ISSUE NO. 28 | AUGUST 2023 THE DIVISION OF MEDICAL ONCOLOGY & HEMATOLOGY
NEWSLETTER
MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF
Greetings members of the Welcome to Our New Staff
Division of Medical Oncology and
Hematology.
I would like to welcome you Arthy Visayanathan joined DMOH as a manager and
to our August 2023 issue! I am will be supporting the BMT program. Previously, she had
pleased to highlight our many worked as a registered nurse at PMH and later moved
milestones and achievements in on to support the patient flow management team at
the past month. In the next few TWH as a discharge and flow specialist. Arthy had gradu-
pages, you will read about: ated from Western University with a Bachelor of Science
in 2015; she had also completed an accelerated nursing
• New Staff & Fellows degree at Nipissing University in 2018. Currently, Arthy
is pursuing her MBA at McMaster - DeGroote School of
• Health & Wellness Business with a specialization in health services manage-
ment. In her spare time, Arthy enjoys hiking, traveling,
• Outstanding Awards & playing volleyball, and sharing her passion for classical music with trainees.
Accomplishments
• Research Achievements
• Staff Spotlights
Dr. Luisa Cardenas joined DMOH as a Clinical Asso-
• Upcoming Events ciate in the Medical Oncology Program supporting the
Genitourinary and Gastrointestinal Disease Sites at
Please feel free to share this the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Prior to this, she
newsletter with colleagues. We completed a Clinical Research Fellowship in Genitouri-
also welcome your feedback, nary and Gastrointestinal malignancies at Juravinski
content, and suggestions for Cancer Centre and McMaster University. She also
future issues. completed a Clinician Investigator Program and is
Happy reading, completing a Masters of Science in Health Research
Methodology at McMaster University. Prior to this she
Amit Oza completed a Medical Oncology Residency at McMaster
University, an Internal Medicine Residency at the Northern Ontario School of
Medicine and a Doctor of Medicine at Université Laval. Her research interests
include the role of the microbiome in cancer and treatment of renal cell carci-
noma. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family, exploring the
outdoors with her dog and traveling.
DMOH Newsletter PAGE 1
STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
Welcome to Our New Fellows
Dr. Mercedes Herrerajuarez
joined DMOH as a fellow in the
Dr. Sam Khan joined DMOH as a Medical Oncology Drug Develop-
clinical fellow in Lung. She is from ment Program/Phase 1. She is a
the UK and loves the outdoors, Medical Oncologist from Spain.
crazy challenges e.g. cycling nearly Raised in a small town called
600km in 4 days with 8000m of Don Benito, she made Madrid
climb and cake in equal measure! her home in 2009, where she
You can find her on a mountain, pursued studies in Medicine at
on a bike or a hike, in the water Complutense University. Later
swimming or on the water kaya- on, she completed her training in
king. If you are in need of choco- Medical Oncology in Hospital 12 de Octubre, and recently
late oncall, a hug or want to try moved to Toronto. She will continue cherishing every
something new… come find her. step of this fulfilling journey. She finds joy in travelling, and
sharing simple life pleasures with her husband, friends &
family. She is always up for a coffee.
Dr. Karla Alexandra Sanchez
Hernandez joined DMOH as a
fellow in Multiple Myeloma. She
was born in a small city called Dr. Felipe Andres Mendieta
Pachuca, and moved to Mexico City Nieto joined DMOH as a clinical
to study medicine where she lived research fellow in Leukemia. He is
for most of the last 14 years. She from Colombia and just arrived in
loves reading, her favorite book is Toronto 1 month ago. He moved
“Blindness” by José Saramago, and to Canada with his mom and girl-
“The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath. She friend. He got his degree as a
also loves spending time with her Hematologist 10 years ago and
2 shih-tzus, Sofia and Lilo, who came to Toronto with her. has worked addressing patients
She is excited to spend a winter in the snow and is hoping with hematological malignancies.
to know a lot of beautiful places in Canada. He enjoys learning new languages,
visiting new places, and meeting new people.
