Dr. Gilbert Bigras is currently appointed as Associate Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry of the University of Alberta (Alberta, Canada). He is a breast pathologist working at the Cross Cancer Institute (Edmonton, Canada) and the medical IHC lead for the Edmonton Zone IHC Laboratory. He obtained a MD degree and Anatomical Pathology specialist certificate (FRCPC) at the Université de Montréal (Montréal, Canada). He obtained a PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering (Grenoble, France). His current research interest is the utilization of Artificial Intelligence applied to Biomarkers.

Dr. Mark Bosch is a stem cell transplant physician at the Saskatoon Cancer Centre. He completed his medical school and internal medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. He completed this sub-specialty in Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant at the University of Calgary. Dr. Bosch is very active in administration, teaching, and clinical research in leukemia, lymphoma, CAR T and Bone Marrow transplantation.

Dr. Matthew Cecchini is a pathologist and assistant professor with a focus on pulmonary pathology at LHSC. He completed his MD/PhD and Anatomical Pathology training at Western University followed by a fellowship at Mayo Clinic. His lab is focused on building novel tools in pathology to augment human brilliance.

Dr. Chen is a consultant and associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. His clinical specialty interest is in pathological diagnosis of GI, pancreas and liver diseases and clinical application of immunohistochemistry in cancer diagnosis and predicative biomarker evaluation using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. He currently serves as the vice chair of anatomic pathology division biomarker utilization, associate director of biomarker imaging analysis lab and associate director of GI pathology resident/fellowship training program.
Dr. Chen received his medical degree from Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China followed by PhD in microbiology and immunology from University of Minnesota. His AP/CP residency and surgical pathology fellowship training was from Washington University in St. Louis. He also completed GI and liver pathology fellowship training at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.
Dr. Chen is academically active with more than 120 peer reviewed articles, published abstracts, book chapters and co-edited two textbooks in diagnostic application of immunohistochemistry and GI pathology, respectively. He serves in several national and international organizations including CAP IHC committee member, USCAP resident advisory subcommittee member, past-chair of pathology committee of international liver transplant society (ILTS) and board member of international quality network of pathology (IQNPath). He is one of the GI section editors for Archive of Pathology &Laboratory Medicine.

Dr. John DeCoteau is a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan where he practices molecular cancer pathology. He received his MD at the University of Saskatchewan and specialty certification in Hematopathology at the University of Toronto. Following that, he pursued post-doctoral research studies related to molecular cancer pathology at Harvard, MIT, and the University of Toronto. He is the Medical Director of the Advanced Diagnostics Research Laboratory (ADRL), an accredited cancer diagnostic and monitoring lab that serves as the Saskatchewan Provincial reference centre for somatic cancer diagnostics, issuing over 4,200 diagnostic reports annually.

Dr. Andrew Evans is the Medical Director of Laboratory Medicine at Mackenzie Health (MH), a large community hospital in North Toronto that has transitioned to complete reporting by digital pathology. Prior to moving to MH, he was a Consultant in Genitourinary Pathology at University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto from 2001-2020 and was UHN’s Director of Digital Pathology at from 2004-2020. Over the last 13 years, Dr. Evans has been extensively involved in the development of guidelines and best practice documents for digital pathology with the College of American Pathologists (CAP). He chaired the expert panel for the 2021 CAP WSI Validation Guideline. He chaired the CAP Digital and Computational Pathology Committee from 2016-2021 and is currently a member of the CAP Artificial Intelligence Committee and CAP Council on Informatics and Pathology Innovation. His work in digital pathology was recognized with Meritorious Service Lifetime Achievement Award from the CAP in 2021.

Dr. Feilotter is a molecular geneticist with a strong interest in improving pathways for clinical adoption of genomic biomarkers in human disease. She is currently Division Head of Genome Diagnostics at the University Health Network (UHN), as well as Service Chief and Molecular Director for the Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) clinical genetics laboratory. She also holds positions in the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) where she is co-lead for Implementation Science, Director of the Ontario Molecular Pathology Research Network (OMPRN), and a key part of the emerging Ontario Joint Genomics Program. At Ontario Health, she holds the position of Clinical Lead for Genetic Testing within the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Program.

