We will all likely be touched by cancer in one form or another – it’s a scary reality. Dr. Sharlene Gill, a Vancouver-based cancer specialist, researcher, and Professor of Medicine, shares inspiring learnings from her 20 years of experience looking after people with cancer – bearing witness to the universal fear associated with a diagnosis of cancer, as well as acts of remarkable courage and major scientific advancements in the treatment of cancer. By approaching cancer with a perspective grounded in awareness, empowerment and action, Dr. Gill believes we can not only reframe our narrative of cancer to one of hope and control, but also ultimately improve our outcomes with cancer. Dr. Sharlene Gill is a Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and a Medical Oncologist specializing in gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies at BC Cancer – Vancouver. She received a Bachelor’s of Science in Pharmacy followed by her medical degree (MD) from the University of British Columbia in 1996, and then completed residencies in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology. Dr. Gill subsequently undertook a research fellowship at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) and a Master’s of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health (Boston, MA). In 2011, she spent a year as a Visiting Professor at the Sun-Yat Sen University Cancer Centre in Guangzhou, China. More recently, she graduated with an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina in 2017.

With 20 years of clinical experience, Dr. Gill is also actively engaged in education and research, with over 100 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters to her credit, and has presented widely at national and international cancer conferences. She is committed to scientific research as the path to progress in cancer care, and is the Chair of the GI Disease Site Committee for the Canadian Clinical Trials Group (CCTG). Dr. Gill also believes that mentorship and advocacy are critical to a sustainable cancer care system – she serves as Chair of the UBC Medicine Mentoring Committee, and as the President-Elect for the Canadian Association of Medical Oncologists. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx