Supports the Head and Neck Disease Site Committee Resides in Alberta, Calgary | CCTG Patient Representative since 2022 "During my cancer experience I met many patients and realized that we came with a wide variety of personal, family, employment and health experiences and situations. These can all affect how we are able to deal with our treatment and recovery. I am interested in bringing these experiences, in all their diversity, to improve clinical trials and processes for patients." Bill Richardson has a background as a microbiologist and has worked in government, private industry, as well as teaching, later moving to IT spending 30 years in the Kinesiology Faculty at the University of Calgary. He was diagnosed in 2008 with slow progressing prostate cancer and then in 2012 he was diagnosed with throat cancer and received surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. During his treatment, he took part in a study on the timing of exercise in head and neck cancer patients and spoke about his experience with cancer and the effects of physical activity on his recovery. He then joined the Alberta Health Services, Patient and Family Advisory Network, at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre and participated in a variety of activities, generally focused on education and research. In 2018, the prostate cancer advanced and he then participated in a clinical trial designed to improve the quality of Prostate Cancer diagnosis by using Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen PET scanning. Bill has been involved in a number of sports including, canoeing, triathlon, cycling, running, hiking and cross-country skiing, as an athlete, coach and teacher, administrator, and volunteer for many years. "Cancer treatment is improved by the development of new drugs, treatment protocols and clinical practices. Every current cancer patient has benefited from previous patients’ participation in the clinical trials that led to the development of these improvements. By taking part in a clinical trial, be it one that could improve our own treatment outcome, or one that would benefit others, we build on that willingness to help improve cancer treatment for everybody."
