ISSUE NO. 24 | APRIL 2023 THE DIVISION OF MEDICAL ONCOLOGY & HEMATOLOGY
NEWSLETTER
MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF
Welcome to Our New Staff
Greetings members of the
Division of Medical Oncology and
Hematology. Meghan Rodgers joined DMOH as an Administra-
tive Assistant supporting Drs. Jonas Mattsson and Igor
I would like to welcome you to Novitzky Basso. Prior to this, she worked as a Patient
our April 2023 issue! I am pleased Flow Coordinator in the Hematology outpatient clinic for
to highlight our many milestones four years after completing her undergraduate degree
and achievements in the past in Journalism. She enjoys listening to a wide variety of
month. In the next few pages, you music (especially rock and metal, as those who have
will read about: worked with her in clinic can attest to), is a ballet dancer,
will always be in the mood to watch a thriller, and has a
• New staff cat named Gibson.
• Words of Wisdom
• Outstanding awards &
accomplishments Dr. Chathuri Abeyakoon joined DMOH as a fellow in
Lymphoma, Myeloma and Autologous Stem Cell Trans-
• Research Achievements plantation (LMT). She is a is a medical graduate from The
• Staff spotlights University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. She
completed her Basic Physician Training and Advanced
• Upcoming events Training in Haematology in Melbourne, Australia and is
a Fellow of both the Royal Australasian College of Physi-
Please feel free to share this cians and the Royal College of Pathologists Australasia.
newsletter with colleagues. We Her interest lies in malignant haematology; more specifi-
also welcome your feedback, cally the use of novel and targeted therapy in aggres-
content, and suggestions for sive lymphomas. Outside of work Chathuri enjoys sports
future issues. with an interest in swimming!
Happy reading,
Amit Oza
Dr. Badraa Muharib joined DMOH as a fellow in
Lymphoma, Myeloma and Autologous Stem Cell Trans-
plantation (LMT). She was born and raised in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia and obtained her medical degree at King Saud
University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She later completed
her residency in Internal medicine and Hematology at
McGill University, Montreal, Quebec where she was also
Chief Hematology fellow. Badraa is excited to start her
2- year fellowship in lymphoma/myeloma/transplant at
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto.
In her spare time, Badraa enjoys spending time outdoors
with her small dog, baking, and painting.
DMOH Newsletter PAGE 1
STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
Welcome to Our New Staff
Dr. Erick Saldanha joined We just want you
DMOH as a fellow in the Gastro- to know that you’re
intestinal disease site. He is deeply appreciated!
a Medical Oncologist and a
former alumnus of the AC
Camargo Cancer Centre in Sao
Paulo, Brazil. He grew up in a
small town named Cuiaba in
the Midwest of Brazil, known
for being the hottest city in
the country. He lives with his World's Best Hospitals
wife and their pets - Hulk, Oreo, and Zeca. His passions
include research, sports, and spending time with friends
and family.
Happy Administrative
Dr. Tiana Kordbacheh joined Professionals Day
DMOH as a clinical and research
fellow in Lymphoma. She is a
Medical Oncologist from the DMOH celebrated Administrative Professionals’ Day on
UK and graduated from Impe- April 26, 2023. The Division thanks Administrative Assis-
rial College London in 2009. She tants for all their hard work throughout the year. You
completed her clinical training keep us organized and efficient, work across many func-
in the UK in both London and tions, often wearing multiple hats, to help us manage
Manchester, where she has the activities that keep DMOH running smoothly.
been involved in over a hundred
clinical trials as a sub-inves-
tigator across all tumor specialties. She also has a PhD
in Immunobiology, where she explored combinations of
immunotherapies and radiotherapy in non-small cell lung
cancer. She is very excited to be working with the hema-
tology team and scientists here! Outside of work she
loves music (she plays the flute, piano, and sings…so apol-
ogies if you find her toe-tapping or humming away at her
desk), gardening, frolicking about outdoors, and of course Words of Wisdom
spending time with her wonderful husband, Rupert and
daughter, Clara. from the Weekly DMOH
Admin Huddle
Dr. Erika Martinez joined
DMOH as a fellow in Mela-
noma and Skin. She is a Medical "Smile, breathe and
Oncologist from México City and
graduated from the Medica Sur go slowly"
Hospital and Universidad Pana-
mericana, School of Medicine.
