Plenary Sessions
OFFICIAL OPENINGMonday, April 27, 2008 The Symposium Chair will welcome symposium participants, briefly describe some of the symposium highlights and outline anticipated outcomes. | |
Dr. Jill M. Sanders was appointed President and CEO of the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health in 1997. She is responsible for the overall management and strategic direction of CADTH and its directorates and has led CADTH`s evolution into a primary source for unbiased, evidence-based information on drugs, devices, health care systems and best practices. Dr. Sanders is a member of the Health Technology International Board, and is the international advisor to the UK HTA Program. She holds Honours and Master’s Degrees in Physics as well as a PhD in Medical Physics. |
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BEYOND THE EVIDENCE: MAKING TOUGH DECISIONSMonday, April 28, 2008 Decisions about which medical devices and drugs to adopt and use are crucial to the quality, affordability and sustainability of health care in Canada. Policy makers, planners and health care professionals need ready access to concise, reliable evidence and advice to manage health technologies effectively from innovation to obsolescence. Yet all too often the evidence is unavailable, incomplete or inconclusive. What factors other than evidence influence policy and operational decisions? What can be done to close the evidence gap and develop evidence where none currently exists? What can researchers provide over and above the evidence to help health care leaders make tough decisions with confidence? | |
Ida Goodreau is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Vancouver Coastal Health. Vancouver Coastal Health provides a full range of health care services ranging from hospital treatment to community-based residential, home health, mental health and public health services in the coastal mountain communities, Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Richmond. Ms. Goodreau most recently served as the Senior Vice President, Global Optimization & Human Resources, of Norske Skog in Norway. Prior to joining Norske Skog in 2000, Ms. Goodreau was President of Fletcher Canada's pulp operations in Vancouver. Her extensive career has included the positions of Managing Director, Tasman Pulp and Paper in Auckland New Zealand, Senior Vice President, Human Resources with Fletcher Canada in Vancouver, and Vice President Human Resources, Union Gas Limited in Ontario. |
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Paddy Meade was appointed Deputy Minister of Alberta Health and Wellness in November 2004. The ministry includes the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC), where Ms. Meade previously served as Chief Executive Officer. She came to Health and Wellness after three years as Deputy Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, where she was a strong advocate of initiatives leading to enhanced Aboriginal self-sufficiency and well-being, and development of Alberta’s north. Aboriginal health is a growing priority for Alberta. Ms. Meade’s experience also includes six years as executive director of the Correctional Services Division Young Offender Branch for Alberta Justice. She was program director at the Enviros Wilderness School in southern Alberta and spent several years working with youth in conflict with the law, including service as director of the Young Offender Centres in Calgary and as program director of the Strathmore Youth Development Centre. |  |
Dr. David Henry is the President and CEO of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). Dr. Henry joined ICES from the University of Newcastle in Australia where he holds several appointments, including Professor of Clinical Pharmacology in the School of Medicine and Public Health, Course Controller for the Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics training program at the University’s Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Director of the Newcastle Institute of Public Health. He is also the Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Training in Pharmacoeconomics and Rational Drug Use, based at the University of Newcastle. Dr. Henry is a practicing internal medicine specialist and clinical toxicologist in the Newcastle region, and is Chair of the Medical Staff Council at the Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital. Moderator: |  |
PACKAGING EVIDENCE FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT: LESSONS FROM DIFFERENT FIELDSMonday, April 28, 2008 In order to make a difference, producers of evidence-based information, analysis and advice need to think about more than just the evidence – they need to consider how it is packaged and presented to decision makers to ensure that it is read, understood and used. | |
Marie Della Mattia is Partner / Managing Director with NOW Communications Group Inc. Marie is an expert in communications best practices, applying strategic insights to meet clients’ needs and reach their target audiences. Marie’s clients have included non-profits, health ministries and health workers. An expert trainer, Marie has helped organizations hone their social marketing communications skills to build public support, change people’s behaviours or define people’s choices. Marie has worked as a communications specialist and people manager since 1988. |  |
Marguerite A. Koster has been involved in evidence-based clinical practice guideline development and technology assessment at Kaiser Permanente for more than 15 years. She is currently the Practice Leader for the Technology Assessment & Guidelines (TAG) Unit, Southern California Permanente Medical Group, where she manages a staff of 10 research analysts in the development of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, medical technology assessments, and evidence reviews to support the organization’s health care and electronic health system implementation efforts. For many years, Marguerite has been actively involved within Kaiser Permanente in the development of evidence-based medicine and methodology standards for guideline development and technology assessment at both the national and regional levels. She is currently a member of the KP Southern California Medical Technology Assessment Team (MTAT), the KP Interregional New Technology Committee (INTC), the KP National Guideline Directors, and the KP Guideline Quality Committee. |  |
