Academy for Research and Education

Dr. Sara Diamond, C.M., Order of Ontario, ICD.D, RAC, brings a deep knowledge of the relationships of human practices, culture, and technologies. She has consulted with governments, industry, boards and institutions on digital media, the use of data, inclusion, and equity. She holds a doctoral degree in computer science, a master’s in media arts and undergraduate degrees in history and communications. Diamond is President Emerita of OCAD University, where she served from 2005 to 2020, leading it through its transition to become a unique creative practice and research institution with a focus on digital futures, Indigenous knowledge, inclusive design, design for health, and culture and diversity. She remains an OCAD U faculty member. Diamond was an award-winning artist and documentary producer during the 1980s and 1990s who explored social histories through media art. She then moved on to create an early affective computing artistic neural network and wearable technology with the CodeZebra project. At The Banff Centre (1992 – 2005) she founded the Banff New Media Institute, an international think tank, incubation and production centre and led Media and Visual Arts and research. She is an Expert Panelist with the Canadian Centre for the Purpose of the Corporation and Associate Consultant and Thought Leader with Lord Cultural Services.

Her board experience examples include serving as Vice-Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and on the boards of Canadian Women in Communications and Technology and ORANO. She is co-chair of Toronto’s ArtworxTO, Year of Public Art, and the incoming chair of the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education and of the Toronto Arts Foundation boards. Diamond pursues research in data analytics and visualization applied to urban and cultural planning, wearable technologies and wellness, and is an historian of media and technology. She is currently designing qualitative analysis tools to assess the impact of screen media with a focus on wellness, diversity and inclusion. She is co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Eric Miller University of Toronto on iCity 2.0: Urban Data Science for Future Mobility” which aims to improve accessibility, affordability and mobility by advancing the design of urban transportation systems and complete communities through generative design. Her research publications are available at ResearchGate and https://ocad.academia.edu/SDiamond. Additional recognitions include a Doctor of Science, honoris causa, Simon Fraser University, 2020; the 2020 Exceptional Women of Excellence, Women’s Economic Forum; two Media Pioneer awards: Inspiring 50: Advancement of Diversity in STEM and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for significant contributions to Canada.

Jane M Barratt, Ph.D. is the Secretary General, International Federation on Ageing (IFA) an international non-government organisation with general consultative status with the United Nations and its agencies including formal relations with the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Population ageing and disability across the life course have been Jane’s passion and interest across an adventurous career that traverses public and private sectors and many disciplines.

During the 1980s and 90s Jane honed her technical and orating skills through an academic career in population ageing and disability at the Universities in the United Kingdom and Australia with attention to improved understanding of population-based planning models and service provision. Thereafter she developed a successful business in strategic planning and relationships alongside senior director and management positions in various international and national not-for-profit organisations.

Representing over 75 million older people through the membership of the IFA, Jane has direct responsibility for the corporation’s operational performance, quality and strategic implementation, and business development. This includes leadership at the United Nations Economic and Social Council in New York, Geneva and Vienna and the WHO.

Jane is a Winston Churchill Fellow and recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in Canada in recognition of her commitment and passion to enhance the understanding of issues relating to ageing and engaging in dialogue with governments and the private sector to improve the quality of life of older people. Among her many current positions Jane is a Member of Vision Academy, Director, Baycrest Health Sciences and Chair of the Education Advisory Committee, Associate Scientist, Sinai Health System, Member, Global Committee for the DR Barometer Program, and Member of the International Council for Adult Immunisation. Formerly she is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Ageing and until recently Chair, Standing Selection Committee Chair for the Networks of Centres of Excellence of Canada.

Dr. Allison Sekuler (FSEP, FPsyS, FAPS) is the Sandra A. Rotman Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute, the President and Chief Scientist at the Baycrest Academy for Research and Education and at the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). A graduate of Pomona College (BA, Mathematics and Psychology) and the University of California, Berkeley (PhD, Psychology), Dr. Sekuler holds faculty positions in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto and the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour at McMaster University. Her foundational research uses behavioural and neuroimaging approaches to understand perception, cognition, and the brain; and her clinical and translational research aims to develop methods to prevent, detect, and treat age-related sensory and cognitive decline. Dr. Sekuler has won numerous national and international awards for research, teaching, and leadership – including serving as the country’s first Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and recently being named one of WXN's Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada (2019).