She is very excited to start a
fellowship at Princess Margaret.
She is the little sister from a Thich Nhat Hanh
family of 5 and her family is her
entire world. She is married to the kindest person on
earth. She loves to exercise her body as much as she can
do. She has no kids, only her little baby-nine year old pug,
named Canela, also called “gordita” which she loves with
all her heart.
DMOH Newsletter | April 2023 PAGE 2
STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
Annual Oncology Nursing Day Awards
On April 4, 2023, the Princess Margaret 20 Annual Oncology Nursing Day Awards Ceremony celebrated the extraor-
th
dinary commitment and contributions of the Oncology Nurses at UHN. This years theme was “Strength Within”. As
we continue to recover and resume our new norm, it is especially critical that we lean on the strength within all of us
to move forward. Oncology nurses are strengthened by the courage and bravery of our patients and their loved ones,
the commitment and compassion of our colleagues and above all, the privilege to walk along side our patients on
their cancer journey. We thank you for your dedication to our patients and their families, for your clinical expertise,
research and scholarship accomplishments, leadership and your commitment to TeamUHN! Congratulations to the
following Oncology Nursing Day 2023 Award recipients:
Monika Ku Jocelyn Brown
(GI Clinics) (CNS: Pain and Palliative Care)
90/10 PROFESSIONAL ROSE DEAN ESSENCE OF
DEVELOPMENT PROJECT AWARD ONCOLOGY NURSING AWARD
Levine Alveza Catherine Bergman
(16P Palliative Care) (TGH 10ES)
RISING STAR ONCOLOGY ROSE DEAN ESSENCE OF
NURSING AWARD ONCOLOGY NURSING AWARD
Kestral Danzmann Claudia Grande
(15A Malignant Hematology) (APNE: 17A/B, 16P and 18B)
MICHAEL KAMIN HART AWARD AWARD OF EXCELLENCE IN
FOR EXCELLENCE IN AYA CANCER NURSING PRECEPTORSHIP,
CARE MENTORSHIP & TEACHING
DMOH Newsletter | April 2023 PAGE 3
STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
CHIP Clinic to Open at the Princess Margaret
We are excited to announce the opening of a new clinic at Princess Margaret dedicated to the care of
patients with clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) led by Dr. Aniket Bankar. CHIP
is a condition where genetic mutations occur in hematopoietic stem cells, which can increase the risk
of affected individuals developing blood cancers such as MDS or leukemia, cardio-vascular events
and with links to other chronic inflammatory disease states. The condition is surprisingly common in
otherwise healthy individuals as they age. Although, no treatment exists at present, knowledge in this
area is rapidly evolving and future trials of intervention are likely, counselling and risk screening can
however be applied, even now.
The CHIP clinic will offer comprehensive evaluations for patients with this condition, including vali-
dated genetic testing, monitoring of blood counts, and management of associated risk factors such
as cardiovascular disease. Our team of clinicians and researchers is committed to providing the best possible care and support
to all such patients.
If you have patients who have been diagnosed with CHIP based on prior genetic testing, we encourage you to refer them to
our clinic. At present, we are able to accept patients with pathogenic variants at a variant allele frequency ≥ 2% in the absence
of cytopenia or cytosis. CHIP screening panels are available through UHN clinical laboratories.
Westaway Chair in Ovarian
Cancer Research
Congratulations to Dr. Steph-
anie Lheureux for being
appointed as the Westaway
Chair in Ovarian Cancer
Research at Princess Margaret
Cancer Centre effective April 1,
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR CANCER 2023.
