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Evidence to Improve Care

Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee Members Biographies


Vascular Surgeon, St. Michael’s Hospital

Biography

Charles de Mestral is a vascular surgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital and a surgeon-scientist in the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto. He is certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in general surgery and vascular surgery. He pursues a research program in health services research and economic evaluation as a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital and as an adjunct scientist at ICES.

President and CEO, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance

Biography

Lori Marshall is the president and chief executive officer of Chatham-Kent Health Alliance. Lori has more than 20 years of leadership experience in Ontario’s acute and community care sectors. She has a reputation as a patient-centred strategist and a track record of addressing complex issues through a shared vision and knowledge of the community and region. Lori was previously the CEO of the Erie St. Clair Community Care Access Centre and Nipigon District Memorial Hospital. She has also served as vice-president at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and the Oshawa General Hospital. Lori is a registered pharmacist with the Ontario College of Pharmacists and a certified health executive with the Canadian College of Health Leaders. She holds a certificate from the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management’s Advanced Health Leadership program and a Master of Health Administration from the University of Ottawa. Lori has a rich history of community service and has been active on many boards and committees at the provincial and local levels.

Ex-Officio (MOH Representatives)

Director of Research, Analysis and Evaluation within the Strategic Policy, Planning and French Language Services Division, Ministry of Health.

Biography

Since she began with the Ministry in April 2010, Jillian has taken on many roles related to quality and funding including:

  • leading the policy and planning of Ontario Health Teams

  • supporting the implementation of Ontario’s quality Legislation

  • designing the policy framework for the introduction of the Ministry’s first Patient Ombudsman as well as the Minister’s first Patient and Family Advisory Council

  • designing policy and programs to advance integrated funding and quality improvement.

Previous to the Ministry, Jillian worked at Cancer Care Ontario and the Hospital Report Research Collaborative out of the University of Toronto. She is currently working to accelerate the advancement of evidence into policy and program decision making.

Director, Provincial Programs Branch, Ministry of Health

Biography

Kristin Taylor is the Director of the Provincial Programs Branch at the Ministry of Health. She joined the ministry in 2008 and throughout her career has focused on strategic policy and program management. She has improved access to health services and strengthened coordination and oversight of various provincially funded programs while using evidence and data to inform her work. Kristin currently leads an extensive portfolio that includes over $7.5 billion in health care funding for programs related to cancer, transplant, HIV, hepatitis C, naloxone, cardiac, neuroservices, perinatal health, sexual violence, quality-based procedures, wait times, and surgical recovery. Approximately half of all Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee (OHTAC) recommendations are relevant to the Provincial Programs Branch, and Kristin and her team collaborate with stakeholders and Ontario Health to leverage the work of OHTAC and inform future health care funding and implementation decisions.

Ex-Officio (OH Representatives)

Biography

Sarah McDowell is the Manager, Clinical Reviews within the Health Technology Assessment Program. In this role, she supports a team of clinical epidemiologists in undertaking systematic reviews of the clinical evidence. Prior to joining Ontario Health, she worked for the NHS in England leading systematic reviews and meta-analyses. She obtained her PhD from the University of Birmingham and her MSc in Epidemiology from the University of Edinburgh.

Senior Director, Cancer Control & Evidence Integration, Ontario Health

Biography

Rebecca is the Interim Vice-President of Prevention & Cancer Control at Ontario Health, which includes overseeing the province’s organized cancer screening programs and the health technology assessment program. She is a respected health system leader with a special interest in chronic disease prevention. Throughout her tenure at Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario), she has led the establishment of a provincial smoking cessation program for cancer patients, developed a performance measurement framework for the prevention system, and co-led the development of a provincial food and nutrition strategy. Rebecca is a registered dietitian and holds a Master of Health Sciences from the University of Toronto.

Members

Critical Care Specialist

Biography

Kali Barrett earned her medical degree in 2009 from the University of Western Ontario. She subsequently completed a residency program in Internal Medicine and Adult Critical Care at the University of Toronto. Dr. Barrett also holds a Master’s degree in Health Policy, Planning and Financing from London School of Economics, where her thesis was an economic evaluation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for severe adult respiratory distress syndrome. She has also completed additional methodological training in advanced methods for cost-effectiveness analysis at the England York University. Dr. Barrett is a Clinical Associate at Toronto Western Hospital with the Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine. She has published several peer-reviewed articles and presented at a number national conferences.

Biography

Sally Bean is an ethicist and policy advisor at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the University of Toronto’s Joint Centre for Bioethics. Sally earned a B.A. in philosophy and English, an M.A. in bioethics and public policy, and a law degree, juris doctorate (J.D.). After law school, she completed a two-year fellowship in clinical and organizational ethics through the University of Toronto's Joint Centre for Bioethics. Sally has presented at national and international conferences, serves as a peer reviewer on numerous journals, and has published several peer-reviewed articles. Her academic and research interests include the intersection of health law and bioethics, health policy development, and patient engagement in health technology assessment.

