Colorectal Cancer Community Conference 2026

Ameerah Craigg is a Black woman whose work is informed by her various
historically marginalized intersections and identities. Ameerah completed her BA
in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and her BEd at York University. She has spent
time working in the mental health and addictions field as a counsellor and in the
community wellness field as a workshop facilitator and yoga instructor.  

She currently manages the Health Promotion and Community Engagement team at Black Health Alliance. Through

these experiences, Ameerah has been able to gain direct insight into the needs of
her communities and uses her harm reduction, trauma-informed,
feminist/womanist, and capacity-building frameworks to be a strong advocate,
supporter, and community organizer for those that need it the most. 

Dr. Hamm is an Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology at Western University.  She is also the Chair of the Windsor Division of Oncology at Schulich School of Medicine.  She is the chair of Windsor Regional Hospital Academic and Research Committee and co-chair of the WE-SPARK Health Institute Research Committee. Dr Hamm established, and has grown the Clinical Trials Navigator program into a national program serving cancer patients and oncologists across Canada, now over 750 users. She partners with the Canadian Cancer Society, 3CTN and CCTG to improve equity to clinical trials access across Canada.

Dr. Laura Dawson is Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto and a staff radiation oncologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Dr. Dawson is internationally recognized for her expertise in gastrointestinal cancers, especially hepatobiliary cancer and liver metastases, and in advancing the safe use of advanced radiation techniques such as SBRT, IGRT and adaptive radiation. She has led landmark clinical trials that have established SBRT as a treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma and colorectal oligo-metastases. She also established low dose liver radiation therapy as an palliative treatment option to treat pain from hepatic cancer. She has published extensively and mentored hundreds of trainees and radiation oncologists from around the world. She is past ASTRO President, 2018 CARO Gordon Richards (Gold Medal) lecturer and a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Science.

Dr. Lisa Del Giudice is the Regional Primary Care Lead for the Toronto Regional Cancer Program. This role involves developing guidelines for primary care physicians and developing programs that will improve patient care throughout the cancer journey. She also has clinical experience providing routine primary care as a Family Physician.

Dr. Ron Burkes is Professor of Medicine at The University of Toronto and staff medical oncologist at Mount Sinai Hospital/Princess Margaret Cancer Centre/University Health Network in Toronto. He was on the medical oncology training committee for the University of Toronto for 23 years and the program director for the medical oncology training program from 1996 to 2005 during which time he introduced the academic half day, the longitudinal clinic experience, the annual medical oncology research day and the staff medical oncology outstanding teaching awards. He was also the director of the Clinical Teaching Unit at the PMCC from 1999 to 2005 and established the teaching curriculum for the internal medicine residents rotating through the PMCC. He is now the Medical Oncology Mentorship Facilitator for the Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto.

He has won numerous teaching awards including Departmental and University wide awards on 19 occasions, the Anderson Award in Program Development and the Hasselback Teaching Award at PMCC. He has presented at many local, provincial, national and international meetings.

His research interests include lung and GI malignancies with a primary interest in lung, colorectal and gastric cancers. He has numerous publications including 136 peer reviewed, 154 non-peer reviewed and 2 book chapters. 

Dr. Scott Adams is a physiologist and scientist with >18 years of experience delivering and testing the effects of exercise-based interventions in people living with and after cancer. Prior to founding Cancer Fatigue Services, Scott was a scientist at the University Health Network and the inaugural co-chair of the Cardio-Oncology Rehabilitation & Exercise working group of the International Cardio-Oncology Society. He completed his PhD at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta) and two postdoctoral fellowships at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, New York) and the University of Toronto (Toronto, Ontario).

 His research focused on understanding how to predict, identify, minimize, and treat some of the most common and debilitating side effects of cancer treatments like fatigue, and its major causes like cardiovascular dysfunction, skeletal muscle injuries and emotional distress.

 As a clinician and scientist, he has witnessed the power of exercise-based multi-disciplinary interventions to transform lives and restore hope for people living with and after cancer.

Dr Sharma was born in Toronto to parents who immigrated from Trinidad and Tobago, and he himself emigrated to Ireland where he met his wife, and the United Kingdom, before moving back to Canada. 

He is a General Practitioner in every sense of the word. His academic career started at McMaster University, where he studied Life science and Genetics, then Graduated from Medical School at University College Dublin, Ireland. He then trained in the field of Surgical Oncology with a specialist interest in Breast cancer, specifically triple negative breast cancer. He then pivoted to General Practice where he received further training in Gastroenterology and Palliative Care.

This all became very relevant after he was diagnosed with Colorectal cancer at the age of 41. With experience in Surgery, Oncology, Medicine, Palliative care, and Mental Health, this came with its advantages, but many disadvantages too. 

Dr Sharma life and experience makes him a unique patient advocate. He is passionate about healthcare locally with a national and global perspective. He is passionate about cancer care with a holistic perspective. He is passionate about healthcare advocacy with a professional and personal perspective. 

Kina Leclair is a 40-year-old mother and stepmother of four from Ottawa, Ontario. She is an outgoing, outspoken, and driven professional. At 39 years old, as her career in leadership roles was soaring and her family was thriving, her life was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer.

Since her diagnosis, Kina has focused on whole-body healing, combining therapy, nutrition, fitness, spirituality, and connection with supportive communities, to navigate the challenges of cancer treatment and recovery. She shares her journey with honesty, intuition, and a commitment to living fully in the moment, hoping to inspire others facing serious health challenges.

In 2025, Kina underwent two major surgeries and 4 months of chemotherapy. In 2026, she had her first clear scan reading "No Evidence of Disease". She now navigates the blessings and challenges that come with living life in remission with a high chance of recurrence, and the side effects from the surgeries and chemotherapy. 

Paula Molnar is a social worker with over 10 years of experience in the healthcare system, including clinical coordination and program management in the public sector (CLSC). She holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) from McGill University.

As the Wellness Centre Program Coordinator at Hope & Cope, Paula develops and oversees support groups and programs for people living with cancer, including colorectal cancer. She provides direct psychosocial support across the cancer continuum. Her approach focuses on meeting individuals where they are at in their cancer journey from diagnosis through treatment and survivorship by connecting them to services internally and in the community. 

 A/Prof Dan Buchanan is Head of the Colorectal Oncogenomics Group in the Department of Clinical Pathology at the University of Melbourne, residing within the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.  He leads a diverse, multi-disciplinary research program aimed at improving the diagnosis of hereditary colorectal cancer and polyposis syndromes and determining the aetiology of early-onset colorectal cancer and polyposis using integrative multi-omic and molecular pathology epidemiology approaches applied to world-leading studies. He holds an honorary appointment within the Genomic Medicine and Familial Cancer Centre, Royal Melbourne Hospital, contributing to a multidisciplinary approach to the diagnosis and risk management of hereditary cancer and colonic polyposis. He holds leadership roles as an InSiGHT council member, co-PI of the Colon Cancer Family Registry, and co-chair of the ClinGen-InSiGHT CRC-Polyposis Variant Curation Expert Panel for the POLE and POLD1 genes.  He was awarded the Dean’s Research Excellence Award (Dame Kate Campbell Fellowship) in 2021 and again in 2026. He was awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Investigator EL2 Fellow (2021-2025).  He is committed to the translation of research to practice, evidenced by his role in the Australian eviQ Cancer Genetics Reference Committee tasked with providing national guidelines for testing and management of hereditary cancer syndromes.  He is the PI of the Genetics of Colonic Polyposis Study, and PI of the ANGELS study investigating the aetiology of early-onset colorectal cancer.