Canadian Society of Surgical Oncology
Canadian Society of Surgical Oncology
 

Mission Statement

The Canadian Society of Surgical Oncology (CSSO) is an organization made up of surgical oncologists and general surgeons across Canada that are dedicated to improving Cancer Care in Canada. They do this by performing the following:

  • Facilitating communication between surgeons whose primary interest lies in the field of oncology.

  • Encouraging the formation of surgical oncology training programs in surgical departments in Canadian universities.

  • Promoting the optimum treatment of the patient with cancer through a multi-disciplinary treatment approach.

  • Cooperating with other organizations, including the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC), the Canadian Association of General Surgeons (CAGS), The Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) and Canadian Oncology Societies (COS) in activities designed to achieve these objectives.

  • Fostering the development of education in cancer, for both graduate, undergraduate and continuing medical education.

  • Encouraging the development of research in oncologic surgery.

 

 

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EQUITY, DIVERSITY, & INCLUSIVITY

Non-discrimination Statement

The Canadian Society of Surgical Oncology (CSSO) is deeply committed to the values of diversity, inclusion, and respect. We condemn racism, discrimination, and harassment in all forms. Our individual and shared responsibility as surgeons is to promote and protect the health and welfare of all Canadians. Surgical Oncologists provide care to patients across Canada and have a collective duty to eliminate the impacts of systemic inequalities, racism, and bigotry on the lives of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour across the country. Whether it effects our patients and their families, our colleagues, or our trainees, we acknowledge our responsibility to listen and learn. We must all recognize and challenge those behaviours and practices that threaten our values of equity, diversity, and inclusivity, including racism and other forms of prejudice.

We are committed to ensuring nominations to leadership roles within the CSSO, the selection of our speakers and trainers, and our efforts to attract new members take into consideration the steps necessary to ensure our leadership, faculty, and membership are representative of the surgical oncology community and the diverse voices among surgeons in Canada and are heard and taken into consideration in our decision-making processes.

As Surgical Oncologists in Canada, we are committed to standing against all discrimination, whether it be based on skin colour, ethnicity, poverty, geography, or differences in language, sexual orientation and gender identity, sexuality, or religion.

We are committed to using our positions as healers and the place of privilege this allows us to enjoy; to listen and learn from all those affected by systemic inequality and to doing better.

CSSO Board of Directors
August 2023

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Dr. Ari Meguerditchian

President

Dr. Ari Meguerditchian is an Associate Professor of Surgery and Oncology at McGill University and has been appointed by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada as Vice-Chair of the Speciality Committee in Surgical Oncology.. He completed medical training at the University of Montreal, where he also received a Masters degree in Biomedical Sciences. After a General Surgery residency at Laval University (Quebec City), he pursued post-doctoral research and Surgical Oncology fellowships at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (Buffalo, NY). Dr Meguerditchian currently serves as surgical oncologist and health services researcher at the McGill University Health Centre. His research has received support from the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute. Dr. Meguerditchian focuses on cancer care quality, integration of health informatics resources in clinical practice and the interaction between competency assessment and patient outcomes. He has served as the Director of Undergraduate Surgical Education at the Royal Victoria Hospital (2010-2013) and was the Program Director of the Surgical Oncology Fellowship at McGill University until 2014. During his tenure, the program achieved full accreditation by both the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons and the American Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). As a Program Lead of the Rossy Cancer Network since 2014, Dr. Meguerditchian has established an ambitious research and skills enhancement program in the field of cancer care quality. He is a member of the Comité d’évolution des pratiques en oncolgie (Institut national d’excellence en santé et services sociaux - Québec) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology cancer care quality committee. Dr. Meguerditchian has received the Canadian Association for Medical Education (CAME) Certificate of Merit for excellence in medical education and the David Owen Undergraduate Teaching Award from the Division of General Surgery, (McGill University). In 2015, he received the Bronfman Award for Teaching and Mentorship from the Department of Oncology (McGill University), and in 2025, Dr. Meguerditchian was appointed to the Canadian General Surgery Foundation Board of Directors.

