Versha Banerji, MD, FRCPC

Associate Professor
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB

Dr. Banerji obtained her MD and residency training in Internal Medicine and Hematology at the University of Manitoba. She then completed a post-doctoral fellowship in translational research at the Harvard Cancer Centre/ Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Broad Institute of MIT. She is a Senior Scientist at the CancerCare Manitoba Research Institute, Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba, and a Clinician-Scientist at CancerCare Manitoba. She Co-leads the CLL clinic and is involved in several clinical trials and population-based treatment studies. As Co-chair of the CLL Research Program she manages a multi-disciplinary research team in clinical, fundamental and translational research. Her own laboratory is evaluating mitochondrial bioenergetics and function as a measure of cancer cell metabolism.

Jennifer R. Brown, M.D., Ph.D

Director, CLL Center & Institute Physician
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Worthington and Margaret Collette Professor of
Medicine in the Field of Hematologic Oncology
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA

Jennifer R. Brown, M.D., Ph.D. is the Director of the CLL Center of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and the Worthington and Margaret Collette Professor of Medicine in the Field of Hematologic Oncology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Brown completed a B.S. and M.S. simultaneously in molecular biophysics and biochemistry (MB&B) at Yale, graduating summa cum laude with distinction. She proceeded to Harvard Medical School where she received her M.D. and Ph.D. in molecular genetics in 1998 and was awarded the James Tolbert Shipley Prize. She then served as an intern and resident in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital followed by a fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at DFCI. Dr. Brown joined the faculty of DFCI and Harvard Medical School in 2004, where she has an active clinical-translational research program in CLL.

Her interests include the development of novel targeted therapeutics for CLL, as well as CLL genomics. She has been instrumental in the clinical development of idelalisib, ibrutinib, and zanubrutinib, leading to their regulatory approvals in CLL. Her genomics work has characterized the somatic mutation profile of CLL, and she also has a longstanding research interest in the inherited predisposition to CLL. To date, she has published about 335 papers in the scientific literature, predominantly in CLL. In 2014 she was the recipient of two awards from DFCI, the Clinical Innovation Award, as well as the George Canellos Award. She is a member of the International Workshop on CLL (iwCLL) and Chair of the 20th International Workshop on CLL, held in Boston in 2023. She enjoys a worldwide reputation as a CLL expert having made the Highly Cited Researchers list by Clarivate, with multiple papers ranking in the top 1% by citations for their field and year of publication.

Luciano J Costa, MD, PhD.

Professor of Medicine
Senior Clinical Investigator,
University of Alabama,
Birmingham O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center
Birmingham, AL

Dr Costa obtained a medical degree and subsequently PhD from Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil. He trained in Hematology and Medical Oncology at University of Colorado and in Blood and Marrow Transplantation at Mayo Clinic, Rochester- MN. He is currently Professor of Medicine and Senior Clinical Investigator at University of Alabama at Birmingham O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center where he also direct the Multiple Myeloma Research and Treatment Program. Dr Costa leads several multi-institutional and international projects exploring new cellular and immunotherapies and minimal residual disease in myeloma.

Matthew Lunning D.O., FACP

Associate Professor, Division of Hematology/Oncology
Associate Vice Chair of Research, Department of Internal Medicine
Assistant Vice Chancellor of Clinical Research
Medical Director of Gene & Cellular Therapies
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Lincoln, NE

Matthew Lunning D.O., FACP, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Lunning also is Associate Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Internal Medicine, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Clinical Research, and Medical Director of Gene & Cellular Therapies.

He received his medical degree from Des Moines University in 2006. Dr. Lunning completed his internal medicine residency at UNMC where he served as Chief Medical Resident. He completed his Hematology/Oncology fellowship and served as the Hematology Chief Fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Lunning returned to UNMC in 2013 and has been active in clinic research, research mentoring, education, and patient care. Dr. Lunning was the recipient of the Distinguish Scientist Award in 2019.

Dr. Lunning has served on several National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s guidelines committees including the Immunotherapy Toxicity & T-cell lymphoma panels. He has served as an invited member of ASCO’s Cancer Education Committee on the Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. He is the co-organizer of the Pan Pacific Lymphoma Conference.

Paola Neri, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Medicine,
Attending Physician, Hematology Division, University of Calgary
Member, Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute
Scientific Director, Translational Research Core,
Arthur Child Comprehensive Cancer Center
Calgary, AB

Dr. Paola Neri, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor of Medicine, attending physician in the Hematology division at University of Calgary and member of the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute. Since January 2019 she has been the Scientific Director of the Translational Research Core at the Arthur Child Comprehensive Cancer Center in Calgary.

