Hear from women leaders in medicine and a range of other disciplines, build your leadership skills, network with female colleagues and lend your voice to an action plan to increase gender equity within the Department of Medicine, across the Faculty of Medicine, and beyond.
Second Annual Summit for Women in Academic Medicine
Date: Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Location: MaRS Building, 101 College Street, Toronto
Ann Gabriel
Ann Gabriel is a Vice President for Global Strategic Networks at Elsevier, based in New York. She has held a variety of positions at the forefront of scholarly communication, most recently as Elsevier’s Publishing Director for journals in Computer Science and Engineering, as well as electronic product development roles with Elsevier’s ScienceDirect platform. She was previously at Cambridge University Press. Ann’s current work focuses on outreach and partnerships related to scientific impact; open science; sustainability; and diversity and inclusion.
Ann is a member the Association of American Publishers (AAP) / Professional/Scholarly Publishing (PSP) Executive Committee. She holds a master’s degree in communications from the University of Pennsylvania.
Bev Holmes
As Interim President & CEO of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, Bev draws upon a wealth of experience in health research, practice and policy. Her commitment to integrating these areas is evident in her leadership at MSFHR as well as her role as executive lead of the BC Academic Health Science Network, which includes the BC SUPPORT Unit.
Since joining MSFHR in 2010, Bev has helped establish MSFHR’s reputation as a leader in knowledge translation, and held various roles overseeing funding programs, knowledge translation, provincial projects, impact analysis and partnerships.
Bev’s roles prior to MSFHR include health communications and knowledge translation consultant, researcher, writer and communications director. She remains an active member of the health research community.
Bev received her MA and PhD from SFU’s School of Communication and holds adjunct appointments at UBC`s School of Population and Public Health and SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences. Her research interests include knowledge translation, discourse analysis, health communication, risk communication, and public involvement in health research. She is regularly called on to publish and present internationally on how best to support the translation of research evidence into policy and practice, especially from a funder’s perspective.
Caprice C. Greenberg
Caprice C. Greenberg MD MPH is a tenured Professor of Surgery and the Morgridge Distinguished Chair in Health Services Research at the University of Wisconsin. She is a surgical oncologist specializing in breast cancer and a health services researcher focused on improving patient safety and quality of care. She completed a general surgery residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Masters of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, as well as a surgical oncology fellowship at the Partners-Dana Farber Cancer Center. Following her clinical and research fellowship training, she joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Dana-Farber Cancer Insitute in 2007. While there, she served as the Associate Director and then Director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She was recruited to the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2011 to serve as Director for the Wisconsin Surgical Outcomes Research Program. Her multi-disciplinary research program in comparative effectiveness and patient centered outcomes research in cancer care, as well performance and quality measurement and improvement in surgery, has been funded by a variety of agencies, including NIH, AHRQ, and PCORI. Dr. Greenberg is past Recorder and Past-President of the Association for Academic Surgery and Past-President and Founder of the Surgical Outcomes Club.
Cara Tannenbaum
Dr. Cara Tannenbaum was appointed the Scientific Director of the Institute of Gender and Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in 2015. She holds a number of distinguished awards including the May Cohen Gender Equity Award, presented by the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada to recognize outstanding achievement in improving the gender equity environment in academic medicine in Canada, a YMCA Woman of Distinction Award, and a Knowledge Translation award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr. Tannenbaum obtained her medical, specialist and research degrees at McGill University. She is a Full Professor in the Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy at the Université de Montréal, where she holds the Chair in Pharmacology, Health and Aging. Her research focuses on sex and gender differences, and patient education in the area of drug safety. As Scientific Director of the Canadian Institute of Gender and Health, Dr. Tannenbaum works with national and international research communities, funding organisations, industry and stakeholders to identify research priorities, strengthen research capacity, build partnerships and translate research evidence into policy and practice to improve the health of boys, girls, men, women and gender-diverse persons.
