Dr. David Palma is a radiation oncologist at the London Health Sciences Centre and a Clinician-Scientist with the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.  He holds an MD from the University of Western Ontario, a Master’s Degree in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health, and a PhD from the VU University in Amsterdam. He completed his residency in Radiation Oncology in Vancouver, Canada. He is the chair of the Canadian Pulmonary Radiotherapy Investigators (CAPRI) group, and the author of the bestselling book Taking Charge of Cancer: What You Need to Know to Get the Best Treatment.

Laura Dawson is a radiation oncologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and a Professor the Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto.  She completed her medical school and radiation oncology residency at the University of Toronto and a fellowship in high precision radiation therapy at the University of Michigan, where she stayed on as a faculty member until 2003, at which time she returned to Canada and developed a liver cancer radiation therapy program at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto.  She is an internationally recognized leader in hepatobiliary cancers, hepatic (and other) oligo-metastases and in the use of advanced radiation technologies, including stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and image guided radiation therapy (IGRT).

Her research has focused on the safe implementation of advanced radiation therapy technologies in the treatment of liver cancer, and in normal tissue toxicity avoidance.  She has led numerous phase I/II clinical trials of liver SBRT, and is presently the PI of RTOG1112, an international randomized trial of SBRT for locally advanced hepatocellular carcinoma, and HE.1, a CCTG randomized trial of low dose whole liver radiation therapy to treat painful primary and metastatic liver cancers.  She has published over 180 scientific papers.  She has received numerous awards for her teaching and research, and her research has been funded by the NIH, CIHR, NCIC and the Canadian Cancer Society.  She has served on the board of directors of ASTRO, where she was the chair of the education council, and she is a passionate teacher, having supervised hundreds of residents, fellows, observers and graduate students, many who have developed their own liver cancer SBRT programs under her mentorship.

When not working, she enjoys playing hockey and watching her three sons play hockey, golf and other sports.

Dr. Sahgal’s research relates to his training and clinical expertise in spinal metastases, brain metastases and primary central nervous system tumours. He has expertise in the technical evaluation of radiation apparatus, and in developing and conducting clinical trials specific to brain radiosurgery and stereotactic body radiotherapy for spinal metastases.

Dr. Sahgal’s main interest is in fundamental technical research and development specific to MR-linac technology, Gamma Knife technology and the general application of stereotactic radiation. In line with high-precision radiotherapy treatments, Dr. Sahgal participates in the development of focal nonradiotherapeutic modalities for spine and brain tumours using photodynamic therapy, radiofrequency ablation and MRI-guided ultrasound.

Dr Andrew Loblaw is a Radiation Oncologist, Clinician Scientist, and dual Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and the Institute of Health Policy Management & Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

He received a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of British Columbia and his Doctor of Medicine from Queen’s University. He completed his specialty training in Radiation Oncology concurrent with a Masters degree in Clinical Epidemiology to graduate from Royal College’s Clinician Investigator Program all at the University of Toronto.

Dr Loblaw’s clinical practice and research interest focus on improving outcomes for men with prostate cancer and the healthcare system. He has a particularly interest in the design and conduct of clinical trials, the generation and dissemination of evidence-based guidelines and in image-guided radiotherapy.

Dr Loblaw is an Ontario Association of Radiation Oncology Clinician Scientist and a Scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. A Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO), he was previous Co-Chair of the ASCO’s Genitourinary Advisory Group and remains Co-Chair of the GU group for Cancer Care Ontario’s Program in Evidence-Based Care. He has authored over 225 peer-reviewed papers and has been awarded grant funding of over $37M.

Ekaterina Tchistiakova received her PhD from the University of Toronto where her research focused on the application of advanced MRI techniques to detect changes in the brain structure and vasculature caused by vascular risk factors. Following her PhD she completed a Medical Physics residency at the Odette Cancer Centre.  Ekaterina joined the Tom Baker Cancer Center in 2018 as a full-time clinical medical physicist. Her primary clinical focus is on the support of SRS and SBRT programs at the TBCC through clinical services and research projects. As an adjunct professor in the Cummings School of Medicine and Department of Physics and Astronomy at University of Calgary she is participating in the education of radiation oncology residents and graduate student supervision.

John Walker is a medical oncologist and Associate Professor of Oncology in practice at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Alberta. Dr Walker completed a doctoral degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Alberta prior to completing medical school at the University of Calgary. His post-graduate medical training in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology was completed at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta.

Dr Walker has authored or co-authored more than fifty publications, and is an active investigator in more than thirty interventional clinical trials. His research interests include immune-based systemic therapies, as well as improving the care of patients who develop immune-related toxicities. Dr Walker is also the director of the iMPACT (Immune-Mediated Pathophysiology And Clinical Triage) program, a clinical and research platform for the optimization of patient care and implementation of novel treatment strategies for patients with immune-related treatment toxicities. Under the iMPACT banner, Dr Walker has developed a program of interventional, investigator-initiated clinical trials that aim to improve the care of patients receiving treatment with immunotherapy.

Alana Hudson is a Senior Medical Physicist at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre.  She completed graduate school in Edmonton but then took the long road to Calgary, via working in New Zealand for 2 years.  She has been at the TBCC for many years (lucky number 13) and is involved in many areas in the medical physics department including residency director, TBI, CSI, pediatrics, and of note here, SRS.  Alana has been co-lead of the SRS/SBRT physics group for about 10 years, and has extensive experience working with Brainlab and Varian technologies.  She is excited about how stereotactic treatments have evolved over the years and how the field will continue to advance to help even more patients.  Outside of work she enjoys traveling, art, and outdoor sports like skiing, mountain biking and crazy paragliding which is very dangerous and colleagues don’t think she should be doing.