. His work, both in his lab and clinical research focuses on therapeutic resistance. This includes large consortia that run large-scale biopsy-based clinical trials to identify novel mechanisms of resistance to specific drugs. In 2014 he co-led a successful application that resulted in the establishment of the Canadian National Centre of Excellence in Personalized Medicine, Exactis Innovations. The core feature is a program to build a massive bio bank and database linked to a prospective longitudinal registry of cancer patients followed throughout the trajectory of their illness, a project called 'Personalize My Treatment'. In 2016, Dr Batist was appointed Member of the Order of Canada and Knight of the National Order of Quebec.

Dr. Henry Conter

Portfolio Manager in Early Development Clinical Oncology, Roche Global

Dr. Henry Conter

Portfolio Manager in Early Development Clinical Oncology, Roche Global

Dr. Henry Conter is solving the impossible problems in healthcare by re-imagining how all types of people can take control of their care and maximize their experience and outcomes. He is the portfolio manager of early development oncology in the pharmaceuticals Research and Early Discovery division at Hoffman La-Roche, focused on clinical trials design that reflects the needs of patients, clinicians, and their representatives. He continues as a practicing general medical oncologist/hematologist at William Osler Health System. Prior to joining Roche, Dr. Conter has a track record for innovation and excellence in leadership as Chief of Hematology/Oncology, Medical Director of the Cancer Health System, and Executive Medical Director of Quality, Patient Safety, and Health System integration at Osler. He served as a voting member on the Ontario Steering Committee for Cancer Drugs and a member of the pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pCODR) Expert Review Panel and CADTHs national Pharmacare Advisory Panel as the oncology representative. Previously he served on pCODR’s Economic Guidance Panels and Clinical Guidance Panels. Dr. Conter completed his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Western Ontario in 2007. He graduated from McMaster School of Medicine in 2008. He then went to the University of Alberta where he completed his clinical residency in internal medicine in 2011, and received his MSc in health technology assessment in 2012. He completed his clinical fellowship in medical oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston Texas, and a Masters in Finance at the University of Houston in 2013. He was an assistant

professor at the University of Western Ontario in the department of Oncology prior to joining Osler.

Dr. John Marshall

Canadian Lead Investigator, REMAP-CAP Trial

Dr. John Marshall

Canadian Lead Investigator, REMAP-CAP Trial

John Marshall is a Professor of Surgery and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Toronto, and a Senior Scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of Unity Health Toronto. He received his medical degree from the University of Toronto, followed by post-graduate training at Dalhousie University in Halifax and McGill University in Montreal. He is the rounding and current Chair of the International Forum for Acute Care Trialists (InFACT), past-Chair of the International Sepsis Forum (ISF) and the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group (CCCTG), former Secretary-General of the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care (WFSICC), and past-President of the Surgical Infection Society (SIS). He is the Canadian principal investigator for the REMAP-CAP trial, and co-chairs the R&D Roadmap Committee of the Clinical Characterization and Management of COVID-19 of the World Health Organization. He is an Associate Editor of the journal, Critical Care, and a Senior Editor of Critical Care Medicine. He has published more than 500 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and has been cited more than 160,000 times (Google Scholar).

Dr. Kelvin Chan

Medical Oncologist, Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Center

Dr. Kelvin Chan

Medical Oncologist, Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Center

Dr Kelvin Chan is a Medical Oncologist at the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, Professor at the University of Toronto, and an Associate Scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. He specializes in GI oncology and Head and Neck oncology. He completed his PhD in Biostatistics (focusing on statistical methods in health economic evaluations) at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.

Dr. Manoj Lalu

Anesthesiologist & Scientist at The Ottawa Hospital

Dr. Manoj Lalu

Anesthesiologist & Scientist at The Ottawa Hospital

Manoj Lalu is an Anesthesiologist and Scientist at The Ottawa Hospital, as well as an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa. He currently holds the University of Ottawa Junior Clinical Research Chair in Innovative Translational Research and the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society Career Scientist Award. His research is largely preclinical and translational, focusing on methods that could improve early clinical trials of novel therapies. One method that may improve this pathway is patient engagement in the research. His team regularly partners with patients to help plan and conduct studies in the lab and at the bedside.

