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EVENT PROFESSIONALS
Keynote & Panelists
Dr. Dafna Sussman is an assistant professor in Biomedical Engineering and Biomedical Physics at Toronto Metropolitan University, an adjunct professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Toronto, and an affiliate scientist at the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Sciences at St. Michael's Hospital. She is also the Director of the Maternal-Fetal Imaging (MFI) lab at the iBEST institute, St. Michael's Hospital. Dr. Sussman’s research focuses on the development and clinical applications of novel techniques that facilitate maternal, fetal, and placental diagnostic imaging.
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Dr. Dafna Sussman
Keynote Speaker
Assistant Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University in Biomedical Engineering
Networking Guests
Group A
Medical device startup Co-Founder with an engineering background and clinical research experience.
Karan Bagga
Co-Founder at Quantum Bolt
Technologies Inc.
Vic Shao-Chih Chiang 蔣紹志 is a Taiwan-born New Zealander. He founded the Open Mind Discussion Forum to debate diverse controversial issues from opposing views. This enabled him to experience countless “Socratic maieutikè”, which fostered deeper cultural awareness within him. He aims to cultivate epistemological diversity, especially through the lens of marginalized communities. With this goal in mind and his mental health struggles, he is the co-founder of the award-winning, Toronto-based social impact venture, Savyn Tech. By the same token and because of his LGBTQ2S+ identity, his research focuses on the neuroscience of sexual diversity. He brings with him a plethora of research experiences from across the globe such as at Harvard Medical School, University College London, Tsinghua University (Beijing) etc, whilst recognising injustices exacerbated by elite institutions.
Vic Shao-Chih Chiang
Co-Founder at Savyn Tech
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Dr. Taymaa May
Panelist
Associate Professor and Surgeon Scientist at University Health Network
Aziz is a passionate and enthusiastic biomedical engineering graduate from Toronto Met. After completing his final year, Aziz was employed as a software development engineer at a medical software company called ViTAA Medical. At his current job, he works with doctors and scientists to create algorithms to help diagnose and treat aortic aneurysms.
Aziz Uddin
Software Development Engineer at
ViTAA Medical Solutions
Dean of Science. Nanomedicine for COVID applications.
Dr. David Cramb
Panelist
Dean of Science at Toronto Metropolitan University
Dr. April Khademi is Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Toronto Metropolitan University and Principle Investigator of the Image Analysis in Medicine Lab (IAMLAB), which specializes in the design of AI algorithms for pathology and radiology images. She is also an Affiliate Scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital and Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science & Technology (iBEST) and Investigator for the Canadian Consortium of Neurodegeneration and Aging. April had previous roles in research at University of Guelph, GE Healthcare/Omnyx, Pathcore Inc., Sunnybrook Research Institute and Toronto Rehab Institute. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario and IEEE Senior Member. More information: www.torontomu.ca/akhademi
Dr. April Khademi
Panelist
Associate Professor of ECBE at Toronto Metropolitan University
Talent Acquisition Professional working with Novocol Pharma (A Septodont Company).
Garima Maheshwari
Talent Acquisition Specialist at
Novocol Pharma
Regulatory Affairs Consultant, specializing in medical device quality systems. Offering pro bono consulting services to TMU startups. PhD in Biomedical engineering from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Dr. Daniella Marx
Regulatory Affairs Associate at
Docusys Corporation
Elodie Lugez received her M.Sc. degree from Telecom Saint-Etienne, Jean Monnet University, France in 2011. She received her Ph.D. from Queen's University, Kingston, Canada in 2016. She has balanced industrial, academic and clinical experiences. Since 2010, her research has been focused on intra-operative tools and organs tracking for radiotherapy.
Dr. Elodie Lugez
Assistant Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University
Charlotte has more than 12 years of experience in development and deployment of technical solutions. With a strong background in computer science engineering, she has dealt with the entire project chain, starting from pre-sales and requirements, going over software testing to deployment of complex systems. With 8+ years of experience in the financial sector, she worked on the implementation of the unified clearing house at the São Paulo Stock Exchange in Brazil. She's since worked in Operations for the past 6 years through entrepreneurial projects in startups for financial education and social impact, and now works at Alira Health for its clinical research and patient support program projects.
