2025 Canadian Hematology Today Symposium on B-Cell Malignancies

April 11–13, 2025
Join us from April 11 to 13 at The Omni King Edward Hotel in Toronto for the 2025 Symposium on B-Cell Malignancies.
Conference Objectives
  • Provide current and high-quality information on the latest developments in the management of B-cell malignancies
  • Create collegial learning opportunities that enable clinicians to incorporate real-world learnings into their practice
  • Foster discussions that allow for the sharing of knowledge and experience among delegates and representatives
  • Respond to emerging professional needs for specific and in-depth information on newly available and forthcoming therapies for B-cell malignancies in the Canadian market
Scientific Steering Committee
Dr. Diego Villa
MD, MPH, FRCPC
BC Cancer Agency University of British Columbia

Dr. Julie Stakiw

MD, FRCPC

Saskatchewan Cancer Agency University of Saskatchewa

Dr. Isabelle Fleury

MD, FRCPC

Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital University of Montreal

Faculty

Dr. Ash Alizadeh

Dr. Kelly Davison​

Dr. Tycel Phillip

Dr. Gita Thanarajasingam

Conference Agenda
Friday, April 11, 2025
7:00am
Buffet Breakfast & Networking Period
All
8:00am
BeiGene Sponsored Breakfast Symposium
Recent Therapeutic Advancements in Relapsed Refractory Follicular Lymphoma: Application of New Clinical Data
Dr. Laurie Sehn, Dr. Sarit Assouline
8:45am
Steering Committee Welcome & Learning Objectives
Dr. Diego Villa
Topic 1: Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
8:55am
Management of Relapsed/Refractory Mantle Cell Lymphoma
Dr. Diego Villa
9:30am
Frontline therapy of FL in Canada: moving beyond BR + maintenance
Dr. Laurie Sehn
10:05am
CAR-T therapy in iNHL
Dr. Paolo Strati
10:20am
Panel Discussion (Moderated by Dr. Diego Villa)
Dr. Robert Kridel, Dr. Mary-Margaret Keating, Dr. Ciara Freeman
10:40pm
Health Break
All
Topic 2: Hodgkin Lymphoma
11:00am
Immunotherapy in HL: role in 1L and treatment for R/R disease
Dr. Reid Merryman
11:35am
Panel Discussion (Moderated by Dr. Diego Villa)
Dr. Kelly Davison, Dr. John Kuruvilla, Dr. Reid Merryman
12:00pm
Buffet Lunch & Networking
All
12:30pm
Incyte Biosciences Sponsored Lunch Symposium
The Evolving Landscape of R/R DLBCL: Navigating the Treatment Options
Dr. Isabelle Fleury, Dr. Mary Margaret Keating
Topic 3: Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
1:00pm
First line therapy in CLL : BTKi vs BCL2i vs combined therapies
Dr. Sarit Assouline
1:35pm
Treatment strategy for relapse after BCL2i : rechallenge vs BTKi
Dr. John Allan
2:10pm
CLL Richter in the era of targeted therapies
Dr. Jean-Francois Larouche
2:45pm
Panel Discussion (Moderated by Dr. Isabelle Fleury)
Dr. Versha Banerji, Dr. John Allan, Dr. Jean-Francois Larouche
3:05pm
Health Break
All
Topic 4: Multiple Myeloma
3:20pm
CAR-T and BiTes in MM
Dr. Ciara Freeman
3:55pm
The Current and Future Landscape of MM in Canada
Dr. Darrell White
4:20pm
Panel Discussion (Moderated by Dr. Julie Stakiw)
Dr. Ciara Freeman, Dr. Richard Leblanc, Dr. Darrell White
4:50pm
Steering Committee Closing Remarks
Dr. Julie Stakiw, Dr. Isabelle Fleury
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Canadian Hematology Today provides a forum for the clinical community to share real-world experience and the latest best practices in the treatment and management of hematologic disease.

The journal is published thrice yearly in English and French and is circulated to over 1,100 hematology clinicians and researchers across Canada. It features peer-reviewed articles that present robust clinical perspectives and practical insights into disease management.

