Advisory Committee
The Ontario Cancer Research Ethics Board (OCREB) was introduced in December 2003 in response to a need to improve and streamline ethics reviews of multi-centre oncology research. OCREB’s primary responsibility is to protect the safety and rights of human research participants. OCREB serves as an expert oncology research ethics board for the hospitals in Ontario that conduct multi-centre cancer trials. OCREB is a program of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), and it is an independent body operating at arm’s length from programmatic and research structures within the OICR. OCREB is accountable to the OICR Board of Directors through the OICR Governance and the OCREB Advisory Committees.
OCREB Advisory Committee Terms of Reference
New! Call for OCREB Advisory Committee Members
Jim Wright – Chair
Division Head, Radiation Oncology
Associate Professor, Department of Oncology, McMaster University
Dr. Jim Wright is Head of the Integrated Radiation Treatment Program at the Juravinski Cancer Centre (JCC) in Hamilton. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Guelph and his subsequent medical degree, radiation oncology residency, and Master’s in Epidemiology all at McMaster University. Wright is an active member of the head and neck and lung disease site groups at the JCC. He is an active collaborator on many clinical and translational research trials and grants, and has an interest in Health Services Research, specifically in the area of clinical trials. He is currently the Chair of the CCTG’s Data Safety Monitoring Committee, and prior to his role in the Radiation Treatment Program, he was the head of the Clinical Trials Department at the JCC for 10 years.
Josée Bertrand
Principal, The Osborne Group
Josée is a Principal at The Osborne Group, which offers a wide range of professional interim management, consulting, planning and project management services. Prior to joining The Osborne Group, Josée spent over 30 years as a senior financial management executive spanning a variety of industry sectors including not-for-profit, charitable foundations, manufacturing and banking. She is a CPA and graduate of Western University. In addition to the OCREB Advisory Committee, Josée serves on the Audit & Finance Committee of the Canadian Children’s Hospital Foundation (CCHF). She is a past Board member and Chair of the Audit & Finance Committee for Casey House Hospital & Foundation. She is also an active fundraiser for a number of charities including the We’re Funny That Way Foundation, Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, SickKids Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society.
Janet Manzo
Former Executive Director, OCREB
Manzo joined the Ontario Cancer Research Network (now Ontario Institute for Cancer Research) in 2002 where she was responsible for the creation of a successful Clinical Trials Network to meet the needs of over 250 oncology clinical trials professionals across Ontario. She was appointed as Executive Director of OCREB in 2006 and established OCREB as a leading central research ethics board for the province that is also widely recognized across the country for its innovative model and approach to research ethics. She remained the Executive Director until her retirement in 2020.
A CAREB board member from 2008 to 2011,Manzo was instrumental in leading the development of the CAREB guidance document for Serious Adverse Event Reporting. As a member of the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) Committee established to develop a National Standard for REBs, she also provided critical assistance to CAREB in developing its responses to the various CGSB draft standards.
In 2012, Manzo was appointed to the national Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) initiative External Advisory Committee for the Streamlining of Health Research Ethics.
She was seconded to Clinical Trials Ontario on a part time basis in 2013 to assist with the development of a province-wide streamlined research ethics review system for multi-centre clinical trials, and harmonization of other administrative processes and platforms.
Manzo is an experienced oncology nurse and certified clinical research professional who bring various clinical research viewpoints, including the investigator site, the sponsor and the research ethics board (REB).
Nancy Walton
Associate Professor, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Chair, Women’s College Research Ethics Board
Dr. Nancy Walton is the Director of the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing at Ryerson University. In June 2017 she completed a year on secondment to the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development as a Special Advisor to the Deputy Minister. She is also the Chair of the Research Ethics Board at Women’s College Hospital. As of 2017, she was appointed as an ethicist to the Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Research Ethics Board.
Walton has a PhD in Bioethics from the University of Toronto Collaborative Program in Bioethics (2003) and an undergraduate degree in nursing science from Ryerson (1992). She has both published and presented in the areas of priority setting and decision-making in health care, internet-based research, research ethics board composition, risk in social science and humanities research and the legal and ethical concerns in research involving children and adolescents. She was Co-Investigator for the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care-funded project on Variations in Revascularization Practices in Ontario. As a Principal Investigator, her main research focus is on the experiences of parenting children with autism spectrum disorder and the phenomenon of the “parent-as-therapist”.
Walton served as the Director, e-learning, for Ryerson University from 2013-2016. She was the Chair of the Ryerson University Research Ethics Board from 2004-2013 and has actively engaged in academic governance through her roles as the Vice-Chair of Ryerson Senate, and the Vice Chair of the Senate Priorities Committee. She served as the Co-Chair of the Ryerson United Way campaign for 2011-2012. In 2013, she was the recipient of a University Faculty Service Award as well as the recipient of the Ryersonian of The Year Award. Walton has served as Academic Colleague for Ryerson University at the Council of Ontario Universities and as a member of The Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance.
Walton has served as a Council member of the National Council on Ethics in Human Research (NCEHR). She is a longstanding community member and member with expertise in ethics of the Research Ethics Board at the Hospital for Sick Children and a founding member of the Research Ethics Board at the Ontario College of Art and Design University.
She is the Canadian author of the textbook “Ethics and Issues in Contemporary Nursing” (3rd edition) and is co-author of an upcoming textbook entitled “Critical Thinking for Nurses” (2018). She co-authors the Research Ethics Blog and the Nursing Ethics Blog.
