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Speakers / Panelists

Timothy Caulfield, BSc, LLB, LLM
Professor of Health Law & Science Policy
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Timothy Caulfield, BSc, LLB, LLM

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Timothy Caulfield, BSc, LLB, LLM
Professor of Health Law & Science Policy

Professor Timothy Caulfield is an unrivalled communicator who debunks myths and assumptions about innovation in the health sector — from research on stem cells to diets to alternative medicine — for the benefit of the public and decision-makers. He is a Canada Research Chair in health law and policy, a professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health, and a research director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta.

Over the past several years, Caulfield has been involved in a variety of interdisciplinary research endeavours that have allowed him to publish more than 350 articles and book chapters. His research focuses on topics like stem cells, genetics, research ethics, and the public representations of science and health policy issues. The recipient of numerous academic and writing awards, Caulfield is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Caulfield also writes frequently for the popular press on a range of health and science policy issues and is the author of two national bestsellers: The Cure for Everything: Untangling the Twisted Messages about Health, Fitness and Happiness and Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?: When Celebrity Culture and Science Clash. His most recent book is The Vaccination Picture. He is also the host and co-producer of the award-winning, hit documentary TV show, A User’s Guide to Cheating Death, which has been shown in over 60 countries and is currently streaming on Netflix.

• Keynote Address - Battling Misinformation
  
  February 2, 2021 from 11:00am EST to 12:00pm EST

Dr. Maja Djikic

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Dr. Maja Djikic

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Dr. Maja Djikic


Maja Djikic, Ph. D. is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Self-Development Laboratory at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. She is a psychologist specializing in the field of personality development. Her work examines means of developing a congruent and flexible self. She has been a post-doctoral fellow with the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking at the Rotman School of Management, and Psychology Department at Harvard University. She has published more than 30 articles and book chapters in the area of personality development. Her research has been featured in The New York Times, Salon, Slate, The Scientific American Mind, and many other media outlets. At Rotman, in addition to teaching students in the MBA programs, she teaches executives in three EMBA programs, Advanced Health Leadership Program, UHN’s Academic Hospital Leadership Academy, Police Leadership Program, and the Sunnybrook Leadership Institute.  Outside Rotman, her previous client engagements also include Facebook Inc., McKinsey & Co., Deloitte, Eli Lilly, CSL Behring, Sunlife Financial, RBC, TD, Aird & Berlis LLP, Hyundai Canada, & Microsoft Canada.


Asim Amjad MD, MBBS, DMRT, DCO, FFRCSI

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Asim Amjad MD, MBBS, DMRT, DCO, FFRCSI

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Asim Amjad MD, MBBS, DMRT, DCO, FFRCSI


Dr. Amjad was born and raised in Pakistan, where he received his medical degree. He trained in oncology in Ireland and the United Kingdom before coming to Canada. He has been working at the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency in Regina since 2008. He has extensive clinical experience and specializes in prostate cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, and gynecological cancers. Dr. Amjad also volunteers his time at a hospital in Pakistan, furthering cancer treatment in his home country.


Ed Evarts

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Ed Evarts

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Ed Evarts


• 26 years as a corporate leader
• 13 years as a leadership, team coach, and business strategist
• Author of two books – Raise Your Visibility & Value: Uncover the Lost Are of Connecting on the Job and Drive Your Career: 9 High-Impact Ways to Take Responsibility for Your Own Success
• Host of the bi-weekly podcast, Be Brave at Work

Former President of the International Coach Federation of New England


Wayne Beckham, PhD, MACPSEM, FCCPM, FCOMP
Medical Physicist
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Wayne Beckham, PhD, MACPSEM, FCCPM, FCOMP

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Wayne Beckham, PhD, MACPSEM, FCCPM, FCOMP
Medical Physicist

Wayne Beckham is the Provincial Medical Physics Leader for BC Cancer, the sole provider of comprehensive cancer care for British Columbia. He is also the Regional Medical Physics Leader and site Radiation Safety Officer for Class II radiation devices and for PET/CT at BC Cancer – Victoria. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of Victoria (UVic) and also the UVic/BC Cancer – Victoria Medical Physics Graduate Program Director. Wayne’s primary research interests involve using leading edge radiation treatment technology to improve patient care. He has authored or co-authored 64 publications in peer reviewed international journals and contributed to over 150 conference presentations.

He has served in a number of volunteer roles in national and international organisations. He is the current President of the Canadian Organisation of Medical Physicists. He served as the President of the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs (CAMPEP) in 2014-2015 and as Registrar of the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine from 2003 to 2009.

• Emerging Smarter: How Covid-19 is Reshaping the Future of Radiation Medicine
  
  February 4, 2021 from 2:00pm EST to 3:45pm EST

Lorna MacEachern

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Lorna MacEachern

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Lorna MacEachern


For over 15 years Lorna MacEachern has been helping graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in a wide variety of disciplines to plan their goals and transition into meaningful careers. She has presented at professional conferences and been a guest speaker at numerous academic conferences and meetings.  After obtaining her MA in Counselling Psychology, Lorna began her career at McGill University as a Career Counsellor for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. She then joined the Office for Postdoctoral Affairs at Yale University, where she established a new career service for postdocs. Lorna is currently working for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at McGill, where she is managing myPath: a network of tools and programming to help students and postdocs to create an Individual Development Plan (IDP). She is also the past president of the GPDN (Graduate and Postdoctoral Development Network).


Jean-Guy Belliveau, PhD, DABR, MCCPM

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Jean-Guy Belliveau, PhD, DABR, MCCPM

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Jean-Guy Belliveau, PhD, DABR, MCCPM


Dr. Belliveau is an Assistant Professor and Medical Physicist in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Belliveau has been part of the Ethos Adaptive program at UAB since May 2021. His research interest within the adaptive program is PSQA, and breast VMAT and IMRT deliveries for regional nodal irradiation.


Alanah Bergman, PhD, FCCPM
Medical Physicist
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Alanah Bergman, PhD, FCCPM

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Alanah Bergman, PhD, FCCPM
Medical Physicist

BSc McGill University, Physics (Hon), 1994
MSc McGill University,  Medical Physics, 1997
PhD University of British Columbia, Physics (Medical Physics), 2007

Dr. Bergman is a senior medical physicist at BC Cancer - Vancouver and Fellow of the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine.  She has been in the thick of the rapid expansion of the stereotactic body radiotherapy (SABR) program at BC Cancer.  She has seen the program grow from 14 lung SABR patients in 2009 to an extensive multi-site program, treating 300 SABR patients/year including lung, liver, pancreas, spine, bone, adrenal, and lymph node targets.  Alanah has been super excited to have BC Cancer participate in several landmark Canadian-led SABR Trials.  ​ Her interests currently lie with motion management for lung and liver SABR and she is the lead physicist for the BC Cancer Dynamic Tumour Tracking program.   Her current work includes expanding the fiducial-based Liver SABR tracking program and implementing a fiducial-LESS tracking program for Lung and Liver.  She is also interested in re-treatment planning workflows, particularly in the SABR context.

• Introduction: Where We Are, Where We Have Been, and Where We Are Going
  
  February 1, 2021 from 11:15am EST to 12:45pm EST
• Discussion (panel)
  
  February 1, 2021 from 12:45pm EST to 1:30pm EST

Steve McFadden

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Steve McFadden

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Steve McFadden


Steven McFadden has been with the CJE NDG for over 10 years. He focuses on finding points of contact with his clients to make connections that will develop into a strong understanding of the individual, their needs and their contributions to the job market. Seeing the job search as an inclusive process allows for dialogue that leads to a professional profile that responds to family, financial and personal attributes. He’s a part of our career development team.


Alanah Bergman, PhD, FCCPM

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Alanah Bergman, PhD, FCCPM

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Alanah Bergman, PhD, FCCPM


Dr. Alanah Bergman is a senior medical physicist at BC Cancer – Vancouver. She has provided medical physics support to the breast radiotherapy team since 1997.  From 1998 – 2014, Dr. Bergman was certified by the CCPM to perform medical physics mammography image quality and radiation dose assessments. During that time, she supported the BC Cancer Screening Mammography Program (BCSMP), and provided physics leadership.  On the radiotherapy side, she led the transition from 2D planning to 3D planning for breast RT with the installation of the centre’s first CT simulator.  Many years later, she led the VMAT Breast/Chestwall team which established technical planning and delivery standards for the clinic.  Breast radiotherapy prescriptions, volumes and techniques have seen some major changes over the last five years and Dr. Bergman is excited to be a part of the team moving this site forward. 


Louise Bird
Patient Advisor
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Louise Bird

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Louise Bird
Patient Advisor

I am a twice over breast cancer survivor of 17 years (my last treatment date was July 4, 2004).  When I was first diagnosed in December of 2002, I was 37 years old, working wife and mother of four children and Nana to one grandson.  My children ranged in age from 19 to 13 years.  

In 2011 I answered a ad for a Patient Representative to sit on CPQR, and as they say the rest is history and here we are today.  Through my work on the Canadian Partnership for Quality Radiation Therapy I gained my “Patient Voice’ and continue to use it each and every day.  For me working on behalf of other Patients in Canada is a way of paying it forward and assisting to improve Patient Care for those undertaking the Journey!

I currently sit on a number of initiatives both Provincially and Nationally.

• Patient Reported Outcomes from Patient's Point of View
  
  February 3, 2021 from 3:30pm EST to 4:00pm EST
• Setting Up SBRT Program
  
  February 4, 2021 from 11:00am EST to 12:30pm EST

Jaclyn Gaffaney

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Jaclyn Gaffaney

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Jaclyn Gaffaney


Jaclyn researches and evaluates scaled wellbeing initiatives and social programs to optimize their development and implementation. She specializes in quantitative and qualitative research design and data analysis, process and outcome evaluation, and program design. She has worked with educational institutions, organizations, social programs, and communities. Jaclyn is an advanced PhD student with a co-concentration in positive organizational psychology and research methods & evaluation at Claremont Graduate University. She holds a Master's in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor’s from the University of Southern California. She currently lives in Claremont, California and enjoys hiking, road tripping, trying all of the foods, and nerding out over a good book.


Murray Brunt, MB.BS, FRCP, FRCR

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Murray Brunt, MB.BS, FRCP, FRCR

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Murray Brunt, MB.BS, FRCP, FRCR


Professor Murray Brunt graduated from Westminster Medical School, London in 1983. Murray was appointed Consultant Clinical Oncologist at the University Hospitals of North Midlands in 1991. Murray moved in 2020 to a substantive Chair at The School of Medicine, University of Keele, Staffordshire. Murray is Chief Investigator of the FAST-Forward trial. Murray has been closely involved with the UK series of trials that are changing UK and Global practice such as START, IMPORT LOW & HIGH, FAST and FAST-Forward. He has an Honorary Chair at The Institute of Cancer Research, London.