Carrie Bourassa
Carrie Bourassa is a Chair in Indigenous & Northern Health and Senior Scientist at Health Sciences North Research Institute in Sudbury, Ontario and the Scientific Director of the Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Prior to taking the Chair position in October 2016 and the Scientific Director Position in February 2017, she served her communities as a Professor of Indigenous Health Studies at First Nations University of Canada for fifteen years. Dr. Bourassa is an Indigenous community-based researcher and is proud to be the successful Nominated Principal Investigator on two Canada Foundation for Innovation Grants that funded the Indigenous Community-based Health Research Lab in 2010 (re-named Morningstar Lodge) and most recently in April 2016 the Cultural Safety Evaluation, Training and Research Lab at FNUniv. She is a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada and is a public member of the College Council, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Carrie’s research interests include the impacts of colonization on the health of Indigenous people; creating culturally safe care in health service delivery; Indigenous community-based health research methodology; HIV/AIDS, HCV among Indigenous people; end-of-life care among Indigenous people; dementia among Indigenous people, Indigenous Water Governance and Indigenous women’s health. Carrie is Métis, belonging to the Regina Riel Métis Council #34.
David White
David White is Professor and Vice Chair, Family Doctor Leadership in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. White served as President of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) in 2016-2017, and is the current Past President.
Following medical training at UofT, he started practice in Sioux Lookout, flying into remote First Nations villages in northwestern Ontario. He subsequently joined the Family Medicine Teaching Unit at Toronto Western Hospital, later moving to Mount Sinai Hospital.
Dr. White was Chief of Family Medicine at North York General Hospital (1999-2012), and served as Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee (2006-2008). He helped to establish the first practice-based research network at the University of Toronto, eventually incorporating all DFCM-affiliated academic sites. He was a founding member of the North York Family Health Team, a model that incorporates the CFPC’s vision of the Patient Medical Home.
Dr. White has served on the Board of the Ontario College of Family Physicians and was elected to the Executive of the Board of the College of Family Physicians of Canada in 2013. Contributions to professional standards have included membership on the Ontario SARS Scientific Advisory Committee, Ontario Health Plan for an Influenza Pandemic (OHPIP), and the Clinical Guidance Working Group of the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion.
He maintains a busy community practice in North York. Academic activities include clinical teaching, primary care research and mentoring trainees and faculty. He plays lead guitar in “Slice of Life”.
Huda Idrees
Huda is the Founder and CEO of Dot Health, a real-time personal health data platform. With a background in engineering from the University of Toronto and a prolific career at some of Toronto’s best known startups, she hopes to transform the way people access and control their own health information for good. A strong advocate for women and minorities in technology, Huda’s work been profiled in numerous media outlets including The Globe and Mail, CNBC, and Metro Morning. Huda’s work in the field of entrepreneurship recently earned her a spot as a Top 5 CEO in Toronto Life Magazine. She was also recognized as one of Top 25 Women of Influence in 2017. Huda serves on the Business Innovation and Development committee at Sinai Health System, and the Canadian Federal Economic Strategy Table for Health and Bio-Sciences.
Jessie DeAro
Dr. Jessie DeAro started her federal career as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) after earning her doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She has seventeen years of experience managing federal capacity building and education programs at the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Her expertise is focused on higher education diversity programs designed to improve the participation and success of underrepresented minorities and women in STEM education programs and the workforce. She spent a year detailed to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in 2010 working on policy related to STEM education and diversity. In addition, she has served in temporary Senior Executive Service roles as acting Deputy Division Director in two Divisions in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) at NSF. She is currently a program officer for the EHR Core Research program (ECR) and the lead program officer for the ADVANCE program. ECR supports education research proposals to study STEM learning and learning environments, STEM workforce, and broadening participation in STEM. The ADVANCE program focuses on systemic change within institutions of higher education and organizations to address gender-based inequities that impact women in STEM academic careers.
Lisa Robinson
Dr. Lisa Robinson is a Professor, Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, Chief Diversity Officer, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Head of the Division of Nephrology, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Senior Scientist in the Program in Cell Biology at the SickKids Research Institute.
Dr. Robinson attended medical school at the University of Toronto, trained in Internal Medicine at Toronto General Hospital, and completed her residency in Paediatrics at the University of Western Ontario. She received her Paediatric Nephrology training at Duke University and during this time she pursued basic research training in the Departments of Immunology and Medicine, focused on exploring the mechanisms whereby leukocytes traffic within inflamed tissues. Her basic and translational research program has 2 areas of focus: 1) understanding the regulation of expression and function of chemokines and adhesion molecules in inflammation, and 2) exploring the role of neuronal guidance cues in attenuating inflammation and thrombosis. Her research program integrates molecular biology, cell biology, advanced microscopic, and biochemical approaches with animal models of inflammation and renal injury.
