Meet the Team
Meet the Team: Cancer Care Clinic
A medical oncologist manages your cancer care, starting at the time of diagnosis. The oncologist will explain the cancer diagnosis, what stage it is at, and talk to you about what types of treatment they recommend. They often work with other physicians, like the surgeon, radiologist or pathologist, to create a plan that combines different types of treatments. For example, a patient may need a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy as part of their treatment plan.
Dr. Christine Brezden-Masley is a practicing medical oncologist and the Director of the Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital as well as the Medical Director of the Cancer Program for Sinai Health. She obtained her PhD in medical biophysics at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto and her medical degree from the University of Toronto. She is an associate professor at the University of Toronto and senior scientist in the Clinical Research Group at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto.
Dr. Brezden-Masley is the founder of the COMET (Community Oncologists of Metropolitan Toronto) Clinical Trials Consortium, a web-based virtual network promoting cancer clinical trials throughout the Toronto region. She treats and conducts research on breast and gastrointestinal (colorectal and gastric cancers) malignancies. Her main area of clinical research is cardiotoxicity, a cancer therapy. She has been the Co-Chair of the Annual Canadian Cardio-Oncology Network meeting, a collaborative national meeting that aims to improve cardiac heath in patients with cancer. She is also currently the President of the Canadian Cardio-Oncology Network.
Dr. Ron Burkes is professor of medicine at The University of Toronto and staff medical oncologist at Mount Sinai Hospital/Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PMCC)/University Health Network in Toronto. He was on the medical oncology training committee for the University of Toronto for 23 years and the program director for its medical oncology training program from 1996 to 2005. During his tenor, he introduced the academic half day, the longitudinal clinic experience, the annual medical oncology research day and the staff medical oncology outstanding teaching awards. He was also the director of the Clinical Teaching Unit at the PMCC from 1999 to 2005 and established the teaching curriculum for internal medicine residents rotating through the PMCC. He is now the medical oncology mentorship facilitator for the Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto.
Dr. Burkes has won departmental and university-wide teaching awards on 18 occasions, including the Anderson Award in Program Development and the Hasselback Teaching Award at PMCC. He has presented at many local, provincial, national and international meetings.
His research interests include lung and gastrointestinal malignancies with a primary interest in lung, colorectal and gastric cancers. He has written numerous publications including 122 peer-reviewed, 157 non-peer reviewed and two book chapters.
Dr. Christine Elser is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Toronto with appointments as staff medical oncologist at Mount Sinai Hospital and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Her specialist areas are breast cancer and cancer of unknown primary. She is the head of the Familial Breast Cancer Clinic at the Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre and provides risk reduction counselling and follow-up care for women with a strong family history of breast cancer. She is an investigator in many breast cancer trials and involved in research on familial breast cancer. She is involved in teaching undergraduate students and residents and is a member of the medical oncology training committee.
Dr. Abdul Razak is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto. Clinically, he is a staff medical oncologist in phase 1 clinical trials and sarcoma at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and at Sinai Health, Toronto. He also leads the Medical Oncology Sarcoma Program at both institutions.
Originally from Malaysia, he underwent medical and oncology training in Ireland, England as well as Canada. He is the recipient of several international awards, including the Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (2011), Merit Award from the Conquer Cancer Foundation (2011) and the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Award from the British Lung Foundation (2007). Nationally, Dr. Abdul Razak was also the inaugural recipient of the Sarcoma Cancer Foundation of Canada Fellowship (2013). Locally, his work was recognized by the McCullough and Till Paper of the Year Award (2017) and the Young Investigator Award for Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, University of Toronto (2019).
Dr. Razak’s main interest is new drug development, especially in the field of sarcoma. He has authored papers for publications such as Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Discovery, Clinical Cancer Research and Cancer. He was also the author of the oncology chapter for Davidson’s Textbook of Medicine (23rd and 24th edition). He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles.
Dr. Razak has trained the next generation of sarcoma oncologists from various parts of the world including North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. These fellows have since launched their own successful collaborations. Dr. Razak also has been integral in connecting and training the next generation of drug developers from Ireland and Malaysia within his role at the Drug Development Program at PMCC.