 


David Carlson, PhD, DABR, FAAPM
Medical Physicist
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David Carlson, PhD, DABR, FAAPM

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David Carlson, PhD, DABR, FAAPM
Medical Physicist

Dr. Carlson is an Associate Professor and the Director of Physics Operations in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania. He is certified by the American Board of Radiology in Therapeutic Radiologic Physics. He completed his residency in Radiation Oncology Physics at Stanford University and received his PhD in Medical Physics from Purdue University. He currently serves as Senior Editor for the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, and Physics, is a Fellow and past Member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), and is Chair of the Science Education and Program Development committee of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

• An Overview of the Radiobiology of Hypofractionation and Stereotactic Radiotherapy
  
  February 2, 2021 from 2:00pm EST to 2:30pm EST

Tina Solvik

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Tina Solvik

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Tina Solvik


Tina Solvik, Ph.D. is Program Manager of Graduate Career Education at The University of Texas at Austin. She holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She supports graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in professional skill development, career exploration, and job preparation for academia, industry, non-profits, and government. In her role leading curriculum design, delivery, and assessment of graduate courses, workshops, and programs, she focuses on translating principles of pedagogy to career education. She previously worked at the UCSF Office of Career and Professional Development, creating career and professional development programming for life sciences Ph.D.s and postdocs. 


Leigh Conroy, PhD, MCCPM

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Leigh Conroy, PhD, MCCPM

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Leigh Conroy, PhD, MCCPM


Dr. Leigh Conroy is a Medical Physicist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Department of Radiation Oncology. Dr. Conroy’s clinical and research interests include breast radiotherapy, quality improvement, automation, and motion management strategies. Her most recent research focuses on the clinical implementation of machine learning in Radiation Oncology and development of quality assurance (QA) processes and education for safe use of machine learning in medicine.


Maria Corsten, MSc, MCCPM, CHE
Medical Physicist
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Maria Corsten, MSc, MCCPM, CHE

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Maria Corsten, MSc, MCCPM, CHE
Medical Physicist

Maria Corsten is the Head of Medical Physics for the Provincial Cancer Care Program of Eastern Health in St. John’s, NL.  She is a member of the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine and is a Certified Health Executive with the Canadian College of Health Leaders.   Maria is co-leading the development of a new satellite site for cancer care in Corner Brook, NL.  The Eastern Health Medical Physics team has implemented lung SBRT and is planning a prostate SBRT program.  Maria’s clinical interests include radiation safety, peer review, expanding the implementation of SBRT and development of treatment planning efficiencies. She is a member of the organizing committee for COMP Winter School 2021, was the Chair of the Local Arrangements Committee for the COMP ASM in St. John’s and is a member of the organizing committee for the Annual Atlantic Radiotherapy Conference.

• Team Communication in SBRT
  
  February 2, 2021 from 12:00pm EST to 1:30pm EST
• Setting Up SBRT Program
  
  February 4, 2021 from 11:00am EST to 12:30pm EST

Nancy Barrett

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Nancy Barrett

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Nancy Barrett


Nancy has more than 25 years of experience in industry, government and the association sector. Nancy is a Partner with AMCES and is responsible for leading the association management practice.  During the past 20 years, Nancy has provided consulting and leadership services to the not-for-profit sector and has been directly involved in:  

• Designing and facilitating strategic planning processes  
• Working with boards to support effective governance  
• Designing and facilitating processes for board orientation, assessment and development 
• Leading advocacy initiatives and developing strategic relationships 

Nancy is a graduate of the University of Waterloo, a trained facilitator, a Certified Association Executive (CAE) and an Accredited Director (Acc.Dir.) 


Kimberly Corbin, M.D.

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Kimberly Corbin, M.D.

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Kimberly Corbin, M.D.


I am a board certified, breast specialized Radiation Oncologist at the Mayo Clinic.  I have clinic expertise in Breast radiotherapy and proton therapy for breast cancer.  I have participated in several clinical trials using proton therapy for breast cancer and have published on proton therapy for inflammatory breast cancer, partial breast radiotherapy, post mastectomy radiotherapy, and re-irradiation. 


Fabio Cury, MD
Radiation Oncologist
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Fabio Cury, MD

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Fabio Cury, MD
Radiation Oncologist

Dr. Fabio Cury is an Assistant Professor in the Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology, a member of the Division of Radiation Oncology since 2007, and an Associate Member of the Division of Urology, Department of Surgery since 2008.

He was born in Brazil, where he obtained his medical degree at Universidade Federal do Parana in 1999. After his residency in Radiation Oncology at Hospital Erasto Gartner, he did a fellowship in uro-oncology at the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, and in 2007 he joined the MUHC Department of Radiation Oncology, where he would focus on uro-oncology, head and neck tumours and skin tumours. After a few years of practice, he also joined the sarcoma team and is currently the radiation oncology site leader for both uro-oncology and sarcoma, areas to which he devotes most of his clinical and research efforts.

His research portfolio currently includes investigator-initiated studies as well as those initiated by oncology cooperative groups, some of which he has served as principal investigator. He is also involved with the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology (CARO) since 2009, where he played different roles, including chair of the ACURA advisory group and chair of the Annual Scientific Meeting committee. He is currently part of the CARO Board, as Quebec Director. Dr. Cury is involved with several local committees including the recently formed “McGill Task Force on the Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Control and Care”, and the Sarcoma Research Committee at the CIM/MUHC where he serves as co-chair. He is also leading the development of consensus contouring guidelines for organs at risk in the Division of Radiation Oncology.

Dr. Cury created a “Workshop on Contouring and Planning” to address the need of young international radiation oncologists to gain experience in contouring and planning of radiation oncology treatments using advanced technologies. The workshops started in Brazil in 2012, and were also offered in Mexico and Argentina, and it became the most extensive sustained global oncology program in Latin America, with more than 600 radiation oncologists and medical physicists attending the small-group sessions. The workshops were recently adapted as part of the regular training of residents, medical physicists and dosimetrists at the MUHC, with plans to expand these workshops at local and national levels.

• New Horizons in SBRT
  
  February 4, 2021 from 12:30pm EST to 1:30pm EST

Erika Brown

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Erika Brown

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Erika Brown


Erika Brown is passionate about change management, knowledge mobilization and organizational practice. For the last 20 years she has brought rigorous, project-based perspective to improving the way organizations conceptualize, plan and implement governance and program activity.  She provides consulting, executive director and association management services to the not-for-profit sector. 

Erika holds a Bachelor of Science internship in human ecology and is a Certified Association Executive.  In her recent roles as executive director for the Canadian Association of Provincial Cancer Agencies (CAPCA) and the Canadian Partnership for Quality Radiotherapy (CPQR), Erika led strategic planning, developed targeted programs to enhance health program service delivery and created system-level benchmarking tools.   

Erika also uses her collaborative, win-win approach to support a range of clients.  She has worked with organizations including the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology (CARO) and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer to enhance their position as health care system leaders, drive stakeholder awareness and support program uptake. 

Erika is an effective communicator and facilitator and is experienced in the development of academic, professional and public communications. 


Ria Corsten, MSc, MCCPM, CHE

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Ria Corsten, MSc, MCCPM, CHE

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Ria Corsten, MSc, MCCPM, CHE


Ria Corsten is the Head of Medical Physics for the Provincial Cancer Care Program of Eastern Health in St. John’s, NL.  She is a member of the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine and is a Certified Health Executive with the Canadian College of Health Leaders.   Ria is co-leading the development of a new satellite site for cancer care in Corner Brook, NL.   Her clinical interests include radiation safety, peer review and disaster recovery planning. She is a member of the organizing committee for COMP Winter School 2023 and is excited to see the developments in Breast Imaging and Radiation Treatment for Breast Cancer.


Carol-Anne Davis, RT(T), AC(T), MSc, FCAMRT
Clinical Educator and Lecturer
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Carol-Anne Davis, RT(T), AC(T), MSc, FCAMRT

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Carol-Anne Davis, RT(T), AC(T), MSc, FCAMRT
Clinical Educator and Lecturer

Clinical Educator, Nova Scotia Cancer Center
Lecturer, Department of Radiation Oncology, Dalhousie University

Active nationally with the Canadian Partnership for Quality Radiotherapy, CARO Quality and Standards Committee and the CAMRT Advanced Practice Radiation Therapy Steering Committee.

Clinical interests include RT for H&N cancer population, imaging, advanced-practice roles and stereotactic radiation therapy including cranial and extra-cranial techniques.

Research interests include positron-emission-tomography, RT outcomes and attitudes and perceptions of medical radiation technologists. Part of a recent interprofessional team who designed and delivered a 5-day workshop on Lung SABR and SRS/T for Brain Metastasis to radiation oncology professionals in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

• Team Communication in SBRT
  
  February 2, 2021 from 12:00pm EST to 1:30pm EST

Lisa Barbera

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Lisa Barbera

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Lisa Barbera


Dr. Barbera is nationally and internationally recognized health services researcher and radiation oncologist.  In 2018 she moved from Toronto to Calgary to become the Head of Radiation Oncology at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and the University of Calgary. Her academic areas of interest include health services research, quality of care and symptom management using large sources of administrative health care data. She has published extensively on health service use at the end of life in cancer patients. She has also completed extensive work using a unique patient reported symptom dataset in Ontario.  As the former lead of Cancer Care Ontario’s Patient Reported Outcome Program she has considerable knowledge and experience with using patient reported outcomes in routine care.  Her active clinical practice is in breast cancer. She also has years of experience treating gynecologic malignancies. 


Juanita M. Crook, MD FRCPC

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Juanita M. Crook, MD FRCPC

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Juanita M. Crook, MD FRCPC


Dr Crook did her medical training at the University of Toronto, Residency in Radiation Oncology at the Princess Margaret Hospital and is currently a Full Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of British Columbia. She is a staff Radiation Oncologist in Kelowna BC where she has developed image-guided HDR gynecologic brachytherapy, US-planned HDR prostate brachytherapy, HDR interstitial and surface mold penile brachytherapy and permanent seed brachytherapy for breast cancer. She is former president of the Board of the American Brachytherapy Society, recipient of the Thom Shanahan Distinguished Brachytherapy Educator Award and the ABS 2017 Henschke Award.

She is also the first to hold a Brachytherapy Research Chair position in British Columbia.


Hans de Boer, PhD
Medical Physicist
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Hans de Boer, PhD

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Hans de Boer, PhD
Medical Physicist

Hans de Boer entered the field of radiotherapy in 1994. After training to become a medical physicist and obtaining a PhD on efficient application of EPID imaging and methods for optimal offline correction protocols, he worked at the Erasmus MC radiotherapy department in Rotterdam (Netherlands) on fast and efficient image guidance methods involving CBCT and planar kV imaging. In 2009 he started at the University Medical Center Utrecht (Netherlands) to take part in the development of MR-guided radiotherapy and specifically the clinical use of MR-linacs. Currently, he is involved in developing real-time MR-guided plan adaptation and  ultra-hypofractionated radiotherapy, es pecially for for prostate cancer.

