Virtual Molecular Rounds Faculty

POET VMR CHAIRS

Pinaki Bose, Ph.D

Assistant Professor, Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Oncology
University of Calgary
Director, Tumour Biology and Translational Research, Ohlson Research Initiative
Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute
Calgary, AB

Dr. Pinaki Bose completed his Ph.D. with Dr. Karl Riabowol at the University of Calgary, investigating the role of the ING1 tumour suppressor protein in DNA damage signaling and apoptosis. After completing his Ph.D., Pinaki joined the Ohlson Research Initiative (ORI) as a postdoctoral fellow and trained in the molecular epidemiology of head and neck cancers under the supervision of Drs. Joseph Dort and Nigel Brockton. As part of a second postdoctoral fellowship, Pinaki trained at the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA) Genome Sciences Centre in cancer genomics and bioinformatics under one of the leading bioinformaticians in the world, Dr. Steven Jones. Pinaki was also a member of the personalized oncogenomics (POG) program at BC Cancer. The POG initiative administers genome-guided targeted therapies to recurrent/metastatic cancer patients.

Dr. Bose currently directs the translational research program within the ORI, a multidisciplinary head and neck cancer research initiative. The Bose lab investigates the biology of head and neck, brain and lung cancers focusing on the role of the immune system in carcinogenesis and progression.

Steven Yip MD, MSc, FRCPC

Medical Oncologist
Medical Lead, Precision Oncology and Experimental Therapeutics
Chair, Southern Alberta GU Tumour Group
Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of Oncology, Cumming School of Medicine
Tom Baker Cancer Centre
Calgary, AB

Dr. Steven Yip is a Staff Medical Oncologist at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary, Alberta. He is the Southern Alberta GU Tumour Group Chair, Medical Lead of Precision Oncology and Experimental Therapeutics (POET), and Southern Alberta Alberta Prostate Cancer Research Institute (APCaRI) Co-Chair. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He has an academic focus on translational research, PSMA PET/CT imaging and novel radiopharmaceutical drug development in advanced prostate cancer. He completed his medical oncology clinical and translational research genitourinary fellowship, under the supervision of Dr. Kim Chi at BC Cancer. He received his MD at the University of Alberta and trained at the University of British Columbia and the University of Calgary. He has a Masters of Science in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University.

Key Publications: 

Reimers MA, Yip SM (Co-First Authors), Zhang L, Cieslik M, Dhawan M, Montgomery B, Wyatt AW, Chi KN, Small EJ, Chinnaiyan AM, Alva AS, Feng FY, Chou J. Clinical Outcomes in Cyclin-dependent Kinase 12 Mutant Advanced Prostate Cancer. Eur Urol. 2019. In Press.

Yip SM, Wells C, Moreira RB, Wong A, Srinivas S, Beuselinck B, Porta C, Sim HW, Ernst S, Rini BI, Yuasa T, Basappa NS, Kanesvaran R, Wood LA, Soulieres D, Canil CM, Kapoor A, Fu SY, Choueiri TK, Heng DYC. Checkpoint Inhibitors in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients (mRCC): Results from the International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium (IMDC). Cancer. 2018;124(18):3677-83.

Herberts C, Murtha AJ, Fu S, Wang G, Schönlau E, Xue H, Lin D, Gleave A,Yip SM, Angeles A, Hotte S, Tran B, North S, Taavitsainen S, Beja K, Vandekerkhove G, Ritch E, Warner E, Saad F, Iqbal N, Nykter Matti, Gleave ME, Wang Y, Annala M, Chi KN, and Wyatt AW. Activating AKT1 and PIK3CA mutation in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Eur Urol. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eururo.2020.04.058

Jette N, Kumar M, Radhamani S, Arthur G, Goutam S, Yip SM, Kolinsky M, Williams G,

Bose P, Lees-Miller S. ATM-deficient cancers provide new opportunities for precision oncology. Cancers. Cancers (Basel). 2020 Mar 14;12(3). pii: E687. doi: 10.3390/cancers12030687

Yip SM, Loewen SK, Li H, Hao D, Easaw JC. Management of Medical Oncology Services in Canada: Redefined Workload with a Novel Supply-and-Demand Workforce Projection Model. J Oncol Pract. 2018;14(7):e438-e445.

Yip SM, Kaiser J, Li H, North S, Heng DY, Alimohamed NS. Real World Outcomes in Advanced Urothelial Cancer and the Role of Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio. Clin Genitourin Cancer. 2018;16(3):e637-e644.

