Agenda Coming Soon
Conference Hours:
Friday, September 18 2026: 1000h to 1600h (Registration Desk opens at 0900h)
Saturday, September 19 2026: 0830h to 1500h (tentative)
Confirmed Speakers:
Dr. Atif Zafar
Dr. Atif Zafar is the Chair of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board at Cavernous Malformation Canada.
Dr. Zafar obtained his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from Dow Medical College and completed his residency at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. He also completed a Vascular Neurology Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. Upon completing his fellowship, Dr. Zafar became an Assistant Professor of Stroke and Vascular Neurology at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, then moved to the position of Chief of the Stroke Program at University of New Mexico School of Medicine.
Dr. Zafar was the Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Neurology at the University of Toronto, the Co-Director of the Fellowship Program-Stroke at St. Michael's Hospital and the Medical Director of St. Michael's Hospital Comprehensive Stroke Program until June 2025. Currently, he is the Neurology Attending and Tele-Neurologist in Dallas, Texas for Tele-Specialists USA.
Dr. Zafar's clinical focus is on complex stroke cases and cerebrovascular diseases. His academic pursuits involve a personalized stroke algorithm, equitable care access and patient-centered care development. Dr. Zafar has been the PI and co-PI in various United States and Canadian trials, including NIH grants. His collaborative work has been published in Stroke, Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA Neurology, and Nature Communications.
Dr. W Brent Derry
Dr. Derry is the Vice-Chair of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board at Cavernous Malformation Canada.
Dr. Derry earned his B.Sc. (Honours) in Biochemistry at Carleton University in Ottawa, his M.Sc. in Biochemistry at McMaster University and his Ph.D in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He completed his postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Joel Rothman at UCSB, where he discovered and characterized the long sought after C. elegans p53 tumour suppressor gene cep-1. Dr. Derry joined the SickKids Research Institute in 2003 and uses C. elegans and human cells to model human diseases such as cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM). Dr. Derry holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Animal Models of Human Disease. He is a Senior Scientist in the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program at SickKids and a Full Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. His research is supported by funding from CIHR, NSERC, CFI and SickKids.
Dr. Derry previously served as Vice-Chair of Fundamental Research in the Garron Family Cancer Centre and is currently the Research Integrity Advisor at SickKids. He is Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for Alliance to Cure Cavernous Malformation. Dr. Derry is also an editor with the FEBS Journal and an Affiliate for the pre-print server bioRxiv.
Outside of science, Dr. Derry enjoys walking his dog, playing hockey as well as writing and performing original music.
Dr. Peter Dirks
Dr. Peter Dirks is a Professor of Surgery and Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. He holds a Harold Hoffman/Shopper Drug Mart Chair in Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Hospital for Sick Children as Division Head. He is a Senior Scientist in the Developmental, Stem Cell and Cancer Biology Program. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Dr. Dirks received his MD from Queen's University (1989) followed by a PhD at the University of Toronto (1997). He completed neurosurgery training at the University of Toronto (1998) and a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Necker Enfants Malades in Paris (1998) Dr. Dirks joined the neurosurgery staff at SickKids in 1998, developing a clinical focus in surgical neuro-oncology and neurovascular disorders.
In 1999, he established his research laboratory in the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre at SickKids where in 2004 he was the first to prospectively identify cancer stem cells in human brain tumours, contributing to a paradigm shift in understanding solid cancer growth, and putting emphasis on stemness properties and tissue development both experimentally and conceptually in the study of primary brain tumours.
His research interests continue to lie with the intersection of cancer biology with stem cell and developmental biology, with a focus on uncovering the origins and mechanisms of growth and evolution of glioblastoma and medulloblastoma. He has published nearly 250 papers with 57,000 citations and an h-index of 95. Over his career he has directly mentored over 23 graduate students and 14 postdoctoral fellows.
Dr. Jennifer Quon
Dr. Jennifer Quon is a paediatric neurosurgeon at The Hospital for Sick Children and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto. She is also an Associate Scientist-Track Investigator in the Neurosciences and Mental Health program at the SickKids Research Institute.
Dr. Quon has broad clinical interests in paediatric neurosurgery including the surgical treatment of brain tumours, particularly through endoscopic endonasal approaches, as well as vascular disorders in children. Her research interests include machine learning applications in medical imaging and paediatric neurosurgical diseases.
...and more to come!
CMC Patient & Family Conference
Where Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning (686 Bay Street, Toronto ON M5G 0A4)
When September 18-19, 2026
Registration Fee Early Bird $40.00 CAD (until June 1)
Need Help? Email us at contactus@cavernousmalformation.ca
Cavernous Malformation Canada
Charitable Registration #851604041 RR 0001