Scientist, Cancer Research
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Staff Medical Oncologist, Division of Medical Oncology
The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre

Full Professor, Department of Medicine
University of Ottawa

Dr Mark Clemons is a Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Cancer Therapeutics Program), staff medical oncologist (Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre) and Professor of Medicine (University of Ottawa). A proponent of high-quality clinical research trial, he is involved in a large number of studies for patients with early stage, locally advanced and metastatic breast cancer. He is the recipient of multiple peer-reviewed research grants and is widely published in the field of breast cancer management. His publications also reflect eclectic topics such as; retirement planning, oncologist quality of life and issues such as preventing spam. His work on strategies to improve tissue acquisition during systemic therapy have also improved the assessment of both the efficacy of novel therapeutic agents but also innovative ways of administering established agents. His current research vision is to remove many of the barriers that lead to the development of multiple standard of care therapies with very little data to actually show which treatment is best in the real world setting. This has cumulated in the creation of the REthinking Clinical Trials (REaCT) program in Ottawa. This program places the patient and their family at the core of designing and implementing trials that actually directly improve patient care, through the performance of patient surveys, health care provider surveys, systematic reviews, economic analysis, feasibility trials and definitive efficacy trials. This is Canada’s largest pragmatic oncology trials program.

Dr Mark Clemons graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K. (B.Med.Sci; MB BS). He completed his post-doctoral training in internal medicine and medical oncology at the Hammersmith Hospital, London; Christie Hospital, Manchester (MSc, Oncology; MD, Oncology) and at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto. He is a Clinical Investigator at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Cancer Therapeutics Program), staff medical oncologist (Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre) and Professor of Medicine (University of Ottawa).

Clemons M, Ong M, Stober, C, Ernst S, Booth C, Canil C, Mates M, Roberson A, Blanchette P, Joy AA, Hilton J, Aseyev O, Pond G, Jeong A, Hutton B, Mazzarello S, Vandermeer L, Kushnir I, Fergusson D. A randomised trial of 4- versus 12-weekly administration of bone-targeted agents in patients with bone metastases from breast or castration-resistant prostate cancer. Accepted Eur J of Cancer, August 2020. 

Clemons M, Fergusson D, Simos D, Mates M, Robinson A, Califaretti N, Zibdawi L, Bahl M, Raphael J, Ibrahim MFK, Fernandes R, Pitre L, Aseyev O, Stober C, Vandermeer L, Saunders D, Hutton B, Mallick R, Awan AA, Hilton J. A multi-centre, randomised trial comparing schedules of G-CSF (filgrastim) administration for primary prophylaxis of chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia in early stage breast cancer. Ann Oncol 2020 Apr 20; S0923-7534(20)39296-6. doi: 10.1016/j.annonc.2020.04.005.

Basulaiman B, Awan AA, Fergusson D, Vandermeer Lisa, Arnaout A, Hilton J, Hutton B, Joy AA, Robinson A, Califaretti N, Stober C, Sienkiewicz M, Thavorn K, Clemons M. Creating a pragmatic trials program for breast cancer patients: Rethinking Clinical Trials (REaCT). Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2019 Aug;177(1):93-101.

Clemons M, Bouganim N, Smith S, Mazzarello S, Vandermeer L, Segal R, Dent S, Gertler S, Song X, Wheatley-Price P, Dranitsaris G. A Randomized Trial Comparing Risk Model Guided Antiemetic Prophylaxis to Physician's Choice in Patients Receiving Chemotherapy for Early Stage Breast Cancer. JAMA Oncology. Accepted August 7, 2015. – Senior Responsible Author (Impact Factor NA)

Addison CL, Bouganim N, Hilton J, Vandermeer L, Dent S, Amir E, Hopkins S, Kuchuk I, Segal R, Song X, Gertler S, Mazzarello S, Dranitsaris G, Ooi D, Pond G, Clemons M. A phase II, multicentre trial evaluating the efficacy of de-escalated bisphosphonate therapy in metastatic breast cancer patients at low-risk of skeletal-related events. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2014 Mar 18. [Epub ahead of print] – Senior Responsible Author (Impact Factor 5.881)

Amir E, Miller N, Geddie W, Freedman O, Kassam F, Simmons C, Oldfield M, Dranitsaris G, Tomlinson G, Laupacis A, Tannock IF, Clemons M. A prospective study evaluating the impact of tissue confirmation of metastatic disease in breast cancer patients. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2012;30(6):587-92 – Senior Responsible Author (Impact factor 17.7)

Breast cancer; Cancer

Basic research; Clinical research; Clinical trials; Health research methods; Knowledge translation and implementation research