The Forum focused on capacity building in patient engagement for researchers, patient, family & donor partners, and trainees through a mix of presentations, workshops, and priority-setting discussions.
Learning outcomes were:
Building skills and resources to enhance the donation and transplantation research community’s capacity for patient engagement during project development and research execution;
Developing and sharing practical approaches to enhance equity, diversity and inclusion in patient engagement and research training within the Canadian donation and transplantation network;
Understanding emerging best practices for integrating PFDs in knowledge mobilization and sharing the knowledge developed with the broader research community.
The Forum focused on capacity building in patient engagement for researchers, patient, family & donor partners, and trainees through a mix of presentations, workshops, and priority-setting discussions.
Learning outcomes were:
Building skills and resources to enhance the donation and transplantation research community’s capacity for patient engagement during project development and research execution;
Developing and sharing practical approaches to enhance equity, diversity and inclusion in patient engagement and research training within the Canadian donation and transplantation network;
Understanding emerging best practices for integrating PFDs in knowledge mobilization and sharing the knowledge developed with the broader research community.
We thank AstraZeneca for sponsoring this event.
This year’s rich program was developed by a diverse planning committee that included:
Co-Chairs:
- Leonard Hodder | Patient Partner (Themes 1 & 2)
- Dr. Ruth Sapir-Pichhadze | Canadian Society of Transplantation Representative (Theme 4)
Planning Committee:
- Sarah Douglas | Health Canada: Organ Donation and Transplantation Collaborative Representative
- Jennifer Kingdon | Patient Partner (Theme 5)
- Hannah Murray |National Institute for Health and Care Research (UK) Representative
- Amy Thachil | Trainee (Theme 4)
- Lindsay Thompson | Patient Partner (Themes 3 & 4)
- Chloe Wong-Mersereau | Trainee (Theme 1)
THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 2023
Block 1 – Integrating Patients, Families and Donors During Research Question and Funding Development
Opening remarks from Forum’s Co-Chairs
Undertaking research with First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples: what researchers need to know about research governance and Indigenous patient engagement | 20-minutes presentation & 10-minute Q&A
Speaker:
Moderator:
Description
This presentation will focus on providing guidance to researchers on ethical research practices and respectful engagement with First Nations, Metis, and Inuit (FNMI) peoples in Canada. It will outline the unique histories and cultures of FNMI peoples and how they relate to research practices along with the importance of research governance and Indigenous patient engagement, with examples and case studies used to highlight successful engagement strategies. Ultimately, this presentation will provide valuable knowledge and tools for researchers to undertake ethical and respectful research with FNMI communities.
11:45 - 12:15 | Patient & Public Partners in Research Prioritisation: Experiences of the BTRU in ODT
Patient & Public Partners in Research Prioritisation: Experiences of the BTRU in ODT | 20-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A
Speakers:
Moderator:
Description
The presentation will focus on the involvement of patients and the public in research prioritization for organ donation and transplantation. The presenter will the importance of engaging with patients and the public to ensure that research projects are aligned with their needs and values. Case studies and real-life examples are shared to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach. Ultimately, the presentation provides insights and tools for researchers to engage with patients and the public in a meaningful and effective way, producing more relevant and impactful research outcomes.
12:15 – 12:25 | BREAK
Navigating Research NET | 20-minute presentation
Speaker:
Moderator:
Description:
This presentation will introduce you to the core elements required to meaningfully integrate Patient, Family, and Donor partners into your grant applications. The goal is to prepare researchers and PFD partners with an understanding of how to navigate ResearchNet, attain your CIHR Pin, complete the Equity and Diversity questionnaire, and register & complete the Canadian Commons CV. By the end of this workshop, researchers will understand the steps required to add PFD partners as grant applicants and PFD partners will have the tools to complete their profiles.
Best practices in involving patient partners in grant applications | 20-minute presentation
Speakers:
Moderator:
Description:
The presentation will cover topics such as the importance of involving patient partners in the grant application process, how to identify and recruit patient partners, strategies for collaborating with patient partners, and best practices for ensuring that patient partners’ perspectives and needs are adequately incorporated into the grant application. Additionally, the presentation may discuss the evaluation of outcomes of involving patient partners in the grant application process. The presentation is expected to be informative for researchers and organizations seeking to involve patient partners into their research efforts, particularly during the grant application stage.