Dr. Geoffrey Watson is a Staff Medical Oncologist at Mount Sinai Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He completed his basic and specialized training in medical oncology in Dublin, Ireland and joined the Drug Development and Sarcoma Programs at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre as a clinical research fellow in 2019. During this time he served as the Chief Fellow of the Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology. During this time he was awarded with a Hold’em for Life Oncology Clinician Scientist Award in 2019, an ASCO Merit Award in 2020 and 2021 as well as the Novartis Oncology Young Canadian Investigator Award in 2020 and 2021. He has also received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science as well as a Master’s degree in Pharmacological Bioinformatics at University College Dublin, Ireland. Dr. Watson’s clinical focus is on the treatment of sarcoma and breast cancer. His academic interest is in patient reported outcomes and quality of life, and he also has an interest in teaching and education, particularly the evolving role of virtual education. He is currently the Integrated Clinical Experience Year 1 (ICE-1) Site Coordinator at Mount Sinai Hospital and also serves on the Virtual Care Continuous Professional Development Committee at the University Health Network.
Dr. Jon Hunter is a psychiatrist who focuses on the psychosocial care of patients undergoing diagnosis and treatment for cancer. As the Head of the Consultation-Liaison Program in the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Hospital, he also teaches undergraduate and post-graduate students and conducts research. The research topics include: minimizing chemotherapy side effects via preemptive relaxation training, psychological support for women in high-risk families and the possible interactions between early life experience and coping with illness. In the clinic, Dr. Hunter sees people for diagnosis and treatment of coping-related issues and distress in cancer, often in collaboration with social work, nursing and oncology colleagues.
An oncology nurse has extra training providing chemotherapy. Your nurse will administer your chemotherapy and supportive medications, take your health history and help you manage any side effects from the treatment.
Oncology social workers are specially trained to help support patients and their families through their cancer experiences. They help navigate possible concerns such as finances and transportation, make referrals to community resources and offer emotional support and counselling.
Some types of genes greatly increase the risk of developing breast cancer. The genetic counsellor at the Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre provides genetic counselling and genetic testing to people with significant family histories of breast cancer to see if they have one of these genes. If we find that a person is at greater risk of breast cancer we can offer him or her approaches to reduce the risk of developing the disease.
A dietitian provides nutrition advice and strategies to patients having difficulty eating normally or who are losing weight as a result of their cancer or cancer treatments. The dietitian will ask you about your complete medical and nutritional history to provide nutrition education and recommendations tailored to your individual needs.
Your treatment plan may include supportive care and/or cancer medications not funded by the Government or only partially covered by your private drug plan. A medication reimbursement specialist (MRS) can provide you with access to patient-support programs that can offer financial assistance, and access to (free) medication or bridging medication while you wait for public or private coverage. The MRS also assists patients that do not have drug coverage, providing information on the Trillium Drug Program and help with the application form. This support is available to help patients navigate the complex drug-support system that includes government and private insurance and drug companies.
Your medication will come from the oncology pharmacist. The pharmacist will explain how your cancer medication works, its purpose and effects, the usual treatment schedule, how it is administered, what side effects to look out for and how to manage or prevent them. The pharmacist will also review your home medications and natural supplements, screen for drug interactions, and go over any dietary restrictions or medication precautions.
If you are First Nations, Inuit or Métis and screening for cancer or have cancer, our Indigenous Patient Navigator can answer your questions about what to expect with upcoming appointments or tests, introduce you to your health care providers, provide you with more information about cancer and treatment, connect you with spiritual support as well as support in the community and assist with applications for financial and transportation services.
You may ask your health care provider to make a referral or you can contact the Navigator directly at 647-309-1794.
The clerical team is essential in keeping the clinic organized, from preparing a patient’s first visit to booking follow up appointments.
They also work closely with our volunteers to help make sure the clinic day runs smoothly and that patients receive extra special care and attention.
Volunteers assist with a range of tasks in the clinic, including providing snacks during a patient’s treatment visit, assisting patients to report their symptoms on the Your Symptoms Matter tablets and replenishing our education materials on display.
