Dr. Mark Clemons’ keen sense of humour and sharp wit have earned him an enduring and respected reputation among cancer patients at The Ottawa Hospital, where he is a medical oncologist. Born, raised, and educated in the UK, Ottawa was fortunate to entice Dr. Clemons to join our team in 2009.
In addition to his work with cancer patients, he is also a scientist and clinical lead of REaCT (Rethinking Clinical Trials), a unique research program aimed at improving the lives of people with cancer through patient-centred, pragmatic clinical trials.
Dr. Clemons’ patients regularly comment on the positive difference his unique approach has made in their care, and as the recipient of the hospital’s Grimes Research Career Achievement Award for 2026, it’s clear his research is changing lives, too.
There wasn’t an epiphany moment, and looking back on 30 years of clinical practice, I don’t think I could have done anything else. I think the beauty of medicine is that it allows you an amazing opportunity to sample multiple subjects from basic science, physiology, psychology, through to global healthcare disparities. In addition, oncology also offers frequent and often raw exposure to the challenges we all face as human beings. Quite simply, joy, suffering, and death surround us all the time. Oncology has given me an amazing opportunity to learn about and experience the whole smorgasbord of human existence.
I had finished my doctorate and had what my boss described as “the best job in the world” lined up in the UK, and I realized I didn’t want what someone else perceived as “the best job in the world.” One afternoon I saw an advert that said, “do you want to come to Canada and research breast cancer?” I think life is about serendipity and taking opportunities to travel when they come. Too many people spend their lives in one city, but life is about getting experiences in different places. So, off I went to Toronto for a couple years. Then the unexpected and unplanned scenario of (English) boy meets (Canadian) girl occurred. Canadian girl then explained that English boy’s life would be much better and much more straight forward if he simply did whatever she told him to do. After subsequent jobs in the UK and back in Toronto, the tremendous opportunity to come to Ottawa appeared.
I think personality and humour are not the same thing. My wife and kids will certainly tell you that I am not funny. Not all patients want humour, but most people want to be treated as real human beings. The reality is, life on the whole can be quite funny, and we’re all in this game of life together. As so many patients have said to me over the years, “if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry.” My philosophy is not to be terrified of cancer, but to treat the cancer with respect it deserves so you can help the patient and their family make their own personal way through a very challenging journey.
Despite the feeling of your world turning upside down, try not to panic, and try to get information from a reputable source. Once you have the fundamentals of information, you’re in a much better place for decision making.
I’ve been in practice for over 30 years, and what is fascinating is how much longer, and indeed how much better, people are living. A lot of these advances were driven by public health and family medicine working on such broad topics as cigarette smoking cessation, vaccinations, blood pressure, and cardiovascular risk management, to name but a few examples. The increasing average age of our patients presents itself with new challenges as we try to manage cancer patients with increasing non-cancer related health issues. This is likely where my interest in reducing the toxicities of so many of our treatments comes from.
I think the Grimes Award isn’t about recognizing one particular “discovery,” but rather a reflection of a lifetime of asking questions, often getting them wrong, and occasionally getting them right!
One question that shaped much of my career came from three decades of work evaluating a class of drug called bisphosphonates, where we discovered we were giving these drugs much more frequently than patients needed both in the palliative and curative settings. Essentially exposing patients to unnecessary side effects with no additional anti-cancer benefits.
In order to perform the appropriate studies to evaluate better ways of using cancer treatments, we needed to create a new type a research platform that could fundamentally disrupt the way clinical trials are performed. That led to the creation of the REaCT (REthinking Clinical Trials) program. This program is unique in that it actually engages both patients and their families in the types of research questions we ask. Through REaCT trials, we initially showed that giving bisphosphonates in patients with metastatic disease every three months worked just as well as giving them every three to four weeks, but with significantly less toxicity.
Earlier this year, that journey came full circle when our landmark trial on bisphosphonates as a curative treatment showed that a single infusion of zoledronate was just as effective against breast cancer as the previous standard of six-monthly infusions over three years. But again, with significantly less toxicity and lower costs.
If the Grimes Award recognizes anything, I hope it’s recognition that paying attention to what patients teach us and questioning what everyone assumes is true can lead to better care for patients globally.
One of the biggest myths in medicine is that more treatment means better treatment. In reality, many patients receive drug doses that cause unnecessary side effects without improving outcomes.
That’s exactly what our research aims to change.
What began with studies of bisphosphonates has allowed the REaCT program to become Canada’s largest pragmatic cancer trials program. Across 23 trials and more than 5,500 patients, we have repeatedly shown that more personalized treatment can maintain excellent care while reducing both side effects and healthcare costs.
My hope is simple: patients receive the right treatment, at the right dose, with the fewest possible side effects.
Any recognition from your peers is humbling, and receiving the OHRI Grimes Award is no exception. That said, REaCT has never been a one-person show.
Much of the heavy lifting has been done by my domestic boss (Christine), my research boss (Lisa), and my clinic boss (Fiona). They’ve mastered the delicate art of knowing when to support me, when to rein me in, and perhaps most importantly, when to simply ignore me!
Most importantly, none of this would be possible without the thousands of patients who have participated in our studies.
While my name may be on this award, it truly belongs to a much larger team.
What excites me most is probably one of the biggest challenges we face. Advances in medicine have helped people live longer and healthier lives, but cancer is predominantly a disease of aging.
The encouraging news is that cancer treatment has changed dramatically. Today’s treatments are often far more effective and significantly less toxic than those available when I began my career.
What I find most exciting is reimagining how we deliver cancer care. There will never be enough oncologists to meet growing demand if we continue working within our current healthcare models.
Will artificial intelligence and machine learning help? Can they identify patients who need urgent attention, streamline routine care, and free clinicians to spend more time where human judgment and compassion matter most? I believe technology will replace some, but not all, physicians, and it has the potential to make us better physicians.
Well, as Doris Day wisely sang, “Whatever will be, will be. The future’s not ours to see.” Spending my working life surrounded by human suffering has only reinforced the idea that perhaps not knowing too much about the future is no bad thing.
If COVID taught us anything, it was just how fragile and unpredictable the human condition really is. I’ve never believed in permanence and, as de Gaulle said, “The cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.” We need to remember that the world carries on without us. We all have a finite amount of time, the period during which we enjoy good health is often shorter than we’d like to imagine, and, in the end, it is friends, family, and shared experiences that matter far more than another meeting or another email.
My life outside of work tends to reflect my personality: curiosity about a wide range of subjects coupled with a healthy appreciation of life’s realities. I constantly question dogma and find it abhorrent to do things a certain way just because it’s always the way we’ve done them.
For me, choosing to take the easy path isn’t something I’m interested in! My life is pretty simple: keep worrying about the kids, keep learning, keep travelling, spend time with the people who matter, continue asking awkward questions and continue helping people to recognize what their faults are!
Finally, continue following the sage advice of the Canadian girl. Experience suggests life is considerably less complicated that way.
My wife’s suggested answer to this question was that I have nice legs! She didn’t think the ability to tell the sex parts of a zucchini flower or a great enjoyment of canning was going to interest anyone!
I love my vegetable garden and can make great salsa.