• Adaptive Approach to SBRT
  
  February 3, 2021 from 1:30pm EST to 3:30pm EST

Brian Wilson

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Brian Wilson

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Brian Wilson


Brian Wilson trained in experimental particle physics before moving into medical physics in 1972, in which he worked in clinical service, research and teaching in diagnostic radiology and radiation therapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital/Institute of Cancer Research, UK, the Queensland Radium Institute and Flinders University Medical Center, Australia, Hamilton Cancer Centre/McMaster University and, since 1993, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre/University of Toronto. His primary research interests for the past 30 years have been in biophotonics and, in the past 10 years also in nanotechnologies, applied to cancer diagnosis, treatment and interventional guidance. He has published over 450 peer-reviewed papers and trained more than 50 graduate students and postdoctoral/clinical fellows. Awards for his work in translational cancer research include the Robert L. Noble Prize of the Canadian Cancer Society and the Britton Change and Michael S. Feld Awards of the International Society for Optics and Photonics and the Optical Society of America, respectively, and he is a Fellow of both organizations. He also holds the Richard Hill Mentorship Award from Princess Margaret Cancer Centre for his roles in post-graduate education and career mentorship. 


Irena Dragojevic, PhD

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Irena Dragojevic, PhD

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Irena Dragojevic, PhD


I have over 10 years of experience with electronic brachytherapy with Xoft.  I have also commissioned and established the IORT electronic brachytherapy program at UCSD and one of the local hospitals.  The experience resulted in publication of “Risk analysis of electronic intraoperative radiation therapy for breast cancer” in the Brachytherapy journal (2019 May - Jun; 18(3):271-276.).  I have also been the PI on several other projects related to electronic brachytherapy with Xoft that resulted in the following publications:

1. J. Hoisak, R. Manger, I. Dragojević. “Benchmarking failure mode and effects analysis of electronic brachytherapy with data from incident learning systems”. Brachytherapy. 2021;20(3):645-654 doi: 610 1016/j brachy 2020 1011 1014 Epub 2021 Jan 1019.
2. R. Manger, D. Rahn, J. Hoisak, I. Dragojević. “Improving the treatment planning and delivery process of Xoft electronic skin brachytherapy,” Brachytherapy , Volume 17 , Issue 4, 702 – 708 (2018).
3. S.A.M. Lloyd, D. Rahn, J.D.P. Hoisak, I. Dragojević. “Evaluation of effective treatment depth in skin cancer treatments with electronic brachytherapy” Brachytherapy, Volume 17, Issue 6, 990 – 994 (2018).

Jeff and Kristen Eaton

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Jeff and Kristen Eaton

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Jeff and Kristen Eaton


Jeff and Kristen Eaton have run an evidence based multidisciplinary clinic in Cambridge, ON for the past 20 years and enjoy volunteering in the community.  Caleb, Ella and their parents have always been active with sports including downhill skiing, dancing, swimming and hockey.  In November 2016, Jeff Eaton was diagnosed with a WHO Grade 2, Diffuse Astrocytoma from T5 - L1. He had a double laminectomy/biopsy followed by a course of radiation therapy. With this diagnosis, many of the activities that we enjoy as a family have changed. We are happy to share our story in the hope that it will help other patients who are living with a tumour or cancer diagnosis. 

• Patient Experience
  
  February 1, 2021 from 2:00pm EST to 2:30pm EST

Vincent LaPointe

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Vincent LaPointe

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Vincent LaPointe


Experience spans 25+ years in cancer care working as a Radiation Therapist, Medical Physics Assistant and currently as a Systems Architect and Analyst.  


Cheryl Duzenli, PhD, FCCPM

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Cheryl Duzenli, PhD, FCCPM

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Cheryl Duzenli, PhD, FCCPM


Dr. Cheryl Duzenli is the Medical Physics Leader at BC Cancer, Vancouver. She is passionate about medical physics education and was one of the founding members of the COMP Winter School. Prior to coming to BC Cancer, Cheryl completed her BSc in Honours Physics at Queen's University, MSc in Medical Radiation Physics at McGill University and PhD at University of Alberta. Some of her current research centres on developing ultra-light carbon fibre materials with a focus on reducing side effects in breast radiotherapy. She is very excited to be involved in the 2023 Winter School and looking forward to an exiting opportunity to exchange information and experience on treating breast cancer.


Darby Erler, MRT(T), MHSc
Professional Leader
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Darby Erler, MRT(T), MHSc

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Darby Erler, MRT(T), MHSc
Professional Leader

Professional Leader, Radiation Therapy, Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre

 Darby Erler MRT(T), MHSc is the Professional Leader for the Radiation Therapy Program at the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre. She is appointed as an Instructor with the Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto and a Practice-Based Researcher at the Sunnybrook Research Institute.  Darby completed her degree in Radiation Sciences through the Joint Michener Institute/ University of Toronto Medical Radiation Science program in 2003 and received a Master of Health Science in Medical Radiation Sciences from the University of Toronto in 2015. Prior to taking on the Professional Lead role, she was the Clinical Specialist Radiation Therapist for the Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) Program for 7 years. Her research interests include assessing clinical outcomes associated with the use of SBRT, evaluating innovations in treatment delivery and improving the patient experience with the use of patient reported outcomes.

• Introduction: Where We Are, Where We Have Been, and Where We Are Going
  
  February 1, 2021 from 11:15am EST to 12:45pm EST
• Discussion (panel)
  
  February 1, 2021 from 12:45pm EST to 1:30pm EST

Kavita Murthy

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Kavita Murthy

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Kavita Murthy


Kavita Murthy’s career at the Canada’s nuclear regulator began in 2003, as a project officer/ inspector in a Division responsible for the regulation of Class II Nuclear Facilities, which includes medical accelerators and cyclotrons. This aligned with her training as a medical physicist at McGill University and work experience in PET and radiation therapy. In 2005, Kavita became director of the Division and worked in that role for 11 years. Starting in 2016, Kavita transitioned to a couple of different director roles at the CNSC getting experience in the regulation of other nuclear sectors and facilities such as uranium processing and the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories. In 2020, Kavita became the Director General of the Directorate of Nuclear Cycle and Facilities Regulation, with the responsibility for the regulatory oversight of nuclear fuel cycle facilities, uranium mines and mills and nuclear waste management facilities across Canada.


Idris Elbakri, PhD, MCCPM

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Idris Elbakri, PhD, MCCPM

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Idris Elbakri, PhD, MCCPM


Dr. Idris Elbakri is the chair of the CCPM mammography certification committee. He has been certified in mammography since 2007. In his current clinical practices, he provides support for mammography (screening and diagnostic) throughout the province of Manitoba. Between 2017 and 2021, he co-chaired three COMP mammography workshops aimed at providing a Canadian continuing education opportunity for mammography physicists and technologists. Early in his career he was involved in industry in the development of some of the early digital mammography units which lead to several publications and patents in this area.


Brenda Hubley

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Brenda Hubley

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Brenda Hubley


 Brenda is a senior healthcare leader who has worked in the health sector for over 20 years, developing a wealth of experience in leadership, project management, and strategic and operational planning in health care service delivery. She is a graduate of Dalhousie University and completed her Radiation Therapy training through the Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation of Nova Scotia. Brenda is a Canadian College of Health Leaders Certified Health Executive who has held significant leadership positions in cancer programs, both at large, academic centres and in rural and community settings. She began her career in Nova Scotia at the Nova Scotia Cancer Centre as a staff Radiation Therapist and eventually as Manager of the RT Department. Since relocating to Alberta, Brenda has held several positions in Alberta Health Services and is currently the Chief Program Officer for Cancer Care Alberta, Alberta Health Services, leading the province’s cancer program. In all circumstances, she has been part of provincial cancer programs and health systems, focusing on partnerships and relationships with key stakeholders in support of the highest quality service achievable. Brenda is a career-long active and proud member of her provincial and national professional associations and is a past member of the CAMRT Board of Directors and CAMRT Vice-President.

Brenda is committed to a high-performing health system that is informed by research and evidence, designed in partnership with patients and families, and is respectful and responsive to the diversity of the populations we serve. She takes every opportunity to emphasize the need for practitioners to reflect on their personal contributions to their profession and, through active participation in their professional associations, ensure that we fulfill our individual and collective responsibility to make certain that we are each practicing at our full scope of practice, expect and support those around us to practice at their full scope, and to collaborate across professional designations to optimize how our care teams meet the needs of patients.


Robynn Ferris, RTT, CMD

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Robynn Ferris, RTT, CMD

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Robynn Ferris, RTT, CMD


Robynn Ferris has been a Radiation Therapist at the Vancouver Cancer Centre, since 1999. She completed her Medical Dosimetrist Certification and became the Planning Resource Therapist in 2011. As a Radiation Therapist, Robynn has had the privilege of spending time with patients during the course of their treatment and follow-up for the Breast “RAPID” trial. In collaboration with the Breast Radiation Oncologists and Physicists, she currently works integrating recent advances and improvements into breast planning and treatment. Robynn is excited with her opportunity to highlight the patient experience as part of Winter School 2023.


Francois Therriault-Proulx

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Francois Therriault-Proulx

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Francois Therriault-Proulx


Medical physicist, researcher and entrepreneur, Francois co-founded Medscint in 2018. This startup company, based in Quebec City, is specialized in the development of scintillation dosimetry solutions for radiation-oncology. In 2019, the company won the OSEntreprendre Startup Business Grand Prize in the category “Technological and Technical Innovations”. Prior to co-founding the company, Francois obtained his PhD in Physics from Université Laval (2008-2012) and was an Odyssey postdoctoral Fellow at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (2013-2015). In 2012, he won the « J.R. Cunningham Young Investigator Award » from the COMP as well as a « Best in Physics » prize from AAPM. With an expertise in plastic scintillation dosimetry, he is co-author on 22 scientific publications, one patent, and two book chapters. In addition to his academic resume, Francois has taken part in multiple entrepreneurship training programs in both the US and Canada (NSF I-CORPS, Académie de la Relève Entrepreneuriale, Medical Alley Bootcamp, Rice Ignite Entrepreneurship Trek).


Ralph George, MD, FRCS

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Ralph George, MD, FRCS

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Ralph George, MD, FRCS


Ralph George, MD, FRCS, is an Associate Professor of General Surgery at the University of Toronto and Medical Director of the CIBC Breast Centre at St. Michael's Hospital. He completed an Endoscopy and a Surgical Oncology Fellowship at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Dr. George sat on the Board of Directors of St. Michael’s Hospital and is the past President of the Medical Staff Association. He is the Director of Continuing Professional Education for the Department of Surgery, University of Toronto. He is the past Chair of the Royal College Specialty Committee for Surgical Oncology, and an active member of the Royal College examination board in Surgical Oncology. He is an executive member of the Canadian Hidradenitis Suppurativa foundation, and past President of the Canadian Association of General Surgeons. In 2022 Dr. George will act as co-chair of the North American annual HS meeting the Symposium on Hidradenitis Suppurativa Advances.


