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Speakers
Jeff Mainlaind
Jeff Mainland was promoted to the position of Executive Vice-President in September 2012. Prior to this role, Jeff served as Vice-President, Strategy, Performance and Communications, joining SickKids in 2004.
In his current role, Jeff is responsible for a broad and diverse range of departments and programs including: enterprise performance management, strategy management, quality management, risk management, legal services, health system integration, process improvement, innovation, project management, decision support, communications, public affairs, government relations, foundation relations and SickKids International.
Before joining SickKids, he served as Chief of Staff to a provincial cabinet minister and deputy premier and held key leadership positions in the Ontario public service with two ministries. Prior to that, he worked in nuclear medicine in the hospital sector, and in forensic pathology with the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario.
Jeff holds an Honours Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Kinetics from the University of Guelph, a Diploma in Nuclear Medicine Technology from the Michener Institute for Applied Health Science and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Queen’s University.
He has completed executive training in strategy management under the leadership of Dr. Bob Kaplan and Dr. Dave Norton of Harvard Business School and is certified in merger and acquisition integration. He is a member of the Rotman School of Management Healthcare & Life Sciences Advisory Board and acts as a preceptor for a number of Canadian graduate programs in business and health administration.
Dr. Linda Maxwell
Over the past 15 years, as a healthcare executive, management professional, and noted innovator, Dr. Linda Maxwell has led successful institutional partnerships, public and private-sector business initiatives, and knowledge translation and commercialization activities within hospital and university settings.
Dr. Linda Maxwell is Founding and Executive Director of the Biomedical Zone, a healthcare technology and business development programme and infrastructure (business incubator) she founded. The Biomedical Zone is a first-in-class, hospital-embedded business incubator for emerging health technology companies. It is an innovative strategic partnership between St. Michael’s Hospital and Ryerson University. Under Dr. Maxwell’s stewardship, the Biomedical Zone has gone from concept to creation to going concern, supporting Toronto’s leading health technology businesses. Since its founding in 2015, the Biomedical Zone has supported over 160 innovators, facilitated fundraising for startup companies in excess of $15 million dollars in private investment, supported companies through two commercial exits, and engaged in twenty-five hospital innovation projects.
Dr. Maxwell’s breadth of experience and scope of expertise is founded on over a decade and a half as an accomplished head and neck/facial plastic surgeon and patient advocate. Her academic medical career is distinguished by university appointments as a clinical instructor, medical school faculty member, and published scientific author.
Dr. Maxwell has rich international professional experience in the different health business domains. She led the strategic partnering of the National Health Service and University of Oxford on innovation and research commercialization, managing a diverse portfolio of pre-market and market-ready life sciences technologies through all commercial stages including licensing, company creation, business building, and early stage capital raising.
In 2016, Dr. Maxwell was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN), an award recognizing talented leaders in the public, private, and non-profit sectors.
Dr. Maxwell earned a Bachelor’s degree with honors from Harvard University (Biology, cum laude), an M.D. from Yale University, and an M.B.A. from University of Oxford. She completed six-year residency and fellowship training in surgery at the University of Toronto.
Websites:
Biomedical Zone
Julie Rose
Growing up in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Julie attended University in Pennsylvania playing NCAA Tennis, followed by The University of Western Ontario, graduating with a degree in Sociology - Health and Aging. Since 2006 she has worked with privately held corporations, most recently as Director of Recruitment and Business Development for International Education. Within the community, she serves as Director at Large/Director of Fundraising on the Board of Directors for MumNet, a network that provides community and support to local Toronto mothers. Julie has been a SickKids Family Advisory Network volunteer since early 2017, focusing on projects within Complex Care and Project Horizon. Julie lives in Toronto with her patient husband Brandon, her independent four year old daughter Zoe and her incredibly determined SickKids baby, Owen.
