Speaker Biographies
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Melissa Andrew is a staff geriatrician and Assistant Professor of Geriatric Medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS. She completed her MD at Dalhousie University, and a Masters of Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is currently completing an Interdisciplinary PhD on social vulnerability in older people.
Jane is the Secretary General of the International Federation on Ageing and brings to this position over 30 years experience in the health, community and aged care, and disability sectors. She has a strong commitment to strengthen the roles and relationships between government, NGOs, academia and the private sector toward improving the quality of life of older people.
This commitment has always been driven by her interest and passion in understanding the evolution of ageing issues and the corresponding public and private sector responses in different regions of the world. More recently Dr Barratt has been a strong contributor to the international dialogue on how the social, cultural and physical environments can impact on the lives of older people. Adjunct research positions at Australian Universities serve to strengthen her interest in these areas, which include mature employment, the nexus between inclusion and marginalization, the impact of the environment on older people and the rights of older people.
Dr Barratt is a Churchill Fellow and has held executive positions on ministerial, government and non-government committees and the corporate sectors. She has many years experience in organizational management, staff development and the analysis of operations leading to improvements in program and client outcomes in the areas of health, ageing and disability.
Dr Barratt is an experienced and highly regarded speaker who has been frequently invited to share her expertise and represent the IFA at major congresses around the world, in ageing and related fields.
This commitment has always been driven by her interest and passion in understanding the evolution of ageing issues and the corresponding public and private sector responses in different regions of the world. More recently Dr Barratt has been a strong contributor to the international dialogue on how the social, cultural and physical environments can impact on the lives of older people. Adjunct research positions at Australian Universities serve to strengthen her interest in these areas, which include mature employment, the nexus between inclusion and marginalization, the impact of the environment on older people and the rights of older people.
Dr Barratt is a Churchill Fellow and has held executive positions on ministerial, government and non-government committees and the corporate sectors. She has many years experience in organizational management, staff development and the analysis of operations leading to improvements in program and client outcomes in the areas of health, ageing and disability.
Dr Barratt is an experienced and highly regarded speaker who has been frequently invited to share her expertise and represent the IFA at major congresses around the world, in ageing and related fields.
Howard Bergman, MD is Vice-President and Scientific Director of the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRSQ).
He is a Professor of Medicine, Family Medicine and Oncology and the first Dr. Joseph Kaufmann Professor of Geriatric Medicine at McGill University and the Jewish General Hospital. He is an investigator at Solidage: the McGill University/Université de Montréal Research Group on Frailty and Aging as well as at the Bloomfield Centre for Research on Aging at the Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital He is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Health Administration, Université de Montréal and Invited Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Université de Lausanne in Switzerland and the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. From 1993-2009, he was Director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine at McGill University and of the Jewish General Hospital.
Dr. Bergman is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He is a past President of the Canadian Geriatrics Society which awarded him the Ronald Cape Distinguished Service Award, a past Scientific Director of the FRSQ Quebec Network for Research in Aging, a Past President of the Consortium of Canadian Centers for Clinical Cognitive Research (C5R) and a past Chair of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Ageing of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
In the fields of aging, chronic disease, frailty and health services, Dr. Bergman was from 1999-2009 co-Director of Solidage: the McGill University/Université de Montréal Research Group on Frailty and Aging. As well, Dr. Bergman led a group of Canadian and international investigators in the Canadian Initiative on Frailty and Ageing and in the International Database Inquiry on Frailty. In the area of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, Dr. Bergman was co director of the Jewish General Hospital/McGill University memory clinic and research program.
In 2000-2001, Dr. Bergman was a member of the “Clair Commission”, an independent Commission set up by the Quebec government to propose reforms to the health care system.. Appointed by the Quebec Minister of Health, Dr. Bergman in 2007-09 chaired a task force with the mandate to propose the Quebec Alzheimer Plan, an action plan from prevention to end of life care, including the research agenda.
Dr. Bergman is a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Research on Public Policy and of AllerGen NCE the Allergy, Genes and Environment Network. He serves as consultant to Regional Health Boards and provincial Ministries in Canada and other countries as well as to industry.
