Events

Christine Elliott, Board Chair, HRF; Counsel, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

Christine Elliott, former Ontario Minister of Health and Deputy Premier, is Counsel with the Fasken Health Law group in our Toronto office. With over 15 years of experience in public service, she is ideally positioned to assist clients with navigating existing and emerging complexities in the healthcare space. 

During her tenure as Ontario’s Minister of Health from 2018 to 2022, Christine played an integral part in overseeing the province’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this role, she also sponsored The People’s Health Care Act and enacted the Connecting Care Act. The Connecting Care Act gave rise to Ontario Health, a Crown agency that merged the 14 Local Health Integration Network and other agencies including Cancer Care Ontario, Gift of Life Network, eHealth Ontario and HealthForce Ontario in order to facilitate integrated care delivery systems also known as local Ontario Health teams. Christine also served as Ontario’s Deputy Premier (2018 to 2022) and as Ontario’s first Patient Ombudsman (2016 to 2018).

Christine, along with her husband James Flaherty (Jim) was a founding partner of Flaherty, Dow, Elliott & McCarthy. Later, Christine and Jim co-founded Abilities Centre in Whitby, Ontario, which supports and celebrates the abilities of all people and is a place where everyone belongs, regardless of their challenges. In addition, she has held positions on a range of boards in the health care sector since becoming involved as a volunteer with several charities including the Lakeridge Health Whitby Foundation, Durham Mental Health Services, and Grandview Children’s Centre.

Dr. Bettina Hamelin, PharmD, EMBA, is a globally renowned researcher and esteemed life sciences executive, who brings over 30 years of experience in academia, industry, and not-for-profit organizations to her current role as President of Innovative Medicines Canada (IMC).

In this role, Dr. Hamelin is dedicated to enhancing access to innovative medicines for Canadians, while advancing Canada’s position as an attractive destination for life sciences investments, high-value jobs, and new clinical trials. Driven by her unwavering commitment to improving the health and well-being of all Canadians, Dr. Hamelin firmly believes collaboration and partnership are essential to the future of healthcare innovation in Canada. Having acquired an Executive MBA in Healthcare from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, she is uniquely positioned to work alongside health system stakeholders to find novel solutions to complex challenges. 

Prior to joining IMC, Dr. Hamelin was the President and CEO of Ontario Genomics for over six transformative years. Here, she not only established the organization as Canada’s preeminent force in engineering biology on the world stage, but also cultivated an ecosystem that was conducive to the development and commercialization of cutting-edge Canadian innovations.

Dr. Hamelin’s illustrious career includes serving as the Vice-President of Research Partnerships at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), where she led a 130-member team to spearhead a robust research and innovation investment strategy. She also held pivotal leadership roles at BioChem Pharma and Pfizer Inc., pioneering novel public-private partnership models that propelled research and innovation forward, and was a tenured professor at Université Laval.

Dr. Hamelin is fluently trilingual and holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Kentucky, US.

With her wealth of expertise, purpose-driven leadership, and passion for driving positive change in the pharmaceutical, health, and life sciences sectors, Dr. Hamelin stands as a trusted leader, poised to make enduring contributions to the health of Canadians and the vibrancy of Canada’s research and innovation ecosystems.

Luc Sirois, Quebec’s Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Director at Quebec Innovation

Luc Sirois is Quebec’s Chief Innovation Officer, general director of the Quebec Innovation Council of and founding Chairman of the Board of Axelys, Quebec’s society valorizing public research.

With an engineering background and holder of both an MBA from Harvard University and a PhD from the University of Strasbourg (Unistra), he has been a technological and social entrepreneur in the health sector, has held senior positions in various organizations around the world, and has always been committed to many social causes.

As an associate professor at HEC Montréal, Mr. Sirois is recognized for his creative approach to innovation and his desire to contribute to Quebec’s future prosperity. On a daily basis, he pursues his mission of mobilizing existing ecosystems, while paying special attention to youth, whom he wishes to be dynamic and visionary. His objective is to bring each of the actors of innovation to surpass themselves and to become an agent of change, so that Quebec can innovate more and better.

Helen Angus, CEO, AMS Healthcare

Helen is a former Ontario Deputy Minister of Health and former co-chair of the Canadian Council of Deputy Ministers of Health. 

