Mortality from breast cancer has improved significantly in the last 40 years. However, there remains certain subgroups of patients with breast cancer who have worse survival. Dr. Lim’s research program focuses on these subgroups to better understand the reasons for their poorer outcomes. Lobular breast cancer is the second most common subtype of breast cancer, and long-term survival is worse compared with invasive ductal carcinoma. He’s been funded by the Terry Fox Research Institute to study treatment and outcomes in patients with lobular breast cancer, recruiting from multiple hospital centers across Canada. As breast cancer survival improves, research is shifting towards improving quality of life for breast cancer survivors and cautiously de-escalating breast cancer treatment. He studies patient-reported outcomes and the experiences of patients receiving treatment, including ambulatory surgery at Women’s College Hospital. He also studies specific aspects of surgical decision-making including contralateral prophylactic mastectomy, and the impact of neoadjuvant therapy on treatment. As we move towards an equitable health care system, his research team is actively studying the racial, ethnic, gender and social disparities that underlie differences in breast cancer outcomes.
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Surgery
Women's College Hospital
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Surgery
2024 Career Development Award
Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation & Breast Cancer Research Foundation
https://www.bcrf.org/researchers/david-lim/
2024 TFRI New Investigator Award
Terry Fox Research Institute
https://www.tfri.ca/our-research/research-project/understanding-supporting-and-improving-outcomes-for-women-with-invasive-lobular-breast-carcinoma-a-pan-canadian-prospective-cohort-study
2022 AACR-SABCS Scholar-in-Training Award
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) & San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
2021 Conquer-Cancer LBCA Young Investigator Award in Invasive Lobular Carcinoma
Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation & Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance
https://connection.asco.org/do/lobular-breast-cancer-alliance-changing-conversation-invasive-lobular-carcinoma
2021 ASBrS Scientific Impact Award
American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS)
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1245/s10434-021-10523-y
2021 SSO Harvey Baker Traveling Fellow Award
Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO)
https://surgonc.org/events/sso-annual-meeting/harvey-baker-traveling-fellow-award-recipients/
Senior Scientist or Principal Investigator
University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
01 Oct 2022 - present
Senior Scientist or Principal Investigator
Women's College Research and Innovation Institute, Toronto, Canada
01 Sep 2022 - present
Post Doctoral Researcher
Women's College Research and Innovation Institute, Toronto, Canada
01 Jul 2019 - 01 Sep 2022
Clinical Fellow
University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
01 Jul 2018 - 01 Jun 2019
General Surgery Resident
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
01 Jul 2009 - 01 Jun 2018
Graduate Student or Post Graduate
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
01 Jul 2012 - 01 Jun 2016
Undergraduate Student
McGill University, Montréal, Canada
01 Sep 2004 - 01 May 2009