He is a Professor of Medicine, Family Medicine and Oncology and the first Dr. Joseph Kaufmann Professor of Geriatric Medicine at McGill University and the Jewish General Hospital. He is an investigator at Solidage: the McGill University/Université de Montréal Research Group on Frailty and Aging as well as at the Bloomfield Centre for Research on Aging at the Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital He is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Health Administration, Université de Montréal and Invited Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Université de Lausanne in Switzerland and the Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. From 1993-2009, he was Director of the Division of Geriatric Medicine at McGill University and of the Jewish General Hospital.
Dr. Bergman is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He is a past President of the Canadian Geriatrics Society which awarded him the Ronald Cape Distinguished Service Award, a past Scientific Director of the FRSQ Quebec Network for Research in Aging, a Past President of the Consortium of Canadian Centers for Clinical Cognitive Research (C5R) and a past Chair of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Ageing of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
In the fields of aging, chronic disease, frailty and health services, Dr. Bergman was from 1999-2009 co-Director of Solidage: the McGill University/Université de Montréal Research Group on Frailty and Aging. As well, Dr. Bergman led a group of Canadian and international investigators in the Canadian Initiative on Frailty and Ageing and in the International Database Inquiry on Frailty. In the area of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, Dr. Bergman was co director of the Jewish General Hospital/McGill University memory clinic and research program.
In 2000-2001, Dr. Bergman was a member of the “Clair Commission”, an independent Commission set up by the Quebec government to propose reforms to the health care system.. Appointed by the Quebec Minister of Health, Dr. Bergman in 2007-09 chaired a task force with the mandate to propose the Quebec Alzheimer Plan, an action plan from prevention to end of life care, including the research agenda.
Dr. Bergman is a member of the board of directors of the Institute for Research on Public Policy and of AllerGen NCE the Allergy, Genes and Environment Network. He serves as consultant to Regional Health Boards and provincial Ministries in Canada and other countries as well as to industry.
Laurie Bernick, RN(EC), MScN, GNC(C)
Laurie Bernick is a Nurse Practitioner in the Seniors’ Health program at Trillium Health Centre. She is a graduate of the MScN program at the University of Western Ontario and received an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner diploma from the University of Toronto. She has an adjunct clinical appointment with York University, School of Nursing and the University of Toronto, Faculty of Nursing. Laurie has over 18 years as an advanced practice nurse in the care of older persons within the long term care, acute care and community settings.
Seagaram Chandrakumar, MB, FRCPC
Dr. Segaram Chandrakumar Is a Geriatrician, Physician lead for Seniors Health Program and General Internist at Trillium Health Centre. He had his postgraduate training in Geriatric Medicine at University of Toronto and Manchester, UK.
Dr. Barbara Clive, a geriatrician at The Credit Valley Hospital recently assumed a regional role as the Geriatric Lead for the Mississauga Halton Local Health Integration Network (MH LHIN) to assess services, identify gaps and propose coordinated opportunities for enhancement of services for our growing senior population. The focus of her work is to create a regional geriatric program for the MH LHIN.
Dennis L. Kodner, PhD, FGSA is a “thinker and doer” who is well-known for his groundbreaking work on integrated health systems and services, care management, chronic care, and care innovation for the frail elderly and other populations with chronic, disabling, medically complex, and high-risk conditions. He is founding Director of the Center for Gerontology & Geriatrics at New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) in Old Westbury, New York, USA, and Professor of Medicine & Gerontology at New York College of Osteopathic Medicine of NYIT. Dr. Kodner also holds adjunct faculty appointments in geriatric medicine at McGill University in Canada and in health care studies at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. During his 30+ year professional career, Dr. Kodner has held several senior healthcare management positions at a medical center, health system, managed care plan, and geriatric center. He is especially well known for his pioneering contributions at Elderplan—an internationally recognized integrated care model for the elderly known as the Social/Health Maintenance Organization. The author of over 300 publications, Dr. Kodner is a sought-after consultant and speaker throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. He was Special Advisor on Long Term care to the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, Dr. Kodner is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), a member of the leadership of the International Network of Integrated Care (INIC), and also serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Integrated care (IJIC). He was honoured by the American Public Health Association (APHA) in 1999 with the prestigious Key Award for Leadership in Gerontological Health Policy, Practice, Education and Research.