Dr. Habib Benali completed his PhD in Applied Mathematics and Statistics at Rennes University in 1985. He joined the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) in 1989. He served as Head of the Laboratory of Functional Imaging (INSERM U678 unit with over 65 members) from 2008 to 2013 and Deputy Director of the Biomedical Imaging Laboratory (with over 100 members), INSERM - The National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and Sorbonne University until 2015. Together with Prof. Julien Doyon, from the Université de Montréal (UdeM), he founded and became co-director of the International Laboratory of Neuroimaging and Modelisation of the INSERM-Sorbonne University and UdeM administrative bodies in 2007. He is a regular research member of the Centre de Recherche Mathématiques of UdeM since 2002 and a researcher at Centre de Recherche de l’Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, UdeM, since 2005. I am currently the Scientific Director for the PERFORM Centre, NSERC Canada Research Chair Tier 1 in Biomedical Imaging and Healthy Aging and Professor at the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science at Concordia University. In the last 30 years, he has gone from starting a new neuroimaging research activity to directing a productive laboratory in France and Canada with activities that span from the development of new mathematical modeling and image analysis techniques to cognitive neuroscience and clinical applications. During this productive time in his scientific career, he published more than 300 peer reviewed papers in the best scientific journals. He is a member of national and international per review committees, executive committees and member of Advisory Board & committees.

Rifka is a retired elementary school administrator. In this role, she provided leadership support and built capacity for change and process improvement with a lens focused on what is best for students and families. Upon retirement, she sought avenues for volunteering that would enable her to continue to apply these skills in a purposeful way. Four years ago, she found this opportunity by becoming a Client and Family Partner at Baycrest. Through her work at Baycrest she became involved with the Patient and Caregiver Health Council of the North York Toronto Health Partners OHT. The shift from her career focus of 'what's best for students and families' to the current focus of 'what's best for patients and families' was an easy one to make. Rifka is currently the co-chair of the Baycrest Client and Family Partners, sits on a number of committees both at Baycrest and the NYTHP and is on the Patient/Caregiver Engagement Curriculum Development Steering Group funded by OSSU.

Fern Glowinsky Being deeply passionate about the payments sector, Ms. Glowinsky has spent the majority of her career at the intersection of financial services and technology. Drawn to the opportunity to lead a high growth, emerging payments business delivering a best-in-class solution across the cannabis sector, Ms. Glowinsky joined Merrco as President & CEO in 2018 after becoming a Director of the company in 2017. Ms. Glowinsky’s prior roles include CEO and Director of Cliffside Capital, a public company investing in the alternative lending sector, and COO at Moneris, one of North America’s largest payment processors. Ms. Glowinsky began her career practicing law at Torys LLP. A Toronto native, Ms. Glowinsky graduated from the MBA/JD program with an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School. She has a BA in Economics from the University of Western Ontario and was called to the Ontario Bar. Ms. Glowinsky holds the ICD.D designation having completed the Directors Education Program and serves on the Boards of A&W Revenue Royalties Income Fund (TSX AW.UN), Haventree Bank and the Baycrest Foundation.