Amr Heikal, PhD, MCCPM
Medical Physicist
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Amr Heikal, PhD, MCCPM

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Amr Heikal, PhD, MCCPM
Medical Physicist

Amr Heikal is a CCPM certified Physicist at the Cross Cancer Centre in Edmonton, AB. Amr is an active member of the SBRT team treating lung, liver, spinal metastases. Amr is also a member of the Gamma Knife, and the Gynecological brachytherapy teams. Amr has a particular interest in resident training, treatment planning, and automation and scripting. This is Amr's second participation in the Winter School having been an organising committee member for the 2018 Winter School. 

• Emerging Smarter: How Covid-19 is Reshaping the Future of Radiation Medicine
  
  February 4, 2021 from 2:00pm EST to 3:45pm EST
• Opening Remarks
  
  February 1, 2021 from 11:00am EST to 11:15am EST
• Closing Remarks
  
  February 4, 2021 from 3:45pm EST to 4:00pm EST

Lisa Glass, PhD

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Lisa Glass, PhD

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Lisa Glass, PhD


Lisa did her PhD in astrophysics before switching to radiation oncology physics, training in Calgary and Oshawa. She has been a medical physicist at the Allan Blair Cancer Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan since 2015. Her clinical portfolio includes leading the brachytherapy program, gyne site group lead, and radiation safety education. 


Annie Hsu, PhD
Medical Physicist
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Annie Hsu, PhD

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Annie Hsu, PhD
Medical Physicist

Dr Annie Hsu has been the Associate Head of Medical Physics at the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre since 2019. Prior to this she was a Clinical Associate Professor at Stanford University where she was the Chief of Clinical Physics Radiation Physics Division for five years.  She currently serves on the AAPM Clinical Practice Committee, the Spring Clinical Meeting Subcommittee, the Summer School Subcommittee and the  Medical Physics Practice Guideline 4.b (TG344). The COMP Winter School Committee is the first COMP activity she has had the pleasure to be involved with. Areas of interest include SBRT and Radiosurgery as well as efficiency in radiation therapy workflows while maintaining safe practices.

• Introduction: Where We Are, Where We Have Been, and Where We Are Going
  
  February 1, 2021 from 11:15am EST to 12:45pm EST
• Discussion (panel)
  
  February 1, 2021 from 12:45pm EST to 1:30pm EST
• Differentiating Between Best Practice and Billing Driven Practice: SBRT in Two Healthcare Systems
  
  February 3, 2021 from 11:00am EST to 11:30am EST

Paula Gordon, MD

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Paula Gordon, MD

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Paula Gordon, MD


Dr. Paula Gordon is Clinical Professor of Radiology at University of British Columbia, and was founding medical director of the Sadie Diamond Breast Program at BC Women’s Hospital. Her research has included Image-guided breast needle biopsies, and various aspects of breast ultrasound including supplemental screening for women with dense breasts. She volunteers as medical advisor to Dense Breasts Canada, and on the medical advisory board of DenseBreast-Info.

In recognition of her contributions to the field of breast imaging, she was made Fellow of the Society of Breast Imaging in 2004, and served on their Board of Directors. She received a Killam Teaching Prize from UBC in 2011 and was named one of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network, receiving their Trailblazers and Trendsetters Award in 2014. She was called “one of the greatest Canadian specialists in breast cancer detection and diagnosis” by the Ministry for the Status of Women in 2017. In 2022 she received the Prix D’Excellence Award from the Royal College and the UBC Radiology Excellence in Research/Discovery/Innovation Clinical Faculty award. She was invested in the Order of British Columbia in 2013, and appointed to the Order of Canada in 2022.


Geoffrey D. Hugo, PhD
Medical Physicist
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Geoffrey D. Hugo, PhD

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Geoffrey D. Hugo, PhD
Medical Physicist

Dr. Hugo received his PhD in biomedical physics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2003. After obtaining his degree, he joined the staff of William Beaumont Hospital, where he participated in the clinical implementation of cone beam CT and was actively involved in developing an adaptive radiotherapy program for lung cancer. He joined the VCU Department of Radiation Oncology in 2008 as an assistant professor, where he also served as the Director of the Medical Physics Graduate Program. Dr. Hugo joined the faculty at Washington University School of Medicine in 2017 and currently serves as the interim director of the medical physics division. Dr. Hugo’s research interests include cardiac radioablation, image-guided adaptive radiotherapy, image registration and analysis, and the use of machine learning in radiation oncology.

• Adaptive Approach to SBRT
  
  February 3, 2021 from 1:30pm EST to 3:30pm EST
• New Horizons in SBRT
  
  February 4, 2021 from 12:30pm EST to 1:30pm EST

Tami Joseph MacCormick, MS, RTT, CDS, CMD

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Tami Joseph MacCormick, MS, RTT, CDS, CMD

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Tami Joseph MacCormick, MS, RTT, CDS, CMD


Tami is a certified Medical Dosimetrist (MDCB) at the Nova Scotia Cancer Centre with nearly 20 years experience in radiation oncology. She earned a Bachelor of Science from Dalhousie University and completed her radiation therapy education at the BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver.  

In 2019, Tami completed a Master of Science in Medical Dosimetry from the University of Southern Illinois. Additionally, she holds a Medical Dosimetry Specialty Certification. She has a keen interest in 3D printed bolus design and clinical implementation. Tami contributed to clinical research comparing 3D printed bolus versus standard vinyl gel sheet bolus for postmastectomy chest wall radiation therapy. Tami is thrilled to share the 3D bolus process with the COMP Winter School 2023.


Young Lee, PhD, FIPEM, MBA
Medical Physicist
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Young Lee, PhD, FIPEM, MBA

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Young Lee, PhD, FIPEM, MBA
Medical Physicist

Recently made a career change to industry after working as a clinical physicist for 17 years in both Canada and UK. Previous experiences include leading the CNS site and Gamma Knife medical physics group at Sunnybrook Hospital, which has led to co-authoring more than 40 peer-reviewed journal publications and multiple book chapters.

She was a committee member to multiple clinical trials including the successful CCTG spine SBRT trial SC.24. She was also the CCTG Medical Physics representative in the National Clinical Trials Network group. She is a member of the COMP executive as a Treasurer and has chaired  the 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting. She has recently completed the Global Executive MBA through Rotman in Healthcare and Life Sciences.

In her current role as Principal Medical Physicist at Elekta, she is hoping to modernize the radiation oncology QA processes and minimize the gap between clinical and industry radiation oncology.

• Overcoming Obstacles to Wider Adoption of SBRT (Presentation and Group Discussions)
  
  February 3, 2021 from 11:30am EST to 1:00pm EST

Tania Karan, MSc, FCCPM

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Tania Karan, MSc, FCCPM

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Tania Karan, MSc, FCCPM


Tania Karan is a senior medical physicist at BC Cancer – Vancouver, with a focus on radiotherapy technique development and implementation for the breast site group. She feels that the most awesome part of this role is finding simple and elegant solutions to complex radiotherapy problems. The completion of her MSc from the University of British Columbia was followed by a residency at Southlake Hospital in Ontario. Tania then returned to BC Cancer in 2015 where she has been on staff since. Her additional medical physics interests are motion management and FLASH radiotherapy.


Patricia Lindsay, PhD, DABR, FCCPM
Medical Physicist
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Patricia Lindsay, PhD, DABR, FCCPM

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Patricia Lindsay, PhD, DABR, FCCPM
Medical Physicist

Dr. Patricia Lindsay is Medical Physicist in the Radiation Medicine Program at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Assistant Professor in the University of Toronto Department of Radiation Oncology.    The Princess Margaret Radiation Oncology program uses SBRT for the treatment of many different sites, including lung, liver, prostate and oligomets.   Patricia has been involved in the implementation and on-going use of SBRT for the treatment of oligometastatic disease, and with the implementation of SBRT treatments using MR-guided adaptive radiotherapy.  

• Team Communication in SBRT
  
  February 2, 2021 from 12:00pm EST to 1:30pm EST

Scott Karnas, PhD, MCCPM

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Scott Karnas, PhD, MCCPM

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Scott Karnas, PhD, MCCPM


Dr. Scott Karnas is a Medical Physicist at the London Regional Cancer Program, London, Ontario since 2002.  Scott completed a BSc in Honours Physics at the University of Waterloo and then his PhD in Medical Biophysics at the University of Western Ontario.  He has been a member of CCPM since 2003 and has an academic appointment of Assistant Professor at Western University in the Department of Medical Biophysics and Department of Oncology.  Scott is passionate about medical physics education, working closely with both medical physics and radiation oncology residents.  In addition, he was the Program Director of the Medical Physics residency program from 2010-2021.  Clinically, Scott is the physics lead for the skin, sarcoma and breast disease site teams, and has a strong interest in breast set-up, including the use of surface guided radiotherapy (SGRT).


Derek Liu, PhD, MCCPM
Medical Physicist
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Derek Liu, PhD, MCCPM

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Derek Liu, PhD, MCCPM
Medical Physicist

Derek Liu is a board-certified Medical Physicist (as of 2017) at the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency – Allan Blair Cancer Centre and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine. He received his MSc from McGill University and PhD from the University of Alberta. He completed his medical physics residency at the University of Toronto and Credit Valley Hospital.

Derek was the physicist in charge of implementing prostate SBRT as part of the NRG GU005 clinical trial, with the first trial patient treated in 2019. Currently, he is working with physicians in developing an institutional standard for weekly ultra-hypofractionated treatment for palliative prostate patients. His other clinical interests include 3D printed custom bolus and imaging for SRS.

His research interests include prostatic edema for permanent prostate brachytherapy and the application of deep learning neural networks for segmentation in high-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy. He served on the AAPM international library sub-committee from 2013 to 2018.

• Setting Up SBRT Program
  
  February 4, 2021 from 11:00am EST to 12:30pm EST

Anat Kornecki, M.D, RCPSC

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Anat Kornecki, M.D, RCPSC

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Anat Kornecki, M.D, RCPSC


Professor, Head of Division of Breast Imaging, Western University, St. Joseph Health Care

Dr. Anat Kornecki is Professor at the department of Medical Imaging at St. Joseph Health Care in London, Canada. She graduated medical school and radiology residency program in Tel-Aviv University and completed Abdominal and Women’s Imaging fellowships. She is the head of the Division of Breast Imaging at Western University, Canada and Scientist Associate at Lawson and Robarts institutes, focusing on breast imaging. 

Dr. Anat Kornecki had organized and presented at many national and international educational events.