Yip SM, Ruiz Morales J, Donskov F, Fraccon A, Umberto B, Rini BI, Lee JL, Bjarnason G, Sim HW, Beuselinck B, Kanesvaran R, Brugarolas J, Koutsoukos K, Fu SYF, Yuasa T, Davis I, Alva A, Kollmannsberger C, Choueiri TK, Heng DYC. Outcomes of Metastatic Chromophobe Renal Cell Carcinoma (chrRCC) in the Targeted Therapy Era: Results from the International Metastatic Renal Cell Cancer Database Consortium (IMDC). Kidney Cancer J.2017;1(1):41-47.

Dr. Navani is a staff medical oncologist at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre. He previously graduated from Oxford and Imperial College London. He holds both Membership of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom and Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. His academic focus includes the interrogation of large real world datasets spanning tumour streams in order to generate practical insights that can be used in the clinic. He is a clinical director at Glans Look, one of North America’s largest lung cancer databases. His work has been published extensively in high impact journals and won international awards. He plays a lead role in academic endeavours at the University of Calgary such as the Precision Oncology and Experimental Therapeutics programme and has contributed as a clinical expert to CADTH national drug reimbursement decisions.

Key Publications

Imaging Response to Contemporary Immuno-oncology Combination Therapies in Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Find the path of least resistance: Adaptive therapy to delay treatment failure and improve outcomes.

Overall survival in metastatic melanoma correlates with pembrolizumab exposure and T cell exhaustion markers.

Neeraj Agarwal, MD

Professor of medicine
Presidential Endowed Chair of Cancer Research,
Huntsman Cancer Institute,
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT

Dr. Agarwal is an internationally recognized physician scientist in the field of genitourinary cancers. He is the overall study chair of multiple Phase I/II and Phase III trials, and serves as a steering committee member of numerous other trials. He has received SWOG Young Investigator Award, the William D. Odell Young Investigator Award, and a National Cancer Institute Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award. After receiving his medical training at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, he completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in geriatric medicine at the University of Iowa, followed by a hematology-oncology fellowship at HCI.

Dr. Agarwal has authored more than 400 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He serves as a panel member for the NCCN guideline committees for bladder and kidney cancers. He is an advisor to the Oncology Drug Advisory Committee and the United States Food and Drug Administration, and leads early therapeutics in the SWOG genitourinary cancers committee. He holds numerous scientific communications leadership roles, including chief editor of the ASCO Daily News, specialty editor for ASCO’s cancer.net site, and editorial board member of several journals, including Journal of Clinical Oncology and European Urology. He also serves as a member of the ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Advisory Panel. Recently, Dr. Agarwal was appointed as the Senior Director for Clinical Translation, directly reporting to the cancer center director at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Clinical Research Fellow & PhD Candidate
Prostate Cancer Theranostics and Imaging Centre of Excellence (ProsTIC)
Molecular Imaging and Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre,
Melbourne, AUS

Dr. James Buteau is a nuclear medicine physician from Canada. He completed his medical degree at Université Laval (2012) and nuclear medicine specialisation at Université de Sherbrooke (2017). Following two years of practice as a consultant at Hôpital de la Cité-de-la-Santé, he undertook a fellowship in theranostics at Peter Mac. In 2020, he was awarded with the Detweiler Travelling Fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

James is a ProsTIC clinical and research fellow, as well as undertaking a PhD under the supervision of Prof Michael Hofman and A/Prof Arun Azad. He is focusing on imaging biomarkers, the role of PSMA PET/CT for prostate cancer diagnosis (PRIMARY2 trial, phase III) in collaboration with Prof Louise Emmett, and [161Tb]Tb-PSMA-I&T therapy for men with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (VIOLET trial, phase I/II).

Associate Professor l Cumming School of Medicine,
Director l Hematology Translational Lab
University of Calgary
Calgary, AB

Dr. Faisal M. Khan is an Associate Professor at the University of Calgary. In his clinical role, Dr. Khan works as Director of Hematology Translational Lab at the University of Calgary; as an Associate Clinical Director of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetic Lab (HIL) in Alberta Precision Labs.

Dr. Khan obtained his Ph.D. in Human Molecular Genetics in India in 2006. He completed his postdoctoral training and clinical fellowship at the University of Calgary. Dr. Khan is a certified Diplomat of the American Board of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ABHI).

Dr. Khan has more than 21 years of experience in Transplant Immunology, Cancer Genomics, and Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Based on his research, Dr. Khan has published over 100 research articles in scientific journals like Science, Blood, Transplantation, and Blood Advances. His research has been recognized by several awards including the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Achievement Awards in 2013, 2015, and 2018; and the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI) Scholar/Most Clinically Relevant Study awards in 2014, 2019, and 2022.

Dr. Khan has led the development, validation, and implementation of several advanced clinical molecular diagnostic tests including next-generation sequencing-based comprehensive genomic profiling for myeloid malignancies and solid tumors; Serum-based cytokine profiling, and (3) post-bone-marrow transplantation engraftment monitoring testing.