Charlotte Castelnau
Customer Excellence & Operations Director at Alira Health
Dr. Roberto Botelho is a Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University since 2008 and a Tier II Canada Research Chair holder in Organelle Adaptation and Function. He has published more than 60 scholarly works to date that help reveal the molecular underpinnings of the endo-lysosomal system and phagosome maturation in phagocytic cells. He was a recipient of the Early Researcher Award from the Government of Ontario, the Maud Menten New Investigator Award, and holds a Tier II Canada Research Chair.
Dr. Roberto Botelho
Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University in Chemistry and Biology
Dr. Yu is an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics at Toronto Metropolitan University. Her research focuses on the computational neuroscience and biomedical hyperspectral image.
Dr. Na Yu
Assistant Professor at Ryerson University in Mathematics
I am a clinician with 30 years of healthcare experience, neuroscientist, author and entrepreneur.
I am founder of BrainsView a startup developing software to analyze brainwaves in brain injury, epilepsy and other neuropathologies.
Vera Nenadovic
Nurse Practitioner and Neuroscientist at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab
I've been working in the medical communications field for the last three years. My focus is on publications and medical affairs. I completed my PhD from the University of Toronto in cancer genetics.
Dr. Tanya Guha
Medical Writer at IPG Health Medical Communications
My name is Iaryna Budenchuk.
I am former physician, Cultural Ambassador at TMU, student, and recent graduate.
Dr. Iaryna Budenchuk
Student Staff, Student, Bachelors degree at Toronto Metropolitan University
Product sales engineer at Alira Health, with a Masters of Health Informatics background. Host of The Next Iteration Podcast. Health Tech Nerd and On Deck Fellow.
Damien Joseph
Product Sales Engineer at Alira Health
My job involves incorporating the usability testing process into patient-centric co-design.
Oluwafunmi George
Associate Consultant/Patient Engagement at Alira Health
Hi there!
My name is Jay Tailor. I currently work in the medical device manufacturing industry. I love my work, as I get to see medical devices being made everyday, and I understand my roles importantance in upholding our Quality Management System. This ensures all product we manufacture is safe and compliant.
Jay Tailor
Quality Engineer at Boston Scientific
Meet Raghad Jarjis, a HR professional with over 5 years of experience in the medical industry. With a passion for helping organizations and individuals reach their full potential, Raghad is dedicated to drive HR initiatives that promote engagement, growth, and success.
Raghad Jarjis
Human Resources Generalist at ZOLL
Kellan King is a Biomedical Engineering graduate from University of Guelph. He is the Regional Service Manager at ZOLL Medical Canada and also works with the Clinical & Technical training teams.
Kellan King
Regional Service Manager at ZOLL
Group B
Lead associate for medical device startup.
Jatin Coshal
Lead Associate at Quantum Bolt Technologies Inc.
Manufacturing engineer with a focus on microfabrication and sterile packaging.
Steven Jones
Manufacturing Engineer at Conavi Medical
My lab investigates how cells grow inappropriately, and how we can target cell-killing drugs to be better used in diseases such as cancer. I received my PhD from the University of Toronto while working at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. I then completed postdoctoral training at the University of Southern California in Susan Forsburg's lab. Now back in Toronto, I am fortunate to work with an incredibly talented pool of graduate students and undergraduate researchers at the TMU MaRS Research Facility.
Dr. Sarah Sabatinos
Graduate Program Director and Associate Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University in Chemistry and Biology
Calvin graduated with a B. Eng. in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering from McMaster University, an MBA from Rotman School of Management, and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. He has been working in the industry at ZOLL Medical for 10 years, and leads the technical depot team in repairing and recertifying defibrillators for use in hospitals and EMS all over Canada and Europe. He specializes in process improvement and software solutions.
Calvin Lee
Technical Services Group Lead at ZOLL
Sakeena Mihar is the CEO and co-founder of Savyn, an award-winning social impact venture for inclusive digital mental health care providing virtual PTSD therapies in multiple languages based in Toronto, Ontario. Savyn removes barriers to accessing mental health support to heal trauma for vulnerable groups like refugees, immigrants, veterans and other trauma survivors. Savyn has won the Desjardin Cooperathon - Social Impact award and PennyAppeal Social Accelerator fund. Sakeena also wears other hijabs in addition to being a founder. Sakeena is an equity, inclusion and social justice consultant and trainer. She runs workshops on Islamophobia, bystander intervention, equity and inclusion issues for several organizations, startups and political parties.