David Lindeman David Lindeman, PhD, is Director Health, Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS), UC Berkeley, and Director, Center for Technology and Aging (CTA). Dr. Lindeman has worked in the fields of health care and long-term care for nearly 40 years as a health services researcher and gerontologist, conducting research related to telehealth, health care technology, chronic disease management, healthy aging, disabilities, dementia, community-based and residential services, health care workforce, and family caregiving. Dr. Lindeman’s current focus is working with researchers, entrepreneurs and investors on the incubation, start-up, evaluation, and scaling of technology-enabled health care solutions, including initiatives that address critical health care challenges through telehealth, mobile/cloud, sensors/IoT, robotics, assistive technologies, and machine intelligence (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning). These technology-enabled solutions cover a continuum of health care issues, ranging from wellness to complex chronic conditions and precision health, with an emphasis on global applications. Dr. Lindeman serves as an advisor to foundations, government agencies, start-ups, businesses, and venture firms. Dr. Lindeman previously served as the founding Director of the Mather LifeWays Institute on Aging; Associate Professor of Health Policy at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, Rush University Medical Center; and Co-Director of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Dr. Lindeman received his PhD and MSW from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Rulan S. Parekh is Vice President, Academics, Women’s College Hospital, Staff Nephrologist n at Women’s College Hospital and Hospital for Sick Children and Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine in the Departments of Medicine, Paediatrics, Epidemiology and Health Policy and Management Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Rulan Parekh is a clinician-scientist, and an international leader in clinical epidemiology and translational research in kidney disease. Her work has revealed novel genetic risk factors leading to kidney disease and increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality for children and adults with kidney disease. At the University of Michigan, Dr. Parekh was uniquely trained in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine with subspecialty training in both Pediatric and Adult Nephrology and research training, completing her Master’s in Biostatistics and Study Design. She subsequently went on to post-doctoral training at Johns Hopkins University and joined the faculty in 2000. She successfully competed for an NIH Career Development Research Award and the American Society of Nephrology Carl W. Gottschalk Award for young investigators, establishing successful research programs in the genetics and cardiovascular complications of kidney disease. In 2008, she returned to her native Canada and accepted a faculty position at the University of Toronto (UofT) and a Scientist position within the SickKids Research Institute and now Women’s College Hospital. Since 2000, Dr. Parekh has maintained a record of sustained NIH and CIHR funding. She has significant productivity with more than 175 published manuscripts, over 11,738 citations, and a stellar track record of training and mentoring 80 students and post-doctoral trainees. She has received several awards, including the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland Award, Advising, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Mentoring, and Teaching Research Award, and was elected into academic honor societies such as the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Pediatric Academic Society, and the American Pediatric Society. Dr. Parekh previously held a Canada Research Chair in Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology and now holds the F.M. Hill Chair in Health System Solutions.

Kathryn received her PhD in program evaluation from the University of Toronto in 2006. Kathryn has presented her work at various national and international conferences and has applied her program evaluation skills when working with numerous academic/clinical groups to facilitate and direct program evaluation efforts. Her collaborative work moving educational innovations forward within academic health science centres have garnered numerous awards including the Larry Chester Award for Excellence in Strategic Leadership from the University of Toronto in 2013, the Sherman Award of Excellence in Patient Engagement in 2017 and the 2018 Award of Excellence in Organizational Leadership from the Canadian Association of Pediatric Healthcare Centres. She is an Associate Professor with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto and was also the recipient of the 2013 AMS Phoenix Fellowship. She currently serves as the Senior Director of Academic Affairs at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and is an Associate Director with the Centre for Interprofessional Education.

Outside of her professional life, Kathryn can be found teaching sea kayaking skills to fellow kayak enthusiasts or spending quality time with her daughter Rachel.

Dr. Mary Sano is Professor of Psychiatry and the Director of the Alzheimer’s disease Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in NYC. She is also the Director of Research and Development at the James J Peters Veterans Administration Hospital. Dr. Sano is a neuropsychologist by training and has been involved in designing and conducting clinical trials for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, and other conditions of aging. She is the author of more than 200 publications and holds more than $2million in peer reviewed funding. Currently a member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Group the Alzheimer Association and the Immediate Past President of International Psychogeriatric Association, she uses her local, national and global roles across these groups to contribute to harmonizing efforts to define and treat the cognitive impairment, and neuropsychiatric syndromes associated with dementia. Recent topics she has been involved in are amyloid targeted therapies, technology in assessment and care of cognitive impairment and dementia and engaging diverse populations in dementia care and research.