Helen is the chair of the board of Public Health Ontario and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.  Helen is a distinguished fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.  Helen also serves on the Board of Unity Health in Toronto.

Helen is the CEO at AMS Healthcare, an Ontario-based charity that advances compassionate leadership in healthcare though fellowships and grants.  AMS Healthcare also funds Research Chairs in the History of Medicine at Universities across Canada.

Helen has a demonstrated ability to lead complex organizations and inspire others to drive systems-level change.  She had a 30-year progressive career in the public sector including 20 years working in the Government of Ontario, ten years working at Cancer Care Ontario as well as four years in management consulting.  From June 2018 to September 2021 Helen served as Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Health and led the initial health response to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as an ambitious health sector modernization agenda.  During her time with the Ontario Government, Helen also served as the Deputy Minister of Treasury Board, Citizenship, Immigration and international Trade, Seniors Affairs and Women’s Issues.

Zayna Khayat, Ph.D., Health Futurist; Adjunct Professor, Health Sector Strategy, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto; Health futurist in residence, Deloitte Canada, Life Sciences & Healthcare practice

Zayna is adjunct faculty in the Health Sector Strategy stream and Executive in Residence with the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. She instructs in various programs including the health sector strategy MBA stream, the global executive MBA in healthcare and life sciences, and executive education programs. She is also a member of the School’s Healthcare & Life Sciences Advisory Board. Zayna is the in-house health futurist with Deloitte Canada’s Healthcare practice and advises various health technology companies. 

Zayna previously led the Futures team with national home healthcare and aging social enterprise, SE Health, as their Future Strategist. Dr. Khayat was previously the lead of health system innovation at MaRS Discovery District, a health innovation hub in Toronto, Canada. In 2017 she was seconded to the REshape Innovation Centre at Radboud university medical centre in the Netherlands. Zayna completed her Ph.D. in diabetes research from the University of Toronto (2001), followed by a career in strategy consulting, including as a Principal in the healthcare practice of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Zayna earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Toronto / Hospital for Sick Children where she was a scholar of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, studying how insulin and exercise regulate blood glucose in the muscle, and why/where this process breaks down during disease states such as diabetes. Zayna completed undergraduate studies in biochemistry at the University of Windsor, where she earned the President’s Medal for top all around graduate of the University (1996) and the Board of Governor’s Medal for top graduate of the biochemistry department.

Zayna speaks proficiently in French and Arabic (and a little Dutch). When not building the future of healthcare, she can be found reading for various book clubs, Peloton-ing, or moonlighting as DJ Z$. Zayna resides in Toronto with her husband, 3 teenagers and their puppy Gizmo.

Bradley Wouters, Executive Vice President of Science & Research, UHN

Dr. Bradley Wouters is an internationally recognized leader and cancer researcher.  He became Executive Vice President of Science and Research at UHN in 2016 and prior to that served as the Interim Director of Research at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre since 2014. He joined UHN in 2008 as Senior Scientist and Director of the Princess Margaret Hypoxia Program, and has held faculty appointments at the University of Toronto in the Department of Medical Biophysics and the Department of Radiation Oncology since that time. Prior to joining UHN, Dr. Wouters was Professor and Head of Experimental Radiation Oncology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. As EVP of Science and Research, Dr. Wouters is focused on creating an environment that incentivizes, facilitates, and rewards excellence in basic, translational, and clinical research across all elements of UHN.

Stéphane Paquet, President & CEO, Montréal International

Stéphane Paquet was appointed President & CEO of Montréal International in January 2020. He joined Montréal International in 2015 as Vice-President, Foreign Investment. In that role, he led a team of professionals dedicated to the attraction of foreign direct investments in Montréal. In 2017, his role expanded to include attracting and retaining international organizations. Under his leadership, the value of investments supported by MI more than doubled from 1 billion to 2.72 billion dollars.

Prior to joining Montréal International, he served as Québec Delegate General in London for two years.

From 1991 to 2001, Mr. Paquet worked as a reporter for Radio-Canada, the national public broadcaster. He then moved into print journalism, first with the daily Le Soleil in Québec City and later with La Presse in Montréal. In 2010, he was appointed Deputy Publisher and Editor in Chief of Les Affaires, a publication that covers business news across Québec.

A recipient of a fellowship under the U.S. State Department’s Young Leaders Program, Stéphane Paquet holds a graduate diploma in World Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a master’s degree in Communications from the University of Québec in Montréal.

Mr. Paquet is also a member of the Consider Canada City Alliance, a group of representatives from Canada’s 14 city-regions dedicated to fostering an economic climate to attract FDI.

Stéphanie Doyle, Chief Executive Officer, Montréal InVivo

Stéphanie Doyle is a seasoned professional with nearly 25 years of experience in the life sciences sector. Over the past five years, she has played a key role in attracting and retaining foreign investments, helping to position Greater Montreal as a global hub of excellence in this field.

A recognized expert in life sciences and health technologies, Stéphanie has led teams and driven strategic projects aimed at attracting significant international investments. With over 15 years of experience in team management, she has consistently exceeded ambitious goals in highly competitive environments. Her in-depth sector expertise, combined with a strong background in business development, has enabled her to generate substantial market share growth throughout her career.

Her career also includes successful experiences in the private sector, along with entrepreneurial achievements recognized by several sales awards. Currently, she serves as the President and CEO of Montréal InVivo, where she continues to drive innovation and growth in the life sciences sector.

Michelle Oana, Chief Mission Officer, Myeloma Canada

Michelle Oana is the Chief Mission Officer at Myeloma Canada. Since joining in 2016, she has combined her marketing degree and background in development, community relations, and fundraising with a deeply personal connection to the cause. Her late father, Richard, lived with myeloma for over eight years and continues to inspire her mission.

Driven by a profound passion for empowerment, Michelle founded Health eMatters in 2021 to amplify and strengthen the voices of cancer advocates across Canada. Through her leadership, she continues to inspire collaboration, innovation, and meaningful change within the cancer community.

Alison Evans, is an executive with more than 25 years of progressive experience spanning the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. She is expert in creating synergy between an organization – its vision and ambition – and the employees, stakeholders, customers and partners who are essential to its success.

Alison is presently the President and CEO of Research Canada a national, broad-based alliance dedicated to advancing health research and health innovation through collaborative advocacy. This builds on more than 15 years of her career advocating for investments in research and innovation as part of national organizations representing higher education institutions in Canada.

Earlier in her career Alison served on the executive team CHEO, the pediatric health centre of Canada’s capital. There she was responsible for all aspects of internal and external communications, health education, advocacy, multi-media production, information resources, the 500+ person volunteer program, and partnerships with the research institute and the hospital’s philanthropic arm, the CHEO Foundation.

Other senior leadership roles have included Vice-President of Public Engagement for CARE Canada, Interim CEO of the Hotel Association of Canada, Vice President of Member and Public Relations of Universities Canada. She has also worked for industry associations and the private sector and served on several Boards, including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada.

She is a proud graduate of the University of Guelph and is committed to life-long learning.

Muhammad Mamdani, Vice President, Data Science & Advanced Analytics, Unity Health Toronto; Director, University of Toronto Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research & Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM); Clinical Lead AI, Ontario Health; Faculty Affiliate, Vector Institute

Dr. Mamdani is Vice President of Data Science and Advanced Analytics at Unity Health Toronto and Director of the University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM). Dr. Mamdani’s team bridges advanced analytics including machine learning with clinical and management decision making to improve patient outcomes and hospital efficiency. Dr. Mamdani is also Professor in the Department of Medicine of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. He is also an Affiliate Scientist at IC/ES and a Faculty Affiliate of the Vector Institute. In 2024, Dr. Mamdani’s team received the national Solventum Health Care Innovation Team Award by the Canadian College of Health Leaders. Previously, Dr. Mamdani was named among Canada’s Top 40 under 40. He has published over 500 studies in peer-reviewed medical journals. Dr. Mamdani obtained a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (PharmD) from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and completed a fellowship in pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research at the Detroit Medical Center. During his fellowship, Dr. Mamdani obtained a Master of Arts degree in Economics from Wayne State University with a concentration in econometric theory. He then completed a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University with a concentration in quantitative methods.