RESEARCH ANNUAL MEETING
The Westaway chair will
promote a multidisciplinary
ADVANCING THE FRONTIERS OF CANCER hub to foster innovation and
SCIENCE AND MEDICINE research in ovarian cancer at Princess Margaret with the
The American Association for Cancer Research goal to impact the care of women globally. The mission
(AACR) Annual Meeting 2023 – Advancing the Fron- is to understand disease biology from bench to bedside
tiers of Cancer Science and Medicine was held on at the different time points of the patient's journey and
April 14-19, 2023 at the Orange County Convention increase national and international collaboration with an
Center in Orlando, Florida. emphasis on education.
Congratulations DMOH for a great year. Please We would like to sincerely thank Peter and Brigitte West-
click here for a summary of some of the DMOH away for this extraordinary support and meaningful
staff and learners who presented and co-authored legacy to improve care in ovarian cancer.
content at the AACR this year.
DMOH Newsletter | April 2023 PAGE 4
STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
Project Aspire Kick-Off
The official kick-off to the TW Patient Tower Project and the unveiling of the new project name –
Project Aspire occurred at the end of March. We know the Toronto Western site has not always had
the attention it deserves and, with Project Aspire, that is certainly changing. The state-of-the-art
working environment we are building, in the form of an 11-storey patient tower on the northwest
corner of the campus, represents the future of patient care. Once completed, the new tower will
have inpatient floors with single rooms and washrooms, 20 new operating rooms, new pre-opera-
tive and post-anesthetic care units, gathering spaces for families, and places for staff to relax. It was
especially wonderful to hear from a UHN Patient Partner, Jackie Dallas, who appeared at the kick-off
event virtually while on vacation to speak about what this major endeavour means for patients.
The project name – Aspire – was submitted by Dr. Richard Ward, who said he chose the word
because it reflects ambition, high aims, and how TeamUHN always aspires to work together and do our very best for patients.
The groundbreaking is expected to take place in Fall 2023 and we anticipate opening the tower in early 2027. Visit the
Project Aspire website to learn more about this project. Click to watch a replay of the event.
Launch of UHN Collaborative Centres
Through collaborative research, we have made significant advancements within our Research Insti-
tutes, Medical Programs, and Clinical Departments/Divisions, which generally focus on specific areas
of health and disease, health systems, and education. Similarly, there is tremendous opportunity
to extend collaboration across different research institutes and clinical programs. An opportunity
exists for these teams to come together to advance discovery and innovation in common areas of
interest—those that are cross-cutting and underpin approaches being taken across multiple facets
of health and disease.
In alignment with our strategic research priority to “empower research teams and collaboration”,
we are excited to announce the creation of a new model to accelerate team-based research across
the institution: UHN Collaborative Centres. These new structures will serve as institutional commu-
nities of excellence to share resources and best practices, apply findings across different aspects of human health and
disease, advance technologies and approaches, and grow UHN’s global reputation as a powerhouse in broad areas of
interest.
We announced the launch of this new concept at our Research Strategy Update, which you can watch here if you missed it.
The event also served to announce the formal launch of the first two Collaborative Centres—one on clinical research and
the other on technology and innovation. Drs. Susan Fox and Amit Oza, Co-Chairs of the Clinical Research Executive, were
on hand to provide an overview of the former, and Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, Chief Innovation Officer and Scientific Director
of Techna, provided the plans for evolving Techna from a Research Institute to a clinical accelerator.
Four additional UHN Collaborative Centres are in various stages of development, focusing on immune therapy; health
services; data science and artificial intelligence; and drug discovery and therapeutics. General membership will be open to
all teams across UHN—enabling, for example, cancer researchers to interact with arthritis researchers through a common
interest in immune therapy. Stay tuned for more.