Laura Masucci, MD, FRCPC
Radiation Oncologist
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Laura Masucci, MD, FRCPC

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Laura Masucci, MD, FRCPC
Radiation Oncologist

Dr.  Laura Masucci is a radiation oncologist at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM).  After finishing her radiation oncology residency at the CHUM in 2010, she completed a fellowship at Princess Margaret Hospital specializing in the treatment of primary and secondary brain tumors and radiosurgery of vertebral metastases.  She is presently heading the spine SBRT program at the CHUM and is site leader in both CNS oncology and spine SBRT at the department of radiation oncology.   She previously served as program director for the radiation oncology residency program at the Université de Montréal.  She is now president of the Association of Radiation Oncology of Québec (AROQ).

• Discussion (panel)
  
  February 1, 2021 from 12:45pm EST to 1:30pm EST
• Current State of SBRT Trials (Panel)
  
  February 2, 2021 from 2:30pm EST to 4:00pm EST

Mike Kucharczyk, MB, BCh, BAO, MPH, FRCPC

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Mike Kucharczyk, MB, BCh, BAO, MPH, FRCPC

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Mike Kucharczyk, MB, BCh, BAO, MPH, FRCPC


Michael (“Mike”) Kucharczyk is a Radiation Oncologist practicing at the Nova Scotia Health Centre in Halifax. Completing his residency training at McMaster and pursuing fellowship in Thoracic Brachytherapy (McMaster) and advanced Genitourinary Oncology (McGill), he completed a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology (Harvard) to further his understanding in study design and clinical translation. His practice has a focus on genitourinary cancers and oligometastatic disease, also managing breast, gastrointestinal, and hepatobiliary cancers. Academic interests include the implementation of ablative therapies, clinical trials, and using automated processes to personalize and expedite patient care.


Cheryl McGregor
RT(T), Dosimetrist
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Cheryl McGregor

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Cheryl McGregor
RT(T), Dosimetrist

Cheryl is a Dosimetrist working at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton since June of 2019 and is a current member of both the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists (CAMRT) and the Alberta College of Medical Diagnostic & Therapeutic Technologists (ACMDTT).  Previously she worked for BC Cancer for 21 years with her last role there as a Planning Resource Therapist where she was highly involved in starting the stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) program at the Abbotsford Cancer Centre.  She presented her experience in this endeavor at the Wescan (2011) and ASRT (2011) conferences.  Cheryl has since written Respiratory Gating courses for both CAMRT and the ASRT as well as an SBRT course for the CAMRT.  She currently sits on the CT Imaging Certificate committee for the CAMRT. 

Cheryl joined the 2021 Winter School planning committee as the CAMRT representative and has had previous experience in conference planning for Wescan (2011) and CAMRT Annual Conference Radiation Therapy Program Moderator (2009).  Cheryl graduated from Radiation Therapy program at the BC Cancer Agency in 1998 and further obtained her Advanced Certification in Radiation Therapy as well as her CT Imaging Certificate in Radiation Therapy (2008).

• Setting Up SBRT Program
  
  February 4, 2021 from 11:00am EST to 12:30pm EST

Dr. Supriya Kulkarni, DMRD, DNB, DABR, FRCPC

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Dr. Supriya Kulkarni, DMRD, DNB, DABR, FRCPC

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Dr. Supriya Kulkarni, DMRD, DNB, DABR, FRCPC


 Dr. Supriya Kulkarni is the divisional head (Breast Imaging) & associate professor, department of medical imaging at the University of Toronto.

Her clinical engagement is at University Health Network, Mount Sinai Hospital and the Women's College Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada for over 20 years in the subspecialty practice in Breast Imaging. She is also the head of Breast Imaging Service, Medical Imaging Department, Health Sciences North, Sudbury.

Dr. Kulkarni’s special focus is on teaching and education internationally and is a recipient of several teaching awards for contributing to cancer education and manages continuing professional development initiatives and faculty development for the breast division of the University of Toronto providing mentorship and guidance to international trainees and new to practice radiologists.

She serves as a board member and the educational director of the Canadian Society of Breast imaging and is a member of the Canadian Association of Radiologists breast imaging guideline working group.

She serves in an advisory capacity pertaining to policy and quality for Ontario Health (OH) on provincial average and high-risk screening programs.

Dr. Kulkarni has worked to enhance diversity and opportunity to access breast screening for individuals from historically under-represented backgrounds including chairing the committee that developed the transgender screening policy with OH.

Dr Kulkarni is also the Regional Breast Imaging Lead for the Health Sciences North & Northeast LHIN and Toronto Central Regional Cancer Program.


Robert Olson, BSc MD FRCPC MSc
Radiation Oncologist
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Robert Olson, BSc MD FRCPC MSc

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Robert Olson, BSc MD FRCPC MSc
Radiation Oncologist

Rob is a Radiation Oncologist who practices in Prince George, BC. He completed his BSc and MD at the University of Calgary, his residency at UBC, and his MSc in Epidemiology at Harvard. He is the provincial Division Head of Radiation Oncology at UBC, and the Research Lead for the UBC Northern Medical Program. His clinical practice is focused on breast cancer, and head and neck cancer. His research is predominantly focused on running clinical trials of precision radiotherapy in the metastatic setting, and is the PI on SABR-5, SUPR-3D, and COMET-3. In addition he is the founder and lead of BC’s Prospective Outcomes and Support Initiative (POSI) which collects and utilizes patient reported outcomes (PROs) for patients receiving radiotherapy. He has also integrated PROs into his numerous clinical trials, and works with national groups, such as CPQR to standardize PRO collection within the radiotherapy community. When not at work, he is either hanging out with his family of 6, or skiing, running, swimming, or cycling.

• Patient Reported Outcomes from Patient's Point of View
  
  February 3, 2021 from 3:30pm EST to 4:00pm EST

Samantha Lloyd, PhD

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Samantha Lloyd, PhD

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Samantha Lloyd, PhD


Samantha Lloyd is a Medical Physicist at BC Cancer Vancouver, and a Lecturer and Clinical Instructor at the University of British Columbia. Samantha’s clinical and research work focus on planning automation in external beam and HDR brachytherapy, radiation medicine in under-resourced settings, and radiomics and machine learning for outcomes prediction.


David Palma, MD, PhD
Radiation Oncologist
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David Palma, MD, PhD

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David Palma, MD, PhD
Radiation Oncologist

Dr. David Palma, MD, PhD is a Professor and Radiation Oncologist at Western University in London, Canada.  He holds an MD from the University of Western Ontario, a Master’s Degree in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health, and a PhD from the VU University in Amsterdam. He is the chair of the Canadian Pulmonary Radiotherapy Investigators (CAPRI) group, and the author of the bestselling book Taking Charge of Cancer: What You Need to Know to Get the Best Treatment.

• Current State of SBRT Trials (Panel)
  
  February 2, 2021 from 2:30pm EST to 4:00pm EST

Livia Marrazzo, MSc

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Livia Marrazzo, MSc

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Livia Marrazzo, MSc


Livia Marrazzo was born in Torre del Greco (Naples) in 1979. She completed her studies in Physics in 2003, and got the Specialization in Medical Physics in 2008 at the University of Florence (Italy). In 2005 she completed a Master of Science in Radiation Biology at the University College of London.

She became Medical Physicist at the Medical Physics Unit of the Careggi University Hospital (Florence) in 2009, where she currently works, mainly involved in Radiotherapy. She is now Assistant Professor of the University of Florence, Department of Biomedical, Experimental and Clinical Science “Mario Serio”.

Her major fields of interest are the use of advanced techniques in Radiotherapy, automated treatment planning, breast cancer treatment, DIBH, dosimetric verification, film dosimetry, clinical trials. She is sub-investigator of the APBI-IMRT Florence (NCT02104895) phase III Trial of the University of Florence and QA-RT responsible and steering committee member of the EUROPA (NCT04134598) phase III Trial of the University of Florence;. She is an active member of the European SocieTy for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) and the Italian Association for Medical Physics (AIFM).


Marija Popovic, PhD, FCCPM
Medical Physicist
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Marija Popovic, PhD, FCCPM

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Marija Popovic, PhD, FCCPM
Medical Physicist

Dr. Marija Popovic is a board-certified staff Medical Physicist at McGill University Health Centre and Assistant Professor in the Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology at McGill University. She earned a PhD in Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences from McMaster University in Hamilton, ON and then completed a clinical residency in Medical Radiation Physics at Juravinski Cancer Centre.  Before moving to Montreal, Marija worked for the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Program.

Marija chairs the Education Committee of the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP).  In this role, she ensures that strong regional and national programs are in place for continuing professional development of medical physicists and trainees.  She works to promote excellence in the quality and safety of care, and sees the COMP Winter School as a strong platform to promote innovative clinical strategies.

Marija continues to serve on several AAPM committees, including the AAPM Summer School, Awards Selection, Committee on Medical Physicists as Educators and Teaching and Mentoring Workshop Subcommittee.

• Adaptive Approach to SBRT
  
  February 3, 2021 from 1:30pm EST to 3:30pm EST
• Emerging Smarter: How Covid-19 is Reshaping the Future of Radiation Medicine
  
  February 4, 2021 from 2:00pm EST to 3:45pm EST

Quinn Matthews, PhD, MCCPM

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Quinn Matthews, PhD, MCCPM

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Quinn Matthews, PhD, MCCPM


I am a Senior Medical Physicist with BC Cancer – Centre for the North in Prince George, and joined the Prince George centre in 2015 after my residency with BC Cancer - Victoria. My clinical and research interests include rapid and automated planning workflows, 3D printing for bolus fabrication, SABR/SRT program development, and clinical trial support. For several years I have been involved in the development and refinement of our custom bolus process using 3D printing, and I hope that by sharing our experience with the COMP Winter School 2023 audience we can help facilitate adoption of our techniques by other RT departments.


Arjun Sahgal, BSc, MD, FRCPC
Radiation Oncologist
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Arjun Sahgal, BSc, MD, FRCPC

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Arjun Sahgal, BSc, MD, FRCPC
Radiation Oncologist

Dr. Arjun Sahgal is an international clinical and research leader in the field of high precision stereotactic radiation to the brain and spine for both metastases and primary tumors. After training at the University of Toronto in radiation oncology, he completed a radiosurgery fellowship at the University of California San Francisco. He has published, as lead or as a contributor, over 500 peer reviewed papers including in high impact journals like the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lancet Oncology, and New England Journal of Medicine. He leads the Sunnybrook Odette CNS Neuro-Oncology program that has been awarded a total of $42.5 M in funding since his leadership. Currently, he serves as Deputy Chief of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto affiliated Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre. In addition, he is the director of the Sunnybrook Cancer Ablation Therapy (CAT) program which involved the installation of a MR Brachytherapy suite, MR Linac and Gamma Knife Icon technology. His next phase of research is in the development of MR in radiation therapy, and the application of MR Guided Focused Ultrasound Technology with radiation. He recently showed in the SC24 randomized trial superiority of spine SBRT as compared to conventional radiation.

