Opening remarks

André Veillette, MD - Executive Director, MOHCCN

Research presentations

Improving patient matching to therapy via streamlining clinical trial eligibility criteria to guide precision oncology (PMATCH)

• Trevor Pugh, PhD - Senior investigator and Director, Genomics, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research; Canada Research Chair in Translational Genomics and Associate professor, Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto; Senior scientist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre

Enhancing the Cancer Patient Journey through Clinical Trials Navigator-Assisted Clinical Trials Enrolment with a focus on Equity in Clinical Trials Accrual

• Caroline Hamm, MD - Medical oncologist, Cancer Program, Windsor Regional Hospital; Associate clinical professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Windsor; Associate professor, Department of Oncology, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry - Windsor campus; Clinical research director, WE-SPARK Health Institute Cancer Research Group

Identification of biomarkers that inform on optimal duration of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy in melanoma

• Ian Watson, PhD - Associate professor, Department of Biochemistry and Canada Research Chair in Functional Genomics of Melanoma, McGill University; Member, Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Institute; Investigator, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RIMUHC)

This event was co-chaired by Denis Petitclerc, a member of the MOHCCN Patient Working Group, and by Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, Network Program Manager and Scientific Writer, TFRI.

Thursday, January 15, 2026

Opening remarks

André Veillette, MD - Executive Director, MOHCCN

Research presentations

Measuring the Quality & Value of Precision Oncology Care

• Yvonne Bombard, PhD, FCAHS - Canada Research Chair in Genomics Health Services and Policy; Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto; Director, Genomics Health Services Research Program, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto; Co-founder & CEO, Genetics Adviser
  
• Timothy Hanna, MD, MSc, PhD, FRCPC - Assistant professor, Departments of Oncology and Public Health Sciences, Queen's University; Primary investigator, Division of Cancer Care and Epidemiology, Cancer Research Institute, Queen's University; Radiation oncologist and clinician-scientist, Cancer Centre of Southeastern Ontario; Clinician-scientist, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
  • View scientific and plain-language abstracts

Platform for Regulatory Science, Innovation, and Equitable Health Systems (PRISm)

• Dean Regier, PhD - Associate professor, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia (UBC); Director, Academy of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC; Senior scientist, BC Cancer Research Institute
  • View scientific and plain-language abstracts

This event was co-chaired by James Pereira, a member of the MOHCCN Patient Working Group, and Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, Network Program Manager and Scientific Writer, TFRI.

Thursday, December 18, 2025

Opening Remarks

André Veillette, MD - Executive Director, MOHCCN

 Rapid-fire Talks

Unsupervised histopathology search engine for diagnosis of primary and metastatic cancers (CANCERCH)

• Ali Khajegili Mirabadi - PhD candidate, AI in Medicine (AIM) Lab, University of British Columbia
  • View abstract

Automatic Referral of Basal Cell Carcinoma Patients: A Natural Language Processing Approach

• Parsa Bagherzadeh - (at the time of award) Postdoctoral fellow, Shirin Abbasinejad Enger lab, Department of Oncology, McGill University
  • View abstract

Immune patterns predict longer survival in pancreatic cancer

• Riley Arseneau - PhD candidate, Jeanette Boudreau lab, Dalhousie University
  • View abstract

Leveraging a Data-Sharing Infrastructure for Pan-Cancer Circular RNA Profiling and Clinical Validation

• Peter Her - PhD candidate, Housheng Hansen He and Benjamin Haibe-Kains labs, Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto
  • View abstract

• Michael Geuenich - PhD candidate, Kieran Campbell lab, University of Toronto
  • View abstract

This event was co-chaired by Debbie Duclos, a member of the MOHCCN Patient Working Group, and by Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, Network Program Manager and Scientific Writer, TFRI.