Dr. David Jaffray
David Jaffray is the Executive Vice President of Technology and Innovation at the University Health Network (UHN) and the Director of Medical Physics. He holds the Fidani Chair in Radiation Physics and is a principal in the STTARR Innovation Centre. He is also the Director of the TECHNA Institute and a Senior Scientist within the Ontario Cancer Institute. Dr. Jaffray is a Professor in the Departments of Radiation Oncology, Medical Biophysics, and Institute for Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. He has numerous patents and >200 peer-reviewed publications. His current research interests focus on the development of imaging technologies and methods with a focus on image-guided interventions, including radiation therapy and surgery.
William Charnetski
William Charnetski is Ontario’s Chief Health Innovation Strategist with a background as an accomplished national and global executive who has worked in the highest levels of business, law and government. He has a track record of leading transformational change, developing organizations, fostering partnerships and collaboration, and delivering results. He has spent more than 10 years working on integrated health solutions in Canada and around the world in the rapidly changing global pharmaceutical industry.
Mr. Charnetski most recently worked in the UK with AstraZeneca, one of the world's largest innovative pharmaceutical companies. He led global government affairs and public policy and had responsibilities for corporate social responsibility and regional communications.
Ran Manor
Ran has over 15 years of experience in multi-disciplinary engineering. He served in positions of CEO, VP R&D and Director of Technologies, as well as investment manager and business development manager, in Israel and in Canada.
Ran served in the technological unit of the Israeli intelligence corps, managing large teams and complex multidisciplinary state-of-the-art projects involving hundreds of people. He received the national security award from the state of Israel.
Ran holds a B.Sc. in Physics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a Masters degree in Entrepreneurship and Business from Swinburne University (Australia).
Dr. Luke Brzozowski
Dr. Luke Brzozowski leads TECHNA’s Technology Development Team, comprising of forty technical project managers, engineers, software developers, as well as operational, quality, regulatory, marketing, and financial professionals who lead, manage, and carry out health technology productization programs and projects in a hospital environment. Prior to joining TECHNA at its inception, Luke held management positions in the development, marketing, legal, and regulatory departments in the health technology industry and pharmaceutical CRO. Luke is the recipient of the 2003 Governors General’s Gold Medal for his Doctorate.
Dr. Joseph A. Cafazzo
Dr. Joseph Cafazzo leads Biomedical Engineering at UHN and is Executive Director and Founder of Healthcare Human Factors, a team of thirty human factors professionals who design and evaluate health technologies from within a healthcare setting. As the largest group of its kind, the team performs academic research and human factors evaluation and design services for private companies and public institutions, including national and provincial governmental agencies, start-ups and multi-national companies, product manufacturers, and clinical patient safety leaders.
Ferhan Bulca
Ferhan is the CEO of Acumyn, a company he co-founded with a vision to create an effortless future in quality assurance of safety-critical medical devices across global hospitals. Ferhan’s purpose in life is to create products and services that make the world a better and healthier place to live in.
After earning a Ph.D. degree in robotics from McGill University, he has worked in aerospace, life sciences and IT sectors, developing expertise on all aspects of technology commercialization and product development.
In his free time, he teaches Business Innovation at University of Toronto, plays squash and enjoys SCUBA diving.
Matthew Nelson
Matthew holds a B.Eng. in Industrial Engineering, a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering and a Master’s degree in Management & Operations Research. He is an ASQ[1] -Certified Six Sigma Black Belt and licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario. As a member of the Process Improvement & Innovation team, Matthew provides training and coaching for the roll out of the Daily Continuous Improvement Program as well as for Yellow Belt and Green Belt certification. Matthew also utilizes mathematical simulation modelling to support process improvement and decision-making activities by helping to answer “what-if” type questions. Matthew has over 10 years of experience in healthcare at several hospitals, health regions and in consulting. Notable projects at SickKids include modelling emergency department length of stay; development of a critical care planning strategy; and resource planning to allow for flexible nurse scheduling.
David During
David is the Director of Process Improvement & Innovation at SickKids where he is responsible for the outcome of Process Improvement initiatives. David holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering. David is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt from Arizona State University. David has worked in several industries including Telecommunications, Manufacturing, Energy and Construction, in several different countries including the United States of America, Italy, Jordan, Sudan and Canada.
