Deborah Maskens, M.A., M.S.M

Deb Maskens is a long-time kidney cancer patient and patient advocate. Along with another patient, she Co-Founded Kidney Cancer Canada in 2016 and played an active leadership role for 10 years. During this time she focused on advocacy, health technology assessment, patient support and navigation.

Deb currently volunteers for several kidney cancer patient organizations including the Kidney Cancer Association in the USA. In recent years she served as a Patient Advocate on the NCI Renal Task Force and as Co-Lead of the Canadian CanCertainty Coalition campaign of 35 cancer organizations advocating for health policy change (CanCertainty.ca). Previous roles include 10 years as a Founding Member and Vice Chair of the International Kidney Cancer Coalition (IKCC.org) based in Amsterdam.

In 2016, Deb was awarded the Canadian Governor General’s Meritorious Service Medal, Canada’s highest award for her dedication and professionalism in patient advocacy and volunteer service.

Deb is a frequent speaker at national and international cancer meetings where she provides the patient voice perspective, along with sound advocacy knowledge and experience.