Dr. Barbara Liu is the Executive Director of the Regional Geriatric Program of Toronto and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Her areas of interest include the appropriateness of drug therapy in the older patient, fall prevention and geriatric service evaluation. She has a clinical practice at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
Janet E. McElhaney, MD, FRCPC, FACP
Janet E. McElhaney, MD, FRCPC, FACP, is Professor of Medicine, and holds the Allan M. McGavin Chair in Geriatrics Research at The University of British Columbia. Dr. McElhaney also serves as Advisor to the Scientific Committee of the European Scientific Working group on Influenza (ESWI) and a member of the Advisory Board for new influenza vaccine development. Her research is on the effect of aging on the immune system and how vaccines can protect against influenza in older adults.
She is a Fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the American College of Physicians, and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine in both Canada and the US.
She has received research funding in both Canada and the United States and currently has funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the National Institutes of Health as well as the Canadian Institute of Health Research. Her focus is translational research as it applies to immunogerontological studies of the immune response to influenza and herpes zoster, the role of vaccination, and immunologic correlates of protection in older adults. Dr. McElhaney is widely published in this area as well as other aspects of geriatric medicine. She continues to be a research mentor to numerous graduate students and junior faculty in multiple fields of healthcare.
She is a Fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the American College of Physicians, and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine in both Canada and the US.
She has received research funding in both Canada and the United States and currently has funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the National Institutes of Health as well as the Canadian Institute of Health Research. Her focus is translational research as it applies to immunogerontological studies of the immune response to influenza and herpes zoster, the role of vaccination, and immunologic correlates of protection in older adults. Dr. McElhaney is widely published in this area as well as other aspects of geriatric medicine. She continues to be a research mentor to numerous graduate students and junior faculty in multiple fields of healthcare.
Still to come...
Dr. Colin Preyra, Director of the Canadian Health Services Research Group, is an experienced researcher and policy advisor, holding appointments as Affiliate Scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Policy Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. He specializes in the application of economic and statistical methods to financing, delivery and planning problems in the health care sector. His expertise includes development of risk and case mix adjustment systems, econometric cost analysis, and performance based contracting. He has been a member of, and advisor to, numerous multidisciplinary committees. He holds graduate degrees in Statistics, Economics, and Health Care Management and Evaluation.
Kenneth Shulman, MD, M.R.C.Psych., FRCP(C), M.Sc.
Associate Scientist, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Education:
Appointments and Affiliations:
Research Summary:
I am interested in developing a valid and practical brief cognitive screening battery for use in an elderly population. My focus has been on the use of clock drawing test combined with a memory and informant screen in order to detect early signs of dementia and to monitor change in cognition.
My second major area of interest is in bipolarity in old age. Specifically, I am interested in pursing the neurobiological basis for manic syndromes in old age. This includes a focus on brain localization and specific cerebrovascular pathology that may be contributory.
I am a member of the NET group at ICES interested in using large databases to study the pharmaco-epidemiology of late life. My particular interest is in the mood stabilizers and understanding the use and adverse events associated with mood stabilizers in older population.
Education:
- MD, 1973, University of Toronto, Canada
- M.R.C.Psych., 1978, UK
- FRCP(C), 1978
- M.Sc., 1990, Health Policy and Management (SM), School of Public Health, Harvard University, USA
Appointments and Affiliations:
- Associate scientist, clinical integrative biology - brain sciences program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
- Psychiatrist-in-chief, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Professor, department of psychiatry, University of Toronto
Research Summary:
I am interested in developing a valid and practical brief cognitive screening battery for use in an elderly population. My focus has been on the use of clock drawing test combined with a memory and informant screen in order to detect early signs of dementia and to monitor change in cognition.
My second major area of interest is in bipolarity in old age. Specifically, I am interested in pursing the neurobiological basis for manic syndromes in old age. This includes a focus on brain localization and specific cerebrovascular pathology that may be contributory.
I am a member of the NET group at ICES interested in using large databases to study the pharmaco-epidemiology of late life. My particular interest is in the mood stabilizers and understanding the use and adverse events associated with mood stabilizers in older population.
Richard W. Shulman, MD CM, FRCPC
Dr. Richard Shulman, M.D. C.M., F.R.C.P.C., trained in medicine at McGill University, and in Psychiatry, Geriatric Psychiatry, and Clinical Pharmacology all at the University of Toronto. In addition, he has acquired certification from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry with Added Qualification in Geriatric Psychiatry.
