2020-21
Angel Arnaout, MD, FRCSC, FACS, MSc, MBA
Dr. Arnaout is a Breast Surgical Oncologist at the Ottawa Hospital, Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa and Associate Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. As the Regional Director Breast and Quality Lead of the Champlain LHIN Ottawa Region, she oversees the quality of breast cancer care for 9 regional hospitals, focusing on access, efficiency, effectiveness, patient experience, and equity of care. Dr. Arnaout is also an Expert Lead of Knowledge Mobilization and Physician Practice Change at the Cancer Partnership Against Cancer as well as a member of the Cancer Care Ontario Breast Cancer Advisory Board, where she participates in mobilizing high quality cancer care across all hospitals within Ontario and in Canada. She is a recipient of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada Enid Johnson MacLeod Award, Cancer Care Ontario Human Touch Award, Order of Ottawa, and multiple Ottawa Hospital Guardian Angel Awards for her dedication to breast care and women’s health in Canada. She recently completed her Executive MBA program at the University of Toronto.
Kimberly Fairman
Kimberly Fairman is the Executive Director at the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research. She joined ICHR after a distinguished career in the federal and territorial public service. She is working with researchers, indigenous knowledge holders, clinicians and policy makers in health systems research that impacts on the northern patient experience. Playing an important role by weaving partnerships into the research fabric, engaging with communities and building northern capacity for health policy research. Kimberly has been showcasing the valuable contribution of northern communities, practitioners, and indigenous knowledge holders to the modern research and policy agenda. Kimberly is Nunavummiut from the community of Taloyoak, NU and was trained as a Registered Nurse at the Aurora College, she is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health degree at the University of Alberta and was recently awarded the Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellowship 2020-2021.
Katerina Gapanenko, MD, MHSc, PhD
Katerina is the manager of the Analytic Techniques and Tools, Advanced Analytics at Canadian Institute for Health Information. She has lead work on high users, measuring health system efficiency and unnecessary care. Prior to joining CIHI, Katerina worked in consulting roles in several healthcare organizations, and as a software product manager and software developer in the private sector. She holds a PhD in Medicine and a MHSc in Health Administration as well as an adjunct professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.
Taylor Martin, MHA, CHE
Taylor Martin is dedicated to creating equitable access to healthcare services. He has held roles in government, the hospital sector, and private industry. Currently, Taylor is the Manager of the Nursing Resource Team and New Nursing Initiatives at Michael Garron Hospital. He previously managed the Ontario Palliative Care Network Secretariat and the Primary and Community Care program at Cancer Care Ontario. He led work building partnerships and shared accountability for care across the continuum. Taylor has written and published on the link between health outcomes and clinical staff engagement, and the future of health system integration in Ontario.
Taylor is a Professional Engineer and formerly led product development as a biomedical engineer. He holds a MHA and is a Certified Health Executive (CHE). Outside of work Taylor serves as President of the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation Alumni Association at University of Toronto, where he continues to teach in Health Policy as an Adjunct Lecturer. He is Past Chair of the CCHL-GTA chapter executive and director of the board for the Etobicoke Children’s Centre, a children’s mental health and autism agency.
Taylor is a Fellow of the Centre for Health System Improvement at the University of Alberta and was a 2015-2016 Action Canada Fellow.
Jonathan Mitchell, MSc, CHE, FISQua
Jonathan Mitchell is Vice-President, Research and Policy, at HealthCareCAN in Ottawa. In this role, Jonathan leads research, advocacy and policy development for member academic health sciences centres, hospitals, and healthcare organizations across Canada. This involves partnerships with organizations across the country as well as the Vice Presidents of Health Research. Jonathan also leads the partnership with the Canadian College of Health Leaders to plan the National Health Leadership Conference, the largest annual health leadership gathering.
With over 15 years experience in national policy and research roles, Jonathan previously worked for the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), Accreditation Canada, and the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Science from McGill University and a Master of Science in Business Administration from Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business in Montreal. He holds a Certified Health Executive designation from the Canadian College of Health Leaders and is a fellow of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare.
