Nakeisha Lodge-Tulloch is a researcher passionate about maternal and perinatal health, driven by an interest in the developmental origins of health and disease. After earning a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in life sciences from Queen’s University, Nakeisha began conducting research under the mentorship of Dr. Charles Graham, Dr. Tiziana Cotechini, and Dr. Maria Velez. Show more

Dr. Katie Birnie, PhD RPsych, is a Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary where she leads Partnering For Pain, a research program striving towards quality equitable pain management for children through partnerships with youth, families, health professionals, policymakers, hospitals, and community organizations. Dr. Birnie is the Associate Scientific Director of Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP), Show more

Professor Bukola Salami is a Full Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Black and Racialized Peoples’ Health in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. She also holds a cross-appointment with the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary. Professor Salami’s internationally recognized research program focuses on the policies and practices that shape migrant health and the health of Black communities. Show more

Brittany Finlay (she/her) holds a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from McGill University and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Calgary. She is currently a Senior Research Associate and the External Relations Coordinator with the Disability Policy Research Program at the University of Calgary. Brittany’s work focuses on understanding how to design policy Show more

Maddie Gallant (she/her) is a PhD candidate in the School of Nursing at Dalhousie University, an Assistant Professor at Acadia University (CBU-Satellite Site), and a Perinatal Nurse Consultant with the Reproductive Care Program of Nova Scotia. Over the last eight years, Maddie has developed a keen passion for working with equity deserving populations across the perinatal continuum. Show more

Dr. Gervin Ane Apatinga is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. He earned his PhD in Health Geography from the University of Saskatchewan in 2024. His interdisciplinary research focuses on the intersections of water (in)security, climate change, child and population health, anti-Black racism, immigration, Show more

Dr. Bob Connelly is a neonatologist, and medical educator in the Department of Pediatrics at Queen’s University. He is interested in design thinking, whether it is to deliver a more compelling presentation or improving patient care. He is a self-described “geek wannabe” and is constantly on the lookout for new mobile technologies to improve productivity.

Dr. Gina Dimitropoulos, MSW, PHD, Fellow of the Academy of Eating Disorders, (she/her) is a Professor at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, and is cross-appointed with the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics. holds the UCalgary Research Excellence Chair in System-level Interventions for Equitable & Accessible Youth Mental Health Services. Show more

Kathleen Lounsbury comes from the Kwakwak’awakw traditions of the Namgis First Nations of Alert Bay, BC. She is a PhD nursing student at Trinity Western University and the Indigenous curriculum consultant for their School of Nursing. She is a doctoral fellow on the Indigenous Digital Health Ecosystem Project and a research associate on an Arts-based response to the violence in the MMIWG report. Show more

Dr. Samantha Louie-Poon (she/they) is a Registered Nurse, Assistant Professor, and community advocate. Their philosophy is rooted in building meaningful human and community connections through stories, art-based methods, and thinking and imagining differently to improve the health, wellbeing, and rights of future generations. Specifically, Sam is passionate about storying the untold narratives of Asian diasporas Show more

From a young age, Anne-Laure has been passionate about science and medicine, particularly in understanding the capabilities of the human body. She earned a degree in biomedical engineering in France before moving to Montréal, where she completed a PhD at Polytechnique Montréal in 2015. Over the past decade, she has undertaken an industrial postdoc Show more

Maria Julia Guimaraes' multidisciplinary background - Architecture, Urban Planning, Graphic Design, Computation Arts - informs her innovative and human-centric approach. For two decades, she's designed products that improve the way we interact and live. She further pushes boundaries by exploring how environmental and biofeedback data can optimize the way we work, live, and think.

Yi Wen (Jenny) Wang (RN, BScN, M.Ed., PhD(c)) is a trained nurse, educator, and PhD candidate in Nursing at McGill University. She completed her Master of Education in 2021 at McGill University. Her work integrates childhood ethics and arts-based methodologies to foster children’s voices and ensure that educational health resources are created with children, for children. Show more

Despoina Manousaki is a pediatric endocrinologist and an assistant professor at the CHU Sainte-Justine University Hospital affiliated with the University of Montreal. She received her MD from the University of Athens, Greece, her post-graduate training in pediatrics in Switzerland (University Hospitals of Geneva) and in pediatric endocrinology in Canada (Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal). Show more

Dr Guilherme Sant’Anna is a Full Professor of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University. He did his medical school and residency in Pediatrics/Neonatology in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where he worked as a neonatologist from 1997 to 2001. Dr Sant’Anna went to McGill University in 2001 for his PhD studies in respiratory physiology under the supervision of Dr J. Mortola. Show more

Dr. Wissam Shalish is a Neonatologist at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Montreal Children's Hospital. His research focuses on using biomedical signals for better understanding and improving various aspects of respiratory care in preterm infants, including weaning from mechanical ventilation, non-invasive respiratory support provision and respiratory control of breathing.

Ben and Jessica are the parents of Maggie and Henry. Henry stayed in the NICU at the Montreal Children’s Hospital for the first year of his life due to multiple serious intestinal disorders. Ben works in administration at Concordia University and Jessica is a registered nurse with an interest in dermatology. They are proud to call themselves NICU parents and they wish to use their experiences to make a positive impact, including helping with the SMART Hospital Project.

Jop Jans is pediatric infectious disease specialist and a postdoctoral translational medicine researcher at the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital in Utrecht, the Netherlands . He is interested in the impact of severe infections in children during cancer treatment, with a particular emphasis on fungal infections. His goal is to improve infection-related outcomes in those children Show more

Dr. Rebecca Pillai Riddell is the Nominated Principal Investigator for DIVERT Mental Health (https://divertmentalhealth.ca/). She is the Tier 1 York Research Chair in Pain and Mental Health and Director of the Opportunities to Understand Childhood Hurt Laboratory (OUCH Lab; www.yorku.ca/ouchlab) in the Department of Psychology of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Show more

Dr. Ruth Green is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at York University. She has served as the co-chair of the Indigenous Council at York University and the Special Advisor to the President on Indigenous Initiatives. Green identifies as an urban Indigenous person and is a citizen of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Show more