Dr. Eddy Lang is an emergency physician at the SMBD Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, and holds a faculty position at McGill University. His areas of interest are Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) and Knowledge Translation (KT). He served as principal co-chair of the 2007 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference on Knowledge Translation and is now the Research Chair for the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians. Dr. Lang is also an award-winning educator having received recognition at both the university, national and international levels. He also serves as an associate editor for the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine and Academic Emergency Medicine. He has coordinated the McGill undergraduate course in EBM for the past 6 years and now co-writes a weekly column for the Montreal Gazette on EBM as it relates to the latest discoveries in medical research that are important to the public. |  |
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INNOVATION AND HEALTH TECHNOLOGYTuesday, April 29, 2008 Innovation by its nature lies beyond the evidence. Evidence is incomplete and inconclusive as new technologies emerge, which poses considerable challenges for decision makers. This session will cover the nature of innovation, the innovation cycle and how health researchers and health technology users can position themselves to address the challenges associated with innovation. | |
Bernard Bressler received his MSc (Anatomy) and Ph.D. (Physiology) from the University of Manitoba. He did his postdoctoral studies in Neuroscience at McMaster University. Bressler’s research is in the area of the biophysics of muscle contraction and neuromuscular diseases. He is a Professor in the Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences and adjunct Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics. He has served as UBC Vice President Research and currently is Vice President Research of Vancouver Coastal Health and Executive Director of the VCH Research Institute. He is Chair of the Board of Discovery Parks Trust, and Board member of the Canada Israel Industrial Research Development Foundation and International Scientific and Technology Partnerships Canada. |  |
Leslee J. Thompson has been a senior executive in leading edge public and private sector organizations for the past 15 years. Specifically she held Chief Operating Officer roles of Sunnybrook & Women’s Health Science Center, Toronto Western Hospital in the University Health Network and the Royal Alexander Hospital in Capital Health Authority. Just prior to joining Medtronic in January 2006, Leslee was Vice President Cancer Care Ontario where she led the successful execution of Ontario’s largest health system restructuring initiative involving eleven hospitals, a provincial government agency, and multiple professional groups. Leslee is currently Vice President Health System Strategies for Medtronic of Canada. Medtronic, Inc. headquartered in Minneapolis, is the global leader in medical technology – alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life for millions of people around the world. |  |
Dr. Lorne Tyrrell is the Chair of the Board, Institute of Health Economics. He is currently the CIHR/GlaxoSmithKline Chair in Virology at the University of Alberta and the CEO of ViRexx, a biotechnology company in Edmonton. Dr. Tyrrell is also the Chair of the Board of the Alberta Health Quality Council and a member of the Medical Advisory Committee of the Gairdner Foundation and of the Research Council of the Canadian Institute of Academic Research. In 2004, Dr. Tyrrell completed 10 years as the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta. Dr. Tyrrell was appointed to the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2000, an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2004. He was recently awarded the F.N.G. Starr Award from the Canadian Medical Association in 2004, and the Principal Award of the Manning Foundation in 2005 for his work on the development of oral antivirals for the treatment of HBV. |  |
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MAKING TOUGH DECISIONS: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?Tuesday, April 29, 2008 The closing plenary session will focus on healthcare trends and issues and what is need to support informed decision making in the years ahead. | |
Bruce C. Carleton earned his Bachelor degree in pharmaceutical sciences in 1986 from Washington State University. He continued at the University of Utah, earning a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 1989. After completing a residency in clinical therapeutics at the University of Utah Medical Center and a research fellowship in immunopharmacology at the University of Minnesota, he joined the faculty at the University of British Columbia in 1991. Dr. Carleton is also cross-appointed to the Children's and Women's Health Centre of British Columbia where he has served as director of the Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research Programme since 1994. He also holds an appointment at UBC in the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research and is an adjunct associate professor at the School of Health Information Science at University of Victoria. The central theme of Dr. Carleton's research program is the study of drug therapy with the goal of improving human health and quality of life. |  |
Steven Lewis is a health policy and research consultant based in Saskatoon, and Adjunct Professor of Health Policy at the University of Calgary and Simon Fraser University (where he was Visiting Scholar from January to April 2007). Prior to resuming a full-time consulting practice he headed a health research granting agency and spent 7 years as CEO of the Health Services Utilization and Research Commission in Saskatchewan. He has served on various boards and committees, including the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Saskatchewan Health Quality Council, the Health Council of Canada, and the editorial boards of several journals, including the newly launched Open Medicine. His published work covers topics such as reforming and strengthening medicare, improving health care quality, primary health care, regionalization, and the management of wait times. | |
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OFFICIAL CLOSINGTuesday, April 29, 2008 Dr. Jill M. Sanders, President and CEO will officially bring the 2008 CADTH Invitational Symposium to a close.td> | |