Joseph (Joe) Sia, MBChB FRANZCR PhD

Radiation Oncologist
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Melbourne, Australia

Joe Sia is an early-career Specialist Radiation Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia.  He did his medical training in New Zealand and radiation oncology training in Australia and holds a laboratory-based PhD in tumour immunology from the University of Melbourne. Joe’s research programme focuses on studying the immunological effects of radiation therapy in brain tumours. He leads several clinical and translational research studies at Peter Mac and is an active member of collaborative radiation oncology trial groups.

Lillian Siu, MD, FRCPS, FASCO

Professor, University of Toronto
Medical Oncologist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Director of Phase I Program
BMO Chair in Precision Cancer Medicine
Toronto, ON

Dr. Siu is a senior medical oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre since 1998, and has been a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto since 2009. She is the Director of the Phase I Program and Co-Director of the Bras and Family Drug Development Program at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and holds the BMO Chair in Precision Genomics (2016-2026). She is also the Clinical Lead for the Tumor Immunotherapy Program at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Dr. Siu served on the Board of Directors for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for a four-year term (2012-2016); she also served on the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Board of Directors for a three-year term (2017-2020).

Dr. Siu’s major research focus is in the area of new anticancer drug development, particularly with respect to phase I trials and head and neck malignancies. She is the Principal Investigator of a phase I cooperative agreement UM1 award sponsored by the United States National Cancer Institute. In addition to her active research in early phase clinical trials, she has been leading genomics initiatives and immuno-oncology trials at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Together, the three programs of drug development, cancer genomics and tumor immunotherapy form a triad of synergy that supports the institution’s core vision to deliver precision cancer medicine. Internationally, Dr. Siu was the recipient of the US NCI Michaele C. Christian Award in Oncology Drug Development in 2010. She has been awarded the TAT 2020 Honorary Award for contributions in the development of anticancer drugs. Dr. Siu has published over 370 peer-reviewed manuscripts, and she is currently the co-Editor-in-Chief for AACR’s newest journal Cancer Research Communications, and is on the editorial board for Cell and Cancer Cell.

Paul Wheatley-Price BSc, MBChB, FRCP (UK), MD

Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
University of Ottawa
Medical Oncologist, The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
Ottawa, ON

Dr. Paul Wheatley-Price is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, and a medical oncologist at The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, specializing in the treatment of thoracic malignancies and carcinoma of unknown primary. He is the medical oncology lead for the lung cancer disease site group, and is the current Program Director for the medical oncology training program.

From 2016 – 2021 Dr. Wheatley-Price served as President of Lung Cancer Canada, and he remains active in lung cancer advocacy.

Dr. Wheatley-Price attended medical school in the UK, at the University of St. Andrews (1991-1994) and the University of Manchester (1994 – 1997). He received specialist medical oncology training in Wellington, New Zealand, in London at the Royal Free Hospital, Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospitals and St. George’s Hospital, and as a Fellow in Lung Cancer Research at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto.

He has been in Ottawa since 2009.

Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
Senior Research Scientist, Vancouver Prostate Centre
Scientist, Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer
Vancouver, Canada

Dr. Wyatt is an associate professor in Urologic Sciences at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He is a senior research scientist at the Vancouver Prostate Centre and also cross-appointed at BC Cancer. Dr. Wyatt has a DPhil in genetics from the University of Oxford.

His research goals are to identify associations between genomic alterations and patient outcomes in metastatic prostate and bladder cancer, and to translate these findings into clinical biomarkers.

Dr. Wyatt has developed novel laboratory and computational techniques to study plasma circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA). Through application of these methods to clinical trial cohorts, his team has demonstrated that ctDNA is highly representative of metastatic lesions, and that somatic alterations detected in ctDNA can help predict prostate cancer therapy resistance or response.

Dr. Wyatt is the chair of correlative sciences for genitourinary cancer trials run through the Canadian Cancer Trial Group (CCTG). He also serves as a member of the investigational new drug program executive committee. Dr. Wyatt directs the ctDNA screening strategy and the molecular tumor board for the first multi-center phase 2 umbrella trial in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (NCT03385655, NCT02905318).

Program Director, Medical Oncology Residency Training Program
Clinical Associate Professor, University of Calgary
Staff Medical Oncologist, Tom Baker Cancer Centre
Calgary, AB

Dr Nimira Alimohamed is Medical Oncologist at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre. Her clinical areas of expertise include genito-urinary and breast. She is actively involved with bladder cancer research and is a member of the Medical Advisory Board for Bladder Cancer Canada. She has seen the site lead for several clinical trials in urothelial cancer.