Dr. Chris Mojica joined DMOH as
a fellow in Neuro-Oncology. She
grew up in the beautiful province
of Cavite in the Philippines. At a Dr. Jenny Peng joined DMOH
young age, she has always wanted as a fellow in GU-Oncology. She
to be a physician. Her academic completed her medical oncology
journey started by taking a Bach- residency in Toronto and internal
elor of Science in Occupational medicine residency in Calgary. She
Therapy from the University of the has an identical twin sister who is
Philippines. She then obtained her completing her training in hema-
medical degree from the Univer- tology in Toronto - they frequently
sity of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center, get each other’s emails and pages,
Inc. In pursuit of her dream to be a Neurologist, she went so apologies in advance for any
to St. Luke’s Medical Center for her residency training. This confusion! She is a big foodie with
is where she developed her interest in CNS tumors and a running list of favorite spots in Toronto and loves to spin
related disorders which made her decide to pursue this in her spare time.
subspecialty. Outside medicine, she loves to watch movies,
eat happy food, go shopping, and travel with her family. She
loves anything that’s colored pink! Before flying to Canada,
she got engaged with her med school sweetheart. She is
totally excited for these new chapters, fellowship included,
unfolding in front of her.
DMOH Newsletter | August 2023 PAGE 2
STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
Welcome to Our New Fellows
Dr. Osamah Jarallah joined
DMOH as a fellow in Lymphoma.
Dr. Neeraja Vadali joined DMOH He is very passionate about
as a fellow in Geriatric Oncology. Quality Improvement and Patients
She is a geriatrician with an Safety. He is originally from Saudi
interest in geriatric oncology from Arabia, Riyadh, where he grew up
Sydney, Australia where she was and graduated from the College
born and raised. She is married to of Medicine. He is an avid sports
a Canadian boy from Edmonton. fan especially football "soccer" and
She loves hiking, all things pizza likes reading poetry and literature.
and white Christmas.
Dr. Bea Jimenez joined DMOH as
a fellow in Lung/Thoracic. She is a
Dr. Joanna Loh joined DMOH medical oncologist with an interest
as a fellow in Red Blood Disor- in thoracic and brain tumors. She
ders. She is a haematologist from was born in Colombia, in a city
Melbourne, Australia. She grew called Barranquilla. After finishing
up in Ipoh, Malaysia and moved her medical schools, she moved to
to Melbourne for medical studies Spain where she did her residency
and has been there ever since. in Medical Oncology and has been
She came over to Toronto with living there ever since. A year ago
her husband and one-year-old she decided to expand her studies
son. She loves exploring new in lung cancer, she applied to the PM and here she is! She
places, walks in nature , galleries/ loves traveling, dogs and nature.
museums and eating good food so is looking forward to
being here for the year.
Dr. Yuchen Li joined DMOH as a
De. Galileo Arturo Gonzalez clinical fellow in Thoracic Oncology.
Conchas joined DMOH as a clin- He completed his undergraduate
ical research fellow in gastroin- studies at Western University
testinal tumours. He grew up in and attended medical school at
a small and beautiful coastal city University of Toronto. In his spare
in Mexico named Mazatlan. After time, he enjoys playing squash and
finishing high school, he moved chess, and exploring innovative
to the northern city of Monterrey ways to integrate technology into
where he graduated from medical everyday life.
school. After that he completed
his internal medicine and medical
oncology residencies in Mexico City, which is a fantastic city!
In his spare time, he likes to read about economics, world Dr. Massimo Di Iorio joined
news, politics, etc. DMOH as a fellow in Breast
Medical Oncology. He is originally
from Montreal, having completed
medical school and internal medi-
cine training at McGill, and medical
oncology at University of Toronto.
He is an avid runner, cyclist and
climber, and drummer. Also, an
espresso enthusiast; “come over
for a coffee!"
DMOH Newsletter | August 2023 PAGE 3
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Free Access to Registered Dieticians
Food and healthy eating are key to good health. Residents of Ontario can connect with a Registered Dietitian to access
free nutrition information and advice by calling 811 or starting a chat.
What can I talk to a Registered Dietitian about?
Here are a few examples of what you can call about:
• Digestive issues - constipation, bloating, IBS, Crohn's & colitis, celiac, diverticular disease, fatty liver, gall-
stones, kidney stones
• Infant and child feeding - formula, introducing solids, picky eating
• Diabetes and managing blood sugars
• Chronic diseases - arthritis, osteoporosis
• Nutrition during pregnancy and breastfeeding
• Food allergies, infant cow's milk protein allergy
• Heart disease and stroke - high cholesterol, high blood pressure, low sodium diet
• Kidney and liver disease - low potassium diet, fatty liver
• Vegetarian and vegan eating
• Vitamin and mineral needs - low iron/anemia, vitamin B12, vitamin D
• General eating for physical activity
• Food safety, food storage
• And many more!
How can I contact a Registered Dietitian?