Sabrina Hanna is the Founder and Chief Change Officer of the Cancer Collaborative (CoLab), a Canadian advocacy think tank designed to bridge science, policy, and advocacy in order to make a meaningful contribution to cancer care in Canada. Positively impacting patient outcomes through a multi-stakeholder platform, fostering collaboration and innovation to address challenges within the healthcare system.

Sabrina served as a member of the Innovative Medicines Canada (IMC) Québec Patient Advisory Committee (2017), of the All.Can group based in Europe (2017), Melanoma International Patient Advocates Coalition (MI-PAC 2015-17), the Global Melanoma Coalition (2015-2017), the Innovative Partnership for Action on Cancer Control in Europe (iPAAC 2019-2022), and the Cancer Action Now Alliance (CANA 2021-2023). She is currently a member of Colorectal Cancer Canada’s Patient Charter Initiative in Clinical Trials (now PACT 2018-) and CoLabXchange (2024-).

Sabrina graduated from Concordia University, in Montréal, with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science. After receiving her B.Sc., she earned a certificate in Public Relations. Sabrina has dedicated her career to the not-for-profit sector, beginning her professional career working in research at the Jewish General Hospital in Montréal. She founded the Cancer Collaborative in 2018. The Cancer Collaborative is a member of ASCO, ESMO, HTAi, and ISPOR.

Dr. Ionescu is a graduate of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu” in Cluj Napoca, Romania (1995). Dr. Ionescu completed her Anatomical and Clinical Pathology training at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and a Fellowship in Gynecological Pathology at Vancouver General Hospital. Before her residency training, Dr. Ionescu did a Postdoctoral Fellowship in pulmonary research with Dr. J. Hogg at the iCAPTURE Center in Vancouver. She is the recipient of several awards from the Pulmonary Pathology Society and the recipient of Donald King Fellowship from the Armed Forced Institute of Pathology.

Dr. Ionescu is a Consultant Pathologist, Medical Lead of Anatomical Pathology, and Medical Director for Clinical Trials at BC Cancer Laboratory in Vancouver with clinical expertise in lung, breast and gynecological cancers. She also serves as the Medical Director of BC Cervical Cancer Screening Laboratories. Dr. Ionescu is a Clinical Professor of Pathology who served 8 years as the residency program director for the UBC Anatomical Pathology Residency Program, mentoring over 30 residents and fellows, and received the 2022 UBC Mentoring Award.

Her investigational interests include oncologic molecular pathology and biomarker testing, lung cancer pathology, economics of biomarkers, and adult health education. She is the author of over 70 articles and book chapters, is an invited speaker at numerous multidisciplinary national and international conferences, the founder and course director for the Canadian Anatomic and Molecular Pathology (CAMP) and CAMP pathology Oncology Digital Series (CAMP-PODS) and moderator, presenter, and community excellence awardee at ROMPOST TV on Omni TV Canada.

Shaqil Kassam completed his Honours Bachelors of Science degree with a Minor degree in Medical Physics at McMaster University graduating Summa Cum Laude. He then pursued a Masters in Radiation Biology and DNA repair similarly at McMaster University. After completing his undergraduate medical training at the University of Toronto, he then trained in Radiation Oncology for 2 years after which he completed his Fellowship in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology at the University of Toronto. During his Medicine and Oncology training, Dr. Kassam also continued his basic science research under the guidance of Dr. Gurmeet Singh at the Jurvinski Cancer Center, and also Dr. Robert Bristow at Princess Margaret Hospital- University of Toronto – for his research work Dr. Kassam received the University of Toronto’s Department of Medical Oncology Resident research award.

Dr. Kassam is currently the Medical Director of research at the Southlake Regional Health Centre, where he has consolidated research activities at the Centre and also facilitates further research in the areas of Cardiology, Medicine and Intensive care. He is also the head of Oncology Research at the Stronach Regional Cancer center – where he has brought several international Phase III randomized trials to the centre. Dr. Kassam is currently the Primary Investigator on several open and in progress trials at the Cancer Centre.

Currently Dr. Kassam is a Staff Medical Oncologist at the Stronach Regional Cancer Centre in Newmarket Ontario, specializing in the treatment of Thoracic, Gastrointestinal, Neuroendocrine and Genitourinary malignancies. He is also the Skin cancer Lead Oncologist for the Centre and is also the Centre’s Immunotherapy and NGS expert where he is instrumental in developing the Molecular diagnostics department at Southlake Regional Health Centre.

