Scientists

Dr. Amaris Balitsky is a hematologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology. She conducts health services research. Her areas of interest include CAR-T cell therapy, virtual care and remote monitoring, and patient related outcomes.

Dr. Tobias Berg is a hematologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology. He is the inaugural Boris Family Chair for Leukemia and Hemopoietic Stem Cell Research. He is Head of the HHS McMaster Cancer Research Stem Cell Bank and leading the Translational Oncology Program within McMaster’s Centre for Discovery in Cancer Research (CDCR). The current focus of his research is on identifying determinants of treatment response in acute myeloid leukemia. He is studying the role of epigenetic regulators in this context and their interplay with regulators of lineage-specific differentiation, metabolism and immune recognition.
Dr. Berg has been successful in obtaining infrastructure funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research Development Fund. He has received an Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) Clinical Translation Pathway Award.

Denise Bryant-Lukosius, RN, PhD holds the Alba DiCenzo Chair in Advanced Practice Nursing and is a Professor of Nursing. Her research interests lie in patient outcomes and quality care.

Dr. Elysa Donovan is a radiation oncologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology. She has a research interest in oligometastatic disease.

Dr. Mira Goldberg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology. Her research interests include the treatment of patients with breast cancer, radiation fractionation, and quality assurance in radiation trials. She is very involved in clinical trials at the Juravinski Cancer Centre and through OCOG and took a leadership role in the development of detailed contouring guidelines currently used in clinical trials of breast cancer nodal irradiation such as the MA.39 and RHEAL clinical trials. Dr. Goldberg hopes to capitalize on her experience in clinical trials research and her understanding of radiation fractionation to explore alternate fractionation regimens for sarcomas of the extremity.

Dr. Rosalyn Juergens is a medical oncologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology. She is head of the Clinical Trials Department at the Juravinski Cancer Centre. Dr. Juergens’ clinical expertise is in lung and esophageal cancer. She is a patient advocate and serves as the Medical Advisory Committee Chair for Lung Cancer Canada and is past chair of the Investigational New Drug Committee of the Canadian Cancer Trials Group. Her research interest is in novel drug therapies and precision medicine.

Dr. Peter Kavsak is a clinical chemist and Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine. His major research focus involves clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine testing to improve patient care.

Dr. Aly-Khan Lalani is a medical oncologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology. His clinical expertise is in genitourinary malignancies and rare cancers. His research passion is clinical trial design and translational research related to novel therapies in kidney cancer. He is leading a randomized trial called CYTOSHRINK, “Cytoreductive Stereotactic Hypofractionated Radiotherapy with Combination Ipilimumab/Nivolumab for Metastatic Kidney Cancer: A Randomized Phase II Study”. He is also interested in the gut microbiome and its role in the host response to immune checkpoint blockade for metastatic renal cell carcinoma and other cancers. Dr. Lalani was awarded the Dr. Elizabeth Eisenhauer Early Drug Development Young Investigator Award for the Canadian Cancer Trials Group in 2022.

Dr. Mark Levine is a medical oncologist and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Oncology.  His research interests include clinical trials and health services research. He was Director of Ontario Clinical Oncology Group (OCOG) for many years. He established Escarpment Cancer Research Institute (ECRI) and was the first Scientific Director. Dr. Levine is a Member of the Order of Canada.

Dr. Oren Levine is a medical oncologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology. He has clinical expertise in gastrointestinal malignancies and breast cancer. His research addresses: 1) communication training for person-centred care for patients and families with advanced cancer diagnosis, 2) evaluating electronic learning in oncology, and 3) early integration of a palliative approach to care in oncology for patients with advanced cancer.

Dr. Hira Mian is a hematologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology. Her clinical expertise is in multiple myeloma which is also the focus of her research. The aims of her research are to optimize and improve outcomes in these patients using real-world registry data and with interventional clinical trials. She has received funding from the Juravinski Cancer Foundation, the Hamilton Health Sciences New Investigator Fund as well as an Early Career Research Award from Hamilton Health Sciences. She is also the recipient of the 2022 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada Grant which will be used for the development of a predictive tool for patients with non-curable hematologic malignancies. She is a board member of Myeloma Canada and an active members with the Canadian Cancer Trial Group as well as the Canadian Myeloma Research Group.