Dr. Robinson is the founder and director of Kids Science, a SickKids Research Institute program which provides opportunities for middle- and high-school students to improve their understanding of science and technology, and to make positive educational and career choices. Kids Science targets “at-risk” youth who do not have equal exposure to science and technology awareness experiences, including patients with chronic illnesses at SickKids, students from Northeastern Ontario, and students from Toronto inner-city schools.
As Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Robinson provides leadership on matters of diversity and inclusion. She works collaboratively to build alliances, develop strategic partnerships, and engage internal and external partners to enhance and promote the diversity of faculty, learners and staff across the Faculty of Medicine.
Malinda S. Smith
Dr. Malinda S. Smith is a Full Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta. Her published research examines discourses of terrorism and African development, global poverty and inequality, and equity and diversity in higher education. She is the author or coauthor of over 30 scholarly articles and chapters, and is coauthor of The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigeneity at Canadian Universities (2017, with Frances Henry el al). Dr. Smith is also the editor of three books, Securing Africa: Post-9/11 Discourses on Terrorism (Ashgate, 2010); ‘Beyond the African Tragedy’: Discourses on Development and the Global Economy (Ashgate, 2006); and Globalizing Africa (Africa World Press, 2003), and co-editor of two books, Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics (2013, with Janine Brodie and Sandra Rein); and States of Race: Critical Race Feminism for the 21st Century (2010, with Sherene Razack and Sunera Thobani). Over the past two decades Dr. Smith has worked to advance equity in higher education as Vice President Equity Issues for the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, on CAUT Racialized Academic Staff Working Group, as the faculty association’s Equity Advisor. Currently she is President of the Academic Women’s Association at the University of Alberta, and nationally serves on the Canada Research Chairs Program Advisory Committee on Equity Diversity and Inclusion Policy. She is the recipient of a number of national awards including the ISA-Canada Distinguished Scholar Award, 2018-2019, the HSBC Community Contributor of the Year Award (2016), and the CAUT Equity Award (2015).
Naki Osutei
Naki Osutei is a leader guided by a commitment to changing the face of leadership in all sectors to better reflect the reality of the Canadian population. She has advanced this agenda in roles in the not-for-profit, public and now private sector. Today she is the Director of Partnerships and Engagement for the Community Relations and Corporate Citizenship department at TD Bank. Naki’s team develops partnership and engages individuals and organizations internal and external to the bank in support of the Bank’s purpose to enrich lives. Her team leads the following initiatives: enterprise-wide employee engagement campaigns, including the United Way annual employee giving campaign; the TD Volunteer Network; TD’s Arts and Archives department and the TD Scholarship for Community Leadership. Prior to coming to TD, Naki worked in Executive Talent Management at CIBC supporting the development of executives and ‘near-executives’ while also working to diversify the executive pipeline; was an HR Director for, and led the corporate diversity and legacy strategies for the TORONTO2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games; and developed several city-building projects and leadership development programs at CivicAction, including co-creating DiverseCity Fellows, North America’s first “civic MBA”. She is also an avid volunteer and has served on the Boards of Seneca College, West Neighbourhood House, BMW Foundation’s Young Leaders Transatlantic Forum and was recently a speaking coach for TEDxToronto.
Nora Aufreiter
Nora Aufreiter is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Nova Scotia, The Kroger Company, Cadillac Fairview Corporation and Neiman Marcus Group where she is Chair of the Digital and Technology Committee. Across her boards, Nora is a member of Audit, Compensation, and Corporate Governance Committees.
Nora also serves on several non-profit boards. She is a member of the Board of Directors at St. Michael’s Hospital where she is also Chair of the Research and Education Committee, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Opera Company. She is also a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Ivey Business School.