His research interests have stemmed in basic science and molecularly targeted agents. He has published several peer reviewed articles and text book chapters and has been involved in the development of several practice guidelines. Dr. Kassam is also actively involved in patient advocacy where he serves on the Medical Advisory Committee for Lung Cancer Canada, and has also advocated for patient access in several editorials in national NewsPapers. Shaqil Kassam has also inaugurated and produced the MedOncNow PODCAST series that has listeners in North America and Europe, and has included several National and International oncology experts [https://www.blogtalkradio.com/medoncnow].

Lisa Manning is a Laboratory Technologist with over 35 years’ experience, currently working in Manitoba as the Shared Health Pathology Technical Director. After completing her Medical Laboratory Technologist training, Lisa went on to University of Winnipeg to complete her Bachelor of Science degree where she graduated with Honors. Over the years, Lisa has held leadership roles in a variety of health care settings including in the private sector, public sector and the federal government- where she worked for many years as the lead Biologist. Lisa is passionate about of sharing knowledge and was the National Society for Histotechnology Education Chair from 2009-2017. She served on the Digital Pathology Board of Directors for the last 6 years and has presented at local, National and International conferences. She has authored and co-authored several peer-reviewed publications and has years of research experience. Her role as Technical Director includes oversight of all technical aspects of the pathology lab including implementing new equipment and innovative techniques. She is the recipient of the NSH Region IX- Malcom D Silver Award and the Surgipath Award of Excellence.

Dr. Melosky is a Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and a Medical Oncologist in Vancouver at BC Cancer. She graduated from medical school at the University of Manitoba and did a residency in internal medicine and an oncology fellowship at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Melosky specializes in the field of thoracic malignancy. She sits on the Executive Lung Site Committee for CCTG Canadian Clinical Trials Group.

Her main focus of clinical trials is on EGFR inhibitors; she is published in this area and is considered a national and international expert. Dr. Melosky has chaired the Canadian Lung Cancer Conference for the last 12 years, which is attended by over 350 participants. She chairs and organized the multi-disciplinary Lung Cancer Journal Club three times yearly. She is chair and created the British Columbia Lung Cancer Biobank.

She is also the chairperson of the Colorectal Screening Program of British Columbia and has a special interest in EGFR receptors and management of side effects.

Dr. Alireza Sadeghian has been with the Department of Computer Science at Toronto Metropolitan University since 1999, where he holds the position of the Professor, and was the Founding Chair of the Department of Computer Science from 2005 to 2015. Dr. Sadeghian has extensive expertise in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and modeling of complex dynamical systems particularly related to medical and industrial applications. He is also the founding Director of the Advanced Artificial Intelligence Lab (AI)2, Computational Intelligence Initiative (CI2) and Ubiquitous and Pervasive Computing Laboratories (UPCL). Dr. Sadeghian has supervised and trained 12 postdoctoral fellows, 13 PhD, and 31 Master’s students, as well as 68 research assistants. He has published over 175 journal manuscripts, refereed conference papers, and book chapters, as well as 2 edited books, 2 invention disclosures, and 2 patents.

Dr. Sadeghian is the recipient of various awards and recognitions including TMU Dean’s Research Award, TMU Outstanding Contribution to Graduate Education Award, TMU Teaching Excellence Award, TMU Distinguished Service Award, Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science Top 25 Canadian Scientists, IEEE Toronto Outstanding Leadership Award, St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation, People’s Choice Award, and Innovative Health Award — runner-up — Angels Den Competition, St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation.

Dr. Sadeghian has been actively involved with a number of international professional and academic boards. His past activities include IEEE Education Activity Board; Chair of IEEE Toronto Section, Technical Society Chapter, Magnetics; and NAFIPS Board (North American Fuzzy Information Processing Society). Presently, he is the Vice-Chair of the IEEE Computational Intelligence, Standards Committee, Chair of IEEE Computational Intelligence Technical Society Chapter, Toronto Section, a member of the IEEE Standard Associations – Standards Development for the Computational Intelligence Society Standards Committee, XAI – eXplainable AI Working Group, IEEE P2976 Working Group.

