Karen A Gelmon is a Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and a Medical Oncologist at the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA), combining clinical and translational research. She was Co-Chair of the Breast Site Committee for the NCIC Clinical Trials Group (CTG) and a member of the NCI Breast Steering Committee and of the BIG (Breast International Group) Advisory Group. She sat on the NCIC-CTG IND Executive Committee and is a past Chair of this committee. She was also a Komen Scholar and member of the Scientific Advisory Council for Komen. She was Co-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research. She was the Clinical Leader of the Advanced Therapeutics department at the BCCA. She has been an active teacher, interested in the education of healthcare professionals and the public; she has published extensively. She has sat on the International Advisory Board of The Lancet, The Oncologist, and Clinical Breast Cancer. She has been Chair for the Breast Cancer Track at ASCO and has been currently on the Education Committee for both ASCO and ESMO. She has been a member of the board of the British Columbia Cancer Foundation and the Medical Advisory Board of the British Columbia/Yukon Chapter of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, as well as on the Medical Advisory board of Rethink Breast Cancer and the CBCN.