Dr. Natalie Coburn

Senior Surgical Oncologist, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Dr. Natalie Coburn

Senior Surgical Oncologist, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Dr. Natalie Coburn is a senior surgical oncologist and the Sherif and MaryLou Hanna Chair in Surgical Oncology Research at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She is a professor of surgery at University of Toronto and her clinical practice is completely devoted to Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary and upper GI cancers. She has held several leadership roles including head of the division of general surgery, chief examiner for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada’s surgical oncology fellowship examination, GI site group lead, founder of the Canadian Gastric Cancer Association, Clinical Lead in Patient-Reported Outcomes and Symptom Management at Cancer Care Ontario, as well as her most recent appointment as platform director of Evaluative Clinical Sciences at Sunnybrook Research Institute.

Dr. Philippa Corrie

Consultant Medical Oncologist and Affiliated Associate Professor, University of Cambridge, NIHR Cancer National Specialty and Vaccines Research Programme Co-Lead, NIHR CRN National Specialty Lead for Cancer: Late Phase and International Trials

Dr. Philippa Corrie

Pippa Corrie qualified in medicine at Oxford University (UK), having previously undertaken a PhD in anticancer drug development. She has been a Consultant Medical Oncologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, since 1997 and is an Affiliated Associate Professor in the University of Cambridge. She has worked as one of 6 national specialty leads for cancer in the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) since 2017 and has co-led the national cancer team since 2019. This year, she has also been appointed to co-lead the national cancer vaccine trials programme. Pippa is recognised nationally and internationally as a leading melanoma and pancreatic cancer specialist and has extensive clinical trials experience working as chief investigator for both academic and commercial-sponsored trials. She has published widely in both clinical and translational cancer research. She is closely involved in patient advocacy, being a co-founder and trustee of the UK Melanoma Focus charity and supporting consumer involvement with charities including Pancreatic Cancer UK and Cancer Research UK.

Dr. Srinivas Murthy

Investigator, BC Children's Hospital

Dr. Srinivas Murthy

Investigator, BC Children's Hospital

Dr. Srinivas Murthy, a critical care specialist who is also trained in infectious diseases and an investigator at BC Children’s Hospital, has led new high-quality research on COVID-19 treatment to help Canadians and people around the world. He is the principal investigator of the CATCO (Canadian Treatments for COVID-19) trial which evaluated different treatments such as antiretroviral drugs and anti-malarial drugs for COVID-19 patients in hospital. The CATCO trial is part of a multinational initiative called the Solidarity Trial which is being coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) in an unprecedented level of global collaboration.

Dr. Murthy studies severe infections and how best to manage critically-ill patients.He aims to establish Canada as a leader in adaptive, integrated clinical trials in hospitalized patients for the purpose of rapid knowledge generation for both this and future outbreaks. The main objectives of Dr. Murthy’s research are to expand a national platform for sharing data from patients hospitalized with severe acute respiratory infections and to develop a research infrastructure for rapid clinical trials.

Dr. Stuart Nicholls

Strategy Lead for Patient-Oriented Research at Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Dr. Stuart Nicholls

Strategy Lead for Patient-Oriented Research at Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Dr Stuart Nicholls is the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) lead at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute where he provides consultations and education regarding patient engagement in research as well as conducting research into the methods of patient engagement. He is a member of the Canadian Accelerating Clinical Trials (ACT) Consortium (https://www.act-aec.ca/), with a focus on patient engagement and inclusion in clinical trials. He is a past member of the Canadian Clinical Trials Coordinating Centre (CCTCC) working group on accreditation for Research Ethics Boards reviewing clinical trials, a former member of the Health Canada/Public Health Agency of Canada Research Ethics Board and has been an expert participant in the development of Core Outcome Sets and reporting guidelines for clinical trials.

Dr. Vishal Navani

Medical Oncologist, Tom Baker Cancer Center

Dr. Vishal Navani

Medical Oncologist, Tom Baker Cancer Center

Dr. Vishal Navani is a staff medical oncologist at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and an Assistant Professor (Clinical) at the University of Calgary. He previously graduated from Oxford and Imperial College London. He holds both Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom and Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Karine-Iseult Ippersiel

President & CEO, Quebec Breast Cancer

Karine-Iseult Ippersiel

President & CEO, Quebec Breast Cancer

With over 25 years of experience in management, sales,

sponsorship, and philanthropy, Karine has developed

numerous partnerships and strategic alliances, notably for the

Montreal Science Centre and the Old Port of Montreal.

Previously, she was responsible for organizing special events

for the National Gallery of Canada, where she developed her

event management skills.

She also held the position of Vice-President in Development,

Partnerships and Strategic Alliances at the Quebec Breast Cancer

Foundation before being appointed President and CEO.

