Dr Natasha Leighl leads the Thoracic Medical Oncology Group at the Princess Margaret Cancer
Centre, and is Professor in the Department of Medicine, and Adjunct Professor in the Institute
of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. She holds the OSI
Pharmaceuticals Foundation Chair in Cancer New Drug Development through the Princess Margaret
Cancer Foundation. She has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers, has held (as principal or
co-investigator) over $600 million in peer-reviewed grant funding, and has mentored many
oncology trainees that have gone on to leadership roles in oncology around the world. Recently,
she was awarded the American Society of Clinical Oncology Excellence in Teaching Award (2019).
After receiving her MD from the University of Toronto, Canada, Dr. Leighl completed residencies
in internal medicine at the University of Calgary and in medical oncology at the University of
Toronto. She subsequently completed a Fellowship in Thoracic Oncology with Dr. Frances Shepherd
at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Canada, a Fellowship in Clinical Oncology with Prof. Martin
Tattersall at the University of Sydney in Australia, and received her Masters in Medical Science
(MMSc) in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Newcastle, Australia.
Dr Leighl’s main interest is in developing new treatments in lung cancer and improving lung
cancer diagnostics. She is involved in clinical studies of novel agents for the treatment of
thoracic cancers, has led several international and cooperative group studies in lung cancer and
has served as a member of the Lung Disease Site Group Executive of the Canadian Cancer Clinical
Trials Group. She was Co-Chair of the CCTG Committee on Economic Analysis, Congress Co-President
of the 2018 World Conference in Lung Cancer, and serves on multiple committees including the
ASCO Thoracic Guidelines Advisory Group, is co-section editor of The Oncologist and Current
Oncology, an editorial board member of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, British Journal of
Cancer, a member of the IASLC Quality and Value Committee, on the Scientific Advisory Board of
the Lung Cancer Foundation of America, and was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the
Americas Health Foundation. Previously she served as Web Editor of the Journal of Thoracic
Oncology, on the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the Royal College of
Physicians & Surgeons of Canada Medical Oncology Examination Board, and is Past President of
Lung Cancer Canada.
The role of molecular testing
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molecular diagnostics in NSCLC