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

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.

Muriel Brackstone MD, PhD, FRCSC

Chair/Chief, Division of General Surgery
General Surgeon & Surgical Oncologist
Professor of Surgery & Oncology, Western University
Toronto, ON

Dr. Muriel Brackstone is a Surgical Oncologist at London Health Sciences Center, Professor of Surgery and Oncology at Western University and city-wide Chair/Chief of General Surgery. She completed her residency in General Surgery at Western University in 2004, followed by a fellowship in breast surgical oncology at the University of Toronto. During her early years in practice, she completed an MSc in Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics followed by a PhD in Pathology/Clinical Trials at Western. She also completed Harvard University’s Surgical Leadership Program. She is the founding medical director of London’s Breast Care Program and created one of the first Canadian fellowships in Oncoplastic Surgery. She created the London Tumour Biobank as a repository platform for window of opportunity clinical trials in Oncology and has completed numerous clinical trials with over 150 peer reviewed publications. She is the guideline lead for Cancer Care Ontario’s breast disease site team and is lead author on a number of guideline publications including the management of locally advanced breast cancer and a joint ASCO/OH guideline on the management of the axilla. Dr Brackstone is the provincial breast lead with Cancer Care Ontario/Ontario Health.

Christine Brezden-Masley, MD PhD FRCPC

Director, Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre
Medical Oncologist, Medical Director, Cancer Program, Sinai Health System
Toronto, ON

Christine Brezden-Masley, MD PhD FRCPC is a senior practicing Medical Oncologist and the Medical Director of the Cancer Program at Sinai Health System in Toronto, Canada. She is also the Director of the Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre at Sinai Health and holds the Marvelle Koffler Chair in Breast Research. She obtained her PhD in Medical Biophysics at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto and her Medical Degree from the University of Toronto. She is a Full Professor at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto and an Associate Scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Toronto, Canada.

She treats both breast and gastrointestinal (colorectal and gastric cancers) malignancies, which are her major areas of research interest. Her main area of clinical research is cardiotoxicity from cancer therapy and is the Past-President of the Canadian Cardio-Oncology Network (2017-2022). She also serves on the International Cardio-Oncology Society (ICOS) annual summit steering committee. She co-chairs the Junior Mentoring Program JuMP that fosters mentorship/sponsorship of junior medical oncology faculty across Canada and serves on the executive of WinC (Women in Cancer/All in Cancer). She is an advocate for patients and serves as a board member of ReThink Breast Cancer and MyGutFeeling, she is a Nucleus Member of the REAL Alliance with Breast Cancer Canada, and also serves on the scientific committee for the Colorectal Cancer Resource & Action Network.

Sara Hurvitz, MD, FACP

Medical Oncologist, University of Washington School of Medicine
Senior Vice President, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Seattle, WA

Dr. Sara Hurvitz, is a Professor of Medicine, medical oncologist, and clinical research leader at the University of Washington School of Medicine, where she serves as Division Head of Hematology/Oncology. She is also the Senior Vice President of the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, where she holds the Smith Family Endowed Chair in Women’s Health.

Dr. Hurvitz earned her medical degree from the University of Southern California, then completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at UCLA, where she also served as Chief Resident. She went on to complete a hematology/oncology fellowship at UCLA in 2006 and is board-certified in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology.

An international expert in breast oncology, Dr. Hurvitz has extensive experience leading clinical trials across all phases. For 17 years, she directed the breast cancer clinical trials program at UCLA and served as Medical Director of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center until 2023, when she joined UW and Fred Hutch in her current leadership roles. Dr. Hurvitz has received numerous honors, including the Marni Levine Memorial Breast Cancer Research Award (2008–2015) and the European Society of Medical Oncology Breast Cancer Award (2023). She maintains an active clinical practice focused on the treatment of women with breast cancer and continues to lead and design multiple national and international trials exploring new targeted therapies.

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.

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

Justin Oh, MD, FRCPC

Department of Radiation Oncology
BC Cancer, Vancouver, BC 

Justin is a radiation oncologist at BC Cancer – Vancouver who specializes in CNS, spine, and pediatric tumors. He obtained his undergraduate degree at Cornell University, followed by medical degree and residency training at University of Toronto and University of British Columbia respectively. He subsequently completed a pediatric and CNS fellowship at Stanford University. He has particular interest in population-based outcomes of brain metastasis.