Professor Emeritus, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta

Barbara Ballermann is internationally recognized for the quality of her discovery research in endothelial biology in kidney disease. A nephrologist by training, she has made important discoveries toward reducin the human costs of this disease. She has taken on important leadership roles at the academic division and departmental levels at the University of Alberta and has been an advocate for research and for the career development of her faculty members. She was president of the Canadian Society of Nephrology and volunteers her expertise to the Kidney Foundation of Canada.

Professor (Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases), University of Calgary

Herman Barkema is an internationally recognized epidemiologist whose work spans animal and human health. The primary goal of his research is to ensure a safe and sustainable food supply through control of infectious diseases in cattle. He is Professor of Epidemiology in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Infectious Diseases of Dairy Cattle, and a Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine. He has led several national and international research initiatives. Currently, he leads the Alberta Inflammatory Bowel Disease ...

Dr. Susanne Benseler is a Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Calgary. She is an international leader in childhood inflammatory diseases research. She established BrainWorks, a global precision medicine research program for children with brain inflammation - Brain on Fire – resulting in devastating strokes and intractable seizures. BrainWorks research enabled early recognition, effective treatment, and improved outcomes around the world. Her work in the Understanding Childhood Arthritis Network (UCAN) advances precision health strategies for childhood arthritis integrating genomic ...

Research Professorship in the Dept. of Oncology, McGill University

Dr. Borchers is an internationally recognized proteomics researcher. His research interests are mass spectrometry (MS)-based structural proteomics, quantitative proteomics, and metabolomics -- for biomedical and clinical applications. He uses crosslinkers to determine drug binding sites, protein protein interaction sites, and protein conformation, and has developed "top-down" structural methods for studying protein misfolding, a key factor in "mad-cow" disease, Alzheimer's', and Parkinson's. His research in multiple reaction monitoring involves the use of proven stable-isotope labeled ...

Professor & William J. Walsh Chair in Medicine, McMaster University

A world-renowned scholar, scientist, teacher and leader. As Scientific Director and CEO of the Allergy, Genes & Environment(AllerGen) Network of Centres of Excellence, hosted by McMaster University, he has pioneered several important and innovative biological concepts. Through hisclinical investigations, he has facilitated the translation of allergy and immune-inflammatory disease discoveries into therapies and clinical practices to improve individual and community health. Dr. Denburg has also had a profound influence on a generation of experts in key positions in clinical care,academic ...

Michael Fehlings is recognized as one of the world's leading clinical and translational researchers in the field oftraumatic and non-traumatic spinal cord injury. His pioneering research has been critical in defining the mechanisms of secondary injury after spinal cord injury and the role of demyelination in post-traumatic neurological deficits. His ground breaking findings regarding cellular and molecular mechanisms of spinal cord injury have led to fundamental improvements of clinical practice and developing novel treatments strategies, including stem cell transplantation. In 2017 he led ...

Alberta Health Services

A cancer epidemiologist and pioneer in research of the role of physical activity in cancer control.  Her contributions to identifying the role that physical activity plays in reducing cancer risk, improving coping, rehabilitation and survival after cancer diagnosis are internationally recognized.  She is a leader and collaborator who brings commitment, passion and integrity to her endeavours. Her pursuit of excellence and her keen desire to mentor and train the next generation of scientists are particularly recognized.  

VP Research, Hamilton Health Sciences

Dr. Marc Jeschke has been caring for burn patients for nearly 20 years and is a global leader in burn care, research, and education. Dr. Jeschke has over 350 peer-reviewed articles, books, and book chapters on burn care. He has a significant track record of successes with federal funding agencies and private foundations resulting in total lifetime funding of over $20,000,000 as principal or co-investigator. His work is translational and his research interests include investigating the profound metabolic alterations post-burn injury and novel techniques for wound coverage and skin ...

Stuart MacLeod is Executive Director, Child and Family Research Institute, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, UBC and Vice President, Academic Development of the BC Provincial Health Services Authority. From 1987-1992 Dr. MacLeod served as Dean of Canada’s most innovative medical school at McMaster University. Since 1973 he has been an international leader pursuing optimal drug therapy. His contributions span pediatric and adult medicine, but major impact has been on the basic and clinical investigation of therapies for children and youth with a parallel focus on safe medication use, ...

Professor, University of Lethbridge

Dr. Gerlinde Metz is a Professor of Neuroscience and the Board of Governors Research Chair in Healthy Futures at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge. Her research investigates how experiences, both positive and negative, affect brain health from early development to old age. Her pioneering work has demonstrated that transgenerational stress affects the wellbeing of future generations, which is now leading to new tools for risk prediction and diagnosis of human disease. Devoted to interdisciplinary and translational research and training around the globe, ...