CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS
Stephen K. L. Chia, MD, FRCPC
Co-chair, Cdn Breast Cancer Conference 2026
Professor of Medicine,
Head of Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine
University of British Columbia,
Medical Oncologist,
BC Cancer, Vancouver Clinic
Head of Department of Clinical Research and Distinguished Scientist, BC Cancer and BC Cancer Research Institute
Chair British Columbia Breast Tumour Group
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Dr. Chia is a Full Professor in the Division of Medical Oncology, Head of the Division of Medical Oncology, UBC and a staff medical oncologist with the BC Cancer, Vancouver Cancer Centre. He has a full-time clinical practice focusing on breast cancer and in new drug development. He is the Chair of the BC Cancer Breast Tumour Group and Head of the Department of Clinical Research. He is also the Co-Chair of the Breast Disease Site for Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG).
Dr. Chia is recognized both nationally and internationally for his research work on breast cancer. His focus is on clinical trials and translational research. He has published over 190 peer-reviewed papers. Dr. Chia has been a Subject Editor for British Journal of Cancer and The Oncologist, and is the current section author for UpToDate™ in the Prognostic/ Predictive Markers Section. He holds numerous peer reviewed grants.
Wendy Lam, B Sc. (Pharm), MD, FRCPC
Co-chair, Cdn Breast Cancer Conference 2026
Hematologist and Medical Oncologist
Burnaby Hospital Regional Cancer Centre
Director, BC Community Oncology Trialists
Burnaby, BC
Dr. Wendy Lam is a hematologist and medical oncologist at the Burnaby Hospital Regional Cancer Centre.
She received her B.Sc (Pharmacy) at Dalhousie University and her MD from University of British Columbia. She then completed her Internal Medicine residency at UBC and Hematology fellowship at McMaster University.
She is the Founding Director of the British Columbia Community Oncology Trialists (BC Cot), which is a collaborative group of oncologists and hematologists involved in clinical research.
Her other interests include education of patients through meeting with patient groups. She has also been instrumental in organizing meetings for continued medical education.
She is Director of the Society of Hematology and Oncology of BC at British Columbia Medical Association
PLANNING COMMITTEE
Vanessa Bernstein, BA, MSc, MD, FRCPC
Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine
University of British Columbia,
Medical Oncologist
BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver Island Centre
Victoria, BC
Dr. Vanessa Bernstein is a medical oncologist at the Vancouver Island Cancer Centre who specializes in breast cancer and melanoma. She graduated magnum cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. She completed her MD, Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology training at the University of British Columbia. She was the 2000 Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation BC/Yukon Chapter Research Fellow. She used this opportunity to complete a Master’s of Science in Clinical Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Dr. Bernstein is the medical director of the Systemic Therapy Clinical Trials Unit at the Vancouver Island Cancer Centre. She has been a local and provincial principal investigator for many phase I, II and III clinical trials. She chaired the BC Cancer Agency Breast Cancer Systemic Policy Group from 2013-2015. She is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and has taught many medical students and residents.
Anil Abraham Joy, BSc, MD, FRCPC
Professor, Department of Oncology, Division of Medical Oncology,
University of Alberta
Medical Oncologist, Cross Cancer Institute
Edmonton, AB
Dr. Anil Abraham Joy is a Professor in the Department of Oncology, Division of Medical Oncology in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta and has been a staff medical oncologist at the Cross Cancer Institute since 2003.
Dr. Joy’s primary clinical and translational research areas of interest include breast and thoracic malignancies. He has ongoing interest in medical education, guideline development, cardio-oncology, exercise, dietary and lifestyle interventional research, global oncology, regional disparity issues, as well as promoting physician wellness.
His past appointments include being Chair for the Northern Alberta Breast Cancer Program, Provincial Chair for the Alberta Breast Cancer Program and has also served as a member of the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pCODR) – on the Expert Review Committee (pERC).
He is the current Research Lead for the Breast Cancer Program at the Cross Cancer Institute and serves as the Thoracic Oncology Coordinator for the University of Alberta, Medical Oncology Residency Training Program.
Nathalie LeVasseur MD, BSc, FRCPC
Medical Oncologist, BC Cancer
Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine, UBC
Vancouver, BC
Nathalie LeVasseur is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver since October 2019. She received her medical degree in 2013 and completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Ottawa. She subsequently pursued a residency in medical oncology at the University of British Columbia and served as chief resident before completing a breast cancer clinical and research fellowship at the BC Cancer Agency.