Sakeena Mihar
CEO and Co-Founder at Savyn Tech Inc.
Medical device startup Co-Founder with an engineering background and manufacturing experience.
Dipan Coshal
Co-Founder at Quantum Bolt Technologies Inc.
The research in Yousefi Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University focuses on advanced nano and hybrid materials for sustainable applications. We have expertise in developing bio-based and nano-enabled hydrogels, self-assembled 3D porous nanostructures based on graphene oxide, and antimicrobial nanomaterials. We are looking to expand the nanomaterials portfolio of our lab to healthcare applications.
Dr. Nariman Yousefi
Assistant Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University in Chemical Engineering
Dr. Sharon Gabison is currently the Hallisey Affiliate Scientist. Her research in spinal cord injury and pressure injuries (also known as “bed sores”) along with her clinical background as a Physical Therapist has led to her interest in the development of technology and tools to prevent pressure injuries. Dr. Gabison earned her PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Toronto while she studied the relationships between trunk function, pressure offloading and tissue health in individuals with spinal cord injury.
Dr. Sharon Gabison
Affiliate Scientist
Johnny is currently working as a Product Manager at Alira Health, a global digital health & consulting firm, working primarily on decentralized clinical trial software. He has previously interned at many organizations, including companies under Loblaws, Constellation Software, and TMU's own Biomedical Zone. He holds a Bachelors in Biomedical Engineering from TMU.
Johnny Libenzon
Product Manager at Alira Health
I am an analyst within the Patient Engagement team at Alira Health.
Jessica Doherty
Analyst User Researcher at Alira Health
Dr. Umapathy is a Professor and Program Director of Biomedical Engineering in the dept. of ECBE, TMU. His research interests are in biomedical signal & image analysis and imaging. He and his team are part of many ongoing collaborative research works at major hospitals in Toronto.
Dr. Karthikeyan Umapathy
Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University in ECBE
Shameni is a recent graduate from UofT completing her Master's in Health Informatics. She is passionate about applying an interdisciplinary lens to discover innovative solutions and combat issues within the healthcare sector!
Shameni Selvarajah
Associate, Digital Medical Strategy at Alira Health
Nervana Wadie graduated with a B.Eng. with Co-op from the University of Guelph. She further obtained a Masters in Biomed. Eng. from UofT. She’s experienced in materials research, ergonomics consulting, prosthetics and orthotics, urology and cardiology medical devices and collaborates with teams to develop cardiology devices from concept through prototype to launch in various countries. During her undergrad, she was the Director of Professional Development for WiSE, elected in 2016 to be the Engineering Senator, and has been awarded an In-Course Scholarship Award by PEO and was the first student keynote speaker for ONWiE Go Eng Girl in 2018 showing her passion about the BME field.
Nervana Wadie
Staff Quality Engineer - NPI at Boston Scientific (prev. Baylis Medical)
Stéphane Massé received the B.Eng degree in electrical engineering and the M.A.Sc. degree in biomedical engineering from Ecole Polytechnique. He worked as a biomedical engineer at the UofT and the Toronto General hospital where he specialized in instrumentation for cardiac activation mapping. He is now the director of The Hull Family Cardiac Fibrillation Management Laboratory at UHN. His research interests are signal processing and instrumentation applied to data acquisition systems to study and treat cardiac arrhythmias.
Stephane Masse
Biomedical Engineer at University Health Network
I’m a Biomedical Engineering Technologist at Zoll Medical Corporation but I'm also a front-line worker at Toronto General Hospital as an OR Attendant. My front-line work allows me to see the type of abuse the devices go through and the type of demand that is in need in our field. My work as a Biomed helps educate the front-line workers about the issues they might run into and how to prevent them. Many emergency situations arises in a hospital setting so every device needs to be in tip top shape!
Ricky Yip
Technical Service Technician II at ZOLL
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Aqeela Somani
Co-Founder at Nephron Health
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Luciano Palancio
Campus Recruitment Lead at Klick Health
Jennifer joined Klick Health in 2021 as a proud member of the "nerd herd" (Science and Regulatory team) who ensures that every project meets our high standards of quality and scientific storytelling. Prior to joining Klick, she completed an MSc in Medical Genetics at UBC, and a BSc at UW with co-ops at Harvard, EPFL, OICR and more, working in clinical research, innovation, and down and dirty start-ups.
Jennifer Lin
Medical Editor at Klick Health
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