Thursday, November 20, 2025

Consortium Activities Update

Robin Urquhart, PhD - Associate Professor, Canadian Cancer Society (Nova Scotia Division) Endowed Chair in Population Cancer Research, Dalhousie University; Senior Scientist, Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute; Affiliate Scientist, Nova Scotia Health Authority; MOHCCN consortium lead (ACC)

Research Presentations

Myeloma research in the Atlantic Cancer Consortium

• Anthony Reiman, MD, SM, FRCPC - Medical oncologist, Saint John Regional Hospital; Professor, School of Integrated Health, University of New Brunswick; Professor, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University; Senior Scientist, Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute
  • View scientific and plain language abstracts

Refined ChIP-seq protocol for high-quality chromatin profiling in solid tissues using the Complete Genomics/MGI sequencing platform

• Hayley Alloway, PhD - Postdoctoral research fellow, Benoukraf laboratory, Division of Biomedical Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland
  • View scientific and plain language abstracts

This event was co-chaired by Natalie A-K, MBA, CPA-CMA, de novo stage 4 breast cancer patient and MOHCCN Patient Working Group and Network Council member, and by Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, Program Manager and Scientific Writer, TFRI.

Wednesday, October 14, 2025

Consortium Activities Update

Jennifer Chan, MD - Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary; Director, Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute; MOHCCN consortium lead (PR2C)

Research Presentations

Use of precision preclinical models to facilitate precision oncology in gynecologic tract cancer

• Cheng-Han Lee, MD, PhD - Pathologist, Royal Alexandra Hospital; Associate professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta

Multi-omic Dissection of Lymph Node Metastasis in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

• Ayan Chanda, MTech., PhD - Postdoctoral associate, Pinaki Bose lab, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
  • View scientific and plain language abstracts

This event was co-chaired by Christine Wu a member of the MOHCCN Patient Working Group, and by Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, Program Manager and Scientific Writer, TFRI.

Thursday, September 18, 2025

We regret that the audio quality of this recording is poor. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Consortium Activities Update

Anne-Marie Mes-Masson, PhD, FRSC, FCAHS - Professor, Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal; Associate Scientific Director, Basic and Translational Research, Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CR-CHUM); MOHCCN consortium lead (MOH-Q)

Morag Park, CQ, PhD, FRSC, FCAHS - Distinguished James McGill Professor, Departments of Oncology, Biochemistry, and Medicine, McGill University; Diane and Sal Guerrera Chair in Cancer Genetics; Director, Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute, McGill University; MOHCCN consortium lead (MOH-Q)

Research Presentations

Precision Oncology at CR-CHUM and the Guy-Lafleur Program

Antoine Desilets, MD, MSc - Hematologist-oncologist, Department of Medicine, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM); Assistant professor, Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal; MOHCCN Clinician-Scientist Awardee

• View scientific and plain language abstracts

Deciphering tumor heterogeneity and therapeutic vulnerabilities in rare metaplastic breast carcinoma: insights from the Gold Cohort

Hellen Kuasne, PhD - Research associate, Morag Park lab, McGill University

• View scientific and plain language abstracts

This event was co-chaired by Louise Bird, a member of the MOHCCN Patient Working Group, and by Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, Program Manager and Scientific Writer, MOHCCN.

Thursday, June 19 2025

Consortium Activities Update

Daniel Renouf, MD, MPH FRCPC - Medical oncologist, BC Cancer; Assistant professor, Medical Oncology, University of British Columbia; MOHCCN consortium lead

Research Presentations

Mechanisms of therapy resistance and relapse in AML

Aly Karsan, MD - Professor, Department of Pathology of Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia; Distinguished scientist, Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer; MOHCCN consortium lead

• View scientific and plain language abstracts

Tracking clonal structure from AML diagnosis to relapse using mitochondrial variants

Derek Tam, MSc - Bioinformatics Graduate Program, University of British Columbia; BC Cancer Research Institute

• View scientific and plain language abstracts

This event was co-chaired by Dan Murphy, a member of the MOHCCN Patient Working Group, and by Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, Program Manager and Scientific Writer, MOHCCN.

Thursday, March 20 2025

Consortium Activities Update

Lillian Siu, MD, FRCPC - Medical oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network; MOHCCN consortium lead

Research Presentations

Bringing whole genome transcriptome sequencing (WGTS) to patient care and clinicians: the prospective MOHCCN-O study and Molecular Tumor Board at PM2C.

Enrique Sanz-Garcia, MD, PhD - Medical oncologist and clinician-investigator, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network; MOHCCN consortium lead

• View scientific and plain language abstracts
  

Evaluating shallow Whole Genome Sequencing (sWGS) Prior to deep-WGS Assays to Estimate Tumor Purity in Oncology 

Carlos Diego Holanda Lopes, MD - Clinical research fellow, supervised by Jeffrey Bruce, PhD and Philippe Bedard, MD, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network

• View scientific and plain language abstracts

This event was co-chaired by James Pereira, a member of the MOHCCN Patient Working Group, and by Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, Program Manager and Scientific Writer, MOHCCN.