Q&A on integrating patients, families, and donors during funding development | 10 minutes
Speakers:
Moderator:
13:15 – 14:00 | MIDDAY BREAK
Block 2 – Integrating Patient, Family and Donor Engagement in Research Execution
Best practices when communicating research opportunities and integrating patient, family and donor partners to a project | 15-minute presentation
Speaker:
Moderator:
Description
The presentation will focus on the best practices for discussing research opportunities with patient, family, and donor partners and integrating them into the project. It will cover topics such as the importance of involving these partners in research, how to identify and recruit appropriate partners, strategies for effective communication and collaboration with partners, and how to ensure that diverse perspectives are represented in the project. Additionally, the presentation will touch upon the evaluation of partnerships in research and the benefits and challenges of involving patient, family, and donor partners in the project. This presentation is expected to be informative for researchers and organizations seeking to establish effective partnerships with patient, family, and donor partners in the field of research.
Get in touch with Sofia by email: Sofia.Ahmed@ahs.ca or on Twitter (@SofiaAhmedMD)!
Inclusive Method for Developing Patient-Oriented Research Tools | 15-minute presentation
Speaker:
Moderator:
Description:
The presentation will explore a novel approach to developing patient-oriented research tools that prioritize the needs and perspectives of patients. This inclusive method involves collaborating with patients and other stakeholders to identify research questions and meaningful outcome measures, and involving them in the design and testing of research tools. By prioritizing patient perspective in clinical research, this method aims to develop tools that are more relevant, accessible, and meaningful to patients, ultimately leading to better health outcomes. Attendees of this presentation can expect to gain insights into the process of developing patient-oriented research tools and the potential benefits of adopting an inclusive approach to clinical research.
Get in touch with Selina by email: soallu@ucalgary.ca or on Twitter (@SelinaAllu)!
Integrating Patient, Family and Donor Partners in Clinical Trials | 15-minute presentation
Speakers:
Moderator:
Description:
The presentation will delve into the importance of incorporating patients, family members and donors in the clinical trial process. During the presentation, attendees can expect to learn about the benefits and challenges of including these individuals on clinical trial teams, as well as strategies for effectively engaging and incorporating them onto the team. Practical tools will be provided to help clinical trial teams that wish to engage people with lived experience on their teams.
Get in touch with Dawn by email: dawn.richards@ctontario.ca or on Twitter (@TO_dpr)!
Panel discussion on integrating patient, family, and donor engagement in research execution
Speakers:
Moderator:
FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2023
Block 3 – Patients, Families and Donors in Knowledge Mobilization
Opening remarks from Forum’s Co-Chairs
Engaging Patient, Family and Donor Partners in Arts-Based Research | 15-minutes presentation & 5-minute Q&A
Speaker:
Moderator:
Description:
The presentation aims to showcase the benefits of inclusive research methods that involve patients, families, and donors as active partners. The presentation will explore the ways in which arts-based research can be utilized to engage these partners in a meaningful way, and discuss the importance of including their perspectives and experiences in the research process. Attendees can expect to gain a deeper understanding of the benefits of engaging diverse stakeholders in research, and learn practical tips on how to incorporate arts-based approaches into their own research projects. Whether you are a researcher, healthcare professional, or simply interested in learning about innovative research methods, this presentation promises to be an engaging and informative discussion.
Get in touch with Fraser by email: fraserallanbest@gmail.com or on Twitter (@FraserAllanBest)!
Developing a modernized organ donation and transplantation data and reporting system: A lens on patient, family, donor engagement | 15-minute presentation & 5-minute Q&A
Speakers:
Moderator:
Description:
Learn more about how CIHI and Infoway are developing a modernized ODT data and reporting system in Canada. This presentation will provide a project overview, including key milestones achieved to date across its five work streams. This presentation includes a lens on the project’s patient, family, donor engagement and our approach to partnering with 4 PFD members to plan virtual focus groups to seek input on CIHI’s ODT public reporting.