Dr. LeVasseur is the current chair of Breast Systemic Policy in BC, the co-lead of the Breast Cancer Clinical Trials Unit in Vancouver and serves on the CCTG IND Executive Committee. Her research focus is in the development of personalized oncology with informative tools, genomics and transcriptomics. Additionally, the improvement of patient outcomes and survivorship is an area of ongoing research interest.
Dr. LeVasseur is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She holds professional memberships with the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Canadian Association of Medical Oncology, among others. She has received academic achievement awards including a Conquer Cancer ASCO Merit Award, NOYCIA Award and a Coltman Scholars Award.
Mita Manna, MD, FRCPC
Medical Oncologist, Saskatchewan Cancer Agency
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, SK
Dr. Mita Manna is a dual trained Hematologist and Medical Oncologist. Currently, she is a Medical Oncologist at the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency in Saskatoon as well as Assistant Professor within the Department of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan.
Dr. Manna’s main areas of clinical focus include breast and thoracic malignancies. She is the Provincial Disease Site Group Chair for Breast Malignancies and is the Multidisciplinary Tumor Board Chair for Breast Malignancies. She is an HR committee member for the Canadian Association of Medical Oncology and is the Saskatoon Site Lead for the Canadian Cooperative Trials Group. Other areas of interest include medical education and patient education.
CBCC SPEAKERS
Katarzyna Jerzak, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Medical Oncologist, Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre
Associate Scientist, Sunnybrook Research Institute
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
Toronto, ON
Dr. Kasia Jerzak completed medical school and internal medicine residency training at McMaster University. Then, she pursued medical oncology sub-specialty training at the University of Toronto (2013-2015) where she was the co-Chief Medical Resident. Dr. Jerzak completed medical oncology fellowship training at the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, and obtained an MSc degree in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Toronto. Among other awards and grants, she was a recipient of the prestigious Conquer Cancer of ASCO Career Development Award in 2019. Dr. Jerzak is a Medical Oncologist and Clinician Investigator at the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Center and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. She is also an Associate Scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute and Lead of breast oncology clinical trials at her Centre. She is a member of international clinical trials organizations, including a member of the breast committee within NRG Oncology and a member of the brain metastases task force within the Breast International Group. She has over 100 publications, including publications in high impact journals such as Lancet Oncology, JAMA Oncology and Clinical Cancer Research.
Komal Jhaveri, MD, FACP
Associate Attending, Breast Medicine Service and Early Drug Development Service
Section Head, Endocrine Therapy Research Program
Clinical Director, Early Drug Development Service
Patricia and James Cayne Chair for Junior Faculty
Department of Medicine
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Associate Professor of Medicine
Weill Cornell Medical College
New York, NY
Dr. Jhaveri is an Associate Attending Physician and serves as the Section Head for the Endocrine Therapy Research Program within the Breast Medicine Service and as the Clinical Director for the Early Drug Development Service at MSKCC. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine (DOM) at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. She earned her medical degree followed by a training in nuclear medicine from the University of Mumbai. She later completed her Internal Medicine residency from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Morningside/West) Program in New York and her Medical Oncology/ Hematology fellowship at MSKCC. From July 2012-May 2015, she served as an Assistant Professor in the DOM at New York University and as an Attending Physician at the Langone Medical Center and at Bellevue Hospital.
Dr. Jhaveri’s research interests focus on the development of improved therapies for patients with breast cancer, by conducting novel clinical trials integrated with translational biomarker work through acquired biospecimen (cfDNA and tumor) or imaging analyses. She has led the development of PI3K/Akt inhibitors, FGFR inhibitors, ERBB2 inhibitors, oral SERD’s, Antibody-drug conjugates, amongst others.
Dr. Jhaveri a recent recipient of the Patricia and James Cayne Chair for Junior Faculty at MSKCC. She serves as a member of the ASCO/TAPUR Molecular Tumor Board and is currently a member of the Developmental Therapeutics Track. She is the Co-Chair for the Endocrine Resistance working group within the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium. Her work has been presented at annual scientific meetings of ASCO, AACR, ESMO, SABCS and has been published widely in many reputable journals.
Kevin Kalinsky, MD, MS, FASCO
Professor of Medicine
Director, Division of Medical Oncology
Director, Glenn Family Breast Center
Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology
Emory University at Winship Cancer Institute
Atlanta, GA
Kevin Kalinsky, MD, MS, is Professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. He is the Division Director of Medical Oncology. Dr. Kalinsky also serves as the director of the Glenn Family Breast Center at Winship where he is tasked with fulfilling the vision to improve breast cancer outcomes by aligning research and education with cancer treatment and prevention