Big IDEAs About Health Data
We are excited to announce the 2026-2027 lineup for HDRN Canada’s Big IDEAs About Health Data Speaker Series. Now in its fourth year, Big IDEAs brings together leading voices from across research, policy, health care and the public sector to explore how administrative data can be used to advance health equity in Canada.
Through thought-provoking presentations, speakers examine the responsible use of disaggregated data—including sex and gender, race and ethnicity, disability, income, housing, language and other social determinants of health. They also spotlight emerging research methods and data research practices that embed inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility and community perspectives into algorithms, distributed analytics, community involvement and equity assessment tools. See below for more information on this season’s speakers and to register to save your spot!
Upcoming Events
Quantifiable Indigenous Concepts: Increasing Precision of Population Analysis by Including “Indian Act” Legislation
24/09/2026 10:00 - 11:00 am (PT) / 1:00 - 2:00 pm (ET)
REGISTER How do we make Indigenous population data more precise—and more meaningful? In this presentation, Kienan Williams introduces seven Quantifiable Indigenous Concepts (QICs) developed from Canada’s 2021…
Advance Health. Avoid Harm. Data & AI That Don't Hurt the Communities You Serve
26/11/2026 10:00 - 11:00 am (PT) / 1:00 - 2:00 pm (ET)
REGISTER Data and artificial intelligence can accelerate health impact. They can also accelerate harm, at population scale. Health researchers use data and AI tools to clean administrative…
Mapping Together: The Messy, Meaningful Work of Co-Design
28/01/2027 10:00 - 11:00 am (PT) / 1:00 - 2:00 pm (ET)
REGISTER What happens when researchers and communities truly build something together? It’s rarely neat—and that’s the point. In this candid and engaging webinar, Mary-Ann Standing and Dr.…
Auditing Health Data: Building Better AI for Human Systems
25/03/2027 10:00 - 11:00 am (PT) / 1:00 - 2:00 pm (ET)
REGISTER Machine learning systems in health care often fall short of their promise because we lack precise ways to characterize how humans and algorithms behave in real-world…
Indigenous Methodologies, Data and Community Governance
27/05/2027 10:00 - 11:00 am (PT) / 1:00 - 2:00 pm (ET)
REGISTER About the Speaker: Dr. Amanda Fowler-Woods is an Assistant Professor with the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. She has a PhD in Community Health Sciences from…