Residents of Ontario can access free nutrition information and advice by calling 811 or starting a chat. Here’s how it
works. When you call 811 or chat with us, you will connect with an advisor who will securely and confidentially collect your
basic information and the reason for your call.
To speak to a dietitian for questions regarding healthy eating or for help with nutrition advice, the advisor will:
• Queue your call for a callback and you will be asked if you prefer to be contacted in the morning, afternoon, or
evening.
• If you have an urgent question outside of dietitian hours, you will have the option to speak to a registered
nurse and your call will be queued for a callback.
• Ontario residents are able to contact Health811 dietitians an unlimited number of times. Please note: Health811
does not make appointments or schedule follow ups.
When are Registered Dietitians available?
Dietitians are available Monday to Friday
• Monday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• Tuesday: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
• Wednesday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• Thursday: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
• Friday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
For details, please visit the Health 811 website.
DMOH Newsletter | August 2023 PAGE 4
STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
Congratulations to Our Staff
Congrats to Christina Gules-
serian for being appointed
as Co-Lead of the Division of DMOH Newsletter
Medical Oncology and Hema- ISSUE NO. 28 | AUGUST 2023
tology Wellness Team at the
University Health Network. produced by the Division of Medical
Oncology and Hematology at the
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Please forward submissions and comments to
[email protected]
DMOH Communications
Team & Content Advisors
James Austin
Christina Gulesserian
Michelle Williams
CAMH provides supports to help health care workers
maintain their mental health and wellness. These
services include access to resources, Cognitive Contributors
Behavioural Therapies (CBT/Psychotherapy) as well Amit Oza
as Psychiatric Services. Bea Jimenez
Chris Mojica
To self-refer to this service, please click the link here. David Cescon
Dawn Gilmour
Erin Walker
Eric Chen
Erica Koch
Felipe Andres Mendieta Nieto
Galileo Arturo Gonzalez Conchas
Gordon Moffat
Heather Cole
Jenny Peng
Joanna Loh
Compliment A Karla Alexandra Sanchez Hernandez
Physician Lianne Mulveney
Luisa Cardenas
Mary Madunic
Massimo Di Iorio
Have you had a great Mercedes Herrerajuarez
experience with an Ontario Michelle Nadler
doctor? Natasha Leighl
Neeraja Vadali
Let the CPSO know about the excellent care Osamah Jarallah
you received by submitting a compliment. Sam Khan
In most cases, the CPSO will pass along Yuchen Li
your message to the physician or surgeon.
Information can be found here.
DMOH Newsletter | August 2023 PAGE 5
STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
DMOH Staff Helped Refugees in the GTA
In July, there was an urgent call for refugee assistance in A snapshot of some of the items collected include:
Toronto and the Revivaltime Tabernacle Church helped
house approximately 200+ individuals. Thank you to • 111 toothbrushes
DMOH, DDP and Princess Margaret staff for donating • 34 boxes of toothpaste
supplies and money to help the refugees in need. An • 16 deodorants
assortment of hundreds of items were donated on behalf • 14 large packs of bar soap
of DMOH-PM including food items, personal hygiene • 6 bottles of shampoo
items, clothes, shoes, baby items, bedding and towels. • 7 bottles of conditioner
• 3 packs of personal shaving razors
• 10 bottles of body lotion
• 2 packs of Q-Tips
• 50 rolls of toilet paper
• 4 large cases of paper towels
• 19 packs of personal/baby wipes
• 1 box of diapers
• 15 packs of feminine sanitary pads
• 2 boxes of garbage bags
• 6 pack of hangars
• 50 face cloths
• 8 towels
• 4 pillows
• Quilts, sheets & blankets
• 20 new pairs of flip-flops
• 4 packs of disposable wooden forks
• 4 packs of disposable wooden knives
• 4 packs of disposable wooden spoons
• Food Cans: Lentils, Soup, Tuna, Crushed
Tomatoes, Beans, Tomato Sauce
• 1 bag of candy
• 4 boxes of tea
• 2 large cases of bottled water
• 8 cases of baby food
• 4 boxes of baby porridge
• 28 packs of baby cookies and biscuits
A very special
"Thank You" for the
tremendous amount of
support and donations
for the refugees who
are being sheltered at
the church.
− From the Church
DMOH Newsletter | August 2023 PAGE 6
STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
Notable Research Achievements
Congratulations to Dr. David
Cescon for receiving the Breast
Cancer Research Program Break-
through Award from the US
Department of Defense. This grant
will support his lab’s project, “Ther-
apeutic Targeting of Genomic
Instability in Triple-Negative Breast
Cancer”, undertaken in collabo-
ration with Dr. Sam Aparicio (BC
Cancer).