Of note, individual programs have made significant investments in some of these research areas, and the Collaborative
Centres are not meant to replace them. Rather, Collaborative Centres are intended to enhance the success of existing or
planned program-, domain-, and institute-specific initiatives by identifying intersecting areas for collaboration, reducing
duplication of effort, and sharing best practices and ideas—with the added benefit of enabling these teams to think bigger
as a collective. We look forward to leveraging all of the expertise across UHN in these critical areas of innovation.
DMOH Newsletter | April 2023 PAGE 5
STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
Notable Research Achievements
Congratulations to Dr. Lucy Ma Congratulations to Dr. Penelope
for being awarded a Canadian Bradbury for her paper “Brief
Neuroendocrine Tumour Society Report: Canadian Cancer Trials
(CNETS) Research Grant for the Group IND.227: A Phase 2
project "Plasma whole genome Randomized Study of Pembroli-
sequencing for molecular residual zumab in Patients With Advanced
disease detection in resected Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
gastroenteropancreatic neuroen- (NCT02784171)” published in the
docrine tumours”. Mentored by Journal of Thoracic Oncology.
Dr. Lillian Siu.
Naoto’s CD19-JAK-STAT CAR cell therapy has received
Health Canada approval to launch their phase I clinical trial:
“Phase I/Ib Study of TBI-2001 for Patients with Relapsed
or Refractory CD19+ B-cell Lymphoma, Chronic Lympho-
cytic Leukemia (CLL), Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (SLL)”
The trial will be conducted here at the Princess Margaret.
Congratulations to Dr. Marcus Butler who is PI/Sponsor
of the trial, and to Dr. Chris Chen and Dr. John Kuruvilla Congratulations to Drs. James England, Karine Gauthier,
who are the clinical leads. Marta Davidson, Aniket Bankar, Hassan Sibai, Dawn
Maze, Auro Viswabandya, and Vikas Gupta for their
paper “Comparison of clinical outcomes between trans-
plant and nontransplant therapies in myelofibrosis
following failure of first-line JAK-inhibitor” published in the
Congratulations to the Myelo- American Journal of Hematology.
proliferative Neoplasms Program
for their paper “MANIFEST: Pela-
bresib in Combination With
Ruxolitinib for Janus Kinase
Inhibitor Treatment-Naïve Myelo- Congratulations to Dr. Marcus
fibrosis” published in the Journal of Butler for his paper “Primary
Clinical Oncology. analysis of Phase 2 results for
cemiplimab in patients with
Authors include John Mascar- metastatic basal cell carcinoma
enhas, Marina Kremyanskaya, who progressed on or were intol-
Andrea Patriarca, Francesca Palandri, Timothy Devos, erant to hedgehog inhibitors”
Francesco Passamonti, Raajit K. Rampal, Adam J. Mead, published in Journal of Cutaneous
Gabriella Hobbs, Joseph M. Scandura, Moshe Talpaz, Nikki Medicine.
Granacher, Tim C. P. Somervaille, Ronald Hoffman, Mari-
elle J. Wondergem, Mohamed E. Salama, Gozde Colak, Jike
Cui, Jean-Jacques Kiladjian, Alessandro M. Vannucchi, Srdan
Verstovsek, Natalia Curto-García, Claire Harrison, and Vikas
Gupta.
DMOH Newsletter | April 2023 PAGE 6
STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
Congratulations to Dr. David
Cescon for his ongoing clinical
trails abstract “A Double-Blind
Placebo Controlled Random-
ized Phase III Trial of Fulvestrant
and Ipatasertib as Treatment for
Advanced HER-2 Negative and
Estrogen Receptor Positive (ER+)
Breast Cancer Following Progres- Compliment A
sion on First Line CDK 4/6 Inhib-
itor and Aromatase Inhibitor Physician
(FINER)” published in Cancer Research.
Have you had a great
experience with an Ontario
doctor?
Let the CPSO know about the excel-
lent care you received by submitting a
compliment.