Michelle Nelson, PhD
Michelle Nelson (MA, PhD) is a Scientist in the Collaboratory for Research and Innovation in the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (Sinai Health System) and an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. In her academic roles, Michelle leads international health services research teams focused on topics of transitions from hospital to home, community reintegration post stroke and role of voluntary sector organizations in integrated care. As a result of this work, she was elected to the World Stroke Organization board of directors, sits on a stroke rehabilitation interventions committee of the WHO, and leads a special interest group for the International Foundation for Integrated Care. In 2020, Michelle was appointed as the inaugural Chief Knowledge and Innovation Officer (After Stroke) for March of Dimes Canada. Having leadership roles in both research and practice creates opportunities for practice informed research, and leverages these insights to advance the design and implementation of evidence informed rehabilitation and community reintegration programs for people living with stroke and complex care needs across Canada.
Jennifer Rayner, PhD
Jennifer is the Director of Research and Evaluation at the Alliance for Healthier Communities and supports community based primary care organizations in Ontario. She is an applied health services researcher with interests in primary health care, interprofessional teams and health equity. She is an Associate Professor at University of Toronto in the Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation and an Adjunct Research Professor at Western University in Health Sciences and within the Centre for Studies in Family Medicine. Jennifer works in collaboration with researchers, evaluators and policy makers to improve care for people with barriers. Her community based primary care experience includes leadership roles in policy, planning, quality improvement and research. She received her PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western and completed post-doctoral training at Ryerson University.
Shannon Sibbald, PhD
Shannon L. Sibbald is an Assistant Professor at Western University with appointments in the School of Health Studies (Faculty of Health Sciences), Family Medicine and the Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health. As a health systems researcher, her interests span the health care continuum. Dr. Sibbald works from an ‘integrated knowledge translation’ approach, that is, she involves knowledge-users, decision-makers and key stakeholders from the outset of the research process all the way through to analysis and implementation of findings. Her current research focuses on the implementation, spread, and sustainability of integrated models of team-based care for chronic disease management. She primarily uses qualitative research methods including multiple-case comparison, narrative approach, grounded theory, content and discourse analysis. She teaches across the university at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
Michael Sidra, MBA, PMP
Michael is a Senior Program Director with Alberta Health Services leading the Improving Health Outcomes Together, Process Improvement and Simulation teams. In this role, Michael works closely with senior management and senior medical directors to develop and implement improvement strategies. He leads skilled and passionate team members that are performing valuable clinical simulations, improving clinical appropriateness and improving processes at Alberta Health Services. He has a Public Health background (non-clinical), an MBA from the University of Alberta and is currently completing a PhD in Health Services and Policy research at the University of Alberta. His current research is focused on health economics of caring for Children with Medical Complexity. He is exploring the economic burden and ways of improving health outcomes for Children with Medical Complexity and their families.
Natasha Thambirajah, MSc
Natasha Thambirajah has worked for the Province of BC since 2006. In her current role as Director, Digital Health Policy, Natasha serves as key strategist working closely with senior leadership and key partners to lead the development of provincial standards, policies and guidelines for virtual care and digital health, identifying opportunities and risks, and provides strategic advice on matters that impact provincial investment, planning, implementation and assessment of digital services.
Natasha lives on Vancouver Island. Before she joined the public service, she worked in the post-secondary education sector for over a decade as a specialist in post-colonial ethnic conflict in South Asia and East Africa.
Rosalie Wyonch, MA
Rosalie is a Policy Analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute – an independent, non-partisan, public policy think-tank. Beginning in 2018, she became the director of the Health Policy Research Program and leads the C.D. Howe Institute Health Policy Council. Her research focuses on policy issues affecting healthcare in Canada with the goal of identifying policy gaps and misaligned incentive mechanisms to assess potential causes and propose solutions that drive efficiency and value. Rosalie also researches the implications of technology and innovation on all parts of the economy and has written on the topic from an international, human capital, fiscal and tax perspective. Rosalie has a Master of Arts in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in Honours Mathematical Economics from the University of Waterloo.