Congratulations to Dr. Eric Chen, Dr. Warren Mason, Dr.
Mary Jane Lim-Fat, Dr. Gelareh Zadeh and other colleagues,
from the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health
Network (UHN), have received the prestigious 2022 Brain
Canada-Cancer Research Society Translational Research
Grant in recognition of his outstanding accomplishments.
The project led by Dr. Chen, titled “Targeting IDH muta-
tion induced BRCAness: a phase II study of olaparib and
durvalumab in IDH mutated grade 4 astrocytomas,” has
been awarded a $1 million grant which will support his
research for a duration of three years.
Congratulations to Drs. Eitan Amir, Monika Krzyza-
nowska and Raymond Jang for their publication “Imple-
menting geriatric assessment and management for older
Canadians with cancer: Adherence to and satisfaction
with the intervention, results of the 5C study" published in
Journal of Geriatric Oncology.
Congratulations to the recipients of CIHR Priority
Announcements in the Spring 2023 competition!
Aaron Schimmer: “The IL23 Receptor (IL23R) regulates
mitotic spindle formation and is a novel therapeutic Congratulations to Drs. Natasha Leighl and Adrian
target for AML” Sacher for their paper “Canadian Consensus Recom-
mendations on the Management of KRAS G12C-Mutated
Steve Chan: “Inhibiting Thrombopoietin Receptor NSCLC” published in Current Oncology.
(TPO-R) Signaling as a Novel Approach to Target TET2
Mutation-Driven Clonal Hematopoiesis”
DMOH Newsletter | August 2023 PAGE 7
STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS
Congratulations to Drs. Miguel García-Pardo, Geoffrey
Liu, Frances Shepherd, Penelope Bradbury, Adrian Congratulations to Drs. Maysa Vilbert, Erica Koch, Anna
Sacher, Lucy Corke, Jamie Feng, and Natasha Leighl Spreafico, Marcus Butler, and Samuel Saibil for their
for their paper “Association of Circulating Tumor DNA publication “Analysis of the Circulating Metabolome of
Testing Before Tissue Diagnosis With Time to Treatment Patients with Cutaneous, Mucosal and Uveal Melanoma
Among Patients With Suspected Advanced Lung Cancer” Reveals Distinct Metabolic Profiles with Implications for
published in JAMA Network Open. Response to Immunotherapy” published in Cancer.
Congratulations to Dr. Miguel García-Pardo for winning
the DMOH Fellow Award and to DMOH staff for winning
the PM Invest in Research Award for this paper.
Congratulations to Dr. Christine
Brezden-Masley for her paper
“The Association of Oxaliplatin-
Containing Adjuvant Chemo-
therapy Duration with Overall
and Cancer-Specific Mortality in
Individuals with Stage III Colon
Cancer: A Population-Based
Retrospective Cohort Study”
published in Current Oncology.
QUICK TIPS
Congratulations to Drs. Ellen van Rensburg, Geoffrey
Watson, Anna Spreafico, Albiruni Abdul Razak, How to Update Your
Philippe Bedard, and Lillian Siu for their paper “A
tailored phase I-specific patient-reported outcome (PRO) UHN Webpage Profile
survey to capture the patient experience of symptomatic
adverse events” published in British Journal of Cancer.
Physician profiles are managed by Medical Affairs. To
update your profile, please fill out the online form here.
Guideline information can be found here.
DMOH Newsletter | August 2023 PAGE 8
STAFF SPOTLIGHTS
Meet The Princess Margaret
Cancer Registry-CCRU Team
The Princess Margaret Cancer Registry (PMCR)
collects standardized clinical information on every patient
that comes into the Princess Margaret or is diagnosed
with Cancer at UHN. The PMCR opened its doors in 1958,
and is the only hospital-based cancer registry in the
province of Ontario and the largest of its kind in Canada.
The PMCR supports cancer researchers by providing
oncology retrospective data, and provides disease and
staging data for activity level reporting (ALR) to Ontario
Health (OH) and is utilized for national statistics. To date,
the PMCR has collected data on over 500,000 patients!
This year the PMCR implemented a new Cancer Registry
system, which holds disease and staging information
on all 500K patients - a massive data migration! This
was a very exciting and positive way to kick off 2023!