 

Dr. Carolyn Nessim

Past President

Dr. Carolyn Nessim is a Surgical Oncologist at the Ottawa Hospital and Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Ottawa. She is the Program Director for the Complex Surgical Oncology Fellowship Program at the University of Ottawa. She completed her general surgery residency and master’s in biomedical sciences at the University of Montreal and did her Surgical Oncology Fellowships at the University of Toronto and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. Her clinical practice focuses on the treatment of patients with Melanoma, Soft Tissue Sarcoma/GIST, and Gastric cancer.  She is a Clinician Investigator at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI). She leads many collaborative research projects nationally and internationally in melanoma and soft tissue sarcoma. She is the Regional Chair of the Melanoma and Gastric Cancer Communities of Practice for Eastern Ontario and on the Cancer Care Ontario Skin Cancer Advisory Board as well the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Melanoma Measures Panel. She is the Chair of the Research Evaluation Committee of the Trans-Atlantic Australasian Retroperitoneal Sarcoma Working Group (TARPSWG) and a member of the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) Sarcoma Disease site group. She is a section editor for Sarcoma for Annals of Surgical Oncology and a topic editor for Current Oncology. She is the CPD Chair and member of the Board and Executive of the Canadian Association of General Surgeons (CAGS) and is also the Chair of the Surgery and Surveillance working group of the NCIC-Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG). She sits on the Executive of the Canadian Society of Surgical Oncology (CSSO) and the Canadian Gastric Cancer Association (CaGCA). She has more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and is the local PI for multi-international randomized clinical trials like the MELMART-2 and STRASS 2 trials at The Ottawa Hospital.

 

Dr. Trevor Hamilton

President Elect/Vice-President

Dr. Trevor Hamilton completed his medical school at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS and General Surgery training at the University of Calgary. Following this, he completed a fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the University of Toronto and an international fellowship at Severance Hospital/Yonsei Cancer Center in Seoul, Korea for advanced training in minimally invasive gastric cancer surgery. He has also completed a Master’s of Science in Clinical Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, MA. His clinical interest is in advanced gastrointestinal cancers, peritoneal surface malignancies and soft tissue sarcoma. He is appointed as a Clinical Assistant Professor at UBC with privileges at Vancouver General Hospital and BC Cancer. He is also the newly appointed Program Director for the Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship at UBC starting in 2018.

 

Dr. Allison MacIver

Secretary-Treasurer

Dr. Allison Maciver is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Surgery and Oncology at Western University. Dr. Maciver completed her General Surgery residency at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, as well as a Masters of Science in Experimental Surgery through the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Clinician Investigator Program.  Dr. Maciver went on to complete a Fellowship in Complex General Surgical Oncology at Roswell Park, in Buffalo, NY.  

Dr. Maciver is the current Fellowship Director of the Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Western.

Her research interests include knowledge translation and patient outcomes in breast, melanoma, sarcoma and gastric cancer, and access to quality care for patients with appendiceal and peritoneal malignancies.

 

Dr. Sohrab Khorasani

Director of Education

Coming soon!

 

Dr. Amy Bazzarelli

Co-Director of Education

Coming soon!

 

Dr. Julie Hallet

Director of Research

Dr. Hallet is an Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto and a Surgical Oncologist with a clinical practice devoted to hepato-biliary, pancreatic and upper gastrointestinal malignancies at the Odette Cancer Centre - Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Her practice further focuses on minimally invasive therapies, as well as neuroendocrine tumors as part of the Susan Leslie Multidisciplinary Clinic for Neuroendocrine Tumors. She completed general surgery residency and MSc in clinical epidemiology at Université Laval in Québec City, followed by a Surgical Oncology and hepato-pancreatico-biliary fellowship at the University of Toronto, and additional training in advanced minimally invasive and robotic surgery at the Institut de recherche contre les cancers de l’appareil digestif (IRCAD) in Strasbourg, France.