2019-20
Miin Alikhan, MHSc, CHE
Miin is a values-driven and creative senior public sector leader committed to creating greater system value and long-term, sustainable societal impact. Major experience in developing and executing transformational strategies within government, hospital
and multi-sectoral environments. An exceptional track record of leading large-scale, complex, results-driven change and building high performing teams and cross-disciplinary partnerships while exceeding mandates. Deep expertise in strategy and execution,
governance and accountability design, performance, quality improvement, operations re-design, funding, negotiations and policy.
Miin is the recipient of numerous healthcare awards for leadership, mentorship and achievement; frequent industry speaker and guest lecturer on quality and leading change; committee member for arts and healthcare organizations.
Saima Awan, MBA, PMP
Saima Awan is a strategic healthcare professional with deep operational experience and a track record of leading transformative, award-winning clinical care innovation, specifically integrated care models. Colleagues know her as a results-driven
professional with 10+ years’ experience leading, healthcare strategy, implementation, evaluation and sustainability. She is passionate about optimizing patient care through physician engagement, service integration, technology and strategic
partnerships. Saima has an MBA from Queen's University and has certifications in Project Management (PMP), Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Quality Improvement & Patient Safety.
Mylaine Breton, MBA, PhD
Dr. Mylaine Breton is an associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Université de Sherbrooke (Longueuil). She holds a Canadian Research Chair in Clinical Governance on Primary Health Care. She has basic training
as an occupational therapist. She did an MBA, a doctorate in Health Service Management from the University of Montréal (2009), followed by a Post-doctoral at the Université de Sherbrooke. Her current research focuses on primary health
care to better understand promising organizational innovations to improve accessibility and continuity, such as the implementation of centralized waiting lists for patients without a primary healthcare provider and advanced access models.
Claire de Oliveira, PhD
Claire is an Independent Scientist and Health Economist with the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at CAMH, and an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation
at the University of Toronto. Dr. de Oliveira is also a collaborator at the Toronto Health Economics Technology Assessment Collaborative and an associate member of the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control. Dr. Oliveira provides economic
expertise on various Institute for Mental Health Policy Research projects and pursues her own projects. Her research is focused on the economics of mental health, cancer, child health, health services and policy research. Her current research involves
the estimation of costs/economic burden associated with mental health disorders and
cancer, and developing cancer costing methodology.
Fredrika Scarth, PhD
Fredrika is the Director, Secretariat to the Premier’s Council on Improving Healthcare and Ending Hallway Medicine. In this role she supports the Council, an advisory body to the Premier of Ontario
and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, with advice, subject matter expertise and operational experience to set the strategic direction for improving the Ontario’s health care system. Fredrika was previously Director, HQO Liaison and Program
Development in the Health System Quality and Funding division of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, where she led payment innovation and health service redesign to improve patient outcomes and experience while ensuring health system sustainability,
and supported pathways for innovation in the health system, working in collaboration with researchers, evaluators and agency partners. Her ministry experience also includes leadership roles in health services research, performance, accountability,
and primary health care. Fredrika holds a BA in Political Science from McGill University and an MA and PhD in Political Theory from the University of Toronto.
Paul Ronksley, PhD
Paul is an assistant professor and health services researcher in the Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary. He has a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Calgary and completed a Post-doctoral Fellowship in Clinical
Epidemiology at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Dr. Ronksley’s research focuses on patients with multiple chronic conditions (multi-morbidity). Specifically, his program of research aims to improve our understanding of the subset of
chronic disease patients that drive health care utilization and spending. Using novel data-linkage methodologies, his work explores the clinical (co-morbid) profiles of patients with multi-morbidity, how they engage with the health care system, and
whether care pathways can be modified to improve health outcomes for patients.