David builds capacity through coaching and engaging stakeholders to understand and apply process improvement methodologies. David has developed material to train and certify over 400 employees in process improvement philosophies.
Tai M Huynh
Personal Slogan:
Create. Have fun. Leave a lasting impact.
What’s close to your heart?
Family, Road trips. Baseball. Good pho.
A random fact about me:
I play tennis left handed, but table tennis right handed. Don’t know how that happened.
How did you get here?
I’ve spent most of my working life in the healthcare industry, first in consulting, then policy and now, mostly creating things that I hope will make the health system work a bit better for people. I had wanted to be a scientist when I was younger, but after getting my BSc, I decided to step off that road as there a lot more I wanted to do and learn. So I went to business school to get my MBA and after a few years of feeling too “left-brained”, I decided to go back to school again to do a master in design. And that’s how I tend to approach problems at OpenLab these days – a sort of anti-disciplinary mashup of scientific, business and design thinking.
Training:
Master of Design from OCAD University
MBA from Schulich School of Business, York University
BSc from the University of Toronto
Achievements:
Some of my contributions to the health system: Excellent Care for All Act, Choosing Wisely Canada, OpenLab.
Shoshana Hahn-Goldberg
What’s close to your heart?
Family, Improving Patient Experience, Accessibility, Good Books, Good TV, and Good Chocolate.
What book is on my nightstand?
Count of Monte Cristo, Cutting for Stone, The Girl who saved the King of Sweden.
Discipline or Specialty:
Industrial Engineering
How did you get here?
Born and raised in Toronto. I appreciate efficiency and systems with a creative twist. I’m someone who likes to keep busy, especially with projects that I find meaningful and fulfilling and I am very excited to be part of the brilliant team that is OpenLab.
Degrees:
I completed my Bachelors, Masters, and PhD in Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto.
Projects:
I am currently working on the PODS, Onco-ED, Nephrology Modeling, LifeguardRx/Mobile Feasibility Study, Stuff Patients Want, Hospital at Home.
Achievements:
I currently hold a Mitacs Accelerate Award and I won the Institute for Industrial Engineers Society for Health Systems Best Paper Award in 2012.
Jen Recknagel
Favourite Slogan/Quote:
“Don’t be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
What’s close to your heart?
New music. Practicing yoga. Hanging with my nephews.
What book is on my nightstand?
Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby
How did you get here?
Being curious, staying open and approaching collaboration authentically keeps it all interesting! It seems many dots connect at OpenLab. As a Documentary Producer, I had the opportunity to travel to exotic destinations and into intimate circles. And although I loved this work, I felt a calling to expand my tool set. This led to the world of strategic design, where I’ve found a home for working at the intersection of human need and societal drivers, for impact storytelling, and for applying a systems thinking approach to complex social problems. With a deep family lineage in health care, it seems a natural fit to be working with the transdisciplinary team at OpenLab. It’s all about finding the right tool for the job.
Projects:
Projects of note include: The Local, a ethnography meets storytelling project looking at the health of Toronto’s neighbourhoods. Aging Well, a research and knowledge mobilization project aimed at uncovering innovative, user-led models of seniors’ supportive living. Stuff Patients Want, a participatory design initiative where patients devise solutions to problems they commonly encounter in the health system. Pop Health, an ongoing visual case study collaboration with the Canadian Institute for Health Information looking at innovators at the forefront of population health + health care.
Rasha Kubba
Slogan/Quote:
Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself. – Khalil Gibran
What’s close to your heart?
Family, friends & good food (ideally all at once)
What book is on my nightstand?
“The Checklist Manifesto” by Dr. Atul Gawande & “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” by Marie Kondo
Discipline or Specialty:
Health Informatics, Process analysis & redesign, User-centered design.
Degrees:
Masters of Health Informatics @ University of Toronto
Bachelor of Commerce – Information Systems concentration @ Carleton University
Dr. Howard Abrams
Personal Slogan:
To improve the experience of care for patients and providers.
What’s close to your heart?
Laugh with my family, mountain bike, backcountry ski, read, ask “why?”, and travel.