Biography

Paul Bradley is a health care industry executive with close to 40 years’ experience in the Canadian medical device and pharmaceutical markets. He has held leadership roles in a wide range of functional areas at Johnson & Johnson, including commercial roles, human resources, and operations. As vice-president of Strategic Affairs, Paul had leadership responsibility for health economics and market access, professional education, clinical and regulatory affairs, quality, and health care compliance and was a member of the management board of the Canadian medical device division. Paul was a board member of Medtech Canada, Canada’s medical technology industry association, from 2009 to 2016, holding various leadership roles including board chair for his final three years. Paul is currently a board member at ventureLAB and is president of MedTech Consulting. The diversity of his board experience fuels his passion for innovation in health care and creating a better environment for the appropriate adoption of medical technologies.

Otolaryngologist, The Ottawa Hospital

Biography

Lisa Caulley is an otolaryngologist (a head and neck surgeon) with a master’s degree in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Lisa completed her otolaryngology/head-and-neck surgery training at the University of Ottawa in 2017. She subsequently completed an editorial fellowship with the New England Journal of Medicine. Lisa completed a fellowship in advanced sinus and skull-base surgery at the Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, England, and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in clinical epidemiology from Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Her research focuses on establishing cost-effective approaches to medical and surgical interventions for the head and neck, predictors of outcomes in malignancies of the head and neck, and novel treatment strategies for diseases of the nose, paranasal sinuses, and skull base.

Biography

Dr. Curtis Foong is a family physician with East GTA Family Health Team and a surgical assistant at Scarborough Health Network. He holds a Bachelor of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology from the University of Toronto, as well as a Master of Health Informatics from the University of Waterloo. He engages in leadership roles, serving on the Scarborough Family Physician Network board and participating in committees like the Scarborough Ontario Health Team Digital Health Committee and Collaboration Council. Having also worked as a web developer before medicine, he continues leveraging technology to improve patient health outcomes and experiences.

Biography

Anusha Gandhi is a Patient Advocate in the Pelvic Pain space and Ottawa Hospital. She holds various advisory board positions for start up companies developing new technologies in the medical space. Anusha graduated from Carleton University with a Masters of Neuroscience and went on to spend over 15 years in biomedical sales, and recently in femtech. In 2022 Anusha opened the doors to Femade Pain Management Center, Ottawa’s first multidisciplinary centre offering allied healthcare to those with chronic and acute pain, with a focus on gynecological and invisible illnesses. Her mission is to provide a safe space to break down barriers around taboo topics such as menstrual health and mental health.

Biography

Trisha holds over two decades of experience in multinational companies in the Medical Device, Pharmaceutical, and Consumer sectors, including progressive leadership positions in strategic market access, technology assessment, and healthcare operations. Prior to her current role, Trisha spent over a decade at Johnson and Johnson, most recently as the Head of Clinical Operations - Office of the Chief Medical Officer. She is trained in the sciences, health finance and management, as well as innovation at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes School of Public Health, Harvard Business School and the University of Toronto. Trisha is the past Chairperson, Executive Sponsor and Member of dozens of regional and global governance bodies including the JJCO Diversity and Inclusion in Research, JJMC Scientific Review Board, and the Canadian HTA Working Group. Early in her career, Trisha made local contributions to HTA through appointments on the Health Technology Assessment International Forum and the Canadian Alliance for Sustainable Healthcare.

Biography

Dr. John D. Parker received his medical degree from Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario in 1984. Following three years of training in internal medicine at Queens, he went to the Brigham and Woman’s Hospital in Boston where he completed five years of clinical and research training in cardiovascular medicine. He is Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology and at the University of Toronto and is a Senior Clinician Scientist within the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute. He is a clinical investigator with interests in vascular pharmacology, endothelial function, autonomic physiology, and renal dysfunction in heart failure. Dr. Parker is an invasive cardiologist and participates in a clinical program involving the assessment and management of patients with advanced chronic congestive heart failure.

Biography

As a mom, wife, volunteer, business owner, and now cancer survivor, Taude Plexman wears many hats.  With a sociology degree and over 20+ years of local to international community development experience, Taude is a seasoned advocate. She has worked with youth at risk, vulnerable women, First Nations communities, people with disabilities, and cancer survivors. Taude has years of volunteer Board experience including as President of Muskoka Children, Family and Youth Services (now Family Connexions), and while working with a Board of Directors in her role as Executive Director with Enliven Cancer Care. Following a cancer diagnosis and treatment in 2017, Taude joined the Patient Family Advisor Committee at the Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Center. As a PFA, she recently contributed to Ontario Health’s Ontario Cancer Plan 6. Taude enjoys living and playing in Muskoka with her husband and two children.