Get to Know
Dawn Gilmour
Meet Cancer Registry's longest standing staff member, Dawn Gilmour,
Cancer Registry Specialist, Certified Tumour Registrar (CTR), who recently reached her 40 years of service
at UHN. In addition to the Cancer Registry work, Dawn has managed the Leukemia database since 1986. In
2001, Dawn challenged the Certified Tumor Registrar (CTR) examination and became a CTR. With Dawn's
valuable expertise and knowledge, the PM Cancer Registry is very lucky to have her.
What do you like most about your job?
The challenges! The continuous learning of new things and applying
my knowledge to help myself, my CR team and internal and external
contacts.
What’s a fun fact about you that others may not know?
I "can" do my own oil changes, and "used to" do my own tune-ups.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
Playing with my feline fur babies, spending time with my family, working
on my family tree, gardening, ceramics and watching my beloved
Toronto Maple Leafs!
What is the best advice you have ever received?
From my Dad, to be true to yourself and be honest.
STAFF SPOTLIGHTS
Get to Know
Heather Cole
Heather Cole has worked at Princess Margaret for just shy of 20 years.
She jokes that she grew up here, as her first role at Princess Margaret was
as a summer student building tissue microarrays! After graduating from
university in Montreal, she formally joined the Princess Margaret family
as a clinical research coordinator, and moved into the Cancer Clinical
Research Unit (CCRU) as project lead in 2006. Since that time she has
held various roles within CCRU supporting operations and reporting, and
is currently a Senior Manager with the program.
What do you like most about your job?
While there are a number of things that I like about my job, there are a few
highlights. First, being able to support others towards their own success. I
am very fortunate to mentor a wonderful team, and every time someone
achieves one of their goals, learns something new, or grows to the point they are ready for a new posi-
tion, it makes be really happy- I love supporting and watching personal growth from those around me. Second,
improving operations and process for the teams CCRU supports. It is a great feeling to move something through
positive change management. Working with staff across teams to understand their workflows, co-developing
solutions, and implementing a successful change is an incredibly fulfilling experience. Last, but definitely no
least, the people.
What’s a fun fact about you that others may not know?
I bake gingerbread houses. For the past 10 years I have hosted a gingerbread party for the kids in the neigh-
bourhood and I bake each family their own house- it has been a pleasure watching the once 4 year olds still
excited to come over to decorate a gingerbread house when they are 15!
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
I love spending time with my family. Cliché I know ;-) But I have two wonderful sons and a husband that make me
laugh and smile daily, and they do say laughter is the best medicine! When not at work, I enjoy the company of
our two dogs (the mastiff is sure he is a lap dog), hiking, planning our family’s next travel adventure, hanging out
at the hockey rink, and every now and then building Lego – the Home Alone house was particularly fun!
What is the best advice you have ever received?
“The trouble with talking too fast is you may say something you
haven’t thought of yet”…though I will admit I am still a work in prog-
ress in this area!
EVENTS & DEADLINES
Thousands play to raise millions in the world’s largest
road hockey fundraiser. Get the all-star treatment while
bumping elbows with NHL heroes and making memories
that will last a lifetime.
Date: September 30, 2023
Registration Link
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEMATOLOGY
MEETING ON HEMATOLOGIC MALIGNANCIES
The ASH Meeting on Hematologic Malignancies
(MHM) features the top experts in the field, compre-
hensive clinical content, and the opportunity to
interact with colleagues in an intimate, small group
setting with no competing sessions.
Date: September 8-9, 2023
Registration Link
DMOH Newsletter | August 2023 PAGE 11
EVENTS & DEADLINES
The Walk to Conquer Cancer is
a fundraiser that brings thousands
of people together each year. All
proceeds directly benefit The Princess
Margaret Cancer Centre, one of the
top 5 cancer research centres in the
world.
Join us as we walk the length of a
half-marathon through Toronto’s
most beautiful neighbourhoods. While
every Walker has their own reason
for participating, we are all striding
towards the same goal: Conquering
Cancer In Our Lifetime.
Date: September 9, 2023
Registration Link
Physician Health Program
The PHP welcomes self-referrals from medical students, residents, physicians and
veterinarians in Ontario who may have concerns about their health and well-being.
Their confidential services are here to assist those experiencing distress, substance
use or mental health issues that can have personal or professional impact.
Call the confidential PHP number toll free at 1-800-851-6606 from 8:45 am to
5:00 PM. Email: [email protected]
DMOH Newsletter | August 2023 PAGE 12