Dr. Hallet holds leadership roles in National and International societies. Among those roles, she serves as the Vice-Chair of the Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary Disease Site Group of the Society of Surgical Oncology, the Chair of the Early Career Group the International Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary Association, and a member of the Guidelines Committee of the North American Neuroendocrine Tumors Society. She is a founding member and sits on the board of directors of the Society of Surgical Ergonomics for which she also co-chairs the Research and Applied Ergonomics Committee. She also serves as Associate Section Editor for the Annals of Surgical Oncology, and is part of the Editorial Board of HPB, the World Journal of Surgery, and the British Journal of Surgery.

Dr. Hallet’s research focuses on health services research to examine processes of care and outcomes in oncology, as well as the utilization of pre-operative 3D imaging to improve outcomes of hepato-pancreatico-biliary malignancies. To support her research, she has received over 5 million dollars in operating grants, including from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research, and prior early career investigator awards from the Society of Surgery of the Alimentary Tract and the North-American Neuroendocrine Tumors Society. Dr. Hallet has over 180 peer-reviewed publications, including many high-impact papers in JAMA Surgery, JAMA Oncology, the Journal of the NCCN, and Annals of Surgery.

 

Dr. Ramy Behman

Co-Director of Research

Dr. Ramy Behman, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Colon & Rectal Surgery within the Division of Surgery at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He is a surgical oncologist specializing in the management of complex colorectal cancer, with a clinical focus on advanced and high-risk colorectal malignancies.

He completed extensive postgraduate surgical training, including general surgery residency and fellowship training in complex general surgical oncology at the University of Toronto. His second clinical fellowship in advanced colorectal surgical oncology was completed at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where he gained specialized expertise in the multidisciplinary management of colorectal cancer.

 Dr. Behman earned a PhD in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research from the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation as part of the surgeon-Scientist Training Program. His doctoral training provided a strong foundation in outcomes research, population-based studies, and health services research, which continues to inform his academic work. 

In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Behman is actively engaged in research focused on surgical outcomes, quality of care, and evidence-based approaches to colorectal cancer treatment. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications examining population-level trends, postoperative outcomes, and disparities in cancer care. His work aims to improve decision-making and optimize outcomes for patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery.  Dr. Behman also contributes to surgical education through teaching and mentorship of trainees.

 

Dr. Ashley Drohan

Member at Large / Communications

 

Dr. Sameer Apte

Member at Large

Coming soon!

 

Dr. Melissa Wood

Member at Large

Dr. Melissa Wood is a Surgical Oncologist and Assistant Professor at the University of Saskatchewan. She has a BSc from the University of British Columbia and completed Medical School at the University of Alberta. She completed her General Surgery Residency at the University of Saskatchewan, and through the Clinical Investigator Program, an MSc in Surgical Science and Practice with Distinction at the University of Oxford. Her fellowship was in Surgical Oncology at the University of Calgary, during which she completed electives in Sarcoma Surgery in Milan, Italy, and Breast Oncoplastics in Bath, United Kingdom.

Her elective practice will cover a breadth of surgical oncology and general surgery including sarcoma, melanoma, skin cancer, complex GI, colorectal oncology, breast cancer, oncoplastic breast surgery, hernias, endoscopy, and benign breast disease. She is joining the Saskatoon Surgical Oncology Group. Her research interests include qualitative surgical outcomes, surgical education, quality improvement, and human factors.

 

Dr. Dan Moldoveanu

Member at Large

Coming soon!

 

Dr. David Cyr

Fellow Representative

Dr. David Cyr is a first-year fellow in the Complex General Surgical Oncology program at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. He earned his MD and completed his General Surgery residency at the University of Toronto, where he also completed a PhD through the Institute of Medical Science as part of the Surgeon-Scientist Training Program. His clinical interests span the full spectrum of surgical oncology, with emphases on advanced gastrointestinal cancers, soft tissue sarcoma, melanoma and other cutaneous cancers, as well as breast cancer.

