“I felt like it was an award for radiology,” said Dr. Jean Seely, breast imaging expert and CAR member based out of Ottawa.

Dr. Seely was appointed to the Order of Ontario for 2024, the province announced earlier this month, which is Ontario’s highest civilian honour for extraordinary contributions.

“It feels wonderful. I was amazed by the award. It felt like it was an award for radiology, an acknowledgement of the importance of early detection of cancer and what we do in breast imaging,” she reflected. “It is a recognition for the years of work that I and many others have done to increase the awareness of the necessity of breast cancer screening for women in their forties.”

Having a lengthy and impactful career leads to many accomplishments along the way. She recounted lowering the breast screening age to 40 in several provinces across the country as one of her many highlights, including:

• Leading the Tomosynthesis Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (TMIST) in Canada to study more effective screening modalities with digital breast tomosynthesis mammography.
• Publishing key papers on the truth about the Canadian Breast Cancer Screening trials ^{(1, 2)} – studies that dispelled misinformation about breast screening and illustrated cost-effectiveness of screening and diagnosing breast cancer at an early stage ^{(3-5) (6-9)}.
• Founding the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging with other leaders in the field as the first breast imaging society in Canada with the mission to increase awareness of the importance of breast imaging and its impact on saving life years from breast cancer.
• Showing the cost effectiveness of supplemental screening for women with category D breast tissue density by MRI or ultrasound in Ontario.

Dr. Seely has received consistent praise and recognition from prominent organizations in the field. She is a Fellow of the Society for Breast Imaging and was named a Fellow of the CAR (FCAR) in 2021. She says she has a long list of people to thank but chose to highlight a few colleagues who have been instrumental.

“Dr. Paula Gordon and Dr. Linda Warren taught me the importance of screening mammography and supplemental screening for women with dense breasts. Dr. Bruce Porter taught me breast MRI before it was well known. Dr. Martin Yaffe, who is a physicist from Sunnybrook Toronto, a scientist, and strong advocate for breast imaging. Dr. Anna Wilkinson is a GP oncologist whose research collaboration has been very fruitful. Dr. Supriya Kulkarni, who has seen the vision of the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging and is taking it to new levels. My wonderful colleagues in Breast Imaging at the Ottawa hospital – Dr. Raman Verma, Dr. Susan Peddle, Dr. Jackie Lau, and Dr. Mary Beth Bissell, and Christie Barbesin (MRT) – to mention a few, who are extremely supportive and are the team that helps make everything happen. Lastly, my husband, Dr. Mark Liepmann, has been my number one supporter, along with my two children, Alex (26) and Adrian (24) Liepmann. I cannot thank them enough.”

Congratulations to Dr. Jean Seely on this tremendous honour.

References:

1. Wilkinson AN, Ng C, Ellison LF, Seely JM. Breast cancer incidence and mortality, by age, stage and molecular subtypes, by race/ethnicity in Canada. Oncologist. 2024.

2.  Wilkinson AN, Billette JM, Ellison LF, Killip MA, Islam N, Seely JM. The Impact of Organised Screening Programs on Breast Cancer Stage at Diagnosis for Canadian Women Aged 40-49 and 50-59. Curr Oncol. 2022;29(8):5627-43.

3.  Seely JM, Eby PR, Gordon PB, Appavoo S, Yaffe MJ. Errors in conduct of the CNBSS trials of breast cancer screening observed by research personnel. Journal of Breast Imaging 2021.

4.  Seely JM, Eby PR, Yaffe MJ. Science of Screening Review: The Fundamental Flaws of the CNBSS Trials. Journal of Breast Imaging. 2021(in press.).

5.  Yaffe M, Seely J, Gordon P, Appavoo S, Kopans D. The Randomized Trial of Mammography Screening That Was Not – A Cautionary Tale. J Med Screen. 2021.

6.   Yong-Hing CJ, Gordon PB, Appavoo S, Fitzgerald SR, Seely JM. Addressing Misinformation About the Canadian Breast Screening Guidelines. Can Assoc Radiol J. 2023;74(2):388-97.

7.  Wilkinson AN, Ellison LF, Billette JM, Seely JM. Impact of Breast Cancer Screening on 10-Year Net Survival in Canadian Women Age 40-49 Years. J Clin Oncol. 2023;41(29):4669-77.

8.  Seely JM, Ellison LF, Billette JM, Zhang SX, Wilkinson AN. Incidence of Breast Cancer in Younger Women: A Canadian Trend Analysis. Can Assoc Radiol J. 2024:8465371241246422.

9.  Wilkinson AN, Seely JM, Rushton M, Williams P, Cordeiro E, Allard-Coutu A, et al. Capturing the True Cost of Breast Cancer Treatment: Molecular Subtype and Stage-Specific per-Case Activity-Based Costing. Curr Oncol. 2023;30(9):7860-73.