Contact

Program Coordinator: Luxshiga Premakumar

Email: aya@uhn.ca

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What's New

AYA Resource Navigator:
Check out the AYA Resource Navigator Master List.

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Newsletter:
March AYA newsletter [PDF] »

New Team Member:
Samantha Scimé - Clinical Nurse Specialist

Samantha (Sam) is a specialized oncology nurse and educator passionate about cancer care, health equity and improving the experience of diverse populations across the cancer continuum. Since 2011, Sam has worked in various oncology nursing roles, has participated in curriculum development for several oncology courses, and has led award-winning quality improvement projects in patient and staff education, systemic therapy administration, as well as, cancer-related sexual health. Sam holds a Master of Nursing with a collaborative specialization in Sexual Diversity Studies from the University of Toronto, is past Director-at-Large of Professional Practice for the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology and is an executive member of the Sexual and Gender Diversity in Cancer Care (SGDc) Program at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. In her spare time, Sam sings in a choir, loves to spend time outdoors and enjoys a good slice of pizza!

Fertility Webinar Series:
The AYA Program would like to invite you to our Cancer & Fertility: Unfiltered Webinar Series. A virtual event for all individuals of all ages and from all sexual orientations who have questions regarding impact of cancer treatment on fertility. This meeting will have an open question and answer forum at the end of the session which will be mediated by a panel of health care professionals from Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Mt. Sinai Fertility and Women's College Hospital. Find more details on the event poster. Please sign up for which session you would like to receive a private link to attend by filling out this form.



AYA Events Calendar








What We Do​​​​

The AYA Program provides personalized, supportive care related to concerns common to young adults with cancer at Princess Margaret. These concerns include fertility, sexual health, school and work concerns, peer support, and wellness. For Princess Margaret patients age 39 or younger, the AYA Program can:

  • Identify your individual needs
  • Provide education and support
  • Link you to other community and hospital services and resources
  • Help you connect to other patients​
    ​​

How to Get Referred

Referrals to the AYA Program can be made by:​

Internal Referrals (Within UHN)
  • Health care providers: Refer a Princess Margaret AYA patient to the program by sending a referral through EPIC to the PM-Adolescent Young Adult Program or by emailing anytime at aya@uhn.ca.
  • Patients: If you are a Princess Margaret patient, you can self-refer to the program anytime by emailing aya@uhn.ca.
External Referrals (Outside of UHN)
  • Health care providers: To refer a patient who is currently not a patient of Princess Margaret, please fill out this referral form and fax to 416-946-2069 or by emailing the referral form to aya@uhn.ca.
  • Patients: If you are not a Princess Margaret patient, you can self-refer to the program anytime by emailing aya@uhn.ca.
How Long Does a Referral Take?

The AYA Program will contact you with your appointment time. Email the AYA office if you do not receive information about your appointment within a few weeks.​​​​​


Health Information

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          The Team

          Headshot of Abha Gupta Dr. Abha GuptaMedical Director, AYA Program
          Headshot of Jennifer Catsburg Jennifer CatsburgClinical Nurse Specialist
          Headshot of Samantha Scimé Samantha SciméClinical Nurse Specialist
          Headshot of Luxshiga Premakumar Luxshiga PremakumarProgram Coordinator
          Headshot of Sharon D'Souza Sharon D'SouzaPOGO/AYA School and Work Transitions Counsellor
          Headshot of Simone Kurup Simone KurupRegistered Social Worker
          Headshot of Chana Korenblum Dr. Chana KorenblumPhysician, Psychosocial Oncology
          Headshot of Dr. Pamela Mosher Dr. Pamela MosherPsychiatrist
          Headshot of Dr. Aliza Panjwani Dr. Aliza PanjwaniClinical Psychologist
          Headshot of Kim Edelstein Dr. Kim EdelsteinClinical Neuropsychologist
          Headshot of Dr. Norma D'Agostino Dr. Norma D'AgostinoClinical Psychologist
          Headshot of Dr. Jonathan Avery Dr. Jonathan AveryPsychosocial Researcher​


          LEGEND:
          Cancer Education
          Food & Nutrition
          Wellness
          Survivorship​


          This event gave an opportunity for patients to be a part of a holiday card making contest, where they would design various holiday cards, and showcase their work onto our socials for a chance to win a special prize!


          Had such an amazing movie night with our AYA friends and family to watch Ghost Busters in the Bob Bell Auditorium with some sweet treats and snacks!


          We had our first ever chocolate making class on October 18 with Geremy and Carolina from ELLICSR Kitchen. We had such a fun time making different types of chocolates and learning about the history of chocolate.