From 1996 to 1998, Dr. Shulman was on staff at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. He worked in both the Geriatric Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology Research Programs, with a cross appointment in Clinical Pharmacology. Dr. Shulman remains an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Dr. Shulman has been the principal author and co-authored numerous articles of psychopharmacology and psychiatric illness in the elderly in various publications including the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, and Psychopharmacology Bulletin.
Dr. Shulman left Sunnybrook in 1998 to develop a general hospital-based Geriatric Psychiatry program in Mississauga, Ontario. He currently is the Medical Director of the Seniors Mental Health Services at the Trillium Health Centre in both the Mississauga & West Toronto sites. At the Mississauga site, Dr. Shulman is the only Psychiatrist and Most Responsible Physician for all patients on the 10 bed Seniors Mental Health Inpatient unit, an acute care unit for elderly patients with major mental illness, typically mood and psychotic illnesses as well as behavioural disorders of dementia.
Additionally at the Mississauga site, Dr. Shulman provides consultations and follow-up on medical, surgical and rehab inpatient units for those patients known to the Seniors Mental Health Program and for those referred especially for a geriatric psychiatry consultation. Finally, he participates equally on the Psychiatry Emergency Room on call schedule.
In the West Toronto site outpatient clinic, Dr. Shulman conducts 4 to 5 half day clinics per week, providing consultations on all referred patients as well as follow-up assessments. In the clinic, he supervises 1 nurse practitioner, 4 registered nurses, 2 occupational therapists, and 1 social worker who help monitor and support the patients and their families.
As well, Dr. Shulman has acted as a consultant to private legal counsel as well as the Coroner’s Office of Toronto, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and to the Canadian Medical Protective Association in matters related to standards of care in both clinical psychopharmacology and geriatric psychiatry.
From 1996 to 1998, Dr. Shulman was on staff at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. He worked in both the Geriatric Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology Research Programs, with a cross appointment in Clinical Pharmacology. Dr. Shulman remains an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Dr. Shulman has been the principal author and co-authored numerous articles of psychopharmacology and psychiatric illness in the elderly in various publications including the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, and Psychopharmacology Bulletin.
Dr. Shulman left Sunnybrook in 1998 to develop a general hospital-based Geriatric Psychiatry program in Mississauga, Ontario. He currently is the Medical Director of the Seniors Mental Health Services at the Trillium Health Centre in both the Mississauga & West Toronto sites. At the Mississauga site, Dr. Shulman is the only Psychiatrist and Most Responsible Physician for all patients on the 10 bed Seniors Mental Health Inpatient unit, an acute care unit for elderly patients with major mental illness, typically mood and psychotic illnesses as well as behavioural disorders of dementia.
Additionally at the Mississauga site, Dr. Shulman provides consultations and follow-up on medical, surgical and rehab inpatient units for those patients known to the Seniors Mental Health Program and for those referred especially for a geriatric psychiatry consultation. Finally, he participates equally on the Psychiatry Emergency Room on call schedule.
In the West Toronto site outpatient clinic, Dr. Shulman conducts 4 to 5 half day clinics per week, providing consultations on all referred patients as well as follow-up assessments. In the clinic, he supervises 1 nurse practitioner, 4 registered nurses, 2 occupational therapists, and 1 social worker who help monitor and support the patients and their families.
As well, Dr. Shulman has acted as a consultant to private legal counsel as well as the Coroner’s Office of Toronto, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and to the Canadian Medical Protective Association in matters related to standards of care in both clinical psychopharmacology and geriatric psychiatry.
Joo Meng Soh, M.D. Chief, Medical Health System
Dr. Soh graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1998 and completed training in internal medicine in 2002. In 2004 Dr. Soh joined Trillium Health Care as a General Internist and became part of the Internist-run Hospitalist Program in 2006. He became Chief & Physician Director of Medicine in November of 2007.
Registration Fees
Full Conference |
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On or before June 17, 2010 |
$250.00 |
After June 17, 2010 |
$325.00 |
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One-Day |
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On or before June 17, 2010 |
$155.00 |
After June 17, 2010 |
$195.00 |