Dr. Sameer Parpia is an Associate Professor and Biostatistician in the Departments of Oncology and Health Research Methods, Evidence, & Impact at McMaster University, Canada. His interests and expertise are in clinical trials. As a senior biostatistician, he provides statistical and methodological leadership for several clinical trials and other health research project.

Dr. Elena Parvez is a surgical oncologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery. Her clinical expertise and research interests are in breast cancer. She is exploring breast cancer outcomes in refugees to Canada who have breast cancer. She has received funding from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to conduct a trial which identifies a strategy to avoid post-neoadjuvant radiation therapy in patients with locally advanced breast cancer who have a complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Dr. Greg Pond is the Director of the Escarpment Cancer Research Institute (ECRI). He is a biostatistician and an Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology. He is the Associate Director of Ontario Clinical Oncology Group ( OCOG). He holds an Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) Senior Scientist Award. His expertise is in cancer clinical trials, especially Phase I and II trials.

Dr. Ashirbani Saha is an engineer and a data scientist with expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning. She has a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She serves as the inaugural BRIGHT Run Breast Cancer Learning Health System Chair at McMaster University. Her work will open the door to applying artificial intelligence in oncology research that will improve the lives of cancer patients.

Dr. Kara Schnarr is a radiation oncologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology. Her research interests are Gynecological cancers, SBRT and health services research. She has collaborative projects through the ICES cancer research program at McMaster University.

Dr. Hsien Seow is a health services researcher and Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology. He holds a Canada Research Chair (CRC) Tier II Chair in Palliative Care and Health System Innovation and directs the McMaster ICES Hub. He is a national leader in research related to palliative care in oncology.

Dr. Pablo E. Serrano is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at McMaster University, joining in 2014 after finishing his fellowship in Hepatobiliary Surgical Oncology at the University of Toronto. He completed his PhD with the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact at McMaster University and his thesis focused on “Factors Affecting Recruitment to Surgical Oncology Clinical Trials and Opportunities to Improve Accrual”. He is an active researcher and scientist and has led several multidisciplinary trials in hepatobiliary oncology. He is an Associate Member of the Centre for Discovery in Cancer Research (CDCR) at McMaster University, a cancer research centre that develops collaboration and synergy between scientists and clinicians, focusing on comprehensive translational studies that inform the rational development of combinational therapies for cancer treatment.

Dr. Marko Simunovic is a Surgical Oncologist at the Juravinski Cancer Centre and a Professor in the Department of Surgery at McMaster University. He is also affiliated with the McMaster Department of Oncology, and, the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact. His clinical area is colorectal cancer while his research focuses on patient safety and surgeon-directed quality initiatives.

Dr. Jonathan Sussman is Professor and Chair of the Department of Oncology at McMaster University. He is a radiation oncologist and his focus is primarily on the treatment of breast and hematological malignancies. Dr. Sussman’s research focus is in health services research and he has extensive experience in the design and evaluation of models of cancer survivorship care from the patient, provider and health systems perspectives. Dr. Sussman is the Scientific Director of the Ontario Program in Evidence-Based Care (PEBC), the province-wide guideline and evidence development program for Ontario’s cancer system

Dr. Anand Swaminath is a radiation oncologist, clinician scientist and Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology. His research interest is in stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). He has conducted one of the very few randomized trials evaluating SBRT in early stage lung cancer. The trial is funded by the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute (CCSRI). He is also leading trials evaluating SBRT in primary liver and kidney cancers, as well as in metastatic disease.

Dr. Tim Whelan is a radiation oncologist and Professor in the Department of Oncology. He holds a Canada Research Chair (CRC) Tier I Chair in Breast Cancer Research. He is an international leader in clinical trials evaluating radiation treatment regimens in breast cancer.

Dr. Jim Wright is a radiation oncologist and Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology.  He previously was Head of the Division of Radiation Oncology at the Juravinski Cancer Centre (JCC). He is the new Director of the Ontario Clinical Oncology Group (OCOG).

Dr. Karen Zhang is a psychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences. Her research interests are in understanding and addressing psychosocial factors that impact patient adjustment to malignant diseases.