• Team Communication in SBRT
  
  February 2, 2021 from 12:00pm EST to 1:30pm EST
• Emerging Smarter: How Covid-19 is Reshaping the Future of Radiation Medicine
  
  February 4, 2021 from 2:00pm EST to 3:45pm EST

Paulette McKeon, MRT (T)

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Paulette McKeon, MRT (T)

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Paulette McKeon, MRT (T)


Paulette is a senior radiation therapist at the Odette Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences, Toronto, Ontario.  She currently works as a Team Lead on a linear accelerator treating primarily breast patients.  She has participated in the development of the prone breast and reverse decubitus technique which work to treatment women with larger breasts or where it is necessary to reduce heart volume in the treatment field.  Both techniques have experienced issues with setups where Paulette has been able to contribute her experience to increase patient comfort and ease therapists concerns and difficulties with daily positioning.   She is happy to be able to share her experience at the 2023 Winter School Session.


Devin Schellenberg, MD
Radiation Oncologist
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Devin Schellenberg, MD

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Devin Schellenberg, MD
Radiation Oncologist

   Dr. Devin Schellenberg completed medical school and Residency at the University of BC and University of Toronto.  He went onto a Fellowship at Stanford University and is currently the Department Head of Radiation Oncology at the BC Cancer Surrey Centre and the chair of the Lung Radiation Oncology working group with CCTG.

He treats Lung and Gastrointestinal malignancies and is a leader in the Provincial Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy (SABR) program. His current research efforts focus on how radiation can be used to treat early lung and liver cancers, if radiation can alter the course of metastatic disease, and (outside of cancer) whether radiation is able to treat heart arrhythmias.

• Introduction: Where We Are, Where We Have Been, and Where We Are Going
  
  February 1, 2021 from 11:15am EST to 12:45pm EST
• Discussion (panel)
  
  February 1, 2021 from 12:45pm EST to 1:30pm EST
• Setting Up SBRT Program
  
  February 4, 2021 from 11:00am EST to 12:30pm EST

Thalat Monajemi, PhD, MCCPM

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Thalat Monajemi, PhD, MCCPM

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Thalat Monajemi, PhD, MCCPM


I am a medical physicist at Nova Scotia Health (Halifax) and an assistant professor at Dalhousie University. My primary clinical research interests lie in breast radiotherapy, with an emphasis on VMAT planning. Recent work in this area has included the evaluation of skin dose for post-mastectomy radiotherapy patients, knowledge-based planning, and the impact of body contour variation during a course of radiotherapy. Other clinical interests include total marrow irradiation and brachytherapy. My academic research interests focus on development and application of novel radiation detectors especially in breast treatments.


Kevin Sheppard
Patient and Family Advisory Council for NL
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Kevin Sheppard

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Kevin Sheppard
Patient and Family Advisory Council for NL

Kevin Sheppard is a retired Insurance executive and two time cancer survivor. His career spanned over four decades in the Banking, Finance and Insurance sector.  After his retirement he remained active in his community serving on business groups and volunteering in his community.

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2016 and received HDRT treatment as well as external beam radiation treatment. In 2019 he received a diagnosis of bladder cancer and subsequent treatments have proven successful.

Kevin is a member of the Patient and Family Advisory Council for Cancer care in Newfoundland and Labrador, The First Nations Innu and Métis Cancer Care Initiative, and a member of The Newfoundland and Labrador Cancer Council.

Kevin is a very active outdoors person.  His activities include fishing and hunting, snowmobiling and all terrain vehicle riding. His summers are spent at his cottage where he is a dedicated boater spending long days exploring the waters of Notre Dame Bay. 

He is a strong advocate for cancer patients in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Kevin and his wife Carol, also a cancer survivor live in Grand Falls-Windsor, Nl.

• Team Communication in SBRT
  
  February 2, 2021 from 12:00pm EST to 1:30pm EST

Alan Nichol, MD, CCDP, FRCPC

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Alan Nichol, MD, CCDP, FRCPC

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Alan Nichol, MD, CCDP, FRCPC


I care for patients with brain tumours and breast cancer. I am involved in the teaching of medical students and radiation oncology residents, as well as radiation oncology clinical fellows and graduate students in medical physics. I am presently the local principal investigator of two clinical trials at BC Cancer – Vancouver: Canadian Cancer Trials Group CE.7 (A phase III trial of stereotactic radiosurgery compared with hippocampal-avoidant whole brain radiotherapy plus memantine for 5-15 brain metastases) and MA.39 (TAILOR RT: a randomized trial of regional radiotherapy in biomarker low risk node positive and T3N0 breast cancer). I am the BC Cancer principal Investigator for the Randomized phase II non-inferiority study of 5-day versus 1-day RAPid SimPLE (RAPPLE) targeted radiation treatment for brain Metastases (NCT05050929).


Marija Popovic, PhD, FCCPM

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Marija Popovic, PhD, FCCPM

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Marija Popovic, PhD, FCCPM


Dr. Marija Popovic a board-certified Medical Physicist at McGill University Health Centre and Assistant Professor in the Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology at McGill University. She earned a PhD in Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences from McMaster University in Hamilton, ON in 2007 and then completed a residency in Medical Radiation Physics at Juravinski Cancer Centre.  Before moving to Montreal, Marija worked for the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Program.  Marija chairs the Education Committee of the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP).  In this role, she ensures that strong regional and national programs are in place for continuing professional development of medical physicists and trainees.  



Marija contributed to establishing a program in breast intraoperative radiotherapy with Intrebeam at her institution.  She is a member of AAMP Task Group 295 on electronic brachytherapy dosimetry, which is developing recommendations for measuring and calculating doses from electronic low-energy sources. 

Sarah Quirk, PhD, FCCPM

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Sarah Quirk, PhD, FCCPM

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Sarah Quirk, PhD, FCCPM


Dr. Quirk is a Faculty Physicist at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Dana Faber Cancer Institute and an Assistant Professor at the Harvard Medical School. Dr. Quirk is the Director of Process Improvement with a scope spanning department-wide initiatives. Her clinical and academic work focuses on breast cancer, real-world data, informatics infrastructure, and change management science. Dr. Quirk has been instrumental in developing and refining radiotherapy options for women with early-stage breast cancer namely accelerated partial breast irradiation.  Additionally, Dr. Quirk is leading initiatives to implement automated clinical radiotherapy workflows and to comprehensively integrate informatics and decision-support applications in radiotherapy. She has combined these clinical focuses to build an exciting and productive research portfolio.


Nicholas van As, MBBCH MRCP FRCR MD(res)
Consultant Clinical Oncologist & Medical Director
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Nicholas van As, MBBCH MRCP FRCR MD(res)

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Nicholas van As, MBBCH MRCP FRCR MD(res)
Consultant Clinical Oncologist & Medical Director

Dr Nicholas van As was appointed Medical Director of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in January 2016. He has been a Consultant Clinical Oncologist in the Urology Unit at The Royal Marsden since 2008 and is the hospital’s Clinical Lead for stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) and CyberKnife. Dr van As is also Chair of the UK SBRT Consortium and the national clinical lead for NHS England’s Commissioning through Evaluation Programme for SBRT. His main research interests are in stereotactic and image-guided radiotherapy, risk prediction in early prostate cancer, and functional MRI, and he has published numerous papers on these subjects and delivered presentations at international meetings. He is the Chief Investigator for the PACE trial – an international, randomised controlled trial comparing SBRT to image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and surgery for treating prostate cancer. 

• Current State of SBRT Trials (Panel)
  
  February 2, 2021 from 2:30pm EST to 4:00pm EST

Rasika Rajapakshe, PhD, FCCPM, HCISPP

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Rasika Rajapakshe, PhD, FCCPM, HCISPP

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Rasika Rajapakshe, PhD, FCCPM, HCISPP


Dr. Rasika Rajapakshe is a senior medical physicist at BC Cancer - Kelowna and serves as the Lead Medical Physicist for the BC Cancer Breast and Lung Screening Programs. He is a Fellow of the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine and is certified in Radiation Oncology and Mammography Physics. He is also certified as a Health Care Information Security and Privacy Practitioner from (ICS)2.

Dr. Rajapakshe is a member of the Academic and Screeners Advisory committees for BC Cancer Breast Screening and an external reviewer for the Mammography Accreditation Program of the Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR-MAP). He is a member of the Physics of Mammography Accreditation Committee at the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine and has served as the Chair from 2007-2013. He has also served as a Technical Expert to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on quality assurance standards for Digital Mammography Systems. He has contributed to Local (British Columbia), National (Health Canada), and International (IAEA) standards on quality assurance of digital mammography systems, including imaging informatics.

His academic involvement includes his appointments as a Clinical Associate Professor for the Faculty of Medicine at UBC, Adjunct Professor for Computer Science at UBC –Okanagan, and Affiliate Faculty at the School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria. He was also a Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore from 2016-2018. His research interest is focused on the personalization of early cancer detection and prognostication, an interest which prompted him to found the Early Detection Research Group in 2008.


Heather Warkentin, MSc, FCCPM
Medical Physicist
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Heather Warkentin, MSc, FCCPM

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Heather Warkentin, MSc, FCCPM
Medical Physicist

Heather Warkentin is a Medical Physicist at the Cross Cancer Institute and an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Alberta. Heather has a special interest in resident education and is the Program Director of the Medical Physics Residency Program in Radiation Oncology Physics and an active member of the Residency Program Committee and Competence Committee for the Radiation Oncology Residency Program at the University of Alberta. Heather is a former member of the AAPM Working Group on Periodic Review of Medical Physics Residency Training and a current member of the AAPM Radiation Oncology Medical Physics Education Subcommittee. Within a diverse clinical practice, Heather is always seeking ways to innovate and improve the quality and safety of radiotherapy.

• Patient Experience
  
  February 1, 2021 from 2:00pm EST to 2:30pm EST
• Debates: Current Workflows in SBRT (from registration survey)
  
  February 1, 2021 from 2:30pm EST to 4:00pm EST

Eileen Rakovitch, MD, FRCP(C), M.Sc.

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Eileen Rakovitch, MD, FRCP(C), M.Sc.

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Eileen Rakovitch, MD, FRCP(C), M.Sc.


Dr. Rakovitch is a radiation oncologist with an active clinical practice and research program focused on breast cancer. The primary goal of her research program is to improve the care and outcomes of women with an early form of breast cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

She attended medical school and completed her residency training in Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto. She completed a two year research fellowship at the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University in New York City and then returned to Toronto to complete Master’s in Science in Clinical Epidemiology and joined the staff at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre where she remains until today. 