Get in touch with Ryanna and Rachel: odt@cihi.ca.
11:50 – 12:00 | BREAK
Block 4 – Patient, Family and Donor Research Priority Setting
Patient, Family and Donor Research and Policy Priorities: Using Machine Learning to Enhance Equity and Access in Organ Donation and Transplantation Health Systems: Patient Perspectives | 1.5 hour Workshop
Session Objectives:
- Engage with patient and family donor partners to discuss patient perspectives on ML deployment in a clinical setting.
- Advance collaboration between investigators, patients and family donor partners in donation and transplantation research.
- Inform the development of research questions for a large grant application based on participant perspectives.
- Identify patient and family donors willing to contribute to a grant application and subsequent project.
13:30 – 14:15 | MIDDAY BREAK
Patient, Family and Donor Research and Policy Priorities: A National Approach to Prioritizing Emerging Issues in COVID-19 in Transplantation | 1.5 hour Workshop
Description:
Transplant recipients remain at higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes. For transplant recipients surviving COVID-19 and/or experiencing the extreme stress associated with the pandemic, little is known about effective strategies to support recovery of quality of life. Studying these questions in Canada is challenging, given the pace of variant evolution and drug development, as well as regional variations in therapeutic practices and public health policies. How quickly the pandemic changes has made it difficult to deliver research results in time to still be relevant for clinical and policy decision making.
To address this challenge, CDTRP has established a national, multi-disciplinary team and an agile, collaborative framework to address emerging research questions. With 12 participating Canadian transplant programs, we are creating a prospective registry of over 2500 transplant patients and their caregivers. A national data platform will capture outcomes from medical chart reviews, Patient-Reported Outcome Measures, and economic questionnaires to enable our research team to answer emerging questions on (1) therapeutic effectiveness and safety; (2) mental health, long-term well-being, and family impact; and (3) therapeutic cost-effectiveness and economic burden on the health care system and on families.
This workshop is open to everyone in the national transplant community, including patients and family, health professionals, partner organizations, industry, and researchers from all disciplines. Together, we will develop consensus on the most pressing knowledge gaps related to therapeutics, mental health and well-being, and the economics of COVID-19 in transplant patients and families and plan the studies to address them.
Session Objectives:
- Identify the priority questions that the community would like to be answered through the TREAT-COVID research project
- Gain every participant’s perspective, including adult and pediatric transplant recipients, their families, caregivers and researchers
- Share progress on developing the project that we’ve made over the last year
- Align the research goals of TREAT-COVID with the priorities of the community
ity of Alberta and has received training in patient-oriented research through the University of Calgary’s PACER (Patient and Community Engagement Research) Program. He is the Patient, Family, and Donor Partnerships & Education Manager with the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program. In this role, Manuel builds relationships patient partners with investigators and strengthens capacity among CDTRP patient partners.
Anders Billström 
Gareth Wiltshire
K
Sherrie Logan 
born and raised in Edmonton, AB. With a degree in Music Performance (saxophone performance) and Education, Lindsey has taught for over a decade in the Edmonton Public School system. When she is not teaching, she is very involved in the music community, performing in the Edmonton Winds, conducting her own community ensemble (The Beer League Band) and on numerous musical boards across the province. For the past 5 years, Lindsey has had to take a break from teaching after having her amazing son, George. Maternity leave did not goes as expected as George was diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy at 5 months old and required 2 heart transplants before the age of 4. During this time, Lindsey has also began to dedicate her time building and expanding her charity: Big Gifts for Little Lives, where they raise money to fund Pediatric Heart Transplant research at the Stollery.
