Speakers

Dr. John Valliant, PhD, is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at McMaster University and an internationally recognized scientist, mentor, entrepreneur and expert in medical isotopes and radiopharmaceuticals. His research focused on developing targeted radiopharmaceuticals for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, particularly cancer. He is the founder and first CEO of the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC), a national centre of excellence advancing the translation of scientific discoveries into clinical applications, enabling the formation of new biotech companies and driving the growth of Canada’s radiopharmaceutical ecosystem. Dr. Valliant was also the founder and CEO of the targeted alpha therapy company, Fusion Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2024 for over $2B USD.  Dr. Valliant completed his PhD at McMaster University, followed by postdoctoral training at Harvard and MIT, and has received national recognition for his contributions to interdisciplinary research and innovation.

Dr. David Hong, MD is the Douglas E Johnson Endowed Professor and Deputy Chair of the Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics (Phase I Program) at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Clinical Medical Director of its Clinical Translational Research Center. A key leader in developing one of the world’s largest Phase I programs, the unit has enrolled over 1,200 patients annually with 280+ active trials. Dr. X has served as Principal Investigator on approximately 110 studies, published over 400 peer‑reviewed articles (H‑index 76), and contributed to the development of multiple therapies leading to FDA approvals. With expertise in targets such as c‑Met, NTRK, and KRAS, Dr. X has led major national trials including NCI‑MATCH arms and co‑founded OncoResponse and Telperian. They have received numerous awards and are widely recognised for mentorship in early‑phase clinical research.

Mitchell Elliott, MD, FRCPC, is a medical oncologist and physician‑scientist specializing in breast cancer and precision oncology at Yale School of Medicine. He completed training at the University of Toronto and a Phase I drug development fellowship at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and is a PhD candidate in translational oncology. His research focuses on circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) and other liquid biopsy approaches to guide treatment decisions and understand drug resistance, particularly in breast cancer. Dr. Elliott has led and contributed to multiple clinical trials, received competitive national funding, and earned international recognition for his work aimed at advancing precision oncology.

Dr. Benjamin Haibe‑Kains, PhDis Executive AI Scientific Director at the University Health Network, Senior Scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and Professor at the University of Toronto. Trained in bioinformatics in Belgium with postdoctoral work at Harvard, he leads research in AI‑driven precision oncology, integrating large‑scale chemical, imaging, and genomic data to develop predictive models for drug development and treatment response. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Computational Pharmacogenomics and directs multiple data science and AI initiatives at UHN and Princess Margaret.

Yvette Drew, MBBS, PhD is a Medical Oncologist and Associate Professor at BC Cancer and the University of British Columbia, specialising in gynaecological cancers and early-phase clinical trials. She completed oncology training in the UK and earned a Cancer Research UK-funded PhD on PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancer. Since joining BC Cancer in 2021, she has led and contributed to multiple early-phase studies, secured research funding, and currently chairs the CCTG Investigational New Drug Committee, with a focus on advancing novel cancer therapies.

Michael Raphael, MD is a GI Medical Oncologist at the Odette Cancer Center at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center. His practice is dedicated to the care of patients with gastrointestinal cancers. He completed his medical degree at Queen’s University and his internal medicine and medical oncology training at the University of Toronto. He then completed an advanced cancer health services research fellowship and a Master’s of Science (Healthcare Quality, Risk and Safety) at Queen’s University. His research focus is on population-based cancer care. His research aims to identify ways to optimize the coordination and delivery of cancer care services, and to describe gaps in care, disparities in access to treatment, uptake of cancer therapies, and real-world toxicity and effectiveness. His research has already influenced practice guidelines globally, and led to a new quality metric that is routinely captured by Cancer Care Ontario (“time to initiating adjuvant chemotherapy”).

Lindsay Carlsson, RN MN PhD is a Clinical Nurse Specialist with the Phase 1 Drug Development Program at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PM) in Toronto, Ontario. She is leading a nurse navigator virtual care project supporting patient access to cancer genomic testing and clinical trial opportunities at PM. Lindsay completed her PhD at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto. Her thesis project is focused on evaluating the impact of multi-gene panel testing on the psychological functioning and clinical decision-making of women high risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. She is also dedicated to advancing nursing practice in the area of genetics and genomics and co-leads the Canadian Nursing Genomics initiative.

Raffaele Colombo, PhD, is Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Zymeworks in Vancouver, with over 15 years of experience in drug conjugates, particularly antibody‑drug conjugates (ADCs). He earned his PhD at the University of Milan and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh (NCI CBC/NExT program). He has held roles at Eli Lilly and MedImmune/AstraZeneca, focusing on payload and linker development for ADCs. Since 2020, he has led medicinal chemistry at Zymeworks, advancing ADC technologies. He was named to the PharmaVoice 100 in 2024 and received the 2025 George R. Pettit Award for his contributions to ADC science.