In most cases, the CPSO will pass along
your message to the physician or
Congratulations to Drs. Maria Di Jiang, Shereen Ezzat and surgeon.
Raymond Kim for their paper “FLCN-Driven Functional
Adrenal Cortical Carcinoma with High Mitotic Tumor Information can be found here.
Grade: Extending the Endocrine Manifestations of Birt-
Hogg-Dubé Syndrome” published in Endocrine Pathology.
DMOH Newsletter DMOH Communications Contributors
ISSUE NO. 24 | APRIL 2023 Team & Content Advisors Amit Oza
Christina Gulesserian Cha Len Lee
produced by the Division of Medical Michelle Williams DMOH Admin Huddle
Oncology and Hematology at the James Austin Esmail Al-Ezzi
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Schenell Rosario Keith Stewart
Lianne Mulveney
Please forward submissions and comments to Lillian Siu
[email protected] Lucy Ma
Vikas Gupta
DMOH Newsletter | April 2023 PAGE 7
STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
CCS Breakthrough Team Grants:
Transforming Low Survival Cancers
Canadian Cancer Society announces details of historic research funding program to transform low-survival cancers. In a
grant competition co-developed with patients, survivors and caregivers, these 10 research teams are poised to make life-
saving breakthroughs in pancreatic, esophageal, brain, lung, liver and stomach cancers. For details, please click here.
ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH ESTABLISHING A COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH
STRATEGY TO IMPROVE PANCREATIC CANCER STRATEGY TO IMPROVE PANCREATIC CANCER
SURVIVAL SURVIVAL
Congratulations to Dr. Raymond
Kim for being a recipient of the
CCS Breakthrough Team Grant. He
is the Principle Investigator with
Trevor Pugh for “Engaging people
with gene mutations to detect
cancer earlier with a blood test”.
For details on this project, please
click here.
A team led by Dr. Steven Gallinger is leveraging existing
resources to create a comprehensive pancreatic cancer
research program focused on screening, earlier detection,
better understanding of the disease biology, and facilitating
the introduction of new therapies and personalized treat-
ments to improve survival for one of the deadliest cancers.
This Breakthrough Team Grant is for $7.5M over 5 years.
Co-principal investigators include Drs. Robert Grant,
Jennifer Knox, Faiyaz Notta and co-applicants include Drs.
Barbara Gruenwald, Ali Hosny-Abdalaty, Armand Keating,
Rama Khokha and Erica Tsang. For details on this project,
please click here.
DMOH Newsletter | April 2023 PAGE 8
STAFF SPOTLIGHTS
Get to Know
Dr. Esmail Al-Ezzi
Dr. Esmail Al-Ezzi is a clinical oncology fellow working in the Genitourinary
medical oncology clinic at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center. He was
born in Yemen, and after high school, he travelled to Jordan to start medical
school. He got married early when he was in his third year of the medical
school. His daughter was born in Amman after one year. It was a huge
responsibility to have a kid and study in college away from his family. He
completed his internal medicine residency and medical oncology fellow-
ship in Jordan. After which, he moved to Saudi Arabia to work as medical
oncologist staff and worked there for five years. He moved with his little
family to Canada to complete a subspecialty in sarcoma and GU for two
years only. But they enjoy it here in Canada, and now it has been 6 years.
What do you like most about your job?
I've always been curious about healthcare and how it impacts cancer
patients at their most vulnerable times. I really enjoy interacting with
the different patients and knowing I'm having a positive impact on their
treatment experience. The best time for me is when I see my patients
improve and achieve good treatment response. I have learned a lot from each
patient I see.
What’s a fun fact about you that others may not know?
I have 27 siblings. I am number 13. My father has difficulty to memorize our names. My immigration file was
huge to provide detailed information about all brothers and sisters.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
I enjoy playing football, watching fear movies and camping on the weekend.
I like to run after my 6 year old kid and enjoy playing hide and seek at home.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
The best advice I heard was “You never fail until you stop trying”.