She is a Professor and Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto and an Adjunct Senior Scientist at ICES. She is the L.C. Campbell Chair in Breast Cancer Research at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and is the Program Research Director of the Odette Cancer Program.  She is the co-chair of the Canadian Clinical Trials Group Breast Cancer Executive, which leads and contributes to clinical trials improving the treatment of breast cancer.  She is dedicated to teaching students, residents and fellows across the educational spectrum.


Dr. Karim S. Karim
Executive Director, Center for Bioengineering and Biotechnology & Professor of Engineering, University of Waterloo
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Dr. Karim S. Karim

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Dr. Karim S. Karim
Executive Director, Center for Bioengineering and Biotechnology & Professor of Engineering, University of Waterloo

Dr. Karim S Karim (PhD, PEng, MBA) is the Executive Director of the Center for Bioengineering and Biotechnology and a Professor in Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He has raised more than $15M in research grant funding, trained over 40 PhD and MASc students, has co-authored 250+ publications and 50+ patents. He is also a founder and Chief Technology Officer of KA Imaging, a University of Waterloo spinoff that makes innovative X-ray detectors and systems for medical, veterinary, scientific and industrial markets. Karim has developed novel X-ray imaging devices and systems since 1998 and has both supported and founded multiple startups in the past two decades. One of his “color” X-ray innovations is now starting to replace black and white medical X-ray globally while another is used in ultrasonic fingerprint sensors in mobile phones and tablets. 

 

 


Jean Seely, MD, FRCPC

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Jean Seely, MD, FRCPC

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Jean Seely, MD, FRCPC


Dr. Jean Seely is a full Professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of Ottawa, Head of the Breast Imaging Section at the Ottawa Hospital, and Regional Breast Imaging Lead for the Ontario Breast Screening Program in the Champlain region. She is on the Executive Board of the CAR Mammography Accreditation Program. She is an Editorial Board member of the Canadian Association of Radiology Journal and The Journal of Breast Imaging. She is the President of the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging. Her research interests include Breast MRI, breast cancer screening, quality in breast imaging, and patient experience. She has been recognized for her achievements by being awarded Fellow of the Society of Breast Imaging in 2017 and Fellow of the Canadian Association of Radiologists in 2021. She is a volunteer on the Medical Advisory Board of densebreast-info.org. Her commitment is to reduce the mortality and morbidity of breast cancer and provide high quality breast imaging nationally and internationally.


Dr. Sarah McKenney
Diagnostic Medical Physicist at Stanford University and Lead Physicist for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital
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Dr. Sarah McKenney

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Dr. Sarah McKenney
Diagnostic Medical Physicist at Stanford University and Lead Physicist for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

Dr. Sarah McKenney serves as a Diagnostic Medical Physicist at Stanford University and lead physicist for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. She is the Chair of the Pediatric Imaging  Subcommittee and a member of the Board of Directors for the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and also a member of the Image Gently steering committee. Her research interests include image quality and patient dose optimization. 


Nathan Smela

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Nathan Smela

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Nathan Smela


Nathan Smela works as a Radiation Therapy Service Technologist with BC Cancer – Centre for the North in Prince George for over ten years. He joined after his time in the Canadian Forces as a Biomedical Electronics Technologist, having graduated from Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. His interests in 3D printing, programming, and CAD design support his centre’s research interests in implementing cost-effective 3D printing for Radiotherapy clinical needs. He has researched, built, and maintain many 3D printers for clinical use in Radiation Therapy for over eight years, was deeply involved with developing their 3D printed bolus process, and is currently leading a research project in evaluating a liquid MSLA 3D printer for clinical use.


Jessica Clements
Chief Medical Physicist and Regional Radiation Safety Officer for the Southern California Region of Kaiser Permanente in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group
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Jessica Clements

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Jessica Clements
Chief Medical Physicist and Regional Radiation Safety Officer for the Southern California Region of Kaiser Permanente in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group

Ms. Clements is the Chief Medical Physicist and Regional Radiation Safety Officer for the Southern California Region of Kaiser Permanente in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. She is active in several professional organizations including the AAPM, ABR, ACR, and CRCPD. She currently serves as chair of the AAPM Radiological Protection Committee, chair of the ABR diagnostic oral exam committee, and chair of AAPM Task Group 313 Nuclear Medicine Shielding Requirements. Throughout her career, she has made several presentations and contributed to multiple medical physics practice guidelines and publications. She is certified by the ABR in diagnostic and nuclear medical physics and has been recognized as a fellow by the AAPM.


Ian Sun, RTT

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Ian Sun, RTT

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Ian Sun, RTT


A practicing radiation therapist since 2012 at BC Cancer Kelowna, Victoria, and Vancouver, and a treatment resource therapist since 2019 at BC Cancer Vancouver. As the treatment lead for the breast site group I have led changes to improve breast patient positioning, imaging, and introduction of new treatment modalities such as hypofractionated treatment and partial breast irradiation.

 


Dr. Virgil Cooper
Medical Physicist at Kaiser Permanente
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Dr. Virgil Cooper

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Dr. Virgil Cooper
Medical Physicist at Kaiser Permanente

Dr. Virgil Cooper has been a practicing medical physicist in diagnostic radiology for 16 years and in nuclear medicine for 9 years.  He is certified in diagnostic medical physics by the American Board of Radiology and in nuclear medical physics and instrumentation by the American Board of Science in Nuclear Medicine.  He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental (Radiation) Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins University, an M.S. in Health Physics from the University of Cincinnati, and an M.S. in Economics from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.     


Eric Vandervoort, PhD, FCCPM

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Eric Vandervoort, PhD, FCCPM

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Eric Vandervoort, PhD, FCCPM


I am a medical physicist at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre with academic affiliations with the Department of Physics at Carleton University and the Department of Radiology at the University of Ottawa. I am physics lead for stereotactic ablative techniques at our center. My research interests focus on characterizing uncertainty and modelling radiation delivery accuracy for stereotactic ablative radiosurgery treatments including accelerated partial breast irradiation. My contributions on these topics include sixteen peer-reviewed articles and over thirty conference abstracts.  


Amirh Johnson
Diagnostic Imaging Physicist with Kaiser Permanente
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Amirh Johnson

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Amirh Johnson
Diagnostic Imaging Physicist with Kaiser Permanente

Amirh is a Diagnostic Imaging Physicist with Kaiser Permanente in Northern California, certified by the American Board of Radiology. She received her Master’s degree in Medical Physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology and her Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Xavier University of Louisiana. Among other volunteer activities within medical physics and her local community, Amirh is the current Vice Chair of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine’s (AAPM) Imaging Practice Accreditation Subcommittee, a member of the AAPM Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee, and a reviewer from ACR for RadiologyInfo.org.


David Voduc, MD, FRCPC

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David Voduc, MD, FRCPC

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David Voduc, MD, FRCPC


Dr. David Voduc is the current medical director of BC Cancer, Vancouver, he is also the current head of the breast radiation oncology group at BC Cancer, Vancouver.


Dr. Ann Leung
Professor and Associate Chair of Clinical Affairs in Radiology and Division Chief of Thoracic Imaging at Stanford University Medical Center
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Dr. Ann Leung

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Dr. Ann Leung
Professor and Associate Chair of Clinical Affairs in Radiology and Division Chief of Thoracic Imaging at Stanford University Medical Center

Dr. Ann Leung is Professor and Associate Chair of Clinical Affairs in Radiology as well as Division Chief of Thoracic Imaging at Stanford University Medical Center. Her research interests focus on the use of computed tomography to diagnose and evaluate thoracic diseases. She has authored or co-authored 110 peer-reviewed articles, 13 book chapters, and 1 book. 


Martin J. Yaffe, PhD, CM, FRSC, DSc (Hon), FAAPM

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Martin J. Yaffe, PhD, CM, FRSC, DSc (Hon), FAAPM

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Martin J. Yaffe, PhD, CM, FRSC, DSc (Hon), FAAPM


Martin Yaffe is a medical physicist and imaging scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute and Professor of Medical Biophysics at The University of Toronto. His research over the past 40 years has focused on the earlier detection, diagnosis and characterization of cancer. His lab pioneered the development of digital mammography and contrast-enhanced mammography, now used worldwide, and in collaboration with epidemiologist, Dr. Norman Boyd and multiple other collaborators, contributed to the understanding of breast density in its dual roles as a risk factor for breast cancer and in masking its detection in mammograms. He has a strong interest in breast cancer screening and has refined and used microsimulation models to study its optimizations, the phenomenon of overdetection and the effect of COVID disruptions on breast cancer outcomes. He is a member of the leadership team of the TMIST breast tomosynthesis trial (MAC-22/ ECOG-ACRIN 1151) and serves as its Canadian Study Chair. Over his career, he has been committed to improvement of image quality in mammography. He has chaired working groups of ICRU and IAEA, focussing on mammography quality and his group has developed custom phantoms and test procedures for that purpose, and created specialized QC programs for both the DMIST and TMIST trials.   He created the Biomarker Imaging Research Laboratory (BIRL) to apply imaging science to the quantitative analysis of pathologic and radiomic cancer biomarkers to improve their value for use in prognosis and prediction. He is Co-Director of the Imaging Research Program of The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. He was inducted as a Member of The Order of Canada in 2015 and as Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada in 2021.


Matthew Wait
ABR-certified diagnostic physicist at Kaiser Permanente
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Matthew Wait

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Matthew Wait
ABR-certified diagnostic physicist at Kaiser Permanente

Mr. Matthew Wait is an ABR-certified diagnostic physicist at Kaiser Permanente Southern California with seven years of clinical experience. He is a member of several committees, task groups and working groups within the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), including the Government and Regulatory Affairs Committee (GRAC) and TG 316, Ultrasound Modality-Specific Display Presentation Consistency.


Charlotte Yong-Hing MD, FRCPC

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Charlotte Yong-Hing MD, FRCPC

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Charlotte Yong-Hing MD, FRCPC


Dr. Yong-Hing is Co-Vice Chair Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia Department of Radiology, and Medical Director of Breast Imaging at BC Cancer Vancouver. She is the BC Radiological Society President and a reviewer for the BC Cancer Breast Screening Program. In addition to tertiary oncologic and breast imaging at BC Cancer Vancouver, she performs breast imaging at two busy Vancouver community imaging clinics. She is passionate about health equity and quality improvement and serves as a Medical Practice Lead for Lower Mainland Medical Imaging and is a member of the Provincial Health Services Authority Physician Quality Improvement faculty. She founded Canadian Radiology Women in 2018 to advocate for improved diversity in Canadian Radiology practices and has led some of the first Canadian Radiology EDI initiatives.

