CAPhO's Board of Directors

Michelle Koberinski has worked as a pharmacy technician since 1999 in various community and hospital settings in BC and Alberta. She currently works for Provincial Pharmacy at BC Cancer as the Coordinator of BC Cancer's Pharmacy Oncology Certification Program where she developed, implements, and maintains an Oncology Certification program for pharmacy staff in British Columbia that prepares and dispenses oncology medication. In 2010, Michelle received CAPhO’s Merit award for her work on BC Cancer's Pharmacy Practice Standards for Hazardous Drugs Manual. Michelle dedicates much of her time to improving aseptic compounding processes that involve hazardous drugs and developing guidelines for safe practice.

Jason completed his pharmacy degree at Dalhouise University and his Pharmacy Residency at The Ottawa Hospital. He has practiced as an inpatient Medical Oncology pharmacist for nearly 10 years, from 2010 to 2019 and is a Board-Certified Oncology Pharmacist. He has earned a Master’s in Health Management in 2019. Jason is the Founder of and Oncology Pharmacist at Extend Pharmacy, Ottawa’s first cancer-focused ambulatory oncology pharmacy. His areas of research interest include integration of pharmacy learners into practice, simulation education, oral anticancer therapy education and key performance indicators for pharmacists. He is currently involved in several CAPhO initiatives and is a Regional Clinical Coordinator for the University of Waterloo PharmD program in Ottawa.

I graduated from Memorial University in 2010 and then moved to Calgary to complete a pharmacy residency with a focus in oncology. Since that time I have been working as a clinical pharmacist in the BMT program at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and served as the interim clinical research pharmacist in the hematology, oncology and transplant clinic at Alberta Children’s Hospital. I am currently a Clinical Practice Leader for ambulatory oncology and rural pharmacy teams and Vice President of CAPhO. I have an interest in survivorship and enjoy participating in research projects with the BMT long term follow-up clinic.

Provincial Pharmacy Manager, Oncology Value and Access

Clinical Pharmacist working in Adult Outpatient Hematology in St. John's, NL.

Pamela Yafai graduated from Dalhousie University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and completed an accredited pharmacy residency at Saint John Regional Hospital in 2008. Pamela has worked as a clinical oncology pharmacist for the past 15 years and has experience providing patient care in both ambulatory and inpatient settings. She currently works as the Stem Cell Transplant/Oncology Clinical Resource Pharmacist for Horizon Health Network, New Brunswick. Pamela is a long-standing active member of CAPhO, and the current chair of the CAPhO Communications committee. Her professional interests include supportive care-related research, patient education, medication safety and mentorship of pharmacy learners.

Tom McFarlane is currently a Clinical Lecturer and a researcher at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy in Kitchener, Ontario, where he created, coordinates, and teaches the oncology portion of the curriculum in the Doctor of Pharmacy program and conducts practice-based research.

Laura Minard is a Clinical Pharmacy Coordinator in Oncology and Hematology at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Laura obtained her BSc from Dalhousie University followed by a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Alberta. She went on to pursue pharmacy training (BSc Pharm) at Dalhousie University and completed an Accredited Canadian Pharmacy Residency at the QEII Health Sciences Centre. She has worked in a variety of outpatient and inpatient oncology units including a pharmacist-led clinic providing education and care to patients with adjuvant/neoadjuvant breast cancer. Most recently, Laura has provided care to inpatients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplant or CAR T-cell therapy. Her research interests include optimizing patient education of oncology medications, management of immune-related adverse events, pharmacist prescribing, and medication management of toxicities associated with CAR T-cell therapy.

CAPhO BOD & Technician/Assistant Education Committee Chair

Nimisha is a graduate from the University of Waterloo, Doctor of Pharmacy program. She is an Oncology Pharmacist and Oncology Coordinator at Extend Pharmacy in Ottawa. Her practice is specialized in enhancing the medication experience for patients starting on take home anti-cancer regimens. Nimisha also works with her team to help coordinate new patient referrals at Extend and ensures that patients are set up to safely and confidently start their new medications.