The CONNECT Collaborator Series is an interview series where we host conversations with healthcare professionals and partners with the goal of encouraging deeper collaboration in the healthcare industry.
Watch the full CONNECT Collaborator Series video featuring our Co-Founder, Lorie Spence and the Executive Director of Kidney Cancer Canada, Christine Collins.
Lorie Spence: Welcome to the Connect Collaborator interview series, where we host 10 minute conversations with healthcare professionals and partners with the goal of engaging deeper collaboration in the healthcare industry. Today’s guest is Christine Collins, Executive Director of Kidney Cancer Canada.
Christine’s work with Kidney Cancer Canada began after her diagnosis in 2010. Committed to giving back to the organization that supported her, Christine began volunteering at patient education events and in peer support services, and then served as a director and vice chair of the board. In 2020, Christine moved to the front lines as the executive director at Kidney Cancer Canada. From November 2021 to November 2023, Christine was honored to serve as a board member of the International Kidney Cancer Coalition. She continues to support the IKCC and their vision to reduce the global burden of kidney disease.
Christine’s personal experience, combined with her background in education, health and corporate work, along with her commitment to Kidney Cancer Canada, has enabled her to serve and support the kidney cancer community. Christine has always advocated that kidney cancer is a global disease, and when we collaborate at the scale, we can not only discover better diagnosis opportunities, treatment options and support, but also a cure.
Welcome Christine, and thank you for joining us.
Christine Collins: Thank you so much, Lorie, it’s really good to be here and communicate again. We’ve been working together on a special project, and I really appreciate this opportunity to share a little bit about Kidney Cancer Canada.
Kidney Cancer Canada is a national community of patients, caregivers and health professionals dedicated to ensuring that every Canadian touched by kidney cancer receives the support, education, advocacy that they need throughout their care journey and treatment options.
Lorie Spence: What are some of the new things that Kidney Cancer Canada has been working on over the last year?
Christine Collins: Well, I have to share that 2025 was an exciting year and a busy year with meaningful activities and projects. I’m pleased to share that Kidney Cancer Canada continues to grow.
This year, we partnered to develop new educational aids on SBRT and a resource for kidney cancer patients considering a partial or radical nephrectomy. These are designed to inform and support patients and caregivers. We are also updating several of our educational booklets to reflect the current information and guidelines. These resources will be available in both English and French on our website, and printed copies can be requested by healthcare professionals and patients.
We’re excited that healthcare professionals have access to the resources that they can use in their facilities in order to share with patients and direct them to the support that Kidney Cancer Canada can offer. We featured new educational webinars and shared webinars by other patient organizations on important topics. And in addition, all of our webinars and our video Knowledge Library segments are now accessible through our YouTube channel as well as on our website. We’re also in the process of rebuilding and modernizing our website to make it more user friendly and ensure the accuracy of information.
Lorie Spence: That sounds fantastic, Christine. I know supporting the patients has been a really main goal of yours across the entire patient journey. Maybe you can tell me a little bit about some of the recent collaborations and activities you’ve had to support patients and healthcare practitioners.
Christine Collins: This has been really an exciting year for us and Kidney Cancer Canada was honored to participate in several Canadian and international patient advocacy research studies this past year focusing on shared decision making and patient journey mapping. One highlight was our involvement in developing a new patient decision aid alongside a panel of kidney cancer specialists. This initiative led to the creation of the myRCC app, designed to help the patients make informed choices about their first line systemic treatment in alignment with their personal goals, we envision the myRCC app being used by healthcare professionals in collaboration with patients, fostering meaningful conversations and empowering patients to ask strategic questions about their therapy. This tool supports patients in making informed decisions with their oncologist, ensuring care is tailored to their unique needs.