Thursday, October 24 2024

Pan-Canadian Projects Overview

Véronique LeBlanc, PhD - Network Program Manager and Scientific Writer, TFRI

CAN-PREDICT-IT and CAN-PIVOT Projects

CCTG PM.2: Canadian initiative to measure, predict and assess cancer treatment outcomes in patients treated with immune-oncotherapeutics (CAN-IMPACT-IO)

Dr. Philippe Bedard - Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto; MOHCCN project lead

Dr. Anna Spreafico - Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto; MOHCCN project lead

• View abstracts (scientific & plain language)

Enabling precision oncology in rare types of gynecologic cancer project

The long and winding road to better outcomes in rare gynecological cancers: Striding towards Terry Fox's vision

Dr. Mark Carey - Gynecologic Oncologist, Vancouver Coastal Health; Clinical professor, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, University of British Columbia; MOHCCN project lead

Identifying markers of immunotherapy response in ovarian clear cell carcinoma

Dr. Melica Brodeur - Gynecologic oncologist, Jewish General Hospital; Principal investigator, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research; Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Department of Oncology, McGill University

Dr. Susie Lau - Gynecologic oncologist, Jewish General Hospital; Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Department of Oncology, McGill University

Diagnostic accuracy of pre-operative circulating tumour DNA in mucinous ovarian cancers

Dr. Elizabeth Tremblay - Gynecologic oncologist, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM); Clinical investigator, Centre de recherche du CHUM (CR-CHUM)

• View abstracts (scientific & plain language)

This event was co-chaired by Denis Petitclerc, PhD, MBA, a member of the MOHCCN Patient Working Group, and Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, Program Manager and Scientific Writer, MOHCCN.

Thursday, October 24 2024

PR2C consortium activities update

Dr. Sherri Christian - Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland; MOHCCN consortium lead (PR2C)

Biobank update

Biobank NL overview

Daniel Loos - Coordinator, Biobank NL

Research presentations

THSD4: a novel mediator of immune exclusion and pembrolizumab response in breast cancer

Olivia Walker - PhD candidate, Marcato lab, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University

This event was co-chaired by Christine Wu, a member of the MOHCCN Patient Working Group, and Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, Program Manager and Scientific Writer, MOHCCN.

Thursday, September 26 2024

PR2C consortium activities update

Dr. Jennifer Chan - Associate Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary; Director, Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute; MOHCCN consortium lead (PR2C)

Research presentations

Precision Choice at the Point of Care

Dr. Laura Hopkins - Professor, Department of Oncology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan; Gynecologic oncologist, Saskatchewan Cancer Agency; MOHCCN cohort lead

• View abstract

Predicting response to immune checkpoint blockades in sarcoma

Dr. Hyojin Song - Postdoctoral associate, Morrissy lab, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary

• View abstract

This event was co-chaired by Debbie Duclos, a Registered Nurse and member of the MOHCCN Patient Working Group from Campbellville, ON, and Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, Program Manager and Scientific Writer, MOHCCN.

Thursday, June 27 2024

BC2C CONSORTIUM ACTIVITIES UPDATE

Dr. Daniel Renouf - Medical Oncologist and Executive Medical Director, BC Cancer - Vancouver; Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, UBC; MOHCCN consortium lead (BC2C)

RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS

Multimode whole genome approaches to plasma-based disease monitoring in triple-negative breast cancer

Dr. Samuel Aparicio - Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBC; Head, Department of Breast and Molecular Oncology, BC Cancer Research Institute; MOHCCN cohort lead

View abstract

Synovial sarcoma chromatin dynamics reveal a continuum in SS18::SSX reprogramming

Kiera Lee - MD/PhD Candidate, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Michael Smith Laboratories, UBC

View abstracts

This event was co-chaired by Rosilene Kraft, PhD, PEng, MOHCCN Patient Working Group member, and Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, Program Manager and Scientific Writer, MOHCCN.