Ms. Aufreiter was a Director of McKinsey & Company where she worked for 27 years until she retired in June 2014. Ms. Aufreiter was Managing Partner of the Toronto office of McKinsey’s Canadian Practice from 2008 until 2012. She then led the Firm’s Consumer Digital and Omnichannel Service Lines until her retirement. Ms. Aufreiter also previously led the North American Retail Practice, the North American Branding and Marketing Organization Service Lines. Throughout her career she worked extensively in Canada, the United States and internationally serving her clients in consumer-facing industries in retail, consumer, financial services, and energy.
Before joining McKinsey, Ms. Aufreiter spent 3 years in financial services working in corporate finance and investment banking. She has an HBA in business administration from Ivey Business School at Western University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Nouman Ashraf
Nouman Ashraf is a professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Nouman teaches in the intersection of leadership, design, and organizational behaviour. He is a reputable teacher, a trusted advisor, and enabler of change.
An award winning faculty member, Nouman teaches courses titled Emancipatory Leadership, Leading Social Innovation, and Leading Across Differences at the graduate and undergraduate level. He is the Academic Director of various custom leadership programs in partnership with Rotman Executive Program clients.
His previous consulting clients include Telus, Cliffs Natural Resources, Bayer, CBC, United Way Toronto, and numerous post-secondary and healthcare institutions.
Pamela Warren
Pamela Warren joined Egon Zehnder International in 1997 and is a Partner based in our Toronto office. She co-leads our Consumer, Health and Board practice groups in Canada. She has enjoyed long-standing relationships with her clients, assisting in the recruitment of their top talent at an executive and board level. She also is a regular speaker at The Directors Education Program, jointly developed by the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Pamela worked for the Mead Johnson Nutritional Division of Bristol Myers Squibb in a number of positions in general management, business development, marketing and sales based in Canada, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. Earlier on, she held brand management roles at Mars Inc. and began her career as a buyer for Bloomingdales.
Pamela completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and French from the University of Michigan and her MBA from the American Graduate School of International Management in Phoenix, Arizona.
Wendy Cukier
Wendy Cukier is a professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at Ryerson University and the Founder of the Diversity Institute. She recently completed a 5 year term as the Vice President of Research and Innovation at Ryerson where she led a strategy that saw research funding increase by 60%. An expert on disruptive technologies she is coauthor of the best seller “Innovation Nation: Canadian Leadership from Java to Jurassic Park” and has more than 30 years of experience working on technology and innovation, including early work on telehealth and telemedicine. She also led Ryerson’s Social Innovation Strategy and helped make Ryerson Canada’s first Ashoka Changemaker Campus. She also founded the Ryerson University Lifeline Syria Challenge which with the other GTA universities raised more than $4.5m, mobilized 1000 volunteers to privately sponsor 400 Syrian Refugees. Previously, Wendy was the Associate Dean of the Ted Rogers School of Management, Canada’s largest business school. Currently a Professor of Information Technology Management at the Ted Rogers School of Management and founder of the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University, she has written more than 200 papers on technology, innovation and management.
She serves on many boards and has helped establish and grow technology and social enterprises. An active volunteer, she has assisted a wide range of equality seeking community organizations and her work has been widely recognized for its impact on community safety and social justice. Wendy Chairs the Board of Women’s College Hospital, is the treasurer of nPower and on the board of the Lifelong Learning Institute which serves youth of Caribbean and African heritage. She is the cofounder of the Coalition for Gun Control and the International Action Network on Small Arms. With Vic Sidel, she coauthored Global Gun Epidemic: From Saturday Night Specials to AK 47s and has published on public health perspectives on violence.
Her many honours include the YWCA Woman of Distinction, one of the Top 25 Women of Influence, one of 100 Alumni who shaped the Century (at the University of Toronto), one of 25 Transformational Canadians (Globe and Mail, CTV, LaPresse), the Black Business Professional Association’s Harry Jerome Award for Diversity, the Canada Pakistan Business Council’s professional excellence award, the Canadian Public Health Association’s Award of Merit and the Governor General’s Meritorious Cross, one of Canada’s highest civilian honours.
Dr. Cukier holds an MA and MBA from the University of Toronto, a PhD from the Schulich School of Business, York University. She has also received an honorary Docteur d’Universite from Laval University in medicine, dentistry and nursing and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Concordia University.
Download Agenda (Last Updated December 18, 2017)
Please note that this is a draft agenda which we will be continually updating.