His doctoral work aimed to improve prognostication in colorectal cancer by characterizing novel clinicopathologic features. His extensive research experience has cultivated expertise in outcomes research, biostatistics, and translational science, and he has a strong record of initiating and sustaining interdisciplinary collaborations.

Dr. Cyr is training to advance his practice in minimally invasive and robotic techniques, and to develop expertise in the multidisciplinary management of complex oncologic conditions using modern treatment paradigms. He is also committed to surgical education and mentoring learners at all stages of training, with a focus on integrating evidence-based medicine and patient-centered care.

 

Dr. Valerie Francescutti

CanSOR Director

Dr. Francescutti is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery at McMaster University. She is a Surgical Oncology based at the Hamilton General Hospital and Juravinski Cancer Center. She completed her undergraduate degree with honours at the University of Toronto, followed by her MD and her General Surgery Residency at McMaster University. Dr. Francescutti then completed her Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo NY. During fellowship, she began her studies towards her Master’s Degree in Health Research Methodology at McMaster, completing her thesis focusing on knowledge translation and barriers to referral for major surgical oncology procedures, using the cytoreduction and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy procedure as a model. Following fellowship, Dr. Francescutti was recruited as an Assistant Professor of Surgery and Oncology at Roswell Park where she worked for 6 years, with clinical practice focusing on melanoma and other skin malignancies, sarcoma, and peritoneal based malignancies such as pseudomyxoma peritonei and appendix cancers for which CS/HIPEC is offered. During her time at Roswell Park she was the Assistant Program Director and subsequently the Program Director for the Complex General Surgical Oncology fellowship program. In 2018 Dr. Francescutti returned to McMaster University, as an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Division of General Surgery. She is a member of the Skin and Sarcoma disease site teams at the Juravinski Cancer Center. Her research focuses on knowledge translation and clinical outcomes. She is currently the undergraduate and post-graduate clinical teaching unit director for surgery at Hamilton General Hospital, and is the Head of Service for Surgical Oncology for Hamilton Health Sciences.

 

Dr. Megan Delisle

CanSOR Co-Director

Dr. Megan Delisle is an Assistant professor in the Department of Surgery in the Max Rady College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba. Her primary research focus is advancing precision oncology in the real-world environment. She aims to use these findings to effectively and safely mitigate both the excessive and inadequate utilization of healthcare throughout the entire cancer control continuum, from prevention to end-of-life care and survivorship. Her methodological expertise is in pragmatic clinical trials, implementation science and health services research. I combine these methodological approaches to develop innovative methods of designing and conducting research and facilitate the seamless translation of research findings into real-world practice.

Past Presidents

Please meet the past presidents of the CSSO:

2024-2026 Carolyn Nessim | 2023-2024 Fayez quereshy | 2022-2023 Jason Park | 2020-2022 ALex Mathieson | 2019-2020 Andrew McKay | 2018-2019  lucy helyer | 2017-2018  Lloyd Mack | 2016-2017  Alok Pathok | 2015-2016  Jay Engel | 2014-2015  Andy McFadden | 2013-2014  Steve Latosinsky | 2012-2013  Oliver Bathe | 2011-2012  Rona Cheifetz | 2010-2011  Carol Swallow | 2009-2010  Carman Giacomantonio | 2007-2009  Sarkis Meterissian | 2005-2007  Rick Nason | 2003-2005  Noelle Davis | 2001-2003  Greg McKinnon | 1999-2001  David McCready | 1997-1999  Audley Bodurtha | 1995-1997  Hartley Stern | 1993-1995  John MacFarlane | 1991-1993  Walley Temple | 1990-1991  Wayne Beecroft (died in 1991) | 1988-1990  Henry Shibata