Dr. Joseph Ragaz is active in the cancer research community, more recently with epidemiology projects focusing on outcomes, prevention and access to optimum cancer care. In August 2011, he was named Medical Director of the UBC Breast Cancer Prevention Clinic, with a mandate to create logistical infrastructure for population counselling, focusing first on women at high risk for breast cancer. Between 2003 and 2007, Dr. Ragaz was Director of the Oncology Program at the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal. Prior to this, he worked for over 27 years as a Medical Oncologist and Breast Cancer Researcher at the BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver. Here, besides clinical research activities, he was actively involved in the BC Community Oncology Program, with a mandate to equalize cancer care between academic institutes and rural regions of BC. Dr. Ragaz was the Principal Investigator of a number of important clinical trials in the 1980s and 1990s, with results from some of those accepted by the international community as standard of care. Dr. Ragaz is a champion of patients’ rights to access the best cancer care, as seen from his prolific activities and publications with the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada.

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