Executive Vice-President, Clinical Support and Performance, University Health Network

Biography

Rebecca Repa is the Executive Vice-President of Clinical Support and Performance at the University Health Network. Her portfolio includes responsibility for Commercial Development (including Altum Health) Facilities, the Joint Department of Medical Imaging, the Laboratory Medicine Program, Performance, Pharmacy, and the Redevelopment and Sustainability Team.

Rebecca has an honours degree in Psychology, and a master of business administration from the Michael G. DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University. She also holds a part-time appointment as associate professor in the Department of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, at McMaster University. Her academic interests include strategy development in complex systems and executive coaching for high performance. Rebecca is a board member with the International Outreach Program at St. Joseph’s Health System. She is past chair of the YMCA of Hamilton, Burlington and Brantford and a former board member for Albright Long Term Care.

Respirologist, University Health Network and Women’s College Hospital
Assistant Professor and Clinician in Quality and Innovation, University of Toronto

Biography

Aman Sidhu is a respirologist at the University Health Network and Women’s College Hospital and an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She completed medical school at the University of Ottawa, followed by residencies in internal medicine at the University of British Columbia and respirology at the University of Alberta. She also completed a master’s of science degree in epidemiology at the University of London in London, England. After additional fellowship training in lung transplantation at the Toronto General Hospital, she joined the Toronto Lung Transplant program as a staff respirologist. Aman runs an outpatient general respirology practice at Women’s College Hospital and is an innovation fellow within the Women’s College Hospital Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care. Her research interests include the implementation and evaluation of health technologies such as telemedicine/virtual health platforms to improve access to and quality of care for patients with lung disease.

Biography

As an Ontarian living with an ultra-rare endocrine disorder since childhood, Maureen Smith is a frequent user of the province’s health care system. Maureen has been a patient member of Ontario’s Committee to Evaluate Drugs since April 2014, where she is involved in reviewing patient submissions and deliberating with other committee members in developing evidence-based recommendations. She is also a member of numerous other provincial, national, and international health care advisory groups and organizations in which she provides her perspective as a patient in areas such as health technology assessment, rare diseases, and patient-partnered research. She is also the chair of the Cochrane Consumer Network Executive. Maureen is a firm believer that meaningful patient engagement in all areas of health care and actively listening to all stakeholder perspectives will result in a better health care system for all people living in Canada.

Senior Scientist and Scientific Lead of Health Economics, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Biography

Dr. Kednapa Thavorn is a Senior Scientist and a Scientific Lead of Health Economics at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. She is also an Assistant Professor with the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa, an Adjunct Scientist at ICES (full status), and a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. She holds a PhD in Health Services Research from the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME), University of Toronto. She completed post-doctoral fellowship programs in Applied Pharmacoeconomics from the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, and Health Services Research from the IHPME, University of Toronto. Her research focuses on health economics, health technology assessment, pharmacoepidemiology, health equity, care for people with complex needs, and population health. As a health economist, she has collaborated with patient partners, clinicians, researchers, and policymakers in Canada and other countries on various health services research and health technology assessment projects.  

Senior Scientist, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute
Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto

Biography

Dr. Wendy Ungar is a senior scientist in Child Health Evaluative Sciences at the Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, and affiliate scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. Dr. Ungar has a master’s degree in pharmacology and therapeutics from McGill University and a PhD in health policy, management and evaluation from the University of Toronto. Dr. Ungar holds the Canada Research Chair in Economic Evaluation and Technology Assessment in Child Health and is the director of Technology Assessment at SickKids (TASK), where she leads a program of research applying health economic methods to the pediatric population with a focus on genomics and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Biography

William Wong is an associate professor at the University of Waterloo. His research focuses on infectious disease modelling and health services and outcomes research, particularly in hepatitis B and C. William’s health services and outcomes research interests include quality of life, costing, and return on investment. His methodology research interests include advanced decision-analytic modelling techniques (such as discrete event simulation models and agent-based models) for health technology assessment, cost-effectiveness analysis, and pharmacoeconomic evaluation studies. William received his PhD in computer science (pharmacoinformatics) from the University of Waterloo and completed his postdoctoral fellowship in medical decision-making and health economics at the University of Toronto.

Biography

Isaac Zacher was 22 when his mother received a terminal cancer diagnosis. He began volunteering weekly at her cancer centre, where he learned the value of patient and family voices in healthcare outcomes. Since then, he has had an active caregiving role and now sits on two patient and family advisory committees at the Southlake Regional Health Centre: the Stronach Regional Cancer Centre as vice-chair and the Emergency Department as a committee member. 

The well-being of our larger community is important to Isaac. Guided by compassion, strength, and integrity, he has pursued this in many ways. As a Life Saving Society instructor, he has taught first aid and aquatic rescue for over 8 years. Through Team Visual Assist, he is working with visually impaired post-secondary students to assess assistive technologies and create accessible educational materials. 

With a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from Dalhousie University, along with additional undergraduate certificates in neurotechnology innovation and medical humanities, he is a lifelong learner curious about the determinants of population health. Isaac is passionate about encouraging younger people to become involved in the public healthcare system.

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