The Basic and Clinical Oncology Seminar Series (BCO) is a joint initiative by the IRCM and LDI institute in Montreal. These monthly seminars feature a clinical (MD or MD/PhD) and a basic scientist (PhD) speaker, both working on the same cancer or theme. The goal is to create a dialogue between those at the bench and their peers at the bedside. The long-term goal is to initiate and expedite collaborations like sharing samples and exchanging expertise. Each seminar includes of two talks, each for 15-20 minutes and the remaining time is for open discussion with the audience.
The BCO Series was founded by Islam Elkholi, with the support of Dr. Jean-François Côté and Dr. William Foulkes, as a platform to promote dialogue and collaborations. After graduating as a Medical Doctor from Mansoura University in Egypt, Dr. Elkholi joined the IRCM Molecular and Cellular Medicine (MCM) Master’s program in 2016, with the long-term goal of becoming a physician-scientist. In Jean-François Côté’s lab, Dr. Elkholi has been pursuing his PhD with the goal of understanding the mechanisms behind the breast cancer metastatic relapses, a dreadful outcome to the affected patients. In addition to the academic activities, Dr. Elkholi is passionate about communicating science to the public. For years, he has been a freelance scientific writer, summarizing highly technical research articles in different fields of science and medicine to lay audiences.
List of the BCO Seminars
A total of 8 seminars have been organized for the first season (October 2021-May 2022). A total of 15 speakers have been invited from, 6 different universities and 12 hospital and research centers from Canada (Montreal, Quebec City, and Toronto) and the United States (Boston).
October 7, 2021 - Ovarian Cancer
- William Foulkes, MD,PhD
- Jewish General Hospital & McGill University Health Center
- Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research
- McGill University
- Sidong Huang, PhD
- Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer (GCI)
- McGill University
November 4, 2021 - Brain Cancer
- Peter Dirks, MD, PhD
- Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain tumor Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children.
- University of Toronto
- Stephane Angers, PhD
- Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research
- University of Toronto
December 2, 2021 - Breast Cancer
- Mark Basik, MD
- Jewish General Hospital
- Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research
- McGill University
- Elena Kuzmin, PhD
- Centre for Applied Synthetic Biology,
- Concordia University
January 20, 2022 - Skin Cancer
- Philippe Lefrançois, MD, PhD
- Jewish General Hospital
- Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research
- McGill University
- Mélanie Laurin, PhD
- Centre de recherche du CHU de Québec – Université Laval, axe oncologie
- Laval University
February 17, 2022 - Proteasome in oncology
- Giada Bianchi, MD
- Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Harvard University
- El Bachir Affar, PhD
- Hospital Maisonneuve-Rosemont Research Centre (CR-HMR)
- University of Montreal
- Wilson Miller, Jr, MD, PhD
- Jewish General Hospital
- Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research
- McGill University
- Sonia del Rincón, PhD
- Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research
- McGill University
April 14, 2022 - Multiple Myeloma
- Irene Ghobrial, MD
- Dana Farber Cancer Institute
- Harvard University
May 5, 2022 - Pediatric Cancers
- Catherine Goudie, MD
- McGill University Health Center- Research Institute (MUHC-RI)
- McGill University
- Livia Garzia, PhD
- McGill University Health Center- Research Institute (MUHC-RI)
- McGill University
