The Canadian Association of Pharmacy in Oncology Association Canadienne de Pharmacie en Oncologie Newsletter Winter 2005 Presidents Message With New Year, I begin my mandate as President of CAPhO and I am very proud and honoured to be a part of oncology pharmacy in Canada. I would like to thank all the members of the CAPhO executive, all the members of the NOPS 2005 organizing committee as well as members of the Awards committee for a job well done in 2005. I know that 2006 will be a great year for CAPhO as we celebrate our 10th birthday! I would personally like to thank our Past President, Lynne Nakashima, for everything that she has done over the years, and is continuing to do for CAPhO. Her work within CAPhO has been very inspiring and I hope that I will be able to pursue where she left off. There is a lot happening within CAPhO. We have the NOPS 2006 organizing committee up and running. We are discussing the possibility of establishing and strengthening ISOPP and CAPhO relations on an educational level. Very soon, we will be awarding two travel grants of $2000 to CAPhO members to help them attend ISOPP in April 2006 in Malaysia. We are also putting together a survey to consult our members to find out what is expected of the CAPhO executive, where would you like to see your organization involved, and where you see the practice of oncology pharmacy going. Your comments and insights are crucially important. With the arrival of the New Year, the time for CAPhO members to renew their membership is also here. Membership is still only $40.00 and may be paid on-line or by sending a cheque to the Treasurer. I would like all CAPhO members to know that I would like to hear from you. We need your input, your thoughts, and your initiatives; this is what will make CAPhO move forward. Gabriel Gazzé CAPhO President ***************************************************** NCIC Report Submitted by Susan Walisser The NCIC Pharmacists Network has continued to be active over the last year. The Pharmacists Network password protected section of the NCIC website continues to be populated with a variety of tools to assist pharmacists in the conduct of NCIC Clinical Trials. You will find English and French versions of templates that can be used for the creation of Pharmacy Procedures and Investigational Drug Information. Although the goal is to have completed templates for each NCIC trial, currently only BR.24 and OV.17 are available. These should assist pharmacists by either replacing the need to create this information or by acting as a resource for the standardized information required by your particular institution. You will also find a variety of accountability logs posted as they are completed. Currently, an Investigational Agent Accountability Log has been approved by NCI US so it can be used for both NCIC and NCI US trials. In the works are also a log for trials that are blinded, a variety of temperature logs and a log for the documentation of monitor's visits. The hope is that pharmacists will get in the habit of using this website and find it a valuable resource for their Clinical Trials responsibilities. Other recent activities include: Biljana Spirovski continues to chair the Research subcommittee of the Network. Carlo de Angelis and Sean Hopkins have been spearheading the development of pharmacy research within the NCIC. Proposals are in process for research into patient drug compliance, and a survey will be conducted of other Clinical Trials Cooperative Groups to determine the activities of their pharmacists. Research will also be undertaken in the area of pharmacist's compliance with Good Clinical Practice guidelines. Ing Collins is our new representative to the CRA Education subcommittee. She will be working to provide educational opportunities for pharmacists attending the Annual Spring meeting of the NCIC, which is to be held April 27-30, 2006 in Montreal. All pharmacists active in Clinical Trials should consider attending this meeting. The Steering Group is undertaking a revision of the Pharmacists Network Manual to ensure that it addresses all of the Health Canada requirements. If you have any questions or comments regarding the NCIC Pharmacists Network or are interested in becoming more active (by volunteering to be an area representative on the Steering group or a Disease Site Representative on the Executive of a major disease site group), please contact myself at [email protected] or the co-chair of the Steering Committee Marlene Sellon at [email protected]. ***************************************************** Website Update Submitted by Dana Cole Check us out at capho.org! Our website has moved. Please bookmark www.capho.org as the official CAPhO website. After careful review of all the submissions, we are pleased to announce that, we have selected a new web design company, Indigo Ink. Although we have a new look, much of the information can be recognized as