About the OTB

The Ontario Tumour Bank (OTB) collects and stores tumour tissue, blood samples, and health data from cancer patients to support research. As one of the largest tumour biobanks in North America, OTB provides researchers with high‑quality, de‑identified data to help improve cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Since 2004, OTB has built a large and diverse collection of samples from patients across Ontario. This allows researchers to compare cancers, understand how they develop over time, and find better ways to care for patients.

OTB partners with hospitals across Ontario. With patient consent, trained staff collect samples during routine care and protect patient privacy by removing personal identifiers.

Researchers depend on OTB for biospecimens and services that support high‑quality translational research and improve patient outcomes. OTB’s mission is to accelerate cancer research by enabling large‑scale analysis of human tumours—an essential step in understanding cancer biology and developing next‑generation diagnostics and therapies. By providing access to high‑quality human tumour specimens and data, OTB supports discoveries that cannot be achieved through disease models alone.

OTB is a program of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), a not‑for‑profit research institute funded by the Government of Ontario and dedicated to accelerating discoveries that benefit cancer patients in Ontario and worldwide.

Governance

OTB’s governance framework ensures that biospecimens and de‑identified clinical data are shared responsibly with researchers, meeting high ethical standards. Local leadership and patient partners help guide practices so clinical, scientific, and patient perspectives remain central to our work.

OTB is guided by a Steering Committee that provides strategic oversight and direction, drawing on the expertise of leaders in biobanking, oncology, and beyond. The members of the Committee are:

  • Dr. Lincoln Stein, Provincial PI, OTB
  • Dr. Dianne Chadwick, Director, OTB (Committee Chair)
  • Ilinca Lungu, Operations Manager, OTB
  • Terry Hawrysh, Patient Partner, OTB
  • Dr. Sunit Das, Co-PI, OTB-UHT
  • Dr. Valeria Di Giovanni, Manager, OTB-UHT
  • Dr. Ihab El-Shinnawy, PI, OTB-SJHH
  • Dr. Harman Sekhon, PI, OTB-TOH
  • Dr. Patrick James Villeneuve, Co-PI, OTB-TOH
  • Dr. Michelle Brazas, Director, Adaptive Oncology, OICR
  • Dr. Jane Bayani, Co-Director, Diagnostic Development, OICR
  • Dr. Melanie Spears, Co-Director, Diagnostic Development, OICR
  • Monique Albert, Senior Program Manager, Ontario Hereditary Cancer Research Network
  • Dr. Sara Hafezi-Bakhtiari, Pathologist, UHT
  • Sarah Howe, COO, SJHH
  • Dr. Anthony Magliocco, President and CEO, Protean BioDiagnostics

Bioethics & Privacy

OTB follows best practices to ensure biospecimen collection does not affect patient care and that all donors provide informed consent. Samples and clinical data are de‑identified, shared in compliance with all legal and ethical requirements, and overseen through regular privacy audits to protect donor confidentiality. All biospecimens and associated data are de-identified so that a participant’s identity is inaccessible to OTB central staff and recipient researchers. OTB is audited by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) on a triennial basis for adherence to privacy protection requirements per its Prescribed Registry status under section 39(1)(c) of the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA).