Who We Are
Dense Breasts Canada (DBC) is a non-profit organization, founded in 2016. DBC is made up of breast cancer survivors, dedicated individuals and healthcare professionals committed to: raising awareness about the risks associated with dense breasts and advocating for optimal breast cancer screening.
OUR GOALS: AWARENESS AND ADVOCACY
To increase awareness among women and health care professionals of the risks associated with dense breasts and the importance of annual screening at 40.
To convince health authorities to report breast density to women and provide supplemental screening to women with dense breasts.
To convince the federal government to include breast cancer screening experts in creating breast screening guidelines for Canadian women.
WHY WE’RE SEEKING CHANGE
Over 3 million women in Canada, over age of 40, have dense breasts. DBC wants to educate women about the importance of knowing and understanding their breast density so they can be proactive in reducing their risk and can also have informed discussions with their healthcare providers.
Why breast density matters: Dense breasts pose two risks: 1. Women with dense breasts have a higher chance of developing breast cancer. 2. Dense tissue can mask cancer. Women with dense breasts can benefit from additional screening to decrease the number of missed or delayed cancer diagnoses.
Why optimal screening matters: Early detection of breast cancer provides the best chance for survival. Five year survival at Stage 1 is 99.8 percent and at Stage 4 it is 23%. Early detection also can mean a better chance to avoid chemotherapy, mastectomy and axillary dissection. Optimal screening includes annual screening starting at age 40 and continuing past age 74 and additional screening for women with dense breasts.
Our People
JENNIE DALE
Co-Founder, Executive Director
Jennie is the Executive Director of Dense Breasts Canada (DBC). She lives in Ontario. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2014. Inspired by the successful advocacy efforts of American organizations, "areyoudense.org" and "densebreast-info.org," Jennie co-founded DBC with Michelle Di Tomaso in 2016 and has teamed up with breast cancer survivors nationwide to raise awareness of the risks of dense breasts and to advocate for optimal breast screening. Together, they have successfully advocated for changes in policy in all Canadian provinces.
Currently, six provinces notify all women of their breast density and four provinces have committed to notification in 2023. The work continues until all Canadian women are informed of their breast density and provided supplemental screening. Provincially, the advocacy has expanded to include advocating that all women be allowed to self-refer for a mammogram starting at age 40.
Jennie is also involved with leading breast cancer experts in advocating on a federal level and meets with MPs to advocate for necessary revisions to the current Canadian Task Force breast cancer screening guidelines, which put women's lives at risk.
She completed a comparison of provincial breast cancer screening practices and is working with the DBC team to ensure all Canadian women can access the screening they need. She is a firm believer that your postal code should not determine whether breast cancer is detected early.
In 2021, Jennie was named a top 5 finalist in Charity Village's awards in the category of Most Outstanding Impact by a Volunteer.
MICHELLE DI TOMASO
Co-Founder
Michelle is the co-founder of Dense Breasts Canada. She was diagnosed in August 2014 with Stage 2B, Triple Positive Breast Cancer. Over the next two years, she underwent 2 surgeries to remove the cancer, Chemotherapy (A/C, Taxol and Herceptin), Radiation, a Double Mastectomy and 3 unsuccessful reconstructive surgeries, and spent 25 days in the hospital.
She was informed that her cancer diagnosis had been delayed 3 years because she had dense breasts. Had the cancer been caught earlier, the treatment would more than likely have been limited to surgery only.
Michelle is from British Columbia, the first Canadian province where advocacy resulted in density notification to all women, in 2018. In 2019, Michelle continued to advocate successfully to ensure that women in British Columbia with dense breasts had the ability to access screening ultrasound, now paid for by MSP.
After five years of successful advocacy, the DBC team's efforts have resulted in all provinces making policy change, to varying degrees. Six provinces tell all women their breast density and five provinces/territories tell women in the highest category. Four of these will begin telling women in all categories in 2023. Michelle is passionate about seeing breast density notification for all women in Canada included in the mammogram results letter and ensuring that women with dense breasts get the screening they need.
Paula B. Gordon, OBC, MD, FRCPC, FSBI
Medical Advisor
Dr. Paula Gordon is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of British Columbia. She is a passionate clinician, researcher and educator.
In the 1980’s her research on ultrasound-guided breast biopsies led to it becoming a standard of care worldwide. This procedure enabled accurate diagnosis of breast masses, which had previously required surgery and allowed women to forego surgery for non-cancerous abnormalities.
During her career, Dr. Gordon has published dozens of articles in peer-reviewed journals. Her research in 1995 was the first to show that ultrasound could find cancers missed on mammograms. This has led to a paradigm change in the management of screening women with dense breasts that began in the USA in 2009, but is now spreading to Canada, the UK, Asia, Australia and Europe.
She was a member of BC Women’s Health Centre’s Expert Task Force for a Breast Assessment & Diagnostic Partnership Pilot Program in 1996, and worked there until 2020, serving as Medical Director of the Sadie Diamond Breast Program from 2007 to 2019. During that time, she secured funding from The Diamond Foundation and the Provincial Health Services Authority to obtain the first tomosynthesis technology (3D mammography) in BC and to establish the Vancouver Breast Imaging Fellowship, to train the future leaders in breast imaging. She arranged for trainees to rotate through BC Women’s Health Care Centre, BC Cancer, and the office of Dr. Linda Warren & Associates to ensure exposure to multiple experts. Due to the reputation of the program she has also trained self-funded fellows from other provinces, the USA and the Middle East.
With the acquisition of tomosynthesis, Dr. Gordon arranged for Vancouver to be among the first Canadian sites to join TMIST: the tomosynthesis mammographic imaging screening trial, an FDA-funded multi-centre trial, donating hundreds of hours participating in the planning and preparation of the trial as a Canadian lead-in site.
Dr. Gordon is widely appreciated for her mentoring of medical students, radiology residents and fellows in breast imaging, as well as teaching her individual patients and the public. She is a popular instructor at "Hands-on workshops" at the Radiologic Society of North America where radiologists learn how to perform needle biopsies and other procedures with ultrasound guidance, and has done so every year since they were first introduced in 1993.
She is a sought-after speaker and moderator and panel member, and has given hundreds of invited lectures locally, nationally and internationally, as well as participating on and chairing scientific panels throughout North America.
She volunteers as a reviewer for several medical journals, and is a volunteer advisor to Dense Breasts Canada, a Canadian patient advocacy group, and an American educational website: Dense Breast Info.
With colleagues from across Canada, she was a founding member of the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging.
Dr. Gordon has volunteered on and chaired dozens of committees:
- Member, Lower Mainland Innovation and Integration Fund Committee for Breast Health
- Chair, Early Detection Committee, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 2020 Project
- Chair of the Early Detection Committee of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, BC/Yukon Division,
- Member, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Breast Cancer Prevention and Risk Assessment Clinic Advisory Board
- Chair of the Academic Committee of the Screening Mammography Program of British Columbia,
- Co-Chair of the Workforce Committee of the Provincial Breast Health Strategy, and a member of the Steering, Clinical Pathway and Prevention Committees of the Provincial Breast Health Strategy,
- Member of the Provincial Radiology Expert Committee, a reviewer for the Canadian Association of Radiology Mammography Accreditation program
- Reviewer for clinical practice guidelines for the American College of Radiology
- Reviewer for clinical practice guidelines for the Canadian Association of Radiologists
- Member, UBC Radiology Advisory Committee
And in addition to all the time she volunteers to better breast health, she also has volunteered as a Director of the Board of the Canucks for Kids Fund since 2006.
In recognition of her contributions to the field of breast imaging, she was made a Fellow of the Society of Breast Imaging, a society of the American College of Radiology, and volunteered on their Board of Directors for six years.
Her other awards and recognition include:
Officer, Order of Canada
Canadian Heads of Academic Radiology Development Award
BC Children’s and Women’s Hospital Award of Excellence in Education
A Killam Teaching Prize from University of British Columbia.
The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal.
The Order of British Columbia,
Honorary alumnus award from the UBC Medical Alumni Association.
Canadian Women’s Executive Network Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada, Trailblazers and Trendsetters Award
Was called “one of the greatest Canadian specialists in breast cancer detection and diagnosis” by the Ministry for the Status of Women, on the occasion of the International Day of Radiology
Best Teacher – UBC Radiology Residents
2022 Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Prix d’excellence – Specialist of the Year award, Region 1
UBC Radiology 2022 Clinical Faculty Award for Excellence in Research/Discovery/Innovation
https://newsroom.royalcollege.ca/a-specialist-renowned-for-outstanding-patient-care-and-advocacy-in-the-community/
TWITTER HANDLE @DrPaulaGordon
MARLIE ODEN
Communications Chair
“I am grateful my cancer was caught early, but the mammogram only caught the cancer in one breast."
A bit of a health nut, Marlie was shocked in 2016 to find out that she had breast cancer in both breasts. Only one breast cancer was discovered by mammogram. One of the lucky ones, she knew she had dense breasts, as her physician had informed her 20 years earlier (after a biopsy and being told by the ultrasound radiologist). But knowing wasn’t enough- she should have had an ultrasound each year- the earlier it’s caught the better. Life gets busy. Marlie founded Bridge Communications in 1995 and prior to that, she worked at McKim Advertising, based in Vancouver, where she managed the Tourism British Columbia account before becoming the Vice-President and Account Director. Marlie has sat on the Board of Directors of Telefilm Canada, the Arts Club Theatre, the Vancouver International Film Festival, Vancouver TheatreSports, Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, The Fringe Festival, BC Wine Institute, BC Bortstal Association, and the Stanley Theatre. Marlie was appointed to the Board of Directors of CBC/Radio-Canada on July 30, 2013, for a five-year term.
An active member of her community, she has received the Jessie Richardson Patron of the Arts Award and the City of Vancouver Arts Award for Outstanding board member. In 2016, Marlie was recognized by BC Business as one of British Columbia’s 35 most influential women. Marlie attended the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta. She is a graduate of the Canadian Board Diversity Council Program and a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors. She is an avid runner and her greatest joy is her family. Her passion is to make sure that women get the best advice and treatment possible for breast cancer.
ANNIE SLIGHT
Director, Advocacy and Education, Quebec
Annie is the Director of Advocacy and Education in Quebec. She lives in Montreal. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2013 at age 42. After a normal mammogram, Annie discovered a lump six months later. As a breast cancer survivor, she feels strongly about giving back and advocating for women. She also is passionate about ensuring that women receive information about their breast density so that they can make informed healthcare decisions. Annie began working with DBC in 2018. For the past five years, Annie has been raising awareness through numerous interviews in the media, actively spreading the word on social media and speaking to women at events. She has been advocating intensively for policy change.
Quebec was the first province to make it mandatory to include breast density information in the mammogram report sent to the doctor. However, doctors are not relaying the density information to women and most women do not know to ask their doctor. The government committed to providing the density category in the Health Booklet in 2021, but this is not enough. Annie continues to advocate so that all women in Quebec will be told their breast density in their mammogram results letter, as is being done in other provinces.
JOAN BUSH
Advisor
Joan Bush has served in a variety of capacities: as a Director of The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, a Director of Canada-Rwanda Board of Trade, member of the International Women's Forum (IWF) executive, and a board member of the Yee Hong Wellness Foundation, which supports culturally and linguistically appropriate care for over 15,000 seniors from different ethnic communities. She is also a member of the Women for Nature Initiative. She has also served two terms as a governor on the Board of Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. In 2012, Joan became a recipient of Queen’s Diamond Jubilee for her outstanding community service. As a Director of the Kiani Foundation, she has contributed extensively to the community through numerous charities including hospitals, scholarships, youth education, and women’s shelters. Joan is passionate about raising awareness of the risks of dense breasts and ensuring that women across Canada are informed of their density and the importance of additional screening. She understands the significance of dense breasts from her own personal experience when an additional cancer was masked by dense tissue and only seen on MRI.
EEVIN-LEIGH SCHLAMP
Graphic Design
Eevin-Leigh is a contemporary artist who lives in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia. Her professional background is in Marketing, Advertising and Graphic Design. “In 2020, I set out in search of a place where my contributions would feel more meaningful,” and that summer she met the co-founders of Dense Breasts Canada, Jennie Dale and Michelle Di Tomaso. “When I first spoke with Jennie and Michelle I knew I had found a network of women who were passionately advocating to make better changes for women’s breast health across Canada. They rally with that same passion every day, relentlessly fighting for better breast density notification, and necessary revisions to the current Canadian Task Force breast cancer screening guidelines, which put Canadian women’s lives at risk.”
Dense Breasts Canada has made great progress in educating and advocating for women with dense breast tissue in Canada, and Eevin-Leigh continues advocating by volunteering her creativity as a designer for their social media pages. She designs social media content and assists with Marketing and Administration when needed, as well.
As a wife, and mom of two children, she knows that moms are always busy looking after their family, and more often than not, they don't make time for their own health. “I want my designs to inspire hope and courage for other Canadian moms out there to take the initiative and see their physicians to get a mammogram and find out their breast density.
Dr. Victoria Gay
Strategy Consultant
Dr. Victoria Gay is an Executive Consultant driving growth in organizations that are building a better world. Victoria has a PhD from University College London and 15 years’ experience in research, strategy, and innovation, across multiple sectors. She has worked across in women’s health in both a research capacity and as the Senior Director of Strategy at BC Women’s Health Foundation. In her three years at BCWHF, Victoria was instrumental in driving the BC Women's Health Foundation from a foundation that served BC Women's Hospital to a provincial foundation dedicated to improving women's health. She led the Research, Innovation, Education + Awareness portfolios and associated strategic partnerships, and was heavily involved in the Foundation's advocacy efforts to encourage transformational investments in women’s health research, policy, and practice.
She volunteers with Dense Breasts Canada as both a passionate advocate for women’s health and an experienced non-profit consultant.
Meet Our Advocates
BC, AB, SK, MB
Honourary Patron
Karen Goldenberg
Dense Breasts Canada announces Karen Goldenberg, CM, O.Ont Honourary Patron,
Dense Breasts Canada is delighted to name Karen Goldenberg Honourary
Patron. Karen has worked tirelessly throughout her life to improve lives in
both the health and social service sectors. Karen is a recipient of both
the Order of Ontario and Order of Canada. Known as a compassionate and
strategic thinker, Karen is a change maker who led JVS Toronto and founded
COTA. She has had numerous roles in the health sector. Her affiliation with
Dense Breasts Canada has been ongoing.
Karen is delighted to be an Honourary Patron of Dense Breasts Canada: “I am
acutely aware of the need for proper screening of all women 40 and up. But
what drew me to Dense Breasts Canada was the fact that so many women’s
cancers were going undetected simply because of dense breast tissue. DBC has
advocated successfully to ensure proper notification to women with dense
breasts. The next step will be making ultrasound available to those who
require it. I applaud this mission and am happy to be associated with it.”