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Following his clinical subspecialty, Hematology and Medical Oncology training at Stanford, he completed his postdoctoral studies with Ron Levy and Irv Weissman. During this time, he worked on molecular outcome prediction in DLBCL, developing a statistical framework for the identification of small numbers of genes for robust risk stratification and prognosis.  Working with Irv Weissman, he identified CD47 expression as an adverse prognostic factor in non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and a therapeutic target of novel monoclonal antibodies that synergize to eradicate tumors.

 

The Alizadeh Lab studies genomic biomarkers of tumors, whether detected through biopsy of primary tissues, or non-invasively through monitoring blood using circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). His group developed Cancer Personalized Profiling by deep Sequencing (CAPP-Seq) as a novel method for ctDNA detection, and developed a novel cell deconvolution framework (CIBERSORT). His group applies such genomic tools for early detection, diagnosis, and monitoring of diverse tumors. In this effort, his group builds and employs tools from functional genomics, computational biology, molecular genetics, and mouse models.

Dr. Kelly Davison is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at McGill University,
and a hematologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University Health Centre. She initially obtained her medical degree from McGill University after completing a PhD in the field of molecular oncology. Thereafter, she pursued residency training in Internal Medicine, and subspecialty training in Hematology, at McGill University, followed by a two-year fellowship in lymphoma and autologous stem cell transplantation at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Dr.
Davison joined the MUHC’s division of Hematology in 2013, where she continues to have clinical and research interests that centre on the management of lymphoma. She is a member
of the MUHC’s stem cell transplant and immune effector cell therapy group and is the clinical CAR-T lead for lymphoma. She is an active member of the Canadian Cancer Trials Group’s lymphoma subcommittee and was the Canadian chair on the recently completed HDC.1 trial evaluating a novel treatment strategy for advanced stage Hodgkin lymphoma.

Dr. Tycel J. Phillips, M.D. is a Hematologist-Oncologist and Associate Professor of Medicine at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duarte, CA. Dr. Phillips earned his medical degree from Rush University, followed by a residency in internal medicine at the John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County in Chicago. He completed his fellowship training in oncology/hematology at University Hospitals in Cleveland. Before joining City of Hope, he was a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Michigan, where he was appointed the Maria Reinhardt DeCesare Research Professor of Blood Cancers and Bone Marrow Transplantation. Cancer care is a personal mission for Dr. Phillips. Leading clinical trials into new targeted therapies is a vital part of his work. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed studies and attracted dozens of research grants.

Dr. Phillips currently serves as an executive committee member on the Lymphoma Research Foundation’s Mantle Cell Lymphoma Consortium, guiding the MCLC by identifying gaps in research and patient care for the MCL patient population.

Dr. Gita Thanarajasingam is an Associate Professor of Medicine and consultant in the Division of Hematology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  She is a graduate of Yale University and Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and completed her residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School. After Hematology and Oncology Fellowship and Advanced Lymphoma Fellowship at Mayo Clinic, she joined the faculty of the Mayo Clinic Rochester Lymphoma disease-oriented group. Her clinical practice as an oncologist is focused on Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and she performs health outcomes research in lymphoma and other cancers.  As a clinical investigator, her work focuses on improving the evaluation of adverse events (AEs) of treatment and measuring their impact on treatment tolerability cancer patients. She developed the Toxicity over Time (ToxT), a longitudinal patient-focused approach to AE evaluation.  She is active in the implementation of patient-reported outcomes (PRO) to better understand treatment toxicity and tolerability.  She serves of as vice co-chair of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology Health Outcomes Committee and is the recipient of K and U01 grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.  She leads the ongoing international multi-stakeholder Lancet Haematology Commission, “Beyond maximum grade: modernizing the assessment and reporting of adverse events in hematological malignancies.” She is an international advisory board member of the Lancet Haematology and an ad-hoc member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncology Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC) with expertise in toxicity assessment. Her research program overall endeavors to improve the accuracy and patient-centeredness of AE evaluation and better understand cancer treatment tolerability from the patient’s perspective.