Dr Shepherd received her medical degree from the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is currently a Senior Staff Physician at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, where she holds the Scott Taylor Chair in Lung Cancer Research. She is a Full Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and served as the University Division Director for Medical Oncology from 1997 to 2003.

Dr Shepherd has been recognized for her many contributions in the field of lung cancer research, most notably her long-standing international leadership in the development of innovative therapies for this indication. In 2001, she was named the Scott Taylor Chair in Lung Cancer Research, becoming the first holder of this esteemed research position with a primary goal of investigating new treatments for lung cancer. Dr Shepherd served as Chair of the Lung Cancer Committee of the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group for 19 years and was President of International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) from 2003 to 2005. She has been a member of the Board of Directors of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO); she is a current Board member of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), and chairs the EORTC Protocol Review Committee. Dr Shepherd has served as Chair of ASCO Membership and Publications Committees. She was the recipient of the Jacqueline Seroussi Memorial Foundation for Cancer Research Award in 2004; the National Cancer Institute of Canada O. Harold Warwick Award for Research Excellence in 2006; the IASLC Research Award in 2007; the Ontario Premier’s Summit Award for Research in 2009; and a Boehringer-Ingelheim Innovation Award in 2010. In recognition of her contributions to cancer research and treatment, she received the Order of Ontario in 2007. In 2012, she won the British Thoracic Oncology Group International Award for Contributions to Lung Cancer Research, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Whiteman Award and Visiting Professor and a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal. In 2015, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Dr Shepherd has designed and led more than 100 clinical trials over the past three decades and her studies have changed treatment and outcomes for patients with lung cancer at a global level. She sits on numerous national and international lung cancer advisory boards, and chairs and/or sits on several Data and Safety Monitoring Boards for international lung cancer trials. She has mentored more than 30 post-doctoral research fellows from around the world, many of whom now hold senior academic positions in their home countries. She has authored or co-authored more than 450 peer-reviewed publications and 35 book chapters.