Dr. Neri received her medical degree at Magna Græcia University, Catanzaro, Italy in 2000. She completed her specialty in Medical Oncology at Magna Græcia University, Catanzaro, Italy in 2005 and received a PhD in Molecular Oncology and Experimental Immunology in 2011.  From 2003-2006 she was Research Associate at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA under the mentorship of Dr. Kenneth Anderson. In June 2008, she joined the University of Calgary.

The main focus of her research is the study of multiple myeloma (MM) with a particular interest in genomic studies with the goal of identifying mechanisms of drug resistance and discover novel therapeutic targets for this incurable disease.

Dr. Neri is well published in the field and received national and international grants from several agencies including International Myeloma Society, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR).

In 2019 she received the Engineered Air Chair (research funds) in Cancer Research from University of Calgary. In 2021 she was selected by the International Myeloma Society to receive the Ken Anderson Young Investigator Award for her impressive translational work in multiple myeloma.

She is currently member of the American Society of Hematology, co-chair of Charbonneau Research & Innovation Committee in Calgary and member of Blood Editorial Board, very active both in preclinical and clinical trial research in Myeloma.

Gilles Salles, MD, PhD

Chief, Lymphoma Service
Division of Hematologic Malignancies
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, NY

Gilles Salles, MD, PhD, was appointed Chief of the Lymphoma Service at MSK in 2020. He previously held the position of Professor of Hematology and Medicine at the University of Lyon and Head of the Department of Hematology at the Hospices Civils de Lyon, Centre Hospitalier Lyon-Sud, in Pierre-Bénite, France.

Dr. Salles obtained his medical degree and his doctoral degree in differentiation, genetics, and immunology from the Université Claude Bernard Lyon-1. He completed further training as a researcher in oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of Harvard Medical School.
Throughout his career, Dr. Salles has been especially interested in the clinical and biological study of lymphoma. The primary focus of his work is on the description and validation of prognostic factors and clinical trials in indolent lymphomas. His team has also examined several aspects of lymphoma biology, including T-cell and B-cell lymphoma models, signaling, and genomic biology of indolent lymphomas.

Dr. Salles has been involved in the investigation and development of new therapeutic agents such as targeted therapies, new monoclonal antibodies, and other immunotherapies in the field. He has led large international studies evaluating treatment options in patients with follicular lymphoma.

A member of several international societies, including the American Society of Hematology, Dr. Salles is also the author of more than 600 publications, including articles in international peer-reviewed journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, The Journal of Clinical Oncology, The Lancet, Haematologica, Lancet Oncology, and Leukemia and Lymphoma.

Judith Trotman, MBChB, FRACP, FRCPA

Haematologist,
Concord Repatriation General Hospital,
University of Sydney
Chair of the Australasian Leukaemia Lymphoma Group (ALLG) Scientific Advisory Committee
Sydney, Australia

Professor Judith Trotman (MBChB, FRACP, FRCPA) is a Haematologist, Concord Repatriation General Hospital, University of Sydney, and was Head of Haematology 2019-2024 and Founding Director 2004 -2019 of the Concord Haematology Clinical Research Unit, where she built a large portfolio of both investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored lymphoma trials with PET-adapted approaches and the introduction of novel targeted therapies. She is the current Chair of the Australasian Leukaemia Lymphoma Group (ALLG) Scientific Advisory Committee and as a past ALLG Lymphoma Working Party Chair she maintains close collaborations with other lymphoma co-operative groups leading the ALLG’s contribution to past (RATHL, REMARC, RELEVANCE) and current (PETReA, RADAR) Phase III trials. She provides global leadership in charting the role of PET scanning in lymphoma, especially follicular lymphoma (PET in PRIMA, FOLLCOLL, GALLIUM, RePLy and PETReA studies). Committed to EDI initiatives in lymphoma research she was the Founding Chair of Women in Lymphoma and has developed a number of digital initiatives in physician-patient partnerships, including the ClinTrial Refer smartphone App, the My Hodgkin My Health App, and the WhiMSICAL study – a global patient-derived database for patients with WM.

Kyla Bailey, BSP

Clinical pharmacist – Hematology, Oncology, Blood and Marrow Transplant, Pharmacy Services
Arthur Child Cancer Centre
Alberta Health Services
Calgary, AB

Kyla graduated from University of Saskatchewan in 2003 and currently works for Alberta Health Services at the Arthur Child Cancer Centre as a clinical hematology/BMT pharmacist. She has practiced in many diverse settings, including community, geriatrics, hospital outpatient, and oncology. Since joining the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in 2014, she first developed her oncology clinical skills in the Oral Chemotherapy Management program, before moving into the Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant clinics, where she has practiced for 9 years. She obtained her Advanced Prescribing rights in 2014, which allows pharmacist-led supportive clinical care management. Kyla continues to be involved as a preceptor for the Alberta Health Services Residents and the University of Alberta PharmD students during their hematology rotations to mentor and develop oncological clinical skills in new practitioners.