Thursday, April 25 2024

MOH-Q CONSORTIUM ACTIVITIES UPDATE

Anne-Marie Mes-Masson, PhD, FRSC, FCAHS - Professor, Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal; Associate Scientific Director, Basic and Translational Research, Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CR-CHUM); MOHCCN consortium lead (MOH-Q)

Morag Park, CQ, PhD, FRSC, FCAHS - Distinguished James McGill Professor, Departments of Oncology, Biochemistry, and Medicine, McGill University; Diane and Sal Guerrera Chair in Cancer Genetics; Director, Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute, McGill University; MOHCCN consortium lead (MOH-Q)

RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS

Role of gut and intratumoral microbiota on response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in lung cancer and melanoma

Arielle Elkrief, MD, FRCPC - Assistant Professor, Department of Hematology-Oncology, Université de Montréal; Medical Director, CHUM Microbiome Centre; MOHCCN cohort lead

View abstract and plain language summary

Using unsupervised clustering of multiomic data to define molecular and transcriptional subtypes of rare pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours

Joan Miguel Romero, MSc - MD-PhD Candidate, Division of Experimental Medicine, Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute and Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), McGill University

View abstract and plain language summary

This event was co-chaired by Natalie A-K, BSc, MBA, CPA-CMA, de novo stage 4 breast cancer patient, MOHCCN Patient Working Group and Network Council member, and Véronique LeBlanc, PhD, Program Manager and Scientific Writer, MOHCCN.

Thursday, February 29 2024

PM2C CONSORTIUM ACTIVITIES UPDATE

Dr. Lillian Siu - Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PMCC), University Health Network (UHN); MOHCCN consortium lead (PM2C)

Dr. Amber Simpson - Associate Professor, Queen's University; Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Computing and Informatics; MOHCCN Kingston / Queen's University institutional lead

RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS

Identification and clinical implications of circular RNA in cancer

Dr. Hansen He - Senior Scientist, PMCC, UHN; Professor, Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto; MOHCCN cohort lead

View abstract and plain language summary

Shedding light on the surge: Investigating the etiology of young onset colorectal cancer

Dr. Kevin Wang - Medical Oncology Fellow, Eliot Phillipson Clinician-Scientist Training Program, PMCC, UHN

View abstract and plain language summary

Monday, June 6 2022

Presenters

• “Transforming the data ecosystem for precision oncology research and care” Dr. Robin Urquhart, PhD. Associate Professor, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University Nova Scotia Lead/PI for the Atlantic Cancer Consortium
• “Clinical and social patient outcomes and their predictors” Dr. Sevtap Savas, PhD. Professor, Division of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University
• “Small RNA in extracellular vesicles (EVs) of GBM, grade 4 astrocytoma recurrence” Dr. Jeremy Roy, PhD. Scientist, Atlantic Cancer Research Institute. Adjunct (Scholar) Professor, Department of Medical Neuroscience, Dalhousie University Associate Member, Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute and Dr. Adrienne Weeks, MD PhD. Assistant Professor, Division of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University Atlantic Canada Research Institute and Dalhousie University
• “Applying omics and bioinformatics to investigate novel mediators of breast cancer progression” Marie-Claire Wasson. PhD Candidate, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University Trainee, Cancer Research Training Program, Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute

Monday, February 7 2022

Presenters

• Natasha Szuber, MD M.Sc. FRCPC “Advances in myeloproliferative neoplasms”
• Sonia del Rincón, PhD “Targeting MNK1/2 in cancer: What have we learned and where are we going?”
• Yacine Bareche, PhD “Leveraging big data of immune checkpoint blockade response identifies novel potential targets”
• Ian Watson, PhD “The spatial immune landscape of melanoma”

Presenters

• Dr. Lillian Siu
• Dr. Phillippe Bedard
• Dr. Alberto Hernando Calvo

Keynote

• Dr. Daniel Renouf, MD, MPH, FRCPC, presenting Precision Medicine in Pancreatic Cancer: The TFRI EPPIC Program

Presenters

• Dr. Yifan Wang, MD, PhD (candidate), presenting Informing pancreatic cancer care through ambulatory oncology clinic-based germline testing models and precision medicine

• James Topham (BC Genome Sciences Centre) and Erica Tsang (BC Cancer) presenting KRAS WT Pancreatic Cancer

Moderator

• Dr. George Zogopoulos, MD, PhD, FRCS(C), FACS. Associate Professor of Surgery and Oncology, McGill University and Scientist, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre and Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute