Resources for Healthcare Providers

Dr. Hugh Kendall is the Regional Colorectal Screening/Gastrointestinal (GI) Endoscopy Lead for the Central East Regional Cancer Program. He is a general surgeon and president of the Durham EndoSurgery Centre in Ajax, where his practice focuses on consultation, colonoscopy and gastroscopy.

A graduate of McGill University Medical School, Dr. Kendall is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He completed his surgical residency in General Surgery at the University of Toronto and has worked at Toronto General Hospital, Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital and Rouge Valley Health System, Ajax and Pickering Hospital.

Dr. Kendall has been interested and involved in creating system-wide quality management for Endoscopy providers and out-of-hospital facilities as both a front-line provider and peer assessor for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO). He worked for more than a decade at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, as a Peer Assessor, Co-Chair of the Premises Inspection Committee, and former Chair of the Quality Assurance Committee. 

His expertise in the field of Endoscopy has led to valuable work with Cancer Care Ontario (now Ontario Health), where Dr. Kendall has been a member of the GI Endoscopy Advisory Committee providing input and opinion on Quality Based Procedures. He was also a consultant for Cancer Care Ontario’s ’s Comprehensive Quality Management Partnership and a member of the Ontario Colonoscopy Expert Panel.

Dr. Julie Francis is a Gynaecologic Oncologist with more than 15 years of experience. Originally from Toronto, she started her academic career at Harvard and Yale Universities, before returning to Canada to complete her residency in obstetrics and gynaecology at McMaster University and her fellowship in oncology at the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Francis spent the first 10 years of her career in Gynaecology Oncology at Queens University, becoming the Division Head there before joining Lakeridge Health where she founded the Gynaecologic Oncology program at the Durham Regional Cancer Centre. As one of the first Gynaecology Oncologists in Canada trained on the DaVinci robot, Dr. Francis has a keen interest in robotics and the development of the robotics program at Lakeridge Health. She is also interested using technology to further care in under resourced communities. To this end, Dr. Francis holds privileges at the Weeneybayko Health Authority, and is a faculty member at the University of Nairobi in Kenya.

Dr. Shaheen is Chief of Radiology and Medical Director at Peterborough Regional Health Centre since 2015. She is the Regional Breast and Cancer Imaging Lead (RBCIL) for the Central East Regional Cancer Program. Additionally, she is the Regional Breast Imaging Lead (RBIL) for the Mississauga Halton and Central West Regions since 2016. Dr. Shaheen was the Provincial Clinical Lead for Mammography Quality Management Partnership (QMP), a joint program at Cancer Care Ontario & College of Physicians & Surgeons from 2016 to 2019. She completed Global Executive MBA in Healthcare and Life Sciences from the University of Toronto (Class of 2021) and is the founder of the Women’s Imaging & Leadership Lab (The WILL).

Dr. Shaheen received her medical degree from the University of Jordan and completed her residency training in Radiology at the University of Toronto.  Dr. Shaheen is a fellowship trained women’s imaging/breast imager from Harvard Medical School. She was the Chief of Radiology and Director of Women’s Imaging at Harrington Memorial Hospital in MA-USA (affiliated with BIDMC- Harvard Medical School) from 2009 to 2012.  She also worked as Chief of Women’s Imaging at Mafraq Hospital from 2012-2014, spearheading the strategic planning of breast imaging across the governmental hospitals at SEHA in Abu Dhabi.

She is passionate about improving global access to high quality women’s cancer care through innovative digital technology & leveraging Artificial Intelligence. Dr.Shaheen is a strong advocate for healthcare providers wellness, career advancement, and mentorship with special interest in enhancing enablers for overarching diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

Dr. Joel Broomfield is the Regional Indigenous Cancer Lead for the Central East Regional Cancer Program. Dr. Broomfield is a Radiation Oncologist with the Durham Regional Cancer Centre (DRCC) at Lakeridge Health. He received his Master of Science from the University of Western Ontario and his Doctor of Medicine and Radiation Oncology Residency Training at the University of Ottawa.  Dr. Broomfield completed a research fellowship in Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy at the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton.  Before joining DRCC, he was a Radiation Oncologist with the British Columbia Cancer Agency.  Dr. Broomfield is also the very first Indigenous Radiation Oncologist in the world and we are thrilled that he is part of the DRCC/Central East Regional Cancer Program Team.