Dr. Deborah Saucier was appointed President and Vice-Chancellor of Vancouver Island University in July 2019.  Dr. Saucier holds a PhD in psychology from the University of Western Ontario and a BSc and MSc in psychology from the University of Victoria. She received her International Baccalaureate diploma from the Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific in Metchosin, near Victoria.
 
Prior to joining VIU, Dr. Saucier was President of MacEwan University in Edmonton and Provost and Academic Vice-President of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. Dr. Saucier is a distinguished researcher in both psychology and neuroscience. She was the Canadian Research Chair in Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge and Dean of Science at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and has garnered numerous grants to support her research, including awards from Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.
 
Dr. Saucier is also the author of two books in psychology and an advocate for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
 
At Vancouver Island University, Dr. Saucier has guided the development and implementation of the institution’s first strategic plan. The plan includes three core values – People, Place and Potential – and six commitments for the next five years. Following the guidance of the plan, Dr. Saucier is working to build on the institution’s strengths and fostering the unique educational experience at VIU to be more accessible, more inclusive, and more deeply rooted in community.
 
Born in Saskatoon, Dr. Saucier is a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta. In 2020, she was awarded the Indigenous Women in Leadership Award from the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. As president of Vancouver Island University, Dr. Saucier is focused on helping to close the education gap for Indigenous youth and working to incorporate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), BC Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), and the TRC Calls to Action into institutional decision making by implementing both policy and physical changes on campus to ensure that Indigenous cultures and knowledges are reflected in campus spaces.
 
Dr. Saucier is married to curator and contemporary artist Chai Duncan and has a teenage daughter.
 

Dr. Lehana Thabane is a Vice-President of Research at St Joseph’s Healthcare—Hamilton; Scientific Director of the Research Institute at St Joseph’s Healthcare; Professor of Biostatistics and Former Interim Chair/Associate Chair of the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact; Associate Member of the Departments of Pediatrics, Medicine, Family Medicine, Surgery, Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, and Anesthesia, School of Nursing, and School of Rehabilitation Science, in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University. He is an Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute, Fellow of the American Statistical Association, Fellow of the Society for Clinical Trials, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and Honorary Foreign Associate Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa. He is the Society for Clinical Trials President-Elect for 2021-2022; and SCT President for 2022-2023. He is the Editor- in-Chief of the journal Pilot and Feasibility Studies; and he is a member of the editorial board for many journals including Trials, and Clinical Trials.

Aiyemobisi “Bisi” Williams serves as Chief Insights & Analytics Officer for Massive Change Network (MCN), the design consultancy she co-founded in 2010 with Bruce Mau. She is also a co-founder and co-host on the Health2049 podcast, a platform that engages today’s top thought leaders from diverse backgrounds in inspirational conversations regarding the future of health care. Bisi combines more than 20 years of communications experience and strategic design expertise with a deep focus on innovation. By applying the methodology of life-centered design, she takes a holistic approach in designing sustainable solutions to influence change. She collaborates with MCN clients to create impact at scale and drive growth while making the world a better place for all. Under Bisi’s leadership, MCN has become a global leader in the field of enterprise design and is pushing the traditional boundaries of communication and branding.

Bisi has addressed groups on the power of design to drive positive economic, social and cultural change. Her speaking engagements have included “Future Unknown: Global Education Summit,” held at CAFA (Central Academy of Fine Arts) in Beijing, China; “What Design Can Do,” a global design conference held in Amsterdam, and at “The Human Element Communications Consortium,” a conference hosted by Johnson & Johnson. She also spoke to students at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where she has served as an academic advisor.

A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Bisi graduated from Ryerson University with a degree in Journalism. Prior to the inception of Massive Change Network, Bisi worked with media, arts and cultural organizations to develop programs and events at the intersection of popular culture, fine art and social transformation. In her adopted hometown of Chicago, Bisi has been involved in shaping fundraising events at several major cultural institutions, including the Shedd Aquarium, Ravinia Festival and the Fashion Department of The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. She served on the Ravinia Women’s Board and with the Winnetka Public Schools Foundation. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband and is a proud mom of three beautiful daughters.