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.
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. Dr. 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.
Gail Klein
Director of Operations, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Gail Klein has a Master’s of Science in Pharmacology from the University of Toronto and is a certified clinical research professional. Gail has more than 20 years experience in academic research and has worked at several Toronto hospitals in clinical trials and knowledge translation. Gail is currently the operations director for the Centre for Clinical Trial Support (CCTS) at Sunnybrook Research Institute, where she oversees a team of project managers, data managers, programmers and administrative staff in supporting investigator initiated research, along with clinical trial infrastructure at SRI.
Entela Zaffino
Director of Clinical Research Services Transformation, Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids)
Entela Zaffino is the Director of Clinical Research Services Transformation at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). Prior to this role, Entela was the Manager of the Clinical Trials Support Unit (CTSU) and the Clinical Informatics teams in the Division of Haematology, Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy. Entela is a healthcare leader passionate about improving the healthcare system in Canada by effectively leading forward-thinking teams, spearheading innovative initiatives and bringing transformational change. Prior to SickKids, Entela worked in other health-care settings including the government, leading quality improvement, strategic planning and project management work.