Since becoming CEO, in the midst of the pandemic, she has

made it her mission to ensure the sustainability and continuity

of the Foundation’s funding, and is committed to working with all Quebec and Canadian stakeholders to maximize the benefit

of every dollar invested in it.

Passionate about the mission of the Quebec Breast Cancer

Foundation, she has helped build and develop strong ties with

the business community in support of the Foundation’s activities,

consolidating major partnerships and strategic alliances as

well as close collaborations with several key organizations in

the healthcare field.

She is recognized for her ability to understand and manage complex

issues, her capacity to develop lasting interpersonal relationships

and her ability to create fruitful partnerships. This allows her to see

the big picture when it comes to building successful partnerships.

Linda Hunter

Patient Co-Investigator for the Clinical Trails Training Platform research grant funded by CIHR called CanTrain and is the national Co-Chair of the Patient, Family and Community Member Working Group.

Linda Hunter

Patient Co-Investigator for the Clinical Trails Training Platform research grant funded by CIHR called CanTrain and is the national Co-Chair of the Patient, Family and Community Member Working Group.

Linda is a semi-retired executive health care leader and former Chief Nurse Executive and ICU nurse who has worked locally, nationally, and internationally in healthcare over the last 35 years. Linda has worked clinically, in education, and administration, throughout the continuum of care in healthcare – from neonates to adults and with seniors. Linda is an expert in quality improvement and performance measurement and has worked extensively in the quality and patient safety fields in healthcare. Linda is also a patient and lives with spinal stenosis, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and severe degenerative disc disease and has lived with chronic pain for over 15 years. Linda is a CIHR Patient Engagement Research Ambassador (PERA) for the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis with the Canadian Health Research Institutes (CIHR) and is a member of the Institute’s Advisory Board. She has co-developed online educational modules for patients and researchers about Patient Engagement in Research – available through CIHR-IMHA. Linda is a member of the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance (CAPA) and is a member of the Fibromyalgia Association of Canada. Linda is an Essential Caregiver to her Mum, who lives with dementia, and is a volunteer who provides palliative and end-of-life care to residents in LTC. Linda states: “It is vital that the patient voice is respected, listened to, and incorporated into change in the delivery of health care services, including research. Patients are experts about their disease and the lived experience. They are becoming more informed and knowledgeable, and it is imperative that they are included in the development of plans of what is researched and help bring that to the clinical world.

Megan Bettle

Executive Director, Clinical Trials Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Megan Bettle

Executive Director, Clinical Trials Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Megan Bettle joined the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) in Spring 2022 as the Executive Director for Clinical Trials, where she is responsible for the implementation of the Clinical Trials Fund, and other clinical trials-related policy initiatives. Prior to joining CIHR, Megan worked in a variety of positions at Health Canada, beginning in 2005 as a drug safety reviewer, and moving onto positions in pre- and post-market drug review, cannabis policy, and surveillance of tobacco and problematic drug use. She completed a PhD and post-doctoral studies in molecular biology and the genetics of rare diseases.

Nicole Yada

Director of Strategy & Operations for REMAP-CAP

Nicole Yada

Director of Strategy & Operations for REMAP-CAP

Nicole Yada is the Director of Strategy and Operations for REMAP-CAP and the International Forum for Acute Care Trialists, based at Unity Health Toronto. Most recently, she was the inaugural Program Director for the Accelerating Clinical Trials (ACT) Consortium and managed business development for ICES. She holds a master's degree in health informatics from McMaster University and is completing her PhD in Health Services Research at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. Her research centres around applying design thinking to complex topics in bioethics, such as informed consent. Nicole trained as a graphic designer in Tokyo, Japan and has a background in marketing and journalism.

Sara Bristol Calvert

Director of Projects, Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI)

Sara Bristol Calvert

Director of Projects, Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI)

Sara has over 20 years of experience in clinical research with expertise in project and program management. She has worked collaboratively with multi-sector teams to create recommendations and tools in areas such as registry-based clinical trials, pregnancy testing plans, feasibility of early informed consent, using a single IRB approach, and increasing diversity in clinical trials. The Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI) is a public private partnership founded in 2007 by Duke University and the U.S. Food and Drug administration. CTTI’s staff, member organizations, and other interested individuals and groups work together to develop and drive adoption of practices to increase the quality and efficiency of clinical trials

Shaneel Pathak

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Zamplo Inc.

Shaneel Pathak

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Zamplo Inc.

