Speakers

  • Tania Bubela's picture

    Tania Bubela

    Associate Professor, School of Public Health, University of Alberta

    Tania Bubela has been an associate professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the School of Public Health since 2008 and holds an appointment as adjunct assistant professor in the School of Business.

    Dr. Bubela holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree (1988) from the Australian National University and a Doctor of Philosophy degree (1995) from the University of Sydney, Australia. In addition, she earned a Bachelor of Laws (Gold Medalist) degree (2003) from the University of Alberta.

    After gaining her law degree, Dr. Bubela clerked for the Honourable Louise Arbour at the Supreme Court of Canada. Her doctoral research was in the biological sciences and she taught biology and genetics as a faculty member at the University of Toronto at Mississauga. From 2004-2008, she was an assistant professor at the School of Business, University of Alberta.

    Dr. Bubela's research interests include Intellectual property law and policy, health law, biotechnology, genomics, technology transfer, commercialization of biomedical research and science communication. Her current research focuses on intellectual property issues and other legal and ethical issues in health and agricultural biotechnology and biomedical research more broadly.

  • Bev Heim-Myers's picture

    Bev Heim-Myers

    Huntington Society

    Bev Heim-Myers joined the Huntington Society of Canada in 2010 as CEO & Executive Director. Currently Bev is the Chair of the Canadian Coalition for Genetic Fairness, sits on the Governing Council of the Health Charities Coalition Canada and is an active member of both the Neurological Health Charities of Canada (NHCC) and the National Population Health Study of Neurological Conditions (NPHSNC). Bev is also on the Board of the International Huntington Association.

  • Ian M. MacDonald's picture

    Ian M. MacDonald

    Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alberta

    Ian M. MacDonald MSc, MD CM is Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Alberta and Edmonton Zone Chief of the Ophthalmology Program of Alberta Health Services. From 2007-2008, he served for a two year term as Branch Chief of Ophthalmic Genetics at the National Eye Institute of the NIH. Dr. MacDonald completed residency training in Family Medicine at McGill University, Montreal, Ophthalmology residency training at the University of Ottawa and Clinical Genetics fellowship training at the University of Ottawa, Queen’s University, Kingston and the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. Dr. MacDonald is a member of the International Society for Genetic Eye Diseases & Retinoblastoma, the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology and Vision. He has been a President of the Canadian Association of Pediatric Ophthalmologists, and President of the Association of Canadian University Professors of Ophthalmology. He is an Editor Emeritus of the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology and currently serves on the Editorial Board of Survey of Ophthalmology and the American Journal of Ophthalmology for Genetics.

    Dr. MacDonald has maintained continuous external grant funding throughout his career. Prior to becoming Chair in Edmonton, in 1992, he was a Career Scientist of the Ontario Ministry of Health at the University of Ottawa. His areas of interest are inherited retinal disorders, in particular, maculopathies and choroideremia. In 2009, in recognition of his work in Canada to foster the development of academic Ophthalmology, he was elected to as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

    Research Support: Choroideremia Research Foundation, Canada; Foundation Fighting Blindness, Canada, Canadian Institutes for Health Research

  • Vardit Ravitsky's picture

    Vardit Ravitsky

    Assistant Professor, Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Université de Montréal

    Vardit Ravitsky is assistant professor in the Bioethics Programs at the Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal and Director of the Ethics and Health axis of the Centre de recherche en éthique de l'Université de Montréal (CRÉUM). Previously, she was faculty at the Department of Medical Ethics of the University of Pennsylvania. She was also a Senior Policy Advisor at the Ethics Office of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and prior to that, a consultant to Genome Canada on Ethical, Economic, Environmental, Legal and Social aspects of Genomics Research (GE3LS). Between 2003 and 2005 she was a post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Clinical Bioethics at the NIH and at the Social and Behavioral Research Branch (SBRB) of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). Her research interests in bioethics include genetics, reproductive technologies, end-of-life, research ethics, health policy, and cultural perspectives. She is particularly interested in the various ways in which cultural frameworks shape public debate and public policy in the area of bioethics.

  • Frank Zinatelli's picture

    Frank Zinatelli

    Vice-president and general counsel, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association

    Frank Zinatelli, Vice President and General Counsel, CLHIA, obtained an Honours Bachelor of Arts, in Economics and Political Science, from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1976. He then received his Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Ontario in 1979 and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1981.

    Following a number of years in private practice, Frank became involved in the area of financial services: first, with a consulting firm; then with a trade association representing consumer loan and sales finance companies; and at present, with the CLHIA, the Canadian trade association for life and health insurance companies. His practice focuses on financial services regulation.