The BC Cancer Excellence Awards provide an opportunity to shine a light on the inspiring people and teams who help ensure that British Columbians receive world-class, patient-centered cancer screening, treatment and support, and benefit from new discoveries that are helping change the face of cancer.
The team responsible for Implementation of HPV Primary Screening and Cervix Self-Screening in B.C. has received a BC Cancer Excellence Award in the category of Innovation and Discovery in Action. The team is led by Laura Gentile, operations director, Cancer Screening Programs.
The Innovation and Discovery in Action award recognizes a team that using wisdom and curiosity, works together to advance cancer care resulting in a significant improvement in knowledge, practice or process.
The team responsible for Implementation of HPV Primary Screening and Cervix Self-Screening in B.C. has transformed cervix screening in British Columbia. In January 2024, they made B.C. the first province in Canada to implement self-screening as an option to screen for cervical cancer.
Challenging decades-long practices, the team developed strategies to overcome barriers to cervix screening while grounding their efforts in scientific evidence. By collaborating with patients, primary care providers, laboratory partners and stakeholders, they effectively navigated complex challenges for a smooth implementation.
As one colleague noted:
“The team embraced the need for more reliable and accessible screening methods that enhance early detection of cervical cancer."
Their innovative approach gives patients and providers choice for how to screen and established a sustainable and scalable process for patients without a provider to access screening and follow-up care. These efforts led to significant patient participation in self-screening and thousands of samples triaged for HPV testing.
The work of this team will help to ensure that patients receive timely, quality preventive care, and is a shining example of Innovation and Discovery in Action.
Team members recognized as part of this award include Laura Gentile, Estefanie Ocampo-Zapata, Cheryl Hankey, Courtney Calderwood, Tracy Liu, Adam Kahnamelli, Javis Lui, Isabella Piechota, Mairin Kerr, Melissa Yan, Zhang Yue, Dmitriy Bykov, Edwin Khoo, Josef Murillo, Hugo Britto, Shahin Yousefi, Alexandr Kozhizkhov, Zhengmeng Liu, Kathleen Creamer, Daniela Ramos-Lopez, Oleh Besedin, Mary Nagy, Joy Berlin-Lancombe, Shielo Layag, Hazel Abella, Tracy Forman, Jeanette Kuan, Dr. Gina Ogilvie, Dr. Lily Proctor and Laurie Smith.
Congratulations to the team for this well-deserved recognition!
Pictured: Laura Gentile, accepting the Innovation and Discovery in Action award from Kevin Hare, senior executive director, Operations and Tammy Currie, executive director, Provincial Programs, on behalf of her team.