What book is on my nightstand?
“What about Mozart. What about Murder? Learning from Case Studies” by Howard S. Becker.
How did you get here?
Started in Anthropology and Ethno-musicology, lived with a nomadic tribe in northern Kenya doing ecological research, and then returned to complete a degree in Engineering. Went on to an MD and FRCPC in Internal Medicine, then worked in Northern Ontario, Africa, and Asia helping develop community based services and research capacity.
Experience:
Diverse experience has created my role as synthesizer and connector who knows health care from the inside. I’ve worked on award winning health IT and care re-design projects, see problems from multiple perspectives, and realize that others see just as many more. I love working with our patients, designers, social scientists, engineers, actors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, policy folks, modelers and economists who teach me something new every day.
Biomedical Zone Startups
Kathryn Parker
Dr. Kathryn Parker received her PhD at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto in 2006 and her Master of Arts in Measurement and Evaluation from OISE in 1999. In addition to teaching, Kathryn has presented her work at various national and international conferences.
Kathryn began working in the area of utilization-focused and theory-based program evaluation in 2002. She has applied her program evaluation skills when working with numerous academic/clinical groups to facilitate and direct program evaluation efforts. These groups include the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, George Brown College, the Centre for Ambulatory Care Education at Women’s College Hospital, the Global Research in Paediatrics group, and the Collaborative Change Leadership Program at the University Health Network. Kathryn currently serves as the Senior Director of Academic Affairs and Simulation Lead at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and is the Co-Lead for The Centre for Leadership in Innovation at Holland Bloorview. She was also the recipient of the 2013 AMS Phoenix Fellowship.
Doug Miron
Doug is the Co-lead for the Centre for Leadership in Innovation and the Senior Organization Development and Learning Consultant at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. He taps into his progressive leadership experience to provide strategic programs and initiatives that enhance employee engagement and advance individual, team and organizational performance. Doug’s areas of expertise include Innovation; Organization Development; Leadership Strategy; Talent Management; Executive Coaching and Change Leadership. His work has directly contributed to the attainment of national and regional top employer awards.
Doug is a trusted advisor and consultant to senior leaders. He has a master’s degree in Leadership and Training from Royal Roads University and is an executive leadership coach accredited with the International Coaching Federation. As a professional facilitator, thousands of individuals have participated in Doug’s interactive, entertaining and thought provoking sessions. Queen’s University’s IRC Talent Management Program and the Business Acumen for OD Professionals at the Schulich School of Business Executive Education Centre have repeatedly asked Doug to be a guest speaker. He recently joined the faculty of the Centre of Excellence in Organization Development and Change Program at Schulich.
Simon Trevarthen
Simon Trevarthen (just call him Simon T), is passionate about helping others achieve their greatness. His energy is focused on finding and igniting the passion in others, helping them become outstanding people, both personally and professionally.
For a day job, Simon is the Director of Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Business Innovation Office where they lead Strategic Foresight, innovation and program redesign.
As the creator and driving force behind a series of dynamic leadership seminars and workshops, Simon has facilitated hundreds of strategies and sparked energetic conversations about innovation. A story teller and strategist, he has lead change efforts in the public, non-for-profit and private sectors.
Global in viewpoint but local in impact, he has led consulting engagements and dynamic leadership training in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North America. Simon has also worked as a journalist and international spokesperson for major humanitarian organization in post conflict countries.
Laraine Domingo
Laraine Domingo is a Toronto-based, multidisciplinary designer who is passionate about brand experiences and design-thinking. Since graduating from York University and Sheridan College's design program, she's been working on the Marketing team at the healthtech company RL Solutions. As a lifelong learner, she is fascinated by educational design and enjoys making things with her hands.
Meredith Lazowski
Meredith Lazowski is a Toronto-based Product Designer who is passionate about creating delightful user interfaces, experiences & products. Since graduating from the York University and Sheridan College's design program, she has been working at the healthtech company, RL Solutions, creating a support platform for clients called RL HUB, and also working on new product initiative’s and explorations.
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