Dr. Cheryl Ho Medical Oncologist Dr. Cheryl Ho studied biochemistry at the University of Toronto, followed by a medical degree from the University of Western Ontario. She completed her medical oncology training at the BC Cancer Agency in 2003 and following a thoracic oncology fellowship at the University of California, Davis Campus medical centre, joined the BC Cancer Agency staff in 2006. As a medical oncologist, Dr. Ho treats lung and head & neck cancer and strives to find better solutions for patients and their families. By applying knowledge gained from clinical trials, Dr. Ho and her colleagues are improving treatment options and gaining knowledge that will have a significant impact in the future. You can read Dr. Ho’s blog posts here.
Learning from the Past and Looking Forward By Dr. Cheryl Ho on Nov 27, 2013 So what does the future hold? I’ve talked about how we look back to learn from our mistakes and our successes but we also need to look forward to plan where we will focus our resources. Since I have been involved in oncology I’ve witnessed a dramatic change in the way we approach lung cancer. When I started, we treated all non small cell lung cancers the same – we did not have the tools to select the best treatment based on the subtype of cancer. Fast forward ten years and suddenly we realize that lung cancer can be subdivided into many different types based on different mutations AND even... Continue Reading BC Cancer Research Centre, Lung cancer, Personalized Onco-Genomics (POG)
Philanthropy Supporting Lung Cancer Research By Dr. Cheryl Ho on Nov 20, 2013 Much of my research at the BC Cancer Agency would not exist without the philanthropy of our donors. Lung cancer research has traditionally been underfunded in comparison to many other tumour types. We have been incredibly fortunate to be generously supported by the Eleni Skalbania Endowment for Lung Cancer Research which has been instrumental in allowing us to examine the care of lung cancer patients in B.C. With the backing of the Eleni Skalbania Endowment we have developed a software platform called the Outcomes and Surveillance Integrated System (OaSIS) that enables us to track patient... Continue Reading Inspiration Gala, Lung cancer, OaSIS, PET/CT scan, Philanthropy and Research
Medical Oncology: Improving Outcomes through Research By Dr. Cheryl Ho on Nov 13, 2013 As a medical oncologist who treats lung and head & neck cancer, I have the opportunity to work with many inspiring patients and families. Their positive outlook and strength give me the motivation to find ways of improving outcomes through research. Research is something that I think people often equate with working in a lab performing experiments on cells. But at the BC Cancer Agency we have the whole span of research capabilities: basic science at the BC Cancer Agency Research Centre; clinical trials; evaluating the impact of system changes in how we deliver health care; assessing... Continue Reading Clinical Trials, Head & Neck Cancer, Lung cancer, Medical Oncology, Radiotherapy
Dr. Cheryl Ho: My Route to a Career in Oncology By Dr. Cheryl Ho on Nov 06, 2013 My route to oncology was through coincidence and fortunate choices. As an undergraduate I was always interested in the sciences (the fact that my father is a retired research scientist and while growing up we spent weekends at the lab probably had something to do with that!) I attended the University of Toronto and completed a Bachelors and Masters degree in Biochemistry. In the latter capacity I was working on membrane proteins, evaluating how they were expressed and utilized by cells. It was fortuitous that my Masters’ supervisor, Dr. David Clarke, trained with Dr. Victor Ling who has been... Continue Reading BC Cancer Vancouver Centre