Sara Beattie, PhD. R. Psych.

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Oncology,
Cumming School of Medicine
Clinical Psychologist & Director of Clinical Education,
Department of Psychosocial Oncology,
Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre
Calgary, AB

Dr. Sara Beattie is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology, Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary and Psychologist and Director of Clinical Education for the Department of Psychosocial Oncology at the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre. Clinically, Dr. Beattie is a Clinical, Health and Rehabilitation Psychologist supporting the Alberta Bone Marrow and Blood Cell Transplant and Hematology Programs. Using an integrative approach, she cares for patients and their loved ones with a focus on reducing distress and improving quality of life. Dr. Beattie has a special interest in the adolescent young adult (AYA) population and helping couples cope with cancer diagnoses, treatment, survivorship, and end of life.

Dr. Beattie is a clinician investigator and is actively involved in program development, evaluation, research, and collaborations with the interdisciplinary team. Her research focuses on the psychosocial impact of HCT on patients and their loved ones, development of groups and classes to support AYAs and individuals impacted by cancer.

Jodi Collier, RN, BScN, MN, CON(C)

Quality Consultant
Quality, Safety and Practice Integration
Cancer Care Alberta
Red Deer, AB

Jodi Collier is a certified oncology nurse from Red Deer Alberta. Jodi began her career in pharmacy at CCI as a technician and then went on to obtain a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Alberta. Jodi spent a year in the ICU and then returned to oncology, her first love, where she has been ever since. As an oncology nurse Jodi has worked in systemic, radiation, charge, education, community support, and quality roles. Jodi completed her Masters in Nursing Leadership through the University of Saskatchewan in 2023. Her paper “An Integrative Review of Strategies to prevent and Treat Compassion Fatigue in Oncology Nurses” was published in the Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal (CONJ). Currently Jodi is the Manager of Clinical Education for Cancer Care Alberta.

Nicole Crisp, MN, NP-Adult

Nurse Practitioner,
Northern Alberta Blood and Marrow Transplant Program,
Cross Cancer Institute
Edmonton, AB

Nicole Crisp, MN, NP-Adult, is a nurse practitioner working in the Northern Alberta Blood and Marrow Transplant program at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Canada. She also provides leadership and professional practice support for nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist roles across Alberta Health Services as Provincial Senior Practice Lead.

Both her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in nursing were earned at the University of Alberta, and her twenty-year nursing career has been dedicated to patients with hematologic malignancies, including recipients of stem cell transplantation. Her published research relates to the impact of home chemotherapy programs, quality of life in MDS patients, and the evidence for (and against) medical cannabinoids in oncology, amongst other topics.

Cameron Roessner, BSc. Pharm, PharmD

Pharmacist – Inpatient Hematology, BMT, and Cellular Therapy
Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre
Calgary, AB

Cameron Roessner is a clinical pharmacist specializing in Bone Marrow Transplantation and Hematology at the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Calgary, Alberta. Cameron is particularly interested in exploring innovative treatment options for hematological malignancies and developing strategies to improve their safety and tolerability. In addition, Cameron dedicates part of their practice to non-malignant hematology, caring for patients with rare blood disorders such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia. Cameron is passionate about advancing pharmacist involvement in the multidisciplinary care of hematology patients.

Fay J. Strohschein, RN, PhD

Nurse, Adjunct Assistant Professor
Departments of Psychiatry, Community Health Sciences, and Medicine
Cumming School of Medicine
University of Calgary
Calgary, AB

Fay Strohschein is a nurse and Adjunct Assistant Professor with the Departments of Psychiatry, Medicine, and Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. She recently completed a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Health System Impact Postdoctoral Fellowship in collaboration with the Cancer Strategic Clinical Network, Alberta Health Services. Her postdoctoral research focused on understanding the needs and concerns of older adults during cancer diagnosis and care in Alberta. She completed her PhD in Nursing at McGill University, with a joint focus on psychosocial oncology and aging. Her dissertation research explored cancer treatment decision making from the perspective of adults aged 70 years and older, providing insight into the cognitive, practical, and relational aspects of the decision-making process.
Dr. Strohschein’s research interests grew from her clinical work with the Consultation Service for Senior Oncology Patients at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, where she worked as a nurse navigator, clinical nurse specialist, and clinical research coordinator. Dr. Strohschein co-founded and currently co-chairs the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology (CANO/ACIO) Oncology & Aging Special Interest Group and is an active member of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) Nursing, Allied Health, and Scientists Interest Group. With these groups, she led the development of a national position statement concerning nursing practice and care of older adults with cancer. She also co-led the development of Caring for Older Adults with Cancer: A Toolkit for Oncology Nurses, recently released in English and French. Her current work is focused on implementation of supportive care services that address the needs and concerns of older adults with cancer in Alberta.