The Canadian Association of Pharmacy in Oncology (CAPhO) held its Annual General Meeting and Awards Presentations on Saturday, June 6. During the virtual conference, CAPhO members participated in online sessions, awards and poster presentations.
During this year’s conference BC Cancer professional practice leader Dr. Mario de Lemos, arguably one of Canada’s top pharmacists, received the Larry Broadfield Distinguished Service Award. Last year Dr. de Lemos received a fellowship from CAPhO – one of only seven Canadian pharmacists to receive this distinction. This year’s award constitutes the highest honour that CAPhO bestows recognizing long serving members who have made ongoing contributions to oncology pharmacy practice in Canada.
In addition to his role as the professional practice leader for BC Cancer Provincial Pharmacy and the provincial drug information coordinator, Dr. de Lemos is also a clinical associate professor with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia.
In addition to the accolades for Dr. de Lemos, BC Cancer Pharmacy Resident Dr. Maxwell Gillatt and his project preceptor, Adeline Markarian, and the research team which includes Drs. Diego Villa, Mario de Lemos, and Lynne Nakashima along with Stephanie Woo, Kimberly Schaff, and Connie Son received the Best Overall Poster for Research – Clinical for his poster entitled “Use, Response, and Outcomes of Brentuximab Vedotin in Transplant-Ineligible Relapsed or Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients”. This project was a real world evaluation to determine the outcomes of BC Cancer patients with relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma who were not eligible for stem cell transplant but did receive the medication brentuximab vedotin. In this study, Dr. Gillatt and all found that the results in clinical trials, with patients who meet certain criteria, was held true to the general patient population. Dr. Gillatt is just finishing his BC Cancer Pharmacy Residency Program and this poster represented his final residency project. Next step for Dr. Gillatt will be taking on a permanent role at BC Cancer as a clinical pharmacist.
“I am extremely proud of Dr. de Lemos and Dr. Gillatt and the research team,” says Lynne Nakashima, BC Cancer provincial pharmacy director. “From those who are new in their field to long-tenured team members, it is a great feeling to see BC Cancer Pharmacy staff recognized for their leadership in oncology pharmacy practice. For us, the greatest sense of pride comes from being able to help patients and knowing that our work makes a difference in their lives.”
Congratulations to all BC Cancer award winners from this year’s CAPhO Conference.