being similar to the old site. The format of the new discussion forum has changed a bit. Although we are not able to continue discussion on the old forum topics (predating 2006), you can still read the old discussion on the new website and repost the topic in the new area if you would like to continue the discussion on a particular topic We are looking to expand the events section to include details of past events such as presentations. If you have presented recently and are willing to post your presentation for viewing on the website in a members-only area, please forward submissions to the webmaster or to Dana at [email protected]. If you are interested in a section highlighting articles of interest in the literature, please send us feedback on this as well. We would also like to post photos of Canadian Oncology Pharmacists at work – so if you have any to share, please pass them along. We hope you like the new look and want continue to improve it - so if you have submissions for the site or ideas for improvement, please let us know! ***************************************************** NOPS 2006 Submitted by Kim Stefaniuk, Education Chair Mark your calendars — the National Oncology Pharmacy Symposium (NOPS 2006) will be held in Montreal, Quebec, October 13-15, 2006 at the Hyatt Regency hotel. Planning is well underway for what promises to be another excellent symposium. Martin Franco (Quebec), Victoria Kyritsis (British Columbia) and Larry Broadfield (Nova Scotia) are the chairs for NOPS 2006. Organizing committee members are: Susan Walisser (British Columbia), Roxanne Dobish and Thanh Vu from Alberta, Pat Trozzo and Venetia Bourrier (Manitoba), Sandy Linsemann and Flay Charbonneau (Ontario), Nadia Drouin (Quebec), Scott Edwards (Newfoundland), and the excellent staff at Sea to Sky Meeting Management. Thank you to all of them in advance for their hard work. Details about poster submissions and the program will be posted at a later date on the CAPhO website. Stay tuned for more details on another exciting NOPS! ***************************************************** ISOPP X 2 Submitted by Kim Stefaniuk The tenth International Symposium on Oncology Pharmacy Practice will be held in Kuala Lumpur, in beautiful Malaysia, April 3-6th 2006. Several CAPhO members, Carole Chambers, Kim Stefaniuk, and John Wiernikowski are invited speakers; join them and other CAPhO colleagues for an exciting oncology pharmacy educational event. See www.isopp.org for details. ***************************************************** The Awards Committee Submitted by Flay Charbonneau The CAPhO Awards Committee, consisting of Flay Charbonneau (chair), Susan Walisser, Dana Cole, Kathy Gesy and John Wiernikowski are pleased to announce the winners of the two travel grants for ISOPP X in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Betty Riddell submitted: "Pediatric Cancer Long Term Survival and Late Effects Study, 1984-1987 & 1989-2000: A Preliminary Report" by K. Ali, B. Riddell & C. Mpofu, Saskatoon Cancer Centre, Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan John Wiernikowski submitted (and withdrew from judging): "Preliminary Experience in the Use of Alendronate for the Treatment of Osteopenia in Children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia" by R. Barr, C. Lethaby, J. Wiernikowski, M. Noronha, A. Sala & C. Webber, McMaster Children's Hospital, Hamilton, ON, Canada, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, ON, Canada, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, University of Milan-Biocca, Monza, Italy. We extend our hearty congratulations and wishes for a successful conference to Betty and John. ***************************************************** Meet the CAPhO Executive Gabriel Gazze, President Gabriel graduated from the faculty of pharmacy of the University of Montreal in 1991. After completing a hospital residency in 1992, he worked at the McGill University Health Center at the Royal Victoria Hospital. He began his work in oncology in 1994. His focus has been in the heme-oncology field because of the challenge of continually learning new things, the direct patient contact, and the multidisciplinary interaction with other health-care professionals. In addition to being involved with the CAPhO executive since 2000, Gabriel has also been a member of the NCIC Pharmacists Network Steering Group. He would like to encourage all CAPhO members to get involved actively in CAPhO. Dana Cole, President-Elect Dana grew up in the beautiful Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia completing here B.Sc.Phm. at Dalhousie University in Halifax. After finishing a residency at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, she moved west to do a Pharm.D. at the University of British Columbia. She has worked as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist with the Northern Health Authority and as an Oncology Drug Information Specialist for a brief time with the BC Cancer Agency. Dana currently provides clinical pharmacy services to the Cancer Care Clinic at Prince George Regional Hospital and coordinates the Pharmacy Residency Program with Northern Health in Prince George, BC. Since February of 2005, she has been working half time with the Northern Medical Program, a branch of UBC Medical Program assisting in the education of medical students with a focus on their pharmacology and prescribing education. For recreation, she enjoys getting muddy in the pottery studio, cross country skiing, cycling, horseback riding, hiking and playing violin. Within CAPhO, she is responsible for liaising with the webmaster for revisions to the website. She is very excited to be part of the CAPhO exec and is looking forward to the years ahead as we continue to grow. Lynne Nakashima, Past President Lynn completed her undergraduate training at the University of British Columbia and a Pharm.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Currently she is the Pharmacy Professional Practice Leader at the B.C. Cancer Agency in Vancouver. Her involvement with CAPhO and oncology pharmacy professional organizations dates back to her time with the NCIC Pharmacists Network, where she was involved with the first 3 Steering Committee. Lynn is married with two boys, Ben and Sam. She is also involved with minor hockey in her community, and enjoys golfing when time permits! John Wiernikowski, Treasurer Bio not available. Kathy Gesy, Secretary Bio not available. Susan Walisser, NCIC Representative Susan has been involved in oncology in some capacity for most of her career. After her undergrad degree at the University of British Columbia, she completed a residency at Vancouver Hospital where she developed an interest in pediatrics. Her interest in pediatrics continued after moving to Victoria, where she began working with children diagnosed with cancer attending care conferences, developing protocols and care plans for the families. Eventually she joined the BC Cancer Agency's Victoria Cancer Clinic, and after many years of clinical practice has now moved into a leadership role. Susan is the current Chair of the Provincial Pharmacy Professional Practice Council and is the Pharmacy Professional Practice Leader for the Vancouver Island Centre. She very much enjoys working with staff in each of the four cancer centres in Vancouver, Surrey, Kelowna and Victoria. Kimberly Stefaniuk, Education Representative Familiar to many of you as NOPS co-chair for many years, Kim is currently CAPhO's Education Chair. A graduate of the University of Saskatchewan, she is currently a palliative care pharmacist at Princess Margaret Hospital and Oncology Pharmacy Education Coordinator for Cancer Care Ontario. When not organizing conferences, Kim can be found in her garden, travelling, or playing the harp. encompasses editing the CAPhO newsletter. Outside of work, Tim has been involved in volunteer mobile medical clinics in Guatemala, and he also enjoys scuba diving and ballroom dancing. Colleen Olson, Member at Large Colleen is a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan and is currently, employed by the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency where she is involved in clinical trials and administrative activities with the pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is also a sessional lecturer at the College of Pharmacy, U of S, on Natural Health Products, and is a new member with the NCIC Pharmacists Network Steering Group. On a personal level, she is married, with one teenage son, one dog and one husband. George Dranitsaris, Member at Large George is an oncology research pharmacist with graduate training in biostatistics, health economics, decision analysis and clinical epidemiology. For 8 years, he was the Coordinator of Health Economics and Outcomes Research at Ontario Cancer Institute/ Princess Margaret Hospital. He is currently a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry and public health care institutions such as Health Canada and Cancer Care Ontario. His areas of interest include the measurement of cost effective drug use and quality of life in the oncology setting, clinical trial design, the development and implementation of clinical practice guidelines and the application of statistical modeling techniques for the evaluation of pharmaceuticals. He has numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals and holds several national and international awards. He is also a Fellow with the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists. Tim van Helvert, Communications officer Tim completed his undergrad degree at the University of Toronto, and has spent most of his career in a community hospital setting. His involvement in oncology practice over the last 5 years has also included responsibilities with clinical trials. His role as communications officer 4