New Members Appointed to CADTH Expert Committees

Suzanne McGurn, President and CEO of CADTH, is pleased to announce the appointment of new members of the CADTH Canadian Drug Expert Committee (CDEC) and the CADTH pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pCODR) Expert Review Committee (pERC), as well as a new chair and new members of the Health Technology Expert Review Panel (HTERP).

CADTH Canadian Drug Expert Committee

The following individuals have been appointed as members of CDEC:

• Dan Dunsky, a veteran journalist with 25 years of experience in broadcast, print, and digital media and a sought-after speaker on the promise and peril of digital change to liberal democratic institutions. 

• Alicia McCallum, Provincial Pharmacy Manager of Clinical Services for Health PEI. She worked in a variety of frontline and leadership positions in both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

• Dr. Srinivas Murthy, Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, and a pediatric critical care specialist and clinical epidemiologist and researcher at the University of British Columbia and BC Children’s Hospital.
   
• Dr. Christine Leong, Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy (with a Cross Appointment at the Department of Psychiatry) in the Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, at the University of Manitoba.
   
• Dr. Peter Zed, Professor and Associate Dean of Practice Innovation in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the pharmacotherapeutics specialist in Emergency Medicine at Vancouver General Hospital.
   

CADTH Pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review Expert Committee

The following individuals have been appointed as members of pERC:

• Amy Peasgood, author and patient advocate after being diagnosed with 4 types of cancer since 2006. She resides in British Columbia.
   
• Dr. Anca Prica, Assistant Professor in the division of hematology at University of Toronto and a staff hematologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
   
• Dr. Adam Raymakers, Senior Health Economist in department of Cancer Control Research at BC Cancer and a post-doctoral fellow in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University.
   
• Dr. Patricia Tang, Clinical Associate Professor at the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary and a medical oncologist at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre.

Health Technology Expert Review Panel

Dr. Leslie Anne Campbell, the inaugural Sobey Family Chair in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Outcomes and an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology and School of Nursing at Dalhousie University, becomes Chair of HTERP for a 2-year term. Dr. Campbell brings to the role a significant background in clinical practice, epidemiology, and health services research.

In addition, the following individuals have been appointed as members of HTERP:

• Dr. Brian Clarke, heart failure cardiologist in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at St. Paul’s Hospital and the University of British Columbia.

• Louise Bird, is a breast cancer survivor of 18 years. She resides in rural Saskatchewan and works in education.

Biographies of CDEC, pERC, and HTERP members are available on the CADTH website.

Ms. McGurn would like to thank the following committee members who concluded their terms of office: Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi (CDEC member), Dr. Bruce Carleton (CDEC member), Dr. Kelvin Chan (pERC member), Dr. Avram Denberg (pERC member), Dr. Hillary Jaeger (Chair of HTERP), Dr. Christine Kennedy (pERC member), Allen Lefebvre (CDEC member), Valerie McDonald (pERC member), Jeremy Petch (HTERP member), Yvonne Shevchuk (CDEC member), Tonya Somerton (HTERP member), and Dr. Adil Virani (CDEC member).

The Role of CADTH Expert Committees

CADTH committees provide expert advice and recommendations to CADTH. Members are selected from across Canada based on their clinical and policy expertise relating to the assessment of health technologies.

Canadian Drug Expert Committee

CDEC is an appointed, pan-Canadian advisory body composed of individuals with expertise in drug therapy, drug evaluation, and drug utilization as well as patient members. CDEC makes recommendations to each of the participating federal, provincial, and territorial publicly funded drug plans regarding reimbursements on their formularies. It also makes recommendations related to the identification, evaluation, and promotion of optimal drug prescribing and use in Canada.

pCODR Expert Review Committee

pERC is an appointed, pan-Canadian advisory body composed of individuals with expertise in drug therapy, drug evaluation, and drug utilization as well as patient members. pERC assesses the clinical evidence and cost-effectiveness of cancer drugs to make recommendations to the provinces and territories to help guide their drug funding decisions.

Health Technology Expert Review Committee

HTERP is an advisory body convened to develop guidance and/or recommendations on non-drug health technologies. The panel provides advice and non-binding recommendations to help decision-makers make informed decisions about the best use of non-pharmaceutical health technologies, such as medical devices, surgical procedures, diagnostic tests, and other non-pharmaceutical interventions.