Niraj Dalmia, Partner, Deloitte Canada, Life Sciences and Healthcare Leader AI & Data

Niraj Dalmia is a Partner at Deloitte Canada and leads the AI Strategy practice. He is also Deloitte’s Global Generative AI Leader for Healthcare. Niraj has over 15 years of experience in large scale data, analytics and AI transformations for healthcare clients across North America, Asia and Europe. He specializes in defining and aligning AI strategies to enterprise objectives, translating strategies to implementation through AI enabled data platforms, and developing AI models for clinical, operational and research use cases. His experience includes working closely with federal regulatory organizations to identify efficiency in evaluating vendor products while keeping in mind safety and efficacy. Niraj holds specializations in sustainability and climate change and has an academic appointment as an Adjunct Lecturer at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health; Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation; University of Toronto. He completed his MBA at University of Oxford, Said Business School and his MSc at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Dan Edgcumbe Vice President Medical & Regulatory Affairs, Country Medical Director, Roche Canada

Healthcare has many difficult problems to solve. Dr. Dan Edgcumbe believes he has the answer to all of them: the development of organizational capability through the development of people capability. He crossed the Atlantic (and most of the Canadian landmass) after completing his medical degree at the University of Cambridge and family medicine residency in the National Health Service. He worked in rural family medicine and emergency medicine for several years. It was Dan’s pathological inability to accept an imperfect status quo that led him into leadership. After participating in the Alberta Health Services Executive Education Program, he went on to earn an MBA from the University of Alberta. He has also had formal training in Professional and Business coaching, and not-for-profit governance. He progressed through a number of roles from Chief of Staff of a single site, to Zone Medical Director managing >30 hospitals across a geography the size of Portugal. Just before the pandemic he took on the role of Vice President, Medical Affairs for Halton Healthcare, a multi-site community hospital organization in Ontario. He now works as the Country Medical Director and Vice President, Medical & Regulatory Affairs for Roche Pharma Canada. In this capacity he has oversight for Medical Affairs, Regulatory Affairs, GxP and Quality, Evidence Generation and supports Patient Safety functions. Dan’s work is shaped by his core values of autonomy, joy, curiosity, integrity and challenge. Through a people-first approach, he has enabled organizations to achieve ambitious results by developing distributed leadership capabilities. An erstwhile radio-host and former ski-racer, he now enjoys crazy long bike rides, technology, language-learning, the Booker longlist and the Economist. His wife has always been, and remains, his best coach.

Catherine Wilhelmy, Patient Partner

• Co-Lead of Experiences — Quebec Community of Patients, Caregivers, and Citizen Partners of the Quebec SSA Support Unit

• Co-Chair of the Strategic Patient Partner Committee of the CHUS Research Center

• Patient Partnership Lead for the CHUS Research Center

• Co-Scientific Direction of Quebec SPOR Unit to the Learning Health System

I engage as a patient partner to give meaning to my life journey as a patient, caregiver, and citizen — transforming the challenges I have faced into opportunities to help others.

As Patient Partnership Lead at the CHUS Research Center, Co-Leader of Expériences, and Co-Scientific Director of the Québec SPOR Support Unit (SSA-Québec), I contribute to research, care, education, governance, and knowledge mobilization, driven by a deep belief in the need to build bridges between science and the public.

I serve on several committees and research teams, bringing the perspective of lived experience to decision-making process. That voice — included as a genuine partner of co-construction — can add value to the pertinence and to the efficacy of health systems.

Through this commitment, I stay actively engaged in advancing meaningful change: paving the way for genuine partnership in health and honouring the experiences of those who, like me, will one day face illness. Converting adversity into collective progress gives meaning to what I have lived.

Alexandre Le Bouthillier, Founding Partner & CEO, Linearis

After 20 years of experience in IT for hospitals, space agencies, and city-wide storage infrastructure, Alexandre Le Bouthillier transformed his understanding of large systems to tackle the inefficiencies in healthcare. Now, Alexandre works with world renowned AI experts and physicians to revolutionize the speed, accuracy, and ultimately clinical outcomes of patients. He is a Board Member of Mila (honorific since 2023), IVADO, MEDTEQ+, envisAGE, Health Innovation District & Montreal InVivo. With a Ph.D. in Parallel Computing and Optimization from the Université de Montréal, Le Bouthillier is co-founder and general partner at Linearis, an AI health fund to foster a collaborative, accessible, equitable and durable end-to-end health continuum.