Lucy Ma, MD FRCPC is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and staff medical oncologist in the Division of Medical Oncology at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Dr. Ma received her medical degree from the University of Alberta and completed her Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology specialty training at the University of Toronto. Her clinical practice includes the treatment of patients with gastrointestinal and endocrine cancers. Her research interests include clinical trials and biomarker discovery.

Ana Veneziani, MD, is a medical oncologist and clinician-investigator at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. She specializes in gynecologic cancers, with a focus on ovarian cancer, immunotherapy, and early-phase drug development. Her work is highly collaborative, spanning international and multi-institutional clinical trials and translational research initiatives. She has authored senior publications in leading journals, including Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology and Clinical Cancer Research, and received the Merit Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Through her research, leadership roles, and mentorship, Dr. Veneziani is advancing innovative, personalized therapies for patients with gynecologic cancers.

Robert Grant, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a staff medical oncologist in the Division of Medical Oncology at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Dr. Grant's clinical practice includes the treatments of patients with biliary and pancreatic cancer. His research focuses on developing and implementing multimodal models to improve clinical decision-making across the cancer continuum.

Sofia Genta, MD is a Staff Medical Oncologist at the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre and an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. Originally from Italy, she completed her medical training at the Candiolo Cancer Institute and the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland. Driven by a longstanding passion for clinical and translational research, she pursued an international fellowship in the Phase I Drug Development Program at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and the University of Toronto.

Dr. Genta's clinical practice includes the treatment of skin and head and neck cancers. Her research interests focus on liquid biopsy, mechanisms of treatment resistance, and immune-related adverse events associated with immunotherapy.

Eric Fischer, PhD, is the Joseph Deitch Family Chair at Dana‑Farber, Director of the Chemical Biology Program, and Professor at Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on ubiquitin‑mediated protein regulation and the development of targeted protein degradation, a novel therapeutic approach. His work on thalidomide helped define its mechanism and inspired new drug discovery strategies now in clinical trials. Dr. Fischer has received multiple awards, including the Damon Runyon Innovation Award, and is a co‑founder of several biotechnology companies.

Dr. Keith Stewart, MB ChB MBA, received his medical degree at Aberdeen University Medical School and trained in internal medicine and hematology in Glasgow, Kingston, Toronto and Boston. In 2002, he completed a Master of Business Administration at the Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario. He has served in several healthcare leadership roles across both research and clinical practice in Toronto and at the Mayo Clinic, where he was recently Director of the Center for Individualized Medicine. His own research and clinical practice are focused on the biology, genomics and treatment of Multiple Myeloma. He has published over 350 research papers and led numerous clinical trials of novel therapeutics for this disease from first in man to large practice changing studies. He has served on the advisory and medical or scientific boards of many private and public institutions, including currently as a non-executive board member of Genomics England. 

Dr. Bradly Wouters is an internationally recognized leader and cancer researcher. He became Executive Vice President of Science and Research at UHN in 2016 and prior to that served as the Interim Director of Research at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre since 2014. He joined UHN in 2008 as Senior Scientist and Director of the Princess Margaret Hypoxia Program and has held faculty appointments at the University of Toronto in the Department of Medical Biophysics and the Department of Radiation Oncology since that time. Prior to joining UHN, Dr. Wouters was Professor and Head of Experimental Radiation Oncology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. As EVP of Science and Research, Dr. Wouters is focused on creating an environment that incentivizes, facilitates, and rewards excellence in basic, translational, and clinical research across all elements of UHN. 

Philippe Bedard, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Medical Oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, where he co-directs the Phase I Bras Drug Development Program and leads the Cancer Genomics Program. He is co-contact PI for the NCI-funded North American STAR Consortium and focuses on early-phase clinical trials and genomics-driven cancer therapies. He has received national and international awards for his contributions and holds leadership roles with the Canadian Cancer Trials Group and AACR Project GENIE.

Dr. Lillian L. Siu is a senior medical oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She co-directs the BRAS Phase 1 Drug Development Program and holds the BMO Chair in Precision Genomics. Dr. Siu is also a Co-Scientific Lead for the Peter Gilgan Centre for Early Cancer Detection Research to create the world’s leading program for early detection and interception of cancer recurrence. A globally recognised leader in early-phase anticancer drug development, her research focuses on Phase I trials, head and neck cancers, and translational work in liquid biopsies, biomarkers, and precision medicine. She has held leadership roles with ASCO and AACR, including serving as President of the AACR (2025–2026), and has received numerous international awards for her scientific and mentorship contributions. Dr. Siu has authored nearly 400 publications and serves as Co‑Editor‑in‑Chief of Cancer Research.