Shaneel’s passion for health empowerment was born from his experience as a caregiver. Shaneel didn’t accept the information-chaos people experienced and found the power in democratizing health data and finding a global community. He collated and shared actionable health data with the care team and a community of peers to improve decision making and ultimately, quality of life. From his journey, Shaneel co-founded Zamplo with the goal to create a world where each and every person is connected to the data, resources, community and knowledge they need to live their best possible lives.

Shaneel has a B.Eng. in Computer Engineering, a M.A. in Political Economy. Shaneel is a speaker on the power of health data in your hands at healthcare conferences across Canada; a pilot and avid traveler. His experience taught him life continues to grow if you turn grief into gratitude. Shaneel is happily married to Sara and they live in Calgary with their schnoodle Zoey. "

Co-Chairs

Barry Stein

President & CEO, Colorectal Cancer Canada

Barry Stein

President & CEO, Colorectal Cancer Canada

Mr. Barry D. Stein, B.Com., B.C.L., LL.B., graduated from McGill University. An accomplished lawyer, he has been a member of the Bar of Quebec since 1981. Barry sits on the Board of Directors of several corporations, not-for-profit organizations and foundations. He is a founding member of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer National Colorectal Cancer Screening Network. As the president of Colorectal Cancer Canada, Barry represents the interests of cancer patients and speaks regularly to medical professionals, industry, government, and patient groups both in and outside of Canada. Barry has been a key advocate for population-based colorectal cancer screening initiatives, patient and physician education and multidisciplinary health professional consensus guidelines to improve patient outcomes across Canada. As a survivor of metastatic colorectal cancer diagnosed in 1995, Barry was obliged to seek health care outside of Canada to fight the disease. His judgement, obtained in the Superior Court of Quebec, serves as a leading precedent for the reimbursement of out of country health care.

Dr. Stéphanie Michaud

President & CEO, BioCanRx

Dr. Stéphanie Michaud

President & CEO, BioCanRx

Stephanie Michaud is the President and CEO of BioCanRx, a not-for-profit organization that seeks to accelerate the delivery of innovative immunotherapies from the bench to the bedside. In this position, Stephanie is responsible for running all facets of the organization. She brings over 20 years of public, government and private sector experience in research and S&T innovation policy. She strives to create partnerships between government, not-for-profits, academia and industry to maximize the impact of research funded by the BioCanRx network on the lives of those affected by cancer. This includes the creations of new opportunities to include the patient voice as equal partner in the BioCanRx research program. Prior to joining BioCanRx, Stephanie was Deputy Director of the flagship Government of Canada Network Centres of Excellence (NCE) program. She is a strong contributor to S&T policy, most notably in intellectual property. Dr. Michaud earned a PhD in Organic Chemistry from McGill University. She is involved with a number of not-for-profit organizations including as Director of the Board of the StemCell Network and Research Canada.

Dr. Winson Cheung

Senior medical oncologist and real-word data scientist

Dr. Winson Cheung

Senior medical oncologist and real-word data scientist

Dr. Winson Y. Cheung, MD, MPH, is a senior medical oncologist and real-world data scientist with over 15 years of cancer research experience. He is currently a Full Professor in the Departments of Oncology, Medicine, and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary where he is also the Provincial Director and Chair of the Health Services Research and Real-World Evidence (RWE) Generation Program. Dr. Cheung’s main research interest is health outcomes research and RWE generation across all cancer types, including solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. He has cultivated strong and effective partnerships with public and private sectors. He is the Principal Director of the Oncology Outcomes (O2) Program that focuses on enriching data sources and leveraging new technologies to facilitate “fit-for-purpose” cancer RWE generation. His track record consists of over 100 invited presentations and over 250 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts in the RWE space. He acts as the chief sounding board for projects using cancer data and serves as the preferred point of first contact for oncology RWE queries in Alberta.

Michael Duong, Ph.D.

Head of Innovation, Hoffmann-La Roche

Michael Duong, Ph.D.

Head of Innovation, Hoffmann-La Roche

Michael is the Head of Innovation for Hoffmann-La Roche Limited across all of its Canadian divisions, including Roche Pharmaceuticals, Roche Diagnostics, and Roche Diabetes Care. Michael also leads the Roche Innovation Hive – which is the creative space where the future of healthcare is being imagined and co-created between Roche and its external partners. Michael is also a founding board member of the Canadian Personalized Healthcare Innovation Network (CPHIN) which is a not for profit corporation representing a consortium of members from both public and private sectors focused on the acceleration of personalized healthcare for Canada. Michael received his undergraduate degree in Biology and Pharmacology and a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences with a specialization in Neuroscience, both from McMaster University.