          Ending the summer with a day at the beach with our fellow AYA patients! Such a fun sunny day getting to know one another while being able to hang out by the water. Got a chance to play games, sit and watch the water and have a delicious lunch!


          Christy taught a wonderful AYA dance class focusing on finding joy in movement while working to improve memory, balance, strength and mobility. Was such a beautiful class for our AYA patients to follow along to Christy’s choreography!


          Starting off the summer with a pizza in the park for our patients at Sherwood Park! Patients had so much fun being able to mix and mingle and get to know others in the AYA community! Got a chance to play some lawn games, sit and enjoy the amazing weather, and have a delicious lunch!


          Hosted our 1st successful art therapy class with the help of our amazing instructor Jessika Welsh. It offered guided meditation and mindfulness teachings, through the instruction of using their creativity to make such beautiful pieces.


          Hosted our 2nd successful cooking class where patients got a chance to make some delicious Mexican food including: Aqua Fresca, a variety of tacos and sides! Was a great way for patients to meet others, while also learning tips and tricks in the kitchen!


          Had an amazing Valentine’s Day Card making contest, where they would design various valentines cards, and showcase their work onto our socials for a chance to win a special prize!


          Our AYA Skate Night was so much fun with patients getting a chance to skate with others and drink some hot chocolate, while listening to some wonderful music!


          This event gave an opportunity for patients to be a part of a holiday card making contest, where they would design various holiday cards, and showcase their work onto our socials for a chance to win a special prize!


          Hosted by the wonderful chef Geremy, patients got a chance to make some delicious Italian food including: mocktails, fresh pasta, caprese salad. Was a great way for patients to meet others, while also learning tips and tricks in the kitchen!


          A fall walk through High Park, a chance for patients to mingle with others and walk through the beautiful fall colors. Had the opportunity to have a little chat amongst one another, ending it off with a peaceful yoga/meditation session.


          An end of the summer kick-off at Sherwood Park, was an event for patients to meet each other and mingle. We worked with a variety of different organizations who set booth's up booths including: Wellspring Canada, ELLICSR Kitchen, and Nankind.