Dr. Caigan Du is a scientist at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and an assistant professor in the Department of Urologic Sciences at the University of British Columbia. He received a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry in UK and postdoctoral training in Immunology in USA. He is interested in the pathogenesis of kidney ischemia-reperfusion injury and transplant rejection, and molecular control of urinary malignancies. He has been studying the impact of kidney donor-derived factors on renal allograft rejection, and the molecular pathways of kidney injury and regeneration in experimental models. He is also interested in developing medical solution including drugs made from natural compounds for all kinds of health problems, including immune disorders, organ preservation, kidney failure and urinary cancer. He is the PI of many grant supports from the Kidney Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Heather Badenoch is a non-directed living liver donor and communications strategist. As the president of Village PR, she provides strategic communications direction and training to not-for-profit clients in community and health. An active transplant volunteer, Heather helps transplant candidates find living donors by running their public appeals, small and large, pro-bono. She also mentors potential living donors on the path to living donation. Heather is a volunteer with the UHN Centre for Living Organ Donation and the Canadian Donation and Transplant Research Program. She and her spouse adopt rescue dogs and volunteer together with Community Veterinary Outreach, a group providing free veterinary care to the pets of people who are homeless.
Sean Dicks is a clinical psychologist who has 20 years’ experience supporting both families of organ donors and transplant recipients. While it is rare for him to have contact with a donor family and recipient linked to the same organ donation-transplantation event, his contact with families who have lived experience with organ donation on the one hand, and patients who have received transplants on the other hand has provided opportunities to explore how their journeys become linked when they attempt to make sense of and find meaning in their respective crises.
Terri Hansen-Gardiner is a Cree speaking Metis woman from Northern Saskatchewan as well as a 10 year Breast Cancer Survivor. Her tireless spirit and dedication to her community is undeniable. Terri is a cancer survivor who travels around the province to provide assistance, information, and support to Indigenous patients who are trying to access and navigate the cancer care system.
Dr. Golnaz Karoubi is Assistant Scientist at the Toronto General HospitalResearch Institute and principal investigator in the Latner Thoracic Research Labs. She currently holds an Assistant Professor appointment in the department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology and a cross-appointment in the department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. Dr. Karoubi received her PhD in Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto and joined the Lung Regenerative Medicine Program in the Department of Clinical Research in Berne University, Switzerland for a post-doctoral research fellowship. She stayed on as a Group Leader in 2008 to direct the basic and transitional science as related to Cancer Stem Cell and Lung Regenerative Medicine in the Department of Biomedical Research at the University of Berne until 2012. In early 2012, she joined the team of Dr. Tom Waddell at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute as a Senior Scientific Associate and was appointed to Assistant Scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute (University Health Network) in November 2019 and to Assistant Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology in July 2020.
Dr. Haykal graduated from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine in2007 as class valedictorian and silver medalist, and subsequently completed her residency training in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Toronto in 2016. During her residency, she completed a four-year Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and immunology with a focus on tracheal reconstruction. She obtained numerous grants and awards including a CIHR Vanier Scholarship. Dr. Haykal then pursued fellowship training in microsurgical reconstruction at the Albany Medical Centre in New York. Dr. Haykal joined the University Health Network and the Toronto General Hospital in 2018. Her clinical focus is on complex oncological reconstruction and microsurgical reconstruction of the breast, head and neck and extremity. She started a lymphedema program in 2019 where she offers microsurgical techniques for the treatment of lymphedema.
Dr. Ahmed is a Professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. The recipient of the 2022 Hypertension Canada Senior Investigator Award, she is a nephrologist and clinician-scientist with a focus on sex and gender differences in human cardiovascular/kidney physiology and clinical outcomes. Dr. Ahmed is the Vice Chair (Research) for the Department of Medicine, Lead of the Libin Institute Women’s Cardiovascular Health Research Initiative at the University of Calgary and Lead of the Alberta Strategy for Patient Oriented Research Capacity Development Platform. Dr. Ahmed is an Advisory Board member for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Gender and Health, a member of the Canadian Medical Association Journal Governing Council and the President-Elect for the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences.
r. Christopher Nguan is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Urological Sciences, Surgical Head of Kidney Transplantation at Vancouver General Hospital and the Director of the Surgical Technologies Experimental Laboratory & Advanced Robotics (STELLAR) facility at Vancouver General Hospital.
r Caroline Lamarche is a clinician scientist and transplant nephrologist at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. She is an assistant clinical professor at the Université de Montréal. After her nephrology training at the Université de Montréal (2015), she completed a Master degree on the use of adoptive immunotherapy to treat/prevent BK nephropathy in kidney transplant recipients. She then pursued a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Megan Levings at the University of British Columbia on the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) regulatory T cells (Tregs) to induce transplant tolerance. Her lab is working on the development of adoptive immunotherapy in nephrology and understanding Treg dysfunction.
