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BC Cancer Foundation’s 2013 Inspiration Gala

Max J. Coppes, BC Cancer Agency president; and Mehmood Alibhai, Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Ltd. reimbursement access manager.Max J. Coppes, BC Cancer Agency president and Mehmood Alibhai, Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Ltd. reimbursement access manager. Doug Nelson, BC Cancer Foundation president; and Hagen Kennecke, BC Cancer Agency oncologist.Max J. Coppes, BC Cancer Agency...

By Paul Duchart /

Max J. Coppes, BC Cancer Agency president; and Mehmood Alibhai, Boehringer Ingelheim Canada Ltd. reimbursement access manager.



Doug Nelson, BC Cancer Foundation president; and Hagen Kennecke, BC Cancer Agency oncologist.



Darlene Knudson, Fraser Health Abotsford Regional Hospital manager volunteer services; Della McLaughlin, Grouse Mountain executive VP; and Helen Messier, Shaughnessy Health chief medical officer.



Deborah Roitberg and Jane Hungerford, Inspiration Gala co-chairs.



Inspiration Gala emcee, CBC’s Gloria Macarenko.



Jessica Sales; and Scarlett Chen, who shared her husband’s story to raise awareness about lung cancer.



Noy Ziv; her father Osnat Ziv, ERL Diamonds CEO; and his wife Ronen Ziv.



Jonathan Kallner, FCA, KPMG regional managing partner; Susan Knott, Vancouver Public Library Foundation director; and Lyall D. Knott, Clark Wilson LLP senior partner.



Heather Miller; Rhonda Gerba, REMAX Central North realtor; and Mike Shamro, Tetra Tech WEI Inc. manager, mining and minerals.


BC Cancer Foundation’s 2013 Inspiration Gala
Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel
November 8, 2013


Over 400 guests attended the BC Cancer Foundation’s Inspiration gala at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel. Guests mingled at the cocktail reception and bid on silent auction items. In the ballroom, CBC’s Gloria Macarenko led the auction. And the event raised more than $2.3 million for lung cancer research at the BC Cancer Agency. Pearl Toh’s generous gift of $900,000 kicked off the evening with a philanthropic bang. Ms. Toh’s gift will be used to help recruit Dr. Will Lockwood, an emerging leader in translational lung cancer research.

Funds raised through the 2013 Inspiration Gala, presented by Encana, will launch the Lung Cancer Research Initiative, a new project that will help scientists and clinicians better understand and treat lung cancer. The timing for the gala couldn’t have been more fitting, as November is also Lung Cancer Awareness Month.

For more than nine years, the BC Cancer Foundation’s Inspiration Gala has invested $15 million to accelerate research in lung, pancreatic, breast, ovarian, brain, colorectal, lymphoid cancers and personalized medicine at the BC Cancer Agency.