She is an Associate Professor at the University of Calgary and also serves as the program director for the Medical Oncology Residency Training Program. She is the deputy division head of Medical Oncology.

Professor, Departments of Medicine and Oncology
University of Calgary
Director , Oncology Outcomes (O2) Program
Charbonneau Cancer Institute
Calgary, AB

Dr. Winson Y. Cheung, MD, MPH, is a senior medical oncologist and real-world data scientist with over 15 years of cancer research experience. He is currently a Full Professor in the Departments of Oncology, Medicine, and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary where he is also the Provincial Director and Chair of the Health Services Research and Real-World Evidence (RWE) Generation Program. Dr. Cheung’s main research interest is health outcomes research and RWE generation across all cancer types, including solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. He has cultivated strong and effective partnerships with public and private sectors. He is the Principal Director of the Oncology Outcomes (O2) Program that focuses on enriching data sources and leveraging new technologies to facilitate “fit-for-purpose” cancer RWE generation. His track record consists of over 150 invited presentations and over 300 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts in the RWE space. He has received over 15M in competitive grant funding. He acts as a sounding board for projects using cancer data and serves as a preferred point of first contact for oncology RWE queries.

Conjoint Associate Professor
School of Medicine and Public Health
University of Newcastle
Newcastle, Australia

I’m privileged to work as a medical oncologist and cancer researcher. I work for people with melanoma, brain, prostate, bladder and kidney cancers at the Calvary Mater Newcastle, NSW, Australia.

I’m humbled when a treatment works for a patient, but frustrated when treatment fails. My research focus has been on complexity and heterogeneity in cancer. Why are cancers different between different people? Why are cancers cells different to each other? What does this mean for each person’s treatment? This challenging set of problems spans across the research spectrum, from patient experience, through clinical trials, translational biomarkers and questions in basic science.

I’m very fortunate to lead several cancer research projects for NSW Regional Health Partners, ANZUP and COGNO cancer trials groups, chair the ANZUP Renal Cancer Subcommittee, and contribute as a member of the Mark Hughes Scientific Advisory Committee, HNEHLD Clinical Trials Ethics Subcommittee, COGNO Scientific Advisory Committee and ANZUP Cancer Trials Scientific Advisory Committee.

Twitter: @DrCraigGedye
FCOI: bit.ly/3xKTdPm

Assistant Professor of Medicine (Interim) – Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University
Assistant Attending Physician – New York-Presbyterian Hospital
New York, USA

Dr. Pashtoon Kasi, MD, MS is an oncologist and researcher at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. He focuses on treating patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancers and the treatment of patients with novel drugs/early-phase clinical trials. At Weill Cornell Medicine, Dr. Kasi additionally serves as the Director for Colorectal Cancer Research, as well as Precision Medicine Director for Liquid Biopsy Research at the Englander Institute of Precision Medicine.

Prior to joining Weill Cornell Medicine, Dr. Kasi served as an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Iowa. Before that, he was an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Oncology at both University of Iowa and Mayo Clinic. Dr. Kasi was one of a select few who were appointed to the academic post of Assistant Professor of Oncology and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic during his fellowship due to his research and academic achievements.

Dr. Kasi’s research focus has been on “liquid biopsies” [(circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and circulating tumor cells (CTCs)], alongside developing and conducting clinical trials focused on precision oncology and precision medicine. Dr. Kasi is an author and editor of several books including: “Research: What, Why and How: A Treatise from Researchers to Researchers”, and “Impact of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in Patients with Gastrointestinal Malignancies” and has over 100 publications in leading peer-reviewed journals. Additionally, Dr. Kasi has been active as a principal investigator on numerous investigator-initiated, industry-sponsored as well as cooperative group clinical trials in oncology.

Head, Genomic Cancer Medicine
Garvan Institute of Medical Research
Chief Executive Officer, Omico: Australian Genomic Cancer Medicine Centre
Conjoint Professor, St Vincent’s Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW

Dr Thomas is a National Health and Medical Research Council L3 Investigator at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. As a clinician-scientist, he applies genomic technologies to the understanding and management of cancer.  Dr Thomas founded the Australasian Sarcoma Study Group and Australia’s leading adolescent and young adult cancer unit.  Dr Thomas leads the International Sarcoma Kindred Study, and led the first trial of denosumab in Giant Cell Tumor of bone, leading to FDA approval and PBS reimbursement.  His work on whole-body MRI in Li-Fraumeni Syndrome has changed management guidelines internationally. In 2018, he was President of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society, the peak international body in his field.

In 2019, he has established the Australian Genomic Cancer Medicine Centre (Omico), a national precision medicine program which has enabled more than 5,000 Australians with advanced cancers to access genomic profiling, and matched therapies through clinical trials.