22nd Continuing Professional Development Meeting

PATTI POWER

CHAIR

Dr. Power is the Divisional Chief of Gynecologic Oncology within Eastern Health and is a MUN Associate Professor within the Women's Health program. She is a graduate of Memorial's Medical School and completed her fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology in Calgary as well as a Diploma in Clinical Epidemiology at Memorial. She has been an active mentor in the Obstetrics and Gynecology program at MUN for many years, is an active member of the Residency Training Program for Obstetrics and Gynecology and is the Competency by Design Lead for that program. She has been a Royal College examiner for Obstetrics and Gynecology for the past 5 years and has now joined the Gynecologic Oncology Royal College Nucleus Committee. She is past president of The Society of Canadian Colposcopists and previous chair of the Subspecialties Committee of Academic Professionals in Obstetrics and Gynecology (APOG) of Canada. She is also an active member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Center. She has a special interest in student well-being and looks forward to positively contributing to the success of Memorial's undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. 

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

HELEN MACKAY

EXECUTIVE REPRESENTATIVE / PRESIDENT

Dr. Helen MacKay is a Medical Oncologist and Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She is Head of the Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology at the Odette Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and Senior Scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. Dr. MacKay's clinical practice and research focus is on gynecological cancers. Her research involves collaborating with translational and basic scientists in the development and validation of novel therapeutic strategies. She is the current President of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists of Canada (GOC). She co-chairs the NCI (US), Ovarian Cancer Task Force. She also chairs the Ovarian Group and sits on the executive of the Gyne committee of the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG), and represents CCTG at the Gynecologic Cancer Intergroup. She is a past chair of both the Gynecologic Cancer Education and Scientific Committees for ASCO. With specific reference to uterine cancers, she is a member of the TRANSPORTEC group, and sits on the Corpus Committee of NRG, and was the co-chair of the NCI Endometrial Cancer Clinical Trials Planning Committee. 

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

ALON ALTMAN

EXECUTIVE REPRESENTATIVE / PRESIDENT-ELECT

Dr. Alon Altman is a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the Rady Faculty of Health Sceinces. He is also a gynecologic oncologist at the Health Sciences Centre/Cancercare Manitoba.

He has a strong interest in undergraduate/postgraduate education and research.

Dr. Altman is the president elect for the Society of Gynecologic Oncology of Canada (GOC), the program director for the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, chair of the University Medical Group (UMG), vice chair for the Medical Management Safety Committee (MMSC) at CancerCare Manitoba, the current Gynecologic oncology track lead for the FIGO 2021 Scientific planning committee and the previous co-chair of the Canadian Obstetrics and Gynecology Review program (COGRP).

He is actively involved in multiple university, national and international committees.

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

JACOB MCGEE

EXECUTIVE REPRESENTATIVE / SECRETARY-TREASURER

Jacob McGee is a gynecologic oncologist and an associate professor in the Schulich School of Medicine at Western University. He is the regional gynecologic oncology champion for southwestern Ontario, a Director for the Gynecologic Oncology Group of Ontario (GOGO), and the incoming Secretary-Treasurer for The Society of Gynecologic Oncology of Canada. His research interests include optimizing testing for hereditary cancer syndromes and outcomes research using ICES (institute for clinical evaluative sciences) datasets.   

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

STEPHEN WELCH

MEMBER

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

MARIE-HELENE AUCLAIR

MEMBER

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

OMAR TOUHAMI

MEMBER

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

JOANNE POWER

MEMBER / NURSE REPRESENTATIVE

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

RACHELLE FINDLEY

MEMBER / COMMUNICATIONS REPRESENTATIVE

Rachelle Findley hails from rural Southern Alberta. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy at the University of Alberta and worked as a community pharmacist throughout her Medical degree in Edmonton. Obstetrics and Gynecology residency took her across the country to Halifax at Dalhousie University.

Having recently completed Gynecologic Oncology fellowship through the University of Calgary in 2021, she has since worked with the Gynecologic Oncology team at the Allan Blair Cancer Centre in Regina and started a master's program with the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy.

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

MARK CAREY

MEMBER / CHAIR, BIOLOGY COURSE

He completed his medical degree and Obstetrics & Gynaecology residency at the University of Western Ontario, a fellowship in Gynaecologic Oncology at the University of Toronto and McMaster University, and a research fellowship in the Department of Systems Biology at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Centre. He runs his research program through OvCaRe and has funding through private donations and his medical corporation to support his laboratory staff. He is Co-Investigator on a recent grant award from the Cancer Research Society with Dr. Cheng-Han Lee, and has done contract research for investigational drug testing. His laboratory has been supported as well by research funds from Dr. Dianne Miller and the Division of Gyn Oncology, the BC Cancer Agency, the Carraresi Foundation OvCaRe Research Grant, and VGH and UBC Hospital Foundations. Mark regularly supervises PhD and MSc candidates and is a member of the department's Research Advisory Committee.