          Publications

          1. The Future of Adolescent and Young Adult Supportive Care: Looking Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic.
            Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology (2023).
            Authors: Marlie Smith, Chana Korenblum, Pamela Mosher, Abha Gupta, Jonathan Avery.
          2. Advanced Cancer in Young Adults (YAs): Living in a Liminal Space.
            Qualitative Health Research (2023).
            Authors: Jonathan Avery, Kristin L. Campbell, Pamela Mosher, Ahmed Al-Awamer, Karen Goddard, Annemarie Edwards, Laura Burnett, Breffni Hannon, Abha Gupta, and A. Fuchsia Howard.
          3. The Effect of Specialized Palliative Care on End-of-Life Care Intensity in AYAs with Cancer.
            Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (2023).
            Authors: Natalie Jewitt, Adam Rapoport, Abha Gupta, Amirrtha Srikanthan, Rinku Sutradhar, Jin Luo, Kimberley Widger, Joanna Wolfe, Craig Earle, Sumit Gupta, and Alisha Kassam.
          4. Adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology: A credentialed area of focused competence in Canada.
            Cancer Medicine (2023).
            Authors: Amirrtha Srikanthan, Jolanta Karpinski, and Abha Gupta.
          5. Peer Support Needs and Preferences for Digital Peer Navigation among Adolescent and Young Adults with Cancer: A Canadian Cross-Sectional Survey.
            Current Oncology (2022).
            Authors: Jacqueline Bender, Natasha Puri, Sarah Salih, Norma D'Agostino, Argerie Tsimicalis, A. Fuchsia Howard, Sheila Garland, Karine Chalifour, Emily Drake, Anothony Marrato, Nikki McKean, and Abha Gupta.
          6. Impact of locus of care on outcomes in adolescents and young adults with osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma treated at pediatric versus adult cancer centers: An IMPACT cohort study.
            Pediatric Blood & Cancer (2022).
            Authors: Mohammadreza Mortazavi, Nancy Baxter, Sumit Gupta, Abha Gupta, Cindy Lau, Chenthila Nagamuthu, and Paul Nathan.
          7. Looking Back to Move Forward: Lessons Learned from a Successful, Sustainable, Replicable Model of Adolescent and Young Adult Program of a Tertiary Cancer Care Center.
            Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology (2022).
            Authors: Natalie Pitch, Stephanie Stefaniuk, Meghan MacMillan, Jennifer Catsburg, Abha ​Gupta, and Tushar Vora.
          8. Peer Support Perspectives of Parents of Adolescents with Cancer in Pediatrics.
            Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology (2022).
            Authors: Danielle Weidman, Sandy Che-Eun Serena Lee, Philippe Desmarais, Katye Stevens, Christopher Klinger, Heather Colquhoun, Jacqueline Bender, and Abha Gupta.
          9. Measuring What Gets Done: Using Goal Attainment Scaling in a Vocational Counselling Program for Survivors of Childhood Cancer.
            Cancer Medicine (2022).
            Authors: Jason Pole, Barb Williams, Giancarlo Di Giuseppe, Sharon Guger, Elaine Stasiulis, Mark Greenberg, Brenda Spiegler, and Kim Edelstein.
          10. Preliminary findings of focus group analysis to support the needs of adolescent and young adult patients and survivors of cancer: Steps toward a national adolescent and young adult supportive care program.
            Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology (2021).
            Authors: Tushar Vora, Stacy Chapman, Serena Uppal, Shaayini Shanawaz, Cristina Emanuele, Abha Gupta, and Jonathan Avery.
          11. Peer support needs of adolescents with cancer in pediatrics: A Canadian mixed methods study.
            Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology (2021).
            Authors: Danielle Weidman, Philippe Desmarais, Katye Stevens, Christopher Klinger, Heather Colquhoun, Jacqueline Bender, and Abha Gupta.
          12. Internet and social media use in cancer patients: association with distress and perceived benefits and limitations.
            Support Care Cancer (2021).
            Authors: Jacqueline Bender, Katrina Hueniken, Lawson Eng, M Catherine Brown, Shayan Kassirian, Ilana Geist, Karmugi Balaratnam, Mindy Liang, Chelsea Paulo, Arielle Geist, Pryangka Rao, Alexander Magony, Elliot C Smith, Wei Xu, Geoffrey Liu, and Abha Gupta.
          13. Letter to the Editor: Music meet up -- Preliminary results of a novel music therapy group intervention for adolescents and young adults with cancer.
            Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology (2021).
            Authors: Mahsa Samadi, Jonathan Avery, SarahRose Black, Abha Gupta, and Chana Korenblum.
          14. Supporting the needs of adolescents and young adults: Integrated palliative care and psychiatry clinic for adolescents and young adults with cancer.
            Cancers (Basel) (2021).
            Authors: Mohamed Abdelaal, Pamela Mosher, Abha Gupta, Breffni Hannon, Christine Cameron, Malka Berman, Rahim Moineddin, Jonathan Avery, Laura Mitchell, Madeline Li, Camilla Zimmermann, and Ahmed al-Awamer.
          15. Preferences for exercise and physical activity support in adolescent and young adult cancer survivors: A cross-sectional survey.
            Supportive Care in Cancer (2021).
            Authors: Scott Adams, Anika Petrella, Catherine Sabiston, Madison Vani, Abha Gupta, Linda Trinh, Andrew Matthew, Robert Hamilton, and Daniel Santa Mina.
          16. Young Adult Cancer Survivorship: Recommendations for Patient Follow-up, Exercise Therapy, and Research.
            JNCI Cancer Spectrum (2021).
            Authors: Scott Adams, Jennifer Herman, Iliana Lega, Laura Mitchell, David Hodgson, Kim Edelstein, Lois Travis, Catherine Sabiston, Paaladinesh Thavendiranathan, and Abha Gupta.
          17. Health-related social media use and preferences of adolescent and young adult cancer patients for virtual programming.
            Support Care Cancer (2020).