 


Dr. Jia Wang
ABR certified diagnostic medical imaging physicist at Environmental Health and Safety Department at Stanford University
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Dr. Jia Wang

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Dr. Jia Wang
ABR certified diagnostic medical imaging physicist at Environmental Health and Safety Department at Stanford University

Dr. Jia Wang is a ABR certified diagnostic medical imaging physicist at Environmental Health and Safety Department at Stanford University. He is the head of medical physics group supporting Stanford affiliated hospitals and clinics. He is vice-chair of the Alliance for Quality Computed Tomography Working Group for the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) as well as a member of CT subcommittee and several task groups. His research interests include radiation dose optimization in CT and X-ray imaging and the use of CT as a quantification imaging approach in a variety of clinical applications. He has co-authored more than 40 journal articles and conference proceedings in medical physics and imaging.


Dr. Bassem Elshahat
Imaging Medical Physicist at Beaumont Health and Assista professor in Diagnostic Radiology and Molecular imaging at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
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Dr. Bassem Elshahat

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Dr. Bassem Elshahat
Imaging Medical Physicist at Beaumont Health and Assista professor in Diagnostic Radiology and Molecular imaging at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

Dr. Bassem Elshahat is an imaging medical Physicist at Beaumont Health and Assistant professor in Diagnostic Radiology and Molecular imaging at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, Michigan, USA. He is certified in diagnostic medical physics by the American Board of Radiology, in nuclear medical physics by the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine (CCPM) and Mammography Physics by The Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine (CCPM). He holds a PhD in Medical Physics from the University of Massachusetts (UMASS). He is currently a member of COMP imaging committee, a member of COMP education committee and a member of Canada Safe imaging. His current research is characterizing the Radiation detection properties of thin film photovoltaic cells and their application to medical X-ray imaging and dosimetry.


Ananth Ravi

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Ananth Ravi

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Ananth Ravi


I am a medical physicist by trade, where I started out my career responsible for the growth of the brachytherapy program at Sunnybrook Odette Cancer center. Throughout my academic career as an associate professor in the radiation oncology department at UofT, my main area of research was developing and improving image-guided therapeutics. One of the avenues of exploration was developing a surgical guidance device to improve the precision and patient and provider experience of breast-conserving surgery, culminating in creating MOLLI Surgical. As of 2020, I transitioned full-time to the executive leadership of MOLLI Surgical, where I continue to explore ways to make precision healthcare simpler.


Katharina Sixel

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Katharina Sixel

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Katharina Sixel


Katharina Sixel received her PhD in Physics from McGill University in 1993.  Upon graduation, she joined the Toronto Bayview Regional Cancer Centre (currently Odette Cancer Centre) at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, as a Medical Physics Resident.  Whilst at Sunnybrook, she progressed to Medical Physicist and then Senior Medical Physicist.

In 2006, Katharina joined a start up cancer centre, the Durham Regional Cancer Centre (DRCC) at Lakeridge Health in Oshawa, Ontario.   As Chief of Medical Physics, she helped build the radiation program which has grown over these past years to a 7 linac facility, with one satellite bunker and over 3000 new radiation patients per year.  She is the Radiation Safety Officer and provides leadership to the radiation team as chair of the Radiation Oncology Subcouncil of the Cancer Program. 

Katharina is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto.  She is site coordinator for DRCC in the CAMPEP accredited Physics Residency Program at the University of Toronto.  

 


Atiyah Yahya

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Atiyah Yahya

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Atiyah Yahya


Dr. Atiyah Yahya is a Medical Physicist at the Cross Cancer Institute (Edmonton, AB) and an Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, AB). She has a B.Sc. in Engineering Physics from the University of Alberta (1999) and a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences-Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Alberta (2006). She is CCPM (Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine) certified in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Physics, Diagnostic Radiological Physics and the Physics of Mammography and is a Fellow of the CCPM. Dr. Yahya's research field of expertise is magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Her research involves optimizing MRS techniques for the improved detection and quantification of metabolites relevant to cancer including lipids. 


John French

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John French

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John French


 John has extensive professional experience in the field of clinical health care and health care leadership, working closely with senior executive and physician leadership, and assuming progressively more senior roles and responsibilities for strategy and operations for multiple portfolios in a complex multi-site health care delivery model. As an accomplished leader, John has led a number of major change initiatives, managed large capital projects and had overall responsibility for budgets in excess of $60M. John has extensive experience in procurement, contract negotiation and vendor management. An innovative change agent, john has been integral in the adoption of operations research and advanced analytics in health care operations. Respected nationally, John has served on many Canadian committees in a leadership role. A successful collaborative researcher, John has secured over $2M in research grants, published extensively in peer reviewed journals and has been invited as key note speaker at a number of international conferences. John also has extensive experience in sport administration and the management of professional academic journals.


Del Leary

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Del Leary

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Del Leary


I am a Medical Physicist practicing within the field of veterinary medicine.  My role is very diverse and atypical to conventionally trained clinical physicists in clinical roles.  At CSU within our radiation oncology service, we have many of the modern treatment hardware and software and imaging modalities that you would find in any modern human RO service, but there are new anatomical and outcome challenges that must be met.  My professional experience has also been relatively diverse outside of radiation therapy working in acoustics, signal and image processing, and basic science.  My publication record can be found here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Leary%20Del&sort=date&pos=10


Young Lee-Bartlett

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Young Lee-Bartlett

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Young Lee-Bartlett


Young has been working in industry for just over a year and a half after working as a hospital physicist for 17 years in Canada and UK. She is working in Elekta QA Solutions group and has immersed herself into multiple QA projects. Previous experiences include leading the CNS site including the spine SBRT program, and the Gamma Knife medical physics group at Sunnybrook Hospital, which has led to co-authoring >50 peer-reviewed journal publications and multiple book chapters. She was a committee member of clinical trials groups including the successful CCTG spine SBRT trial SC.24 and was also the CCTG Medical Physics representative in the NCTN medical physics group. She is a member of the COMP executive as a Treasurer since 2017 and has chaired the 2017 ASM and was on the first virtual COMP Winter School Committee in 2021. She has completed her Global Executive MBA – Healthcare and Life Sciences through Rotman, University of Toronto in 2020. In her current role she is hoping to modernize the radiation oncology QA processes and minimize the gap between clinical and industry radiation oncology and is also passionate about global equitable radiation therapy. Though she is passionate about her career, her proudest achievement thus far is being a proud mom of two very fun and active children, Eden and Alexis.


Dr. Mikael Simard

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Dr. Mikael Simard

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Dr. Mikael Simard


Mikaël completed his PhD on the use of photon counting CT for radiation therapy in 2021 at University of Montreal under the supervision of Hugo Bouchard. He has significant expertise in image reconstruction for quantitative applications. He is now a Marie-Curie postdoctoral fellow at University College London, and working on novel algorithmic developments for proton imaging.


Moulay Ali Nassiri, PhD

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Moulay Ali Nassiri, PhD

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Moulay Ali Nassiri, PhD


Moulay Ali Nassiri, PhD, medical physicist at the Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux de l'Estrie - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke (CIUSSS de l'Estrie - CHUS), Québec, Canada, Associate Professor at the University of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, membership of the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine (MCCPM), member of the Imaging Committee of the Canadian Organisation of Medical Physicist (COMP), Chair of the Radiation Protection Committee of the Association des physiciens et ingénieurs biomédicaux du Québec (APIBQ), Québec, Canada, and member of the Awards and Honours Committee of the International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP)


Robert Weersink, PhD
Asst. Prof, Dept. Radiation Oncology, Dept. Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto
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Robert Weersink, PhD

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Robert Weersink, PhD
Asst. Prof, Dept. Radiation Oncology, Dept. Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto

Robert Weersink has been developing optics based technologies for imaging and treating localized cancers for 25 years. This includes developing and testing devices and dosimetry tools for clinical trials of photodynamic and photothermal therapies, and fluorescence, navigated endoscopy and diffuse optical technologies for localizing disease and monitoring treatment response.


Jenia Vassileva, PhD
Radiation Protection Specialist
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Jenia Vassileva, PhD

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Jenia Vassileva, PhD
Radiation Protection Specialist

Since Jenia joined the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2014, she has been responsible for IAEA publications, technical and consultancy meetings and projects related to radiation protection in medicine. Jenia is also an organizer of regular IAEA webinars on radiation protection of patients, coordinator of international studies of patient doses from medical imaging procedures and has overseen development of a number of e-learnings, information and training material. She is co-author of over 100 peer reviewed articles and invited talks as well as Associate Editor of Physical Medical and reviewer for several peer reviewed journals.

Prior to 2014, Jenia was Professor of Medical Physics and Head of Department of Radiation Protection in Medical Exposure at the National Center of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection in Sofia, Bulgaria. She supervised over 40 MSc and PhD medical physics students and was involved in the postgraduate education and clinical training of medical physicists and health professionals. Jenia was involved in over 20 national, European or international research projects, a member of the Physics Subcommittee of the European Congress of Radiology 2010–2012 and its chair in 2013. She chaired two International Conferences on Radiation Protection in Medicine, 2010 and 2014 in Varna, Bulgaria, and was a guest-editor of two special issues of Radiation Protection Dosimetry. Jenia is a Past President of the Bulgarian Society of Biomedical Physics and Engineering 2012-2014.


Ryan Fisher, PhD
Chief Diagnostic Medical Physicist
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Ryan Fisher, PhD

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Ryan Fisher, PhD
Chief Diagnostic Medical Physicist

I’ve spent a large portion of my career dealing with issues surrounding fluoroscopy equipment. This includes both acceptance and annual testing, as well as clinical issues surrounding image quality and patient dose. I was an author on AAPM Task Group 272, covering acceptance testing for fluoroscopy system and served as the chair for AAPM Medical Physics Practice Guideline 12.a: Fluoroscopy dose management. I’ve also been involved in updating the ACR-AAPM Technical Standard for Management of the use of Radiation in Fluoroscopic Procedures.


Claire Cohalan, M.Sc
Medical Physicist
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Claire Cohalan, M.Sc

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Claire Cohalan, M.Sc
Medical Physicist

 I’m a clinical medical physicist specialized in nuclear medicine since 2015. I have worked on optimizing reconstruction protocols in SPECT/CT, developing quantitative imaging tools in SPECT/CT, for diagnostic imaging and dosimetry calculations, and characterizing various radiation detection instruments.  


Eva Alonso Ortiz, PhD
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and co-director of NeuroPoly
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Eva Alonso Ortiz, PhD

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Eva Alonso Ortiz, PhD
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and co-director of NeuroPoly

Prof. Alonso Ortiz is an MR physicist with a background in medical radiation physics, and research expertise in Magnetic Resonance Imaging. She is assistant professor of Electrical Engineering and co-director of NeuroPoly, the Neuroimaging Research Laboratory at Polytechnique Montreal. Her research is focused on developing advanced MRI techniques that range from novel acquisition schemes that improve image quality to biophysical modeling for the characterization of tissue microstructure. Prior to joining the faculty, Dr. Alonso Ortiz completed her postdoctoral training at Polytechnique Montreal, and her Ph.D., M.Sc. and B.Sc. at McGill University.