Anita Villani

Dr. Anita Villani is a Staff Oncologist within the Solid Tumor Section and co-Director of the Cancer Genetics Program in the Division of Haematology/Oncology at The Hospital for Sick Children, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. She received her medical degree at the University of Ottawa and completed both her Paediatric residency training and Haematology/Oncology fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. She obtained her Master of Science degree in Genetics and Genome Biology through the Clinician Investigator Program and Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto.

Research

Dr. Villani has a clinical and research interest in cancer genetics and predisposition, and in the translational implementation of genomic sequencing technologies into clinical oncology care. She is the Co-Director of the SickKids Precision Oncology Research Program (“KiCS”) and an active member of the Canadian national precision medicine program, PROFYLE. She is co-Principal Investigator of the Consortium for Childhood Cancer Predisposition (C3P) and of a multicentre, longitudinal registry study, the Childhood Cancer Predisposition Study (CCPS).  She is co-chair of the Pediatric Cancer Predisposition Working Group within the Children’s Oncology Group (COG).

Education and experience

• 2013 – 2015: MSc, Genetics and Genome Biology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
• 2010 – 2014: Paediatric Haematology/Oncology Fellowship (Chief Fellow 2011-12), The Hospital for Sick Children/University of Toronto, Toronto
• 2007 – 2010: Paediatrics Residency, The Hospital for Sick Children/University of Toronto, Toronto
• 2003 – 2007: MD, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa

Achievements

• 2019: American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Most Cited Review Article collection (Kratz, …Villani, Malkin. Cancer Screening Recommendations for Individuals with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, Clin Can Res, 2017)
• 2016: Canadian Cancer Society’s Top 10 Society-funded research stories of 2016 (Villani et al, Lancet Onc, 17(9), 2016)

Funding (Most Significant)

• 2024-2029: Co-I. Towards patient-centred precision oncology care for children and youth: Understanding psychosocial impacts and experiences through patient and professional Perspectives. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grant. Principal Investigator: Denburg A.
• 2023-2025: Co-I. Approaches to policy and health system implementation for innovative diagnostics in childhood cancer. Canadian Pediatric Cancer Consortium. Principal Investigator: Denburg A.
• 2020-2023: Co-I. Defining and measuring the value of genetic testing from patient’s perspectives: Developing the Patient-reported Genetic testing Utility InDEx (P-Guide). Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Project Grant. PI: Hayeems RZ.
• 2020-2025: Co-PI. Consortium for Childhood Cancer Predisposition. St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Co-PI: Porter, C. Co-investigators: Schiffman J, Malkin, D. Nichols, K. Plon, S. Brodeur, G. Diller, L. Kamihara J, MacFarland, S. Maese, L. Rednam, S.
• 2020-2023: Co-I. Access to precision therapies for young people with cancer: From genomic innovation to health system implementation. Terry Fox Research Institute/CIHR New Investigator Award. PI: Denburg A.
• 2019-2022: Co-I. Rationalizing Genetic Referral Practices in Pediatric Oncology: An eHealth Decision-Support Tool for Identifying Cancer Predisposition Syndromes. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grant. PIs: Goudie C, Pechlivanoglou P.
• 2019-2020: Co-PI. Consortium for Childhood Cancer Predisposition. St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Co-PI: Porter, Christopher. Co-investigators: Schiffman J, Malkin, D. Nichols, K. Plon, S. Brodeur, G. Diller, L, Kamihara J.
• 2018-2020: PI. Pediatric Precision Oncology: Parent and Adolescent Experiences. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer, Psychosocial Launch Grant. PI: Villani A. Co-investigators: Gallinger B, Barrera M, Malkin D, Johnstone B.

1. Achatz M*, Villani A*, Bertuch A, Bougeard G, Chang VY, Doria AS, Gallinger B, Godley LA, Greer MLC, Kamihara J, Khincha PP, Kohlmann WK, Kratz CP, MacFarland SP, Maese LD, Maxwell KN, Mitchell SG, Nakano Y, Pfister SM, Wasserman JD, Woodward ER, Garber JE, Malkin D. Update on Cancer Screening Recommendations for Individuals with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. Clin Cancer Res March 2025; doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-24-3301
2. Nakano Y, Acker M, Druker H, van Engelen K, Meyn MS, Wasserman JD, Venier RE, Goudie C, Stosic A, Huang A, Greer MC, Malkin D, Villani A^#, Gallinger B^#. Late-onset tumors in rhabdoid tumor predisposition syndrome type-1 (RTPS1) and implications for surveillance. Eur J Hum Genet. 2024 Nov;32(11):1474-1482. doi: 10.1038/s41431-024-01674-z. Epub 2024 Aug 8.
3. Wong D, Tageldein M, Luo P, Ensminger E, Bruce J, Oldfield L, Gong H, Fischer NW, Laverty B, Subasri V, Davidson S, Khan R, Villani A, Shlien A, Kim RH, Malkin D, Pugh TJ. Cell-free DNA from germline TP53 mutation carriers reflect cancer-like fragmentation patterns. Nat Commun. 2024 Aug 27;15(1):7386. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-51529-w
4. Comitani F, Nash JO, Cohen-Gogo S, Chang AI, Wen TT, Maheshwari A, Goyal B, Tio ES, Tabatabaei K, Mayoh C, Zhao R, Ho B, Brunga L, Lawrence JEG, Balogh P, Flanagan AM, Teichmann S, Huang A, Ramaswamy V, Hitzler J, Wasserman JD, Gladdy RA, Dickson BC, Tabori U, Cowley MJ, Behjati S, Malkin D, Villani A, Irwin MS, Shlien A. Diagnostic classification of childhood cancer using multiscale transcriptomics. Nature Medicine, 2023 Vol. 29(3), 656-666. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02221-x.
5. Villani A, Davidson S, Kanwar N, Lo WW, Li Y, Cohen-Gogo S, Fuligni F, Edward LM, Light N, Layeghifard M, Harripaul R, Waldman L, Gallinger B, Comitani F, Brunga L, Hayes R, Anderson ND, Ramani AK, Yuki KE, Blay S, Johnstone B, Inglese C, Hammad R, Goudie C, Shuen A, Wasserman JD, Venier RE, Eliou M, Lorenti M, Ryan CA, Braga M, Gloven-Brown M, Han J, Montero M, Spatare F, Whitlock JA, Scherer SW, Chun K, Somerville MJ, Hawkins C, Abdelhaleem M, Ramaswamy V, Somers GR, Kyriakopoulou L, Hitzler J, Shago M, Morgenstern DA, Tabori U, Meyn S, Irwin MS, Malkin D, Shlien A. The clinical utility of integrative genomics in childhood cancer extends beyond targetable mutations. Nature Cancer. 2023 Feb;4(2):203-221. doi: 10.1038/s43018-022-00474-y.
6. MacFarland SP, Maese L, Rednam SP, Kamihara J, Perrino MR, Nichols KE, Brodeur GM, Schiffman JD, Plon SE, Diller LR, Malkin D, Porter CC, Villani A. Collaboration to Promote Research and Improve Clinical Care in the Evolving Field of Childhood Cancer Predisposition. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2022 Oct 4;15(10):645-652. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207

See a full list of Anita Villani's publications