#ARCC2024 – the 2024 ARCC Conference

Dr. Craig Earle is Chief Executive Officer at the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, a medical oncologist at Sunnybrook’s Odette Cancer Centre in Toronto, a Senior Scientist at ICES, and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Earle originally trained and practiced in Ottawa, after which he spent 10 years – 1998 to 2008 – in Boston at Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Harvard School of Public Health. From 2008 to 2017 he was Director of Health Services Research and Head of Clinical Translation at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

Colleen Foran is a cancer patient first diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in 2010, and again in 2019 with stage 4 breast cancer metastasized to liver and bones. Since her first diagnosis and treatment, Colleen has been involved with the Peer Program through the Canadian Cancer Society and then the BC Cancer Patient and Family Partner Network where she has been involved in numerous engagements. She is currently engaged as a community researcher in a UBC research project to better understand the strategies persons use to continue to live and grow in an existential state after a metastatic cancer diagnosis.

Barry D. Stein, graduated from McGill University and has been a member of the Bar of Quebec since 1981.

Barry sits on the Board of Directors of several corporations, not-for-profit organizations and foundations including Colorectal Cancer Canada, Exactis Innovation, the Canadian Personalized Healthcare Innovation Network (CPHIN), Le Consortium de recherche en oncologie clinique du Québec (observer) (QCROC) and FT3- From Testing to Targeted Treatments.  He is also on the governing council of CANTRAIN the Canadian Consortium of Clinical Trial Training platform and on the Board of Directors of DNA to RNA An inclusive Canadian Approach to Genomic-based RNA Therapeutics (D2R) based at McGill University Research Institute.

As a strong advocate of cancer research in Canada he is a member of the Canadian Health Research Forum (CHRF). He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Donald Berman Foundation and Tikva Children’s Foundation.

Barry is the past president of the Coalition Priorité Cancer au Québec and past chair, of the IQVIA Advisory Council for the Advancement of Health in Quebec where he continues to be a member.

He is a founding member of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer National Colorectal Cancer Screening Network (NCCSN). He is also a patient advisor of the CRUK Grand Challenge “OPTIMISTICC”, colorectal cancer and microbiome research project.

Barry sits on many advisory boards and panels such as the Patient Preferences group of Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi, PCIG) and personalized healthcare panels informing industry and patient groups as well as governmental agencies.

As the president and CEO of the Colorectal Cancer Canada (CCC) he actively represents the interests of cancer patients and speaks regularly to medical professionals, industry, government, and patient groups across Canada and Internationally about colorectal cancer, pan cancer issues and health policy. He regularly participates in many researchers initiated CIHR funded research projects to ensure patient centricity in cancer trials and translational research. He is the recipient of several awards including the 2021 CCRA Award Recipient for Exceptional Leadership in Patient Involvement in Cancer Research.

Barry has been a key advocate for population based colorectal cancer screening initiatives, and timely access to testing and precision medicines in an equitable and timely manner.

As a survivor of metastatic colorectal cancer diagnosed in 1995, Barry was obliged to seek health care outside of Canada to fight his disease. His judgement, obtained in the Superior Court of Quebec in 1999, still serves as a leading precedent in Canada for the reimbursement of out of country health care.

In the role of Head, Strategy, Governance and Partnerships at OICR, Dr. Tamarchak’s areas of responsibility include strategic and operational planning, Board governance, strategic projects and partnerships, government relations, patient partnership, EDI and impact assessment. She also serves on the Board of the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance.

Prior to joining OICR, Dr. Tamarchak led a point-of-care diagnostic program at Grand Challenges Canada, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aiming to deliver improved diagnostic testing for infectious disease in low resource settings. Prior to that, Dr. Tamarchak was a senior consultant at SHI Consulting (now Shift Health), where she supported strategic and business planning for health care, academic, non-profit, industry and government clients in the health and life sciences.

Dr. Tamarchak holds a BSc. (Honours) in biochemistry from Concordia University and a PhD in cell biology and immunology from Yale University.

