Nazanin Alavi, CoFounder and Chief Clinical Officer, Mind Relief
Staff Psychiatrist and Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University
“Dr. Alavi truly exemplifies a woman leader in the field of digital health. She not only talks the talk but also walks the walk and has initiated a transformation in the mental health field by bringing her carefully curated and evidence-based therapy modules to commercialization. Her efforts in knowledge translation has led her to co-founding a new start-up aiming to develop a platform for onine delivery of mental health. Her goal is to develop a platform that every clinician can use to seamlessly offer accessible and affordable online mental health to their patients at a fraction of normal time and cost.”
Dr. Alavi’s research focuses on the effectiveness of online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in treatment of depression and anxiety disorders. She has been designing an e-platform for delivering online psychotherapy for the past 12 years that has recently become a commercial product through OPTT Inc. Under her clinical direction, OPTT’s platform is changing the lives of mental health patients.
Hélène Clément, Digital Health Leader
“Hélène is passionate, energetic and charismatic health care professional who is committed to the advancement of Health Informatics. She has contributed her healthcare strategies, thinking and knowledge in various forums such as publications, presentations at various Health Care Informatics conferences and by being a faculty member at the University de Sherbrooke for the delivery of courses such as “Dossier de santé électronique partagé” (Shared Health Record).”
Hélène’s involvement in the healthcare and informatics community has resulted in a number of publications and presentations at both national and international levels. Worth noting the many volunteer hours Hélène has provided for the rewrite of the new “Resource Guide to Digital Health in Canada”. Hélène has a strong ability to bridge knowledge from research, clinical, and business components allowing the sharing of lessons learned, benefit realization, strategies and vision for the integration of technologies in the clinical environment and management of healthcare.
Kayla Collins, Director, Information Management & Business Intelligence Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information
“While quiet in nature, when Kayla speaks, the staff listen and respect her. Kayla does by doing, not talking about it. She has handled some very difficult situations with respect, honesty and integrity. Her commitment and passion to improve the health of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador is evident each and every day, and her decision-making capabilities and communication skills have no equal. Kayla is on the leading edge of maximizing the potential for the secondary use of health and social data in Canada – Don MacDonald VP, Health Data and Information Services Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information”
Kayla Collins is the Director of Information Management and Business Intelligence with the NL Centre for Health Information. With 18 years of progressively responsible experience with the Centre, she has helped shape and grow its Data and Information Services Department and service offerings. She has a broad range of knowledge and experience including health analytics and secondary use of health data, applied health research, epidemiology, evaluation, data provisioning and data lifecycle management. Her current focus is on establishing a provincial health data platform for secondary use and facilitating access to data and information through self-service business intelligence.
Claire Duboc, Managing Director, MindBeacon Group
“Claire’s vision and drive to develop a solution that addresses the mental healthcare crisis has created the opportunity for millions of Canadians to access effective, evidence-based treatment without the barriers that cause so many to not get the help they need. Her role as MindBeacon’s founder and managing director has been instrumental in the development of the organization, but also in the future of digital mental health.”
Claire has been instrumental in the development of BEACON, a ground-breaking digital mental health treatment platform that provides Cognitive Behavioural Therapy digitally with the integral support of a registered mental health professional. BEACON provides evidence-based mental health treatment at a dramatically reduced cost, and in a way that is accessible anytime anywhere. Ms. Duboc’s career began at P&G and subsequently various roles at Catalina Marketing and Loyalty Group. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for The Hospital for Sick Children and is Vice Chair for Toronto Foundation and previously served on the Boards for Wilfrid Laurier University & SickKids Foundation.
Alexandra T. Greenhill, Co-founder, CEO, and Chief Medical Officer, Careteam Technologies
“Alexandra’s unique combination of medical, scientific and entrepreneurial skills makes her an incredible source of knowledge. She is a speaker, mentor and subject matter expert on a number of aspects in the tech industry including building startups, the application of AI in health sector, and guiding the next generation of women into STEM. She has also participated in two World Economic Forum satellite events outside of Canada.”
Dr. Greenhill is one of Canada’s leading physicians in digital health innovation. She is the co-founder, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Careteam Technologies, a digital health platform that aims to use artificial intelligence to solve healthcare fragmentation and enable optimal health. She is also an advisor at many of Canada’s most innovative technology companies, a Global Ambassador for Blackbox Connect powered by Google for Entrepreneurs, and Entrepreneur in Residence at Innovation Boulevard.