Kidney Cancer Canada recognizes that kidney cancer is a highly individualized disease. Through our patient community, we have learned that while one treatment may be highly effective for one individual, it may cause significant side effects or have limited impact for another. Personalized care is therefore essential. Details are available on our website. Another milestone in 2025 with the launch of a $100,000 research grant opportunity, the Warren Y. Soper Kidney Cancer Research Grant, generously sponsored by the Warren Y. Soper Charitable Trust. In addition, we partnered with the Canadian Neurological Association Scholarship Fund and the Kidney Cancer Research Network of Canada to support the Anil Kapoor Kidney Cancer Research Grant, also funded by the Warren Y. Soper Charitable Trust and the Canadian Neurological Association Scholarship Fund. Through these initiatives and activities, Kidney Cancer Canada continues to fulfill its mandate of support, education, advocacy and research.
Lorie Spence: That’s fantastic. Christine, maybe you could tell us, because you did a lot of work supporting the myRCC clinical tool, and really provided the patient perspective, if you could share with us, maybe what’s a bit unique about this and why healthcare practitioners might be wanting to engage in downloading this application.
Christine Collins: As far as I know, this is the first of its kind. We are excited that the healthcare professionals are going to be the lead through this activity, therefore encouraging patients to participate and feel heard. I think, sometimes the biggest thing for patients when they’re going into the oncology office or or they’re trying to decide what to do as you receive a cancer diagnosis, all the information goes out of your head. It’s just so emotional and, you know, affects mental, emotional and physical. So we are really excited that the initiative is directed at healthcare professionals. This gives the opportunity for them to engage with their patients, and it gives structure by the intake form that the patients will fill out and take with them or send to them, through their oncology office prior to their appointment so that together, they can make informed decisions. And this app really does contain excellent information about the first line treatment opportunities that gives the patient time to think about what they’re facing, how it will affect them in their everyday life and their goals with their treatment and they can put that all together to make sure they’ve choosing the right first line treatment.
Lorie Spence: Looking ahead, what are you most excited about as you think towards 2026?
Christine Collins: Well, I am first of all really excited to see, because we’re just initiating this project with the myRCC app. So I’m really excited to see how this will come together and engage patients’ healthcare professionals and provide good information for patients that are facing first line systemic therapy choices, so that’s an exciting element.
We’re also really planning some new educational webinars, including what’s new in oncology for RCC and surgery, pre and post operative care. We’re delighted to continue our monthly coffee chats, which are very popular now entering its sixth year and providing a welcoming space for patients and caregivers to connect and share experiences in collaboration with other patient organizations, we will advocate for shorter wait times for diagnosis and treatment across Canada, an urgent issue that’s faced by many patients today. We’re also committed to promoting equal access to treatment nationwide, with particular attention to those patients that are in remote and rural communities. We also look forward to new research opportunities in 2026 further advancing our mission to support Canadians impacted by kidney cancer.
So, we’re looking forward to a busy year, and we’re excited to see how our new initiatives in 2025 advance and grow in 2026.
So I’d just like to take a minute to thank you for this opportunity. It has been a great learning experience for Kidney Cancer Canada, we really feel appreciated that we are included with the healthcare professionals, that our patients are being heard and supported in a new and exciting way. So thank you so much.
Lorie Spence: Christine, it’s our pleasure. Thank you very much for joining us.
Christine, where can people find out more about Kidney Cancer Canada?
Christine Collins: Please come to our website, www.kidneycancercanada.ca, and I just want to elaborate that we are here for patients. And, you may think your question is not significant, or your situation, you know, really doesn’t need attention, but please, we’re here for patients and caregivers and healthcare professionals, and please don’t hesitate to reach out. No question is too small, no issue is too big. We may not have the answers, but we’ll try really hard to get them for you. So please don’t hesitate to reach out if needed.
Lorie Spence: I think it’s fantastic how you’re continuing to have patient centered care at the heart of what you do, and also supporting all those stakeholders involved.
Well, Christine, thank you so much, and we look forward to continuing to follow all your hard work and the impact that’s coming.
Follow CONNECT Communications on LinkedIn to stay current on when the next interview will go live.
Follow Kidney Cancer Canada on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook to learn more about their journey.
