Dr. Anthony Tolcher, NEXT Oncology

Dr. Tolcher is the CEO and Founder of NEXT Oncology™, a Phase I group that seeks to transform early clinical trials. NEXT Oncology’s mission is to accelerate the next breakthrough medicines for cancer. Our vision is to be the most successful and respected Phase I program in oncology research. The NEXT Oncology sites include San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Fairfax, Virginia, Barcelona, and Madrid, Spain. Dr. Tolcher served as President and Co-Founder of START LLC from 2009- 2018, one of the world’s largest Clinical Phase I and early drug development operations in cancer medicine with 5 locations in San Antonio, Texas; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Madrid, Spain; and Shanghai China.  

Dr. Tolcher is a medical oncologist with over 25 years of experience in early drug development and clinical trials. He has been involved in many of the initial Phase I studies of new agents that subsequently were FDA approved for the treatment of cancer, including pembrolizumab (Keytruda), copanlisib (Aliqopa), trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla), regorafenib (Stivarga), liposomal vincristine (Marqibo), cabazitaxel (Jevtana), carfilzomib (Kyprolis), gefitinib (Iressa), erlotinib (Tarceva), and eribulin (Halaven). He is currently the principal investigator on 40 Phase I clinical studies and is a reviewer for the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, and Annals of Oncology. He has chaired the Developmental Therapeutics Review Committee for the American Association of Clinical Oncology Annual Scientific Program. Dr. Tolcher has over 100 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals, including Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Clinical Cancer Research and is the author of nine book chapters.  

Dr. Timothy Yap, MD Anderson Cancer Cente

Dr. Timothy Yap is a Medical Oncologist and Physician-Scientist based at the University of Texas’ MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is a Professor in the Department for Investigational Cancer Therapeutics (Phase I Program), and the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology. Dr. Yap is Vice President and Head of Clinical Development in the Therapeutics Discovery Division, a drug discovery biopharmaceutical division where drug discovery and clinical translation are seamlessly integrated. He is also the Associate Director of Translational Research in the Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, which is an integrated research and clinical trials program aimed at implementing personalized cancer therapy and improving patient outcomes. 

Dr. Yap’s main research focuses on the first-in-human and combinatorial development of molecularly targeted agents and immunotherapies, and their acceleration through clinical studies using novel predictive and pharmacodynamic biomarkers. His main interests include the targeting of the DNA damage response (DDR), next generation CDK inhibitors and YAP/TEAD inhibitors, as well as the development of novel immunotherapeutics. 

Prior to his current position, Dr. Yap was a Consultant Medical Oncologist at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, UK and National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Clinician Scientist at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK. 

Jane Smith MD FRCPC is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and staff medical oncologist in the Division of Medical Oncology at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Dr. Smith received her medical degree from the Queens University in 1998 and completed her Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology specialty training at the University of Toronto. She was recognized with an Excellence Award in 2010 from Canada Oncology Organization. Dr. Smith’s clinical practice includes the treatments of patients with lung cancers. Her research interests include early phase drug development and immunotherapy trials. 
 

Jane Smith MD FRCPC is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and staff medical oncologist in the Division of Medical Oncology at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Dr. Smith received her medical degree from the Queens University in 1998 and completed her Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology specialty training at the University of Toronto. She was recognized with an Excellence Award in 2010 from Canada Oncology Organization. Dr. Smith’s clinical practice includes the treatments of patients with lung cancers. Her research interests include early phase drug development and immunotherapy trials. 
 

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DDP1 Symposium Team

Drug Development Program - Phase 1
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
700 University Avenue, 2N-216
Toronto, ON M5G 1Z5
Email: dctsymposiums@uhn.ca