            Authors: Reenika Aggarwal, Katrina Hueniken, Lawson Eng, Shayan Kassirian, Ilana Geist, Karmugi Balaratnam, Mindy Liang, Chelsea Paulo, Arielle Geist, Pryangka Rao, Laura Mitchell, Alexander Magony, Jennifer Jones, Samir Grover, M Catherine Brown, Jackie Bender, Wei Xu, Geoffrey Liu, and Abha Gupta.
          18. Fertility Preservation in Young Adults: Prevalence, Correlates, and Relationship with Post-Traumatic Growth.
            Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology (2020).
            Authors: Lauren Daniel, Catherine Sabiston, Morgan Pitock, Abha Gupta, Karine Chalifour, Geoff Eaton, and Sheila Garland.
          19. Age differences in patterns and confidence of using internet and social media for cancer-care among cancer survivors.
            Journal of Geriatric Oncology (2020).
            Authors: Lawson Eng, Jackie Bender, Katrina Hueniken, Shayan Kassirian, Laura Mitchell, Reenika Aggarwal, Chelsea Paulo, Elliot Smith, Ilana Geist, Karmugi Balaratnam, Alexander Magony, Mindy Liang, Dongyang Yang, Jennifer Jones, M Catherine Brown, Wei Xu, Samir Grover, Shabbir Alibhai, Geoffrey Liu, and Abha Gupta.
          20. Evaluation of an Educational Whiteboard Video to Introduce Fertility Preservation to Female Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer.
            JCO Oncology Practice (2020).
            Authors: Talia Greenspoon, Rebecca Charow, Janet Papadakos, Mahsa Samadi, Anne Marie Maloney, Chelsea Paulo, Victoria Forcina, Li Chen, Adrian Thavaratnam, Laura Mitchell, Armando Lorenzo, and Abha Gupta.
          21. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Intervention for Young Adults with Cancer: A Pilot Mixed-Method Study.
            Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology (2020).
            Authors: Rinat Nissim, Amanda Roth, Abha Gupta, and Mary Elliott.
          22. Crucial Conversations: Addressing informational needs of adolescents and young adults diagnosed with cancer.
            Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing (2018).
            Authors: Laura Mitchell, Seline Tam, and Abha Gupta.
          23. Measuring the Impact of an Adolescent and Young Adult Program on Addressing Patient Care Needs.
            Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology (2018).
            Authors: Laura Mitchell, Seline Tam, Jeremy Lewin, Amirrtha Srikanthan, Carol Heck, David Hodgson, Branavan Vakeesan, Hao-Wen Sim, and Abha Gupta.
          24. Perceptions and attitudes towards clinical trials in adolescent and young adults with cancer: a systematic review.
            Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics (2018).
            Authors: Victoria Forcina, Branavan Vakeesan, Chelsea Paulo, Laura Mitchell, Jennifer AH Bell, Seline Tam, Kate Wang, Abha Gupta, and Jeremy Lewinz.
          25. Perceptions of and decision making about clinical trials in adolescent and young adults with Cancer: a qualitative analysis.
            BMC Cancer (2018).
            Authors: Jennifer Bell, Victoria Forcina, Laura Mitchell, Seline Tam, Kate Wang, Abha Gupta, and Jeremy Lewin.
          26. Sexual health issues for the young adult with cancer: an international symposium held during the first global adolescents and young adults cancer congress (Edinburg, United Kingdom).
            Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology (2018).
            Authors: Laura Mitchell, Jeremy Lewin, Julia Dirks, Kate Wang, Seline Tam, Anne Katz, Beth McCann, Kirk Lo, Valerie Laurence, Christine Rousset-Jablonski, and Abha Gupta.
          27. Fertility preservation in post-pubescent female cancer patients: A practical guideline for clinicians.
            Molecular and Clinical Oncology (2018).​
            Authors: Amirrtha Srikanthan, Eitan Amir, Philippe Bedard, Meredith Giuliani, David Hodgson, Stephanie Laframboise, Anca Prica, Karen Yee, Ellen Greenblatt, Jeremy Lewin, and Abha Gupta.
          28. The positive effect of a dedicated adolescent and young adult fertility program on the rates of documentation of therapy associated infertility risk and fertility preservation options.
            Supportive Care in Cancer (2017).
            Authors: Jeremy Lewin, Justin Ming Zheng Ma, Laura Mitchell, Seline Tam, Natasha Puri, Derek Stephens, Amirrtha Srikanthan, Philippe Bedard, Albiruni Razak, Michael Crump, David Warr, Meredith Giuliani, and Abha Gupta.
          29. Adolescents and young adults: addressing needs and optimizing care with a clinical nurse specialist.
            Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing (2017).
            Authors: Laura Mitchell, Terri Stuart-McEwan, Hayley Panet, and Abha Gupta.
          30. Advanced practice nurses: improving access to fertility preservation for oncology patients.
            The Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal (2016).
            Authors: Eleanor Hendershot, Anne-Marie Maloney, Sandy Fawcett, Sharmy Sarvanantham, Eileen McMahon, Abha Gupta, and Laura Mitchell.
          31. Improving access to standardized fertility preservation information for older adolescents and young adults with cancer: Using a user-centered approach with young adult patients, survivors, and partners to refine fertility knowledge transfer.
            Journal of Cancer Education (2016).
            Authors: Seline Tam, Natasha Puri, Derek Stephens, Laura Mitchell, Meredith Giuliani, Janet Papadakos, and Abha Gupta.
          32. Reimagining care for adolescent and young adult cancer programs: moving with the times.
            Cancer (2016).
            Authors: Abha Gupta, Janet Papadakos, Jennifer Jones, Leila Amin, Eugene Chang, Chana Korenblum, Daniel Santa Mina, Lianne McCabe, Laura Mitchell, and Meredith Giuliani​.
            ​​


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          Last reviewed: 3/4/2024
          Last modified: 3/27/2024 5:55 AM
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