Dr. Sadeghian is also on the Editorial Board of Applied Soft Computing Journal and serves as an Associate Editor of IEEE Access, Information Sciences, and Expert Systems Journal. He has served on over 80 conferences as Honorary Chair/General Chair/Organizer/Technical/Track Program Committee member, and has been a reviewer of many granting bodies including NSERC, MITACS, OCE, CFI, PRECARN, and PREA.

Dr. Shamini Selvarajah is an Assistant Professor in the University of Toronto’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, and an ABMGG and CCMG dual-boarded diagnostic laboratory scientist in the Division of Genome Diagnostics at the University of Health Network. She attained her PhD at the University of Toronto, and underwent training in molecular cytogenetics at the Harvard Medical School Genetics Training Program and clinical molecular genetics at McMaster University. Her role as a clinical lab scientist includes oversight of genetic testing for oncology, including companion diagnostics, genomic test development for clinical laboratory use, and applications of next-generation sequencing in clinical care. Her translational research interests are focused on genitourinary cancer genomics, as well as the development and implementation of non-invasive genomic tests in acquired cancers through the application of high throughput technologies. Dr. Selvarajah is actively involved in the development of testing algorithms and reporting standards for molecular tests, as well as in building educational content and curricula in molecular pathology, both at the national and international levels.

Dr. Stockley is a molecular geneticist and former Head of the Division of Clinical Laboratory Genetics at the University Health Network in Toronto. The Division is the largest genetic pathology laboratory service in Canada, encompassing three laboratories: the clinical Genome Diagnostics Laboratory and Cancer Cytogenetics Laboratory at Toronto General Hospital, as well as the Advanced Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

At UHN, Dr. Stockley participates in overseeing genetic testing for oncology, including companion diagnostics and the development of genomic tests for emerging biomarkers. She is dedicated to improving quality assurance in high-complexity laboratory testing, and engages in quality activities with several national and international organizations, such as Health Canada, the Canadian Biomarker Quality Assurance program, the College of American Pathologists, the Association for Molecular Pathology, the European Molecular Quality Network and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Additionally, Dr. Stockley is a Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto and has served as a President of the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists. Dr. Stockley is also a cancer survivor with a personal commitment to patient support and engagement in research.

Dr Alexi Surette is an anatomical pathologist at the Dr Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton, NB. He is the regional head of pathology for the Vitalité Health Network as well as the medical director of the Dr Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre Biobank. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Pathology at Dalhousie University as well as an adjunct clinical teaching professor in the Department of Pathologie at the University of Sherbrooke. He completed his residency in Anatomical Pathology at Dalhousie University. He obtained his medical degree and PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Dalhousie University.

Dr. Emina Emilia Torlakovic obtained her M.D. at the University of Zagreb Medical School and her Ph.D. at the University of Oslo Medical School. She is board certified by The American Board of Pathology in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology with subspecialty boards in Hematopathology. She is a professor at the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan. She is a Division Head of Hematopathology, Saskatchewan Health Authority. She was a founding member of the NordiQC, has co-founded CIQC, and most recently founded Canadian Biomarker Quality Assurance (CBQA) as well as CBQAReadout.ca (inter)national academic quality assurance programs, which she is currently directing. Dr. Torlakovic is the Chair of the National Standards Committee for High Complexity Testing of the Canadian Association of Pathologists. She is the President of the International Society for Immunohistochemistry and Molecular Morphology (ISIMM) and a Board Member of the International Quality Network for Pathology (IQN Path). She is also currently leading several projects related to national and global standardization of clinical IHC applications.

Dr. Tracy Tucker is a CCMG certified Cytogeneticist and Molecular Geneticist at the Cancer Genetic and Genomics Laboratory (CGL) at the BC Cancer Centre and is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She received her PhD in Medical Genetics at UBC followed by clinical genetics fellowship training and Canadian College of Medical Geneticists (CCMG) certification at BC Children’s and Women’s Hospitals. In her clinical role, Dr. Tucker is focused on the identification of acquired and inherited genetic changes to diagnose cancer patients and help direct their care. She has a keen interest in transitioning high throughput technologist into the clinical laboratory for routine cancer care. Dr. Tucker has educational leadership roles, both locally and nationally, to enhance genetics training for pathology residents, undergraduate students, CCMG fellows and practicing pathologists. She is a recipient of a UBC Killam Teaching Award.