Judit is the Director, Partnerships and Engagement at the Canadian Cancer Society. Judit led the development and implementation of the Patient Engagement in Research strategy at CCS, to meaningfully engage people with lived experience of cancer in cancer research funding. You can read about it here or listen here. She facilitates a national Community of Practice on patient engagement in cancer research, with more than 60 members and member organizations across Canada. By engaging patients, caregivers, researchers, and clinicians, Judit helps co-create impactful, inclusive programs and policies in research funding. Judit holds a PhD from the Faculty of Medicine (Rehabilitation Science) at the University of British Columbia, where she first started co-creating research and programs.

Nicola Bai is the interim Program Manager for the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC). Nicola has extensive clinical research experience in oncology, and is very interested in cancer survivorship research and cost-effectiveness analysis in cancer treatment. Nicola is a physician by training from China. She also received PhD in Pharmacology from the University of British Columbia (UBC), and has recently completed Master of Health Science (focusing on Health Economics) from the School of Population and Public Health at UBC.

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

As a clinical epidemiologist and biostatistician, Dr. Chan’s research interests include health services research, health technology assessment, meta-analysis including network meta-analysis, cost-effectiveness analyses, and statistical methods research in health economics. He is the Co-Director at the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC).

Professionally, Dr Chan has an interest in cancer drug reimbursement related issues. He is a member of multiple provincial and national committees related to cancer drug assessments and recommendations including membership at the pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pCODR) Expert Review Committee (pERC), the Committee to Evaluate Drug (CED) and the Interim Chair for the Ontario Steering Committee of Cancer Drugs (OSCCD), Ontario MOHLTC and Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario). He is also the Clinical Lead for the Provincial Drug Reimbursement Programs (PDRP) at Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario).

Terry Hawrysh is a cancer survivor and proponent for a healthcare system that delivers superior patient outcomes and experiences. Since his diagnosis, an interest clinical research had led to his involvement in cancer research programs as a patient partner and advisor. He currently collaborates with several key institutions, organizations, and authorities where he applies his lived experience and knowledge to help shape research to meet the unmet needs of cancer patients they highly value.

Terry currently serves as Vice Chair of the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research Patient Family Advisory Committee, where he supports patient engagement within their innovative translational research programs. He is also an appointed member of the CADTH pCODR Expert Review Committee and advises at the research and governance levels to the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Leukemia Lymphoma Society of Canada, BioCanRx, University of Toronto Centre for Sustainable Health Systems, Southlake Regional Hospital, Ontario Health and others.

Terry is a semi-retired professional engineer and holds degrees in engineering from the University of Toronto and Queen’s University, Kingston.

Dr. Helen McTaggart-Cowan is a Scientist at BC Cancer and Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in the Faculty of Health Sciences at SFU. She leads an independent research team with a focus on cancer survivorship, patient engagement, and health outcomes. Her research has been funded by the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research BC, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada.

https://www.sfu.ca/fhs/about/people/profiles/helen-mctaggart-cowan.html

Rebecca Mercer is a Program Manager for the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC), responsible for network operations. Rebecca works as a Program Manager with Sunnybrook Research Institute, under the Evaluative Clinical Sciences Platform. She has significant experience with knowledge translation, and an interest in facilitating information transfer among stakeholders. Rebecca received her PhD in Medical Genetics from the University of Alberta in 2012, and also holds an Honours BSc in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Guelph.

Stuart Peacock holds the Leslie Diamond Chair in Cancer Survivorship and is a Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University. He is currently Co-Director of the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC). ARCC is a pan-Canadian research centre providing interdisciplinary leadership in health economics, services, policy and ethics research. Stuart is also a Distinguished Scientist in Cancer Control Research at the BC Cancer Agency, a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, and past President of the International Society on Priorities in Health Care. He has held university positions in Canada, Australia and the UK. Over the past 20 years, Stuart’s main research interests have focused on research into developing more effective cancer services, making health system funding decisions fairer and more transparent, and improving the quality of life of cancer patients and survivors.

Dr. Kednapa Thavorn is a Senior Scientist and a Scientific Lead of Health Economics at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. She is also an Associate Professor with the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa, and an Adjunct Scientist at ICES. Her research focuses on health economics, health technology assessment (HTA), pharmacoepidemiology, health equity, care for people with complex needs, and population health. She has worked on different health services research initiatives in Canada and abroad with researchers and policymakers to optimize resources while providing high quality of care to affected individuals. She was awarded the 2023 CADTH Dr. Maurice McGregor Award, which recognizes rising talents in HTA.