Health Data for All of Us 2026 SPEAKERS

Dr. Adeera Levin is head of Division of Nephrology and Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, and a clinician, researcher and administrator based at St Paul’s Hospital. She is the Executive Director of BC Renal, responsible for the care and planning of people with kidney disease in the province. Dr. Levin is involved in international collaborations with guidelines, research and education. She has held leadership positions in network grants (CanSOLVE CKD), and is co-founder of the KRESCENT program ( Kidney Research Scientist and Education National Training program). She has over 1000 publications, numerous awards for research, and was awarded the Order of Canada in 2015, and the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2025 for contributions to Canadian care in the kidney space.

Dr. Amanda Fowler-Woods is an Assistant Professor and CIHR Patient-Oriented Research Transition to Leadership Fellow in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Her work is grounded in Indigenous worldviews and focuses on addressing health equity and health care quality gaps affecting Indigenous Peoples in Canada. A member of Couchiching First Nation, Dr. Fowler-Woods proudly honours her Ojibwe ancestry in all aspects of her life and work. She uses methodologies that allow her to honour her worldview and ways of knowing, supported by the Elders and Knowledge Keepers with whom she has close relationships and who guide her learning in academia and on the land. She engages students in exploring health from Indigenous perspectives through approaches such as land-based education, ceremonies, talking circles, and conversations with Elders and Knowledge Keepers. Dr. Fowler-Woods also teaches about the impacts of colonialism and Indigenous-specific racism in health care. Through her long-standing research at the University of Manitoba, she has taken on leadership roles in numerous projects focused on Indigenous health and health care, with a strong emphasis on community partnership in research and amplifying the voices of Indigenous Peoples.

Dr. Caroline Tait grew up in the small Métis community of MacDowall, Saskatchewan, and her family has been active in the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan since its inception. She is a Professor with a joint appointment in the Faculty of Social Work and the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. Dr. Tait holds a Master of Arts in Medical Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD in Anthropology from McGill University. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Social and Transcultural Psychiatry at McGill University and the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and was a Fulbright Visiting Fellow in Anthropology at Harvard University. For more than 25 years, Dr. Tait has partnered with Métis and First Nations communities in research, including advancing research and data governance processes. She is the lead author of the Saskatchewan Métis Research and Data Sovereignty Guidelines and contributes to education and training that supports the research sovereignty of Métis and First Nations peoples. Dr. Tait founded the First Nations and Métis Organ Donation and Transplantation Network and the International Indigenous Organ Donation and Transplantation Network, and serves as the Indigenous platform lead for the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program. Her research focuses on addressing inequities experienced by Indigenous peoples across health care and the broader human services sector, and she is committed to mentoring Indigenous students in Canada and internationally.

Christina Weise is the Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Centre for Patient Oriented Research (SCOPR) and a member of HDRN Canada’s Board of Directors. Prior to joining SCPOR, Christina was the Associate Director for the Translating Research in Elder Care program at the University of Alberta and served for over 10 years as the CEO of Research Manitoba. She has a Master’s of Public Administration from the University of Manitoba and has more than 25 years of experience developing and implementing public policy in the areas of research and innovation and in managing funds and programs to support research.
Christina serves as Chair of the Advisory Council for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), and HDRN Canada partner.She previously chaired the Institute Advisory Board for the Institute of Health Services and Policy Research and served as a member of the Leading 4 Impact Board of Directors. Christina loves gardening, reading, knitting and spending time with friends and family. Christina is married to Jean-Paul and is mum to Cora, Ani, Xavier and fur baby Macy.

Claire Bertran is a member of HDRN Canada’s Public Advisory Council and an advocate for public participation in decision-making. She has dedicated her career to advancing health equity through collaborative strategies that foster thriving communities, integrating the perspectives of diverse marginalized voices. Over the past 20 years, she has contributed to local, provincial, national and international mental health initiatives, helping shape conversations on evidence-based approaches, ethics and policy advancement at the intersection of research, policy and practice. Since moving to Canada from France in 2006, Claire has been active in the francophone science-policy community through her volunteer work for the Canadian Science Policy Centre, and as a member of the Réseau Francophone International en Conseil Scientifique. She holds a Master’s in leadership from Royal Roads University and is currently pursuing postgraduate studies in European policy making.

Conrad Pow is the Senior Lead for Digital Health at Diabetes Action Canada, responsible for the digital health initiatives including overseeing the operation of Diabetes Research Connect, a secure virtual platform that enables the analysis of primary care data to advance diabetes research and care. With deep expertise in data governance, privacy-preserving record linkage, and health data research, Conrad focuses on strengthening health data literacy and driving evidence-based decision-making across the health care system. As a father of a child living with Type 1 Diabetes, he brings a personal and practical lens to his work, reinforcing his commitment to using data to improve outcomes for individuals and families managing chronic conditions.

Elaine Kicknosway is Swampy Cree through her biological mother from Amisk Lake; her biological father is from Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan. She is a member of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation in Northern Saskatchewan and is part of the Wolf Clan. Elaine is a Sixties Scoop survivor who returned home in 1996. She has been a longtime community advocate in the areas of child welfare, MMIW2SG, healthy families and Indigenous wellness that include spaces for the LGBTQ2S+. Elaine is an Indigenous, trauma-informed counsellor, a Blanket Exercise facilitator and trainer, an Indigenous full spectrum birth-to-death doula, and a traditional dancer, singer and drummer. She is the co-founder of the Sixties Scoop Network and a carrier of ceremonial teachings.

Dr. Jean-François Ethier is a clinician scientist and professor in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Computer Science at the Université de Sherbrooke. He practices as an incumbent physician in the Internal Medicine Department of the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke and co-leads the Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire en informatique de la santé. Dr. Éthier is a member of HDRN Canada’s Executive Committee and leads the technological development for the network. His research program is also deployed, in collaboration with French colleagues, through his work as an associate researcher at INSERM. This collaboration has led to the creation of the French-Canadian network Ensemble, for rare diseases, which he co-leads with Dr. Anita Burgun. Dr. Éthier’s research focuses on the development of safe, ethical and effective methods for using health data in care, research and knowledge transfer contexts, through decision support and reflective practice tools such as the ReflexD tool.

Dr. Jillian Waruk is a public health epidemiologist in the Research Department at the First Nation Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba and a citizen of the Red River Metis Nation in Manitoba. Her areas of expertise include Indigenous health, race and ethnicity-based data sovereignty and analysis, as well as infectious diseases from both biomedical and epidemiological lenses. Her work has taken her from Nairobi, Kenya to the Northwest Territories and during COVID, she worked closely with regional First Nations and Inuit partners as an epidemiologist with the Government of Manitoba.

Juliana Wu is the executive director of Health Data Advancement at the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), an HDRN Canada member. She provides vision and leadership for CIHI’s activities relating to emerging data expansion priorities and strategic planning efforts for the modernization and transformation of hospital and other health data infrastructure. Juliana has over 20 years of progressive leadership and management experience across CIHI’s data holdings and the corporate data request program. Prior to joining CIHI, she worked as a strategy consultant in the pharmaceutical industry. Ms. Wu earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts in economics and mathematics from Wellesley College in the United States and completed graduate-level training in business economics at Harvard University.

Laura Hanek (she/her) is a graphic recorder and visual storyteller who helps teams make sense of complex conversations in real time. Graphic recordings act as both a live facilitation tool and a lasting artifact, helping participants remember what mattered long after the session ends.
During meetings, workshops and conferences, she listens for key ideas, patterns and connections, translating them into clear, engaging visuals that everyone in the room can follow. Her work turns dense information into shared understanding, supporting better alignment, stronger engagement and more meaningful outcomes. With a background in illustration and design, Laura brings a calm, thoughtful presence to any room and adapts quickly to different topics and group dynamics. She has worked with public sector organizations, non-profits and private clients to support strategic planning, learning and collaboration. Laura is based in the quiet military town of Petawawa, Ontario.

Nathalie Buisse Bio

Dr. Pierre Desrochers is the Chief Privacy Officer at Statistics Canada, an HDRN Canada member. He has held senior roles across the federal public service, including at the Privy Council Office, Indigenous Services Canada, Crown‑Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, and Library and Archives Canada. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa’s School of Information Studies, where he teaches information management and government information policy. He also lectures on project management, digital transformation and strategic management at the École nationale d’administration publique, as well as program evaluation at Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration. Pierre has authored several papers, including an article on AI regulation in Canada, Should Algorithms be Regulated by Government? (2019), and has written a book on government data management, Les données administratives publiques dans l’espace numérique (2022). He also co‑authored an article with Statistics Canada’s Chief Data Officer and Assistant Chief Statistician Eric Rancourt for the Harvard Data Science Review: Navigating the Privacy Landscape: Harmonizing Legislative and Public Sector Approaches in the Canadian Context. He holds an interdisciplinary PhD. in applied human sciences from the University of Montreal, with a focus on information sciences and public administration.

Shelley Jeglic is the Acting Director of the Data Access Division at Statistics Canada, an HDRN Canada member. She leads national efforts to expand, modernize and strengthen access to high‑quality microdata for researchers, policymakers and partners across Canada. With a 26‑year career at Statistics Canada, Shelley brings deep institutional knowledge and a strong commitment to public‑value data. She spent more than two decades in subject‑matter areas, including over 10 years in health‑related divisions, where she contributed to major analytical programs and developed a nuanced understanding of the data needs of the research community. Shelley is a champion for responsible, timely and equitable access to data. She is passionate about ensuring that the information Statistics Canada collects is not only robust and well‑governed but also meaningfully accessible to the researchers who rely on it to advance evidence‑based decision making and improve the lives of Canadians. In her current role, she oversees strategic initiatives that enhance data access infrastructure, streamline processes and strengthen partnerships across government, academia and the broader research ecosystem.

Teri Price (she/her) is the Executive Director of Greg’s Wings Projects, a non-profit organization established in honour of her brother, Greg Price. Driven by the impact of Greg’s experience, Teri and her family are committed to improving health care. The organization’s first major project was the production of the film, Falling Through the Cracks: Greg’s Story, and Teri has shared the film and facilitated post-film discussions over 750 times. Teri is a co-chair of Networked Health and a board member for The Patient Revolution. She has also contributed to numerous provincial and federal committees focused on health information, digital health, health human resources, cancer diagnosis and health care strategy. The Price family was awarded the Alberta Medical Association’s Medal of Honor and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute’s Patient Safety Champion awards. Teri was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal in recognition of her service.