Improving public awareness and outcomes for oral cancer

Catherine Poh speaks to G Westcott, Commissioning Editor: Dr. C Poh gained a dental degree from the National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan and went on to gain her PhD from the University of British Columbia in 1997, looking into molecular biology in oral cancer. In addition to her current role an associate professor in the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of British Columbia, she is a senior clinician scientist at the Integrative Oncology Department of the BC Cancer Agency's Research Centre. She has various other roles, including being active within the Oral Oncology Department at BC Cancer Agency and the Oral Mucosal Disease Program at Vancouver General Hospital. Her research focuses on the application of molecular and imaging tools for screening, detection and management of at-risk oral lesions. She is currently the principal investigator of a Terry Fox Research Institute-funded ($5 million), pan-Canadian multicenter randomized controlled surgical trial.