Dr. Tandon is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Co-Director of the Cirrhosis Care Clinic, Transplant Hepatologist and lead of the Cirrhosis Care Alberta quality improvement program. She obtained her training at the University of Alberta, the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona and Yale University. Her clinical practice and research are focused on cirrhosis with research interests including cirrhosis related complications, malnutrition, frailty, exercise therapy, palliative care, integrative health approaches such as meditation and knowledge translation. It is her career goal to provide wholistic, interdisciplinary, evidence based, patient-centered care through education, empowerment, engagement and team-work.
Emily is a PhD student at the University of Alberta, where she completed her Master of Science (MSc) degree in medicine. With a passion for patient-oriented research and a commitment to improving health outcomes, Emily’s doctoral project focuses on EMPOWER, a 12-week online mind-body wellness program designed for adults living with chronic health conditions.
Dr Basil S. Nasir, M.B.B.Ch
Dr. Victor Ferreira is an Assistant Scientist in the Ajmera Transplant Centre at the University Health Network (UHN) and the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute (TGHRI). He is also an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (LMP). He completed his PhD in Medical Sciences – Infection and Immunity Specialization at McMaster University in 2014 and post-doctoral training at UHN. His research program is focused on three pillars: I) using systems vaccinology to reveal insights into vaccine responses in immunocompromised individuals like transplant recipients; II) characterizing the impact of chronic viral infection on host immune responses; and III) developing novel methods for eliminating latent viruses in human organs. His work has been cited >2,500 times and is published in journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Immunology, the Lancet Infectious Diseases, Clinical Infectious Diseases, the American Journal of Transplantation and Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Chemical Engineering as an Assistant Professor in August 2014. She is a biochemical engineer with expertise in bioprocess development, high‑throughput screening and stem cell culture optimization. Her research aims to develop bioprocesses to produce and transplant therapeutic cells to treat diabetes and cardiovascular disease. She notably developed new methods to encapsulate pancreatic islets, as well as vascular biomaterials surface modification strategies which are now applied by other researchers around the world. Her emerging leadership in bioengineering was recognized through the 2014 Martin Sinacore Outstanding Young Investigator Award from Engineering Conferences International & Biogen Idec, as well as the “Étoiles effervescence” award from Montreal InVivo.
Chantal Bémeur is a nutrition specialist in relation to liver disease and its many complications. Professor Bémeur trained as a dietitian/nutritionist and completed her graduate studies and two post-doctoral fellowships in nutrition, focusing on conditions affecting the hepatic and nervous systems, such as hepatic encephalopathy and Leigh Syndrome French Canadian. Professor Bémeur’s research activities are generally of a fundamental and clinical nature, including a collaboration with CHUM’s Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology. As an expert member of the International Society on Hepatic Encephalopathy and Nitrogen Metabolism, Dr. Bémeur has participated in the development of guidelines on nutrition and liver disease. She is also part of a team of Canadian experts who developed an evidence-based nutritional education guide collaborating with people with chronic liver disease and their caregivers. She received an award from the Ordre professionnel des diététistes du Québec in 2018 for her work on this guide. Dr. Bémeur has published several book chapters, 30 scientific articles and over 100 scientific abstracts. Dr. Bémeur’s co-directs the HepatoNeuro Laboratory in the Cardiometabolic Axis of the Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CRCHUM). Several organizations, including the Donation and Transplantation Research Program of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research fund Dr. Bémeur’s research.