Heather Hadjistavropoulos, Professor, Psychology, University of Regina
Dr. Hadjistavropoulos has developed one the most successful digital mental health clinics in the world. Despite its relatively small size, the OTU serves well in excess of 1500 patients each year. Dr. Hadjistavropoulos has developed a credible and effective service model which includes a centralised treatment centre located at the University of Regina combined with delivery of ICBT via existing community mental health clinics in Saskatchewan.
Dr. Hadjistavropoulos is a professor of Psychology at the University of Regina, Founder and Executive Director of the Online Therapy Unit (OTU), which has directed the delivery of highly effective Internet-delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (ICBT) to over 6000 clients since 2010. She is principal investigator of the Public Safety Personnel (PSP) Internet-delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy team responsible for a $10 million contract implementing and evaluating ICBT for PSP. Her innovative work in ICBT has leveraged millions in funding (over $3 million from CIHR, Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation, Rx & D Health Research, Craig Neilson Foundation and ~2.3 million from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health).
Carol Hatcher, Vice President of Clinical Programs, Humber River Hospital
“Ms. Hatcher is an exceptional leader with deep regard for patients, and humility in interactions with staff creating an environment that supports disruptive innovation. Her extensive knowledge of clinical process and digital solutions enables her to thoughtfully extract and optimize clinical value from technology. She is highly revered within the hospital and regionally, and is frequently seen as a mentor developing emerging leaders, sharing her knowledge and expertise to meaningfully bridge the gap between clinical and digital.”
Ms. Hatcher plays a pivotal role bringing clinical to digital in many ground breaking initiatives that have been recognized nationally and internationally. She was a key leader in the activation of the new HRH, North America’s first digital hospital. She is also the clinical executive lead for HRHs Command Centre, and oversees the design and activation of the Wall of Analytics TM to improve patient flow, patient outcomes, and population health.
Katherine (Kathy) Hay, President and CEO, Kids Help Phone
“Since taking the helm at Kids Help Phone in 2017, Kathy has inspired change and has pushed the organization further than ever before. She understands the crisis Canadian youth are facing when it comes to receiving support on mental health, and is doing everything in her power to expand service offerings in order to meet young people on the platforms they’d prefer. Last year alone, Kids Help Phone supported 1.6 million young people. We are on track to surpass this number in a big way for 2019.”
Kathy’s commitment to young people and the charitable sector extends to her volunteer work as a member of multiple organizations’ board of directors, including having a seat at the table for the Ontario Premier’s Office sub-council on mental health & addiction; a Director on the Imagine Canada Board of Directors; member of the Children’s First Canada Council of Champions; member of the National Youth Serving Agencies; member of the Mayor’s Task Force on Poverty and Homelessness in Mississauga; a former member of the National Council of Foundation Executives for the Conference Board of Canada; and a former member of the Toronto Academic Health Science Network Foundation CEO Roundtable.
Orpah Mackenzie, Director of eHealth Services, Keewaytinook Okimakanak
“Orpah McKenzie is a pioneer in implementing and managing telemedicine for First Nations communities. Orpah has provided value input and direction in First Nations communities ehealth development. She has been an essential bridge between the provincial health system and First Nation’s health programming.”
Orpah has dedicated her career to advocating and enhancing the care of First Nations people. As the former Director of Health Services at Keewaytinook Okimakanak, Orpah managed various programs and projects in the areas of health and mental health including the development of telemedicine in First Nations since its earliest stages. KO Telemedicine started with a Telepsychiatry Pilot with two KO communities. Being fluent in the Ojibwe dialect has been an advantage to be able to communicate and understand needs and concerns of the people.
Robyn Woods, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, The Uncomplicated Family Corporate Group
“She speaks from the heart. She talks about having a clear line of sight to the future and how The Uncomplicated Family Corporate Group’s mission and values will help the team get there. Robyn’s confidence is demonstrated time and time again through her leadership skills (35 employees on her teams). She has recently established a Global Advisory Board which includes the formal Minister of Health and former Minister of Child and Family Services. Her communication and influence is demonstrated as she describes the future and provides clear evidence and a plan toward achieving those goals.”
She is also acutely aware of the barriers they face, including cost, accessing the right experts at the right times, language, and much more. Robyn has responded to these barriers as a hurricane force transforming disability service delivery with Teleroo™ World, a patented, evidence-informed, secure, and globally-relevant collaborative suite of technologies that can be used in health, education, the community, and the home to deliver personalized disability care. Teleroo™ World is helping families achieve quality of life outcomes in half the time and is being piloted in world-class locations, such as the Stollery Children’s Hospital.