STAFF SPOTLIGHTS
Get to Know
Dr. Cha Len Lee
Dr. Cha Len Lee is a second-year fellow in Gastrointestinal Medical
Oncology at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Born in Malaysia on
the island of Borneo, she moved to Ireland for her medical studies at the
National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG). She completed her clin-
ical training in General Medicine and Medical Oncology in Ireland and in
July 2020 obtained a postgraduate MD in translational cancer research
from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) in Dublin. Her research
focused on developing a new combination therapy using CDK4/6 inhibi-
tors and a PI3K inhibitor for potential use in metastatic colorectal cancer
with mutations. Dr. Lee then joined the PM in Toronto for her fellowship
under the guidance of Drs. Jennifer Knox and Eric Chen. Her area of
special interest is in hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers.
What do you like most about your job?
Medical Oncology is a rapidly evolving field with constant advancements
that will amaze you.
What’s a fun fact about you that others may not know?
As a teenager, I worked as a bartender. I was paid poorly because it was my parents’ bar (haha). I would work
in the bar for two hours every evening. I was not a professional mixologist but I could pull a decent pint with
a good head.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
Doing a HITT workout, exploring the city for the cutest café & Youtubing on fashion
and start-ups.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Indecision is the worst decision.
EVENTS & DEADLINES
EVENTS
Dr. Lillian Siu will be giving a Maria Ricci Memorial Lectureship in Oncology on
Precision Cancer Medicine Beyond Next Generation Sequencing Gene Panels.
Date: April 29, 2023 at 5:00 PM
Location: Mountbatten Room at the Chelsea Hotel in Toronto
For details, please click here.
THE PRINCESS MARGARET CANCER
FOUNDATION RIDE TO CONQUER CANCER
Join Canada’s largest cycling fundraiser! This June,
people of all ages and skill levels come together to This year's program will feature over 200 sessions
Ride from Toronto to Niagara Falls to raise funds for
breakthrough cancer research. Are you ready? complementing Dr. Eric Winer’s Presidential theme:
Partnering with Patients: The Cornerstone of Cancer
Date: June 10-11, 2023 Care and Research.
Registration Link Registration Link
DMOH Newsletter | April 2023 PAGE 11
EVENTS & DEADLINES
Don’t miss out on the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Director’s Reception in Chicago!
We would love to see you among us on Friday June 2, 2023 from 6:00-8:00 PM at the PM Director’s Reception at ASCO.
Arrive early and come meet up with new and old friends and colleagues at Row 24, a historically sophisticated and
classically new venue within a 10-minute walk from the convention centre.
A great atmosphere to enjoy a drink or two and a few appetizers on us!
We would be grateful if you would forward this to your colleagues for awareness.
Mark your calendar today!
RSVP to [email protected] by Friday June 2, 2023
DMOH Newsletter | April 2023 PAGE 12
EVENTS & DEADLINES
UHN is able to offer a time-limited free offering ($89
value) for up to 400 clinicians to enroll in VitalTalk
Mobile, an online CME-accredited course from one of
the most evidence-based communication programs
worldwide. This course teaches a practical approach
to giving a medical update, addressing goals of care, Let’s participate at the Princess Margaret Journey to
and addresses how to avoid common communica- Conquer Cancer taking place on Sunday, June 18,
tion pitfalls that clinicians experience daily in practice. 2023. We encourage everyone to register to walk or
Sign up online and learn on your own time and at run 1K, 3K, or 5K.
your own pace, on your phone, tablet or computer.
Click here to learn more about the course and click Registration is $35 but you can use the Promo Code
here to view the poster. Use promo code UHNMo- “UHNSAVE” to save $5. This is a great event for all
bile23 for free access. ages, and kids under 12 can register for free.
Please email [email protected] if you Date: June 18, 2023
have any questions.
Registration Link
DMOH Newsletter | April 2023 PAGE 13