Dr Thozama Siyotula is a distinguished paediatric surgeon at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. With a profound interest in hepatobiliary, transplant, thoracic and neonatal surgical outcomes. She completed her undergraduate training in 2011 at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Furthering her studies she went on to specialise in paediatric surgery through the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa, completing her FCPaedSurg (SA) in 2021 and a master’s in medicine (Paediatric Surgery) in 2021 at the University of Cape Town. She currently works as a paediatric surgeon and transplant surgeon. A senior lecture at the University of Cape Town and course convenor for the 5th year undergraduate paediatric surgery program at the University of Cape Town.
David Thomson is a critical care subspecialist and abdominal transplant surgeon at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town. His interests are deceased donation, ECMO, medical education and system improvement. He created the massive open online course Organ Donation: From Death to Life hosted on Coursera.org to improve education around organ donation and transplantation. He is the immediate past President of the Southern African Transplantation Society and led development on a report on Organ and Tissue Donation in South Africa: Creating a National Strategic Roadmap in collaboration with the International Society for Organ Donation and Procurement. He worked on the World Brain Death Project and is the lead author on the South African Guidelines for Determination of Death published in 2021.
About Dr. Julie Ho
Dr. Tom Blydt-Hansen completed his MD at McGill University, and his Pediatric and Nephrology specialization at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, followed by further specialization in transplantation at the University of California, Los Angeles. He began his Nephrology career at the University of Manitoba in 2001, where he was Division Head of Nephrology from 2005-2014.
Monica Bronowski completed an undergraduate degree in neuroscience at Dalhousie University, with a focus on innovative neurotechnology. Before starting her PhD, she worked in hematology, oncology, and bone marrow transplant (BMT), conducting clinical trials across various study phases for multiple myeloma, bone marrow transplant, and CAR-T therapies. This experience exposed her to both early and late-phase clinical trials, deepening her interest in translational research.
Angela Hamie has just graduated from the University of Alberta and holds a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Immunology and Infection. Her presentation will summarize her research conducted throughout her fourth year undergraduate thesis project, which focuses on the Age, Thymus Excision, Organ Type, and Immunosuppression on Lymphocyte Subpopulations in pediatric transplantation.
Mitchell Wagner is currently a first year medical student at the University of Alberta. He graduated from the U of A in 2022 with an Honors degree in Immunology and Infection with a certificate in biomedical research. He recently defended a Master of Science in Experimental Surgery, focusing on the optimization of out-of-body heart perfusion. Mitchell’s main research interest is on strategies that improve donated organs through ex-situ heart perfusion apparati, however has also been involved in clinical research within the areas of radiology, respiratory medicine, and cardiology. Mitchell is the recipient of multiple prestigious awards such as the Canada Graduate Scholarship – Masters and the Cote Biomedical Research Studentship. As an aspiring surgeon-scientist, he intends on completing an MD/PhD program focusing to further improve out of body heart perfusion protocols.
Sarjana Alam is an undergraduate science student at the University of Alberta, where she is a research trainee under the supervision of Dr. Esme Dijke in the Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology. She is involved in a project investigating the cryopreservation of T regulatory cells for tolerogenic cell therapy.
Marie-Pier joined Dre. Marie-Josée Hébert’s lab in the nephrology, transplantation and renal regeneration research unit at the CRCHUM in 2024. She obtained her BSc degree in biology at McGill university and is now pursuing a Masters degree in the Molecular Biology program at l’Université de Montréal. She is currently working on evaluating the pro-angiogenic potential of RNAs enriched in apoptotic exosomes and whether these RNAs cooperate to modulate endothelial function. Marie-Pier is also a trainee in the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research program (CDTRP).Outside of the lab, Marie-Pier loves to read, go to spin classes and play word games like Scattegories and Bananagrams.