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

TOMER FEIGENBERG

MEMBER / CHAIR, AGM PLANNING COMMITTEE

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

MELICA BRODEUR

MEMBER

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

SARAH SINASAC

EXECUTIVE REPRESENTATIVE / DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION

Dr. Sinasac is a Gynecologic Oncologist at The Ottawa Hospital, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa. She completed residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Toronto. During fellowship she completed her Master's degree in Public Health at Harvard University. She is the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Program Director at the University of Ottawa. She is the Chair of the Education Committee at the GOC, and the founder and co-Chair of the Community of Practice in Obesity. She has extensive training and experience in advanced laparoscopic surgery and has an interest in surgical skills education. 

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

LAURENCE BERNARD

MEMBER

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

SABRINA PIEDIMONTE

MEMBER / FELLOW REPRESENTATIVE

Conflict of Interest Form (coming soon!)

A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Management of Obesity in the Gynecologic Oncology Patient - Dr. Sasha High

At the end of this session, participants will learn to:

1. Review the intersection between obesity and gyne oncology​.
2. Weight bias in medicine (and how we need to do better)​.
3. Explore compassionate ways to address obesity with your patients​.
4. Understand effective multidisciplinary treatment for obesity​.

Access the recording​.

Sarcopenic Obesity: A New Face of an Old Problem in Gynecological Cancer and How Nutrition Can Help - Dr. Carla Prado

At the end of this session, participants will be:

1. Describe hidden abnormalities in body composition.
2. Recognize the prevalence and significance of sarcopenic obesity in gynecological cancer.
3. Explain how targeted nutrition intervention can prevent/treat sarcopenic obesity.

Access the recording​.

Incorporating Frailty Into the Treatment Plan of the Gynecologic Oncology Patient - Dr. Erin Dean

At the end of this session, participants will be able to:​

1. Define frailty​.
2. Describe the scope of the problem​
3. Explain how to recognize frailty in clinical practice.
4. Understand how frailty should impact treatment planning in the Gyn Onc patient.

Access the recording​.

PARP Inhibitors in Ovarian Cancer – Beyond the Basis - Dr. Stephanie Lheureux

At the end of this session, participants will:​

1. Recognize indication of PARP inhibitor in practice.
2. Understand Biomarkers of response and resistance.
3. Discuss what's next: potential new indication, new PARPi, new target​.

Access the recording​.

ICYMI 'in case you missed it' Trametinib versus standard of care in patients with recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer (GOG 281/LOGS): an international, randomised, open-label, multicentre, phase 2/3 trial- Gershenson et al. - Dr. Tamara Kuzma

At the end of this session, participants will​:

1. Understand the role of the MAPK pathway in low grade serous ovarian cancer​.
2. Describe the role of MEK inhibition in the treatment of women with LGSC​.
3. Explain the benefits of trametinib compared to standard treatment.

Access the recording​.

ICYMI 'In Case You Missed It' Molecular and clinical determinants of response and resistance to rucaparib for recurrent ovarian cancer treatment in ARIEL2-Swisher et al. - Dr. Vishaal Gupta

At the end of this session, participants will be:​

1. Familiar with the use of PARP in treatment of relapsed HGOC​.
2. Familiar with genetic and epigenetic molecular profiling predicting response in HGOC.
3. Describe cross-resistance mechanisms to platinum and PARPi​.

Access the recording​.

Management of Recurrent Uterine Leiomyosarcoma - Dr. Jonathan Noujaim

At the end of this session, participants will be:​

1. Updated on the current standard of care for managing recurrent uterine leiomyosarcoma​.
2. Informed on active areas of research in advanced uterine leiomyosarcoma.

Access the recording​.

Role of Immune Therapy in Management of Endometrial Cancer - Dr. Vicky Makker

At the end of this presentation, participants will be:​

1. Familiar with the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors and checkpoint inhibitors in combination with VEGF-TKIs in Endometrial Cancer.
2. Understand common adverse events of these therapeutics​. Become more familiar with adverse event management.

Access the recording​.

A Primer for Managing Immune-Related Toxicities in the Gynecologic Oncology Patient - Dr. Teresa Petrella

At the end of this session, participants will be:

1. Familiar with the unique toxicity profile of immune checkpoint inhibitors.
2. Discuss the treatment of patients with immune-related events.
3. Recognize and treat immune-related toxicity at its early stages.

Access the recording​.

Case Presentation & Panel Discussion - Drs. Marie-Helene Auclair, Vicky Makker and Teresa Petrella

At the end of this presentation, participants will be:

1. Familiar with the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors and checkpoint inhibitors in combination with VEGF-TKIs in Endometrial Cancer​.
2. Understand common adverse events of these therapeutics​.
3. Become more familiar with adverse event management.

Access the recording​.