Stephen Sundquist

Executive Director, 3CTN

Stephen Sundquist

Executive Director, 3CTN

Stephen has over 25 years of experience in clinical trial operations and health programs’ leadership. His clinical research expertise includes roles in pharma, CRO and academic settings involving the conduct of Phase 1-3b drug, biologic, and device trials across a wide range of therapeutic areas. The Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network (3CTN) maintains a Portfolio of over 800 multi-centre academic cancer clinical trials and mobilizes and supports a pan-Canadian community of over 250 investigators, clinical research professionals and patient partners across its 60 pediatric- and adult-member Cancer Centres in improving shared aims for equitable access, accrual and the efficient, high-quality conduct of trials.

Agenda

Nov 01
Nov 02

Date

Activities

9:00 AM

- 9:15 AM

Opening Remarks

9:15 AM

- 10:00 AM

KEYNOTE: Integrating Research into Clinical Practice: Challenges & Solutions for Canada

A visionary convrsation on the evolution of Clinical Trials.

10:00 AM

- 10:40 AM

Session 1: The Future of Clinical Trials

CIHR Fall 2022 survey results. 2021-2030 Strategic Plan. CT fund overview. Setting the stage for Learning Health Systems. Setting the stage for the vision and future of embedded trials.

10:00 AM

- 11:20 AM

SETTING THE STAGE

10:40 AM

- 11:20 AM

Session 2: The Shifting Landscape of Research

Lessons learned in cancer that were taken forward and applied in the National Institute for Health & Care Research (NIHR) supported Recovery Trial. How these lessons are being applied to advance precision medicine and the cancer vaccine. What needs to happen to ensure embedded trials become reality.

11:20 AM

- 11:45 AM

Wellness Break

11:45 AM

- 2:30 PM

MORE AND DIFFERENT KINDS OF DATA ARE NEEDED

11:45 AM

- 12:30 PM

Session 1: Controlled Setting Data does not equal Real World Data, Breadth of Data and Real-World Inspiration

Why RWE and why now? Creating “fit for purpose” RWE generation. Case studies on pilots/initiatives/learning: examples of practice data utilization in research. How O2 supports embedded trials.

12:30 PM

- 1:30 PM

Lunch

1:45 PM

- 2:30 PM

Session 2: More and New Types of Data are Required

Clinical trials are well controlled and the transferability of data across geographies are more 'acceptable' but RWD capture the influences of the patients' environments and ecosystems, therefore locally collected RWD is more relevant and better informs true effectiveness within the ecosystem in which the patient is treated. This outlines the need for Canada to have the infrastructure to capture and make available high quality real world data; the importance and use of Synthetic Data.

2:30 PM

- 4:00 PM

The Case for Embedding Clinical Trials into Clinical Practice. Care informs Research and Research informs Care.

CLINICAL TRIALS TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVE (CTTI) Initiative overview and the case for embedding clinical trials into clinical practice. How this new model was conceived and developed. Benefit overview. Why this is good for patients.

4:00 PM

- 4:45 PM

KEYNOTE: HOW CAN WE MAKE RESEARCH MORE PATIENT CENTRIC

A discussion of how to make research more patient-centric, with a focus on patient engagement throughout the research process.

4:45 PM

- 5:00 PM

CLOSING REMARKS

Date

Activities

9:00 AM

- 9:15 AM

Opening Remarks

9:15 AM

- 9:45 AM

Keynote: Future of Clinical Trials Research: A Patient Centered Approach

Industry perspective on the future of clinical trials

9:45 AM

- 10:45 AM

The Case for Embedding Clinical Trials into Clinical Practice. Care informs Research and Research informs Care.

Multi-stakeholder discussion on the needs, barriers, facilitators and benefits of embedded trials in Canada Assessing whether to embed trial elements into practice, ‘how to’ what to think about, CTTI ‘operational guidelines’ to reflect on.

10:45 AM

- 11:00 AM

Wellness Break

11:00 AM

- 12:00 PM

How Embedding Trial Elements has Occurred in Different Settings

Panel discussion led by Dr. John Marshall, Canadian lead investigator, REMAP-CAP trial (Randomized, Embedded, Multifactorial, Adaptive Platform Trial for Community Acquired Pneumonia)

12:00 PM

- 2:15 PM

GOAL: CANADIANIZE THE CTTI MODEL

12:00 PM

- 12:15 PM

Workshop Briefing

Brief

12:15 PM

- 1:30 PM

Lunch & Workshop Groups

Lunch & Working Groups

1:30 PM