Dr. Andreas Kramer is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Departments of Critical Care Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences. He graduated from medical school at the University of Manitoba in 1997 and received specialty training in internal medicine and critical care at the University of Calgary in 2002. After working for three years as a community internist and intensivist in Manitoba, he obtained fellowship training in neurocritical care at the University of Virginia 2005-2007. During this time, he also completed a Master of Science degree in Health Evaluation Sciences. Dr. Kramer joined the Department of Critical Care Medicine in Calgary in 2007. He has a particular research and clinical interest in neuro-monitoring and prevention of secondary brain injury in neurocritical care patients. Dr. Kramer is on the Editorial Boards of the journals Neurocritical Care and Critical Care Medicine. He has over 90 peer-reviewed publications, with about half of these as first or senior author. He is a co-investigator in a number of CIHR-sponsored clinical trials. Dr. Kramer has written multiple textbook chapters on a variety of neurocritical care topics, and was the co-editor of two 2017 neurocritical care editions of the Handbook in Clinical Neurology. Since 2011, he has been the Medical Director of the Southern Alberta Organ and Tissue Donation Program, and serves on numerous Canadian Blood Services advisory committees. Dr. Kramer is married with four very energetic children between the ages of 9 and 17.
Dr. Mypinder Sekhon is an intensivist and clinician-scientist in the intensive care unit at Vancouver General Hospital. He completed his medical school training, internal medicine residency and critical care medicine subspecialty fellowship at the University of British Columbia prior to completing a neurocritical care fellowship at Addenbrooke’s Hospital at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom under the guidance of Professors David Menon and Arun Gupta. Subsequently, he completed is PhD in neurovascular sciences under Professor Philip Ainslie, a Canada Research Chair in cerebrovascular physiology. His clinical and research interests include multimodal neuromonitoring, cerebral autoregulation disturbance after brain injury and critical care management of severe acute brain injury patients.
My name is Matthew Kolisnyk. I am a third-year PhD Candidate in Neuroscience at Western University. My undergraduate training was in Psychology and Statistics, where I spent time applying neuroimaging techniques to memory and mindfulness research. In my current lab, I use neuroimaging to measure residual cognitive function in patients who have sustained an acute brain injury and use that neural measure in combination with machine learning to try and predict which patients will survive their injury. I currently am a research associate at the London Health Science Centre, where we measure physiological and neural changes that occur when patients undergo planned withdrawal of life-sustaining measures.
Jordan is a PhD student at UBC working in the Vancouver General Hospital ICU. His current work focuses on donation after circulatory death by looking at how the brain responds during the dying process after withdrawal of life-sustaining measures. During Jordan’s undergraduate degree in Health Sciences and Physics, he got his start in research focusing on whole body hypoxia in the context of high altitude physiology. This led to working in industry since 2020 using medical imaging to evaluate hypoxia and ischemia in wound care, vascular surgery, and plastic and reconstructive surgery. Jordan returned to school in 2021 to pursue a MSc with Dr. Glen Foster at UBCO focusing on developing and validating a new medical imaging approach to quantify diaphragm blood flow in humans. In 2023, Jordan joined the ICU Research Group to continue looking at oxygenation and blood flow in critically ill patients. As such, the unifying theme of Jordan’s work involves investigating low oxygen and blood flow in both healthy and clinical populations. This focus on physiology underpins the organ procurement process in donation after circulatory death as warm ischemic times may render organs ineligible for transplantation. Outside of research, Jordan can be found playing hockey, biking, running, reading, or trying to spend as much time outdoors in Alberta or British Columbia.
Hayden John is a student researcher passionate about addressing health inequities through patient and community-centred research. He has recently completed the Queen’s Accelerated Route to Medical School (QuARMS) pathway and is a first-year medical student at Queen’s University. Currently, he is a research student with the Kidney Health Education Research Group (KHERG) focusing on the A.C.TI.O.N Project: Improving Access to Living Donor Kidney Transplantation (LDKT) in Ethno-racial Minority Communities in Canada. Under the supervision of Principal Investigator Dr. Istvan Mucsi, Hayden explored the perceived risks and benefits of kidney donation among African, Caribbean and Black Canadians.
Meghan He is a UBC medical student who studied Comparative Literature and Psychobiology at UCLA. Her research focuses on grounding medicine in the humanity of patient stories. She is co-President of the UBC Surgical Club, where she co-founded the EDI advocacy group, UpSurge, in alliance in the UBC Department of Surgery. In her free time, she teaches kids’ yoga with the Vancouver School Board and volunteers for community dance events.