New Investigator Clinical Trials Course Celebrates it's 10th Anniversary!

August 19-21, 2026 at the Donald Gordon Hotel & Conference Centre in Kingston, Ontario

The New Investigator Clinical Trials Course (NICTC) is fast approaching! CCTG is welcoming over -- young investigators from across Canada to a 2.5 day educational program. Now celebrating its 10th Anniversary this long-standing event has been training Canadian clinical investigators in the conduct of cancer clinical trials and provides a comprehensive introduction to the principles and practice of clinical trials within the Canadian research environment. Through interactive workshops and expert-led sessions, participants gain a practical understanding of clinical trial design, conduct, and leadership in cancer research. Course topics include the fundamentals of Phase I–III clinical trial design, biostatistics, correlative biology, quality-of-life assessment, and economic evaluation in clinical research. 

Kevin Thorpe NICTC 2026 Keynote Speaker

CCTG is honoured to welcome Kevin Thorpe as this years NICTC keynote speaker. The title of his address is Pragmatic versus Explanatory Trials: What’s the Difference? This accredited session will cover the key distinctions between pragmatic and explanatory trials, the design decisions that lead to more explanatory or pragmatic designs and the situations where a pragmatic trial may be needed.

Kevin Thorpe, a statistician educated at the University of Waterloo, has accumulated three decades of experience in conducting trials and studies across diverse clinical fields, including cerebrovascular disease, nephrology, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, thrombosis, neonatology, oncology and pediatrics. His research interests include the design, execution, and analysis of clinical trials, statistical education, and statistical computing. He has co-authored over 250 peer reviewed publications. Currently, he serves as an Associate Professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and is the Scientific Lead, Clinical Trials Design and Analysis at the Hospital for Sick Children.