Joe Kendal | Top 40 Under 40 2025

Age: 34

Occupation: Orthopedic Oncology Surgeon; Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Calgary

Every advanced bone cancer patient that Joe Kendal helps is a unique medical puzzle. Yet, nearly all of them face the same challenges navigating the health-care system.

“These patients are relatively orphaned within our care pathways in the sense that there’s no real quarterback to manage their care,” Kendal says.

Kendal, an orthopedic oncology surgeon at Foothills Medical Centre and Alberta Children’s Hospital, specializes in metastatic bone disease (MBD) — cancer that has spread to the skeleton — and sarcoma, the rare cancer Terry Fox had. He has pioneered minimally invasive surgical techniques and introduced to Calgary 3D-printed implants and surgical guides that reduce cost and improve precision.

His MBD patients often fall between cancer specialties, leaving them without co-ordinated support or timely treatment.

“There’s a lot of silent struggles for cancer patients,” Kendal says. “Waiting for test results and a definitive plan can be agonizing for people.”

To change that, in 2023, Kendal co-founded the SMarT Bone Program, Southern Alberta’s first MBD clinic-and-research hub to bring together surgeons, cancer specialists, engineers and kinesiologists. The program aims to help identify patients earlier, improve their surgical outcomes and support their recovery.

Kendal’s team has built a real-time database of more than 590 patients and survivors and is testing smartphone and wearable tools that track mobility and pain between visits, yielding insights that could potentially guide new treatments for MBD.

The streamlined approach to care the initiative has created will be under one roof soon. Kendal and his team are currently launching Alberta’s first dedicated MBD clinic at the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

As a clinical assistant professor at UCalgary (his alma mater), Kendal also mentors the next generation of doctors and researchers. The lab program he leads studies innovations that can quickly be applied in the field, including collaborating with AI experts to educate patients and using immunotherapy to treat bone lesions.

Thank yous
“My wife Jacqueline for her unwavering support; my kids who bring me constant joy and my parents and family who have always inspired me to push the boundaries and advocate for others.”