Named in 2023 as one of Maclean’s top 10 health care innovators and as one of the 50 most influential Torontonians, Dr Leigh Chapman is a leader within the field of nursing and healthcare. Leigh is a registered nurse (RN) with over 20 years of experience. Over the course of her career, Leigh has gained a deep understanding of nursing through her work in both frontline and clinical leadership capacities. Her professional experience spans various settings including clinical care, education, research, professional practice, administration, policy, and advocacy.

After obtaining her BScN degree, Leigh completed a Master in Clinical Health Sciences from the Nursing Graduate Program at McMaster University. Leigh then completed her doctoral work in 2019 at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto. Her research provided key insights into ways in which the regulation of health professionals intersects with organizational priorities in acute care settings.

As Chief Nursing Officer, Leigh recognizes the important contributions of nurses at the federal level and aims to ensure their integration into decisions impacting the profession. Within her role Leigh provides strategic advice from a nursing perspective on priority policy and program areas. She plays a convening role with provincial/territorial governments, federal departments, regulatory bodies/colleges, educators and others on key nursing issues. Additionally, Leigh represents the Government of Canada at public forums, both within and outside of Canada. Leigh is committed to advancing the nursing profession in Canada to ensure equitable access to safe, quality care for all.

Dr. Meldon Kahan is currently Medical Director of META:PHI. Dr. Kahan has written a number of peer-reviewed articles on addiction, and has been a principal or co-principal investigator on several randomized trials and observational studies. He has been extensively involved in policy and advocacy. He has helped write several guidelines on opioid agonist treatment and opioid prescribing for chronic pain, and has co-authored several handbooks and guidance documents. His main interest is the integration of addiction medicine into primary care, emergency departments, and hospital units. Dr Kahan has five grandchildren who like to remind him how old and slow he is.

Dr. Jennifer Wyman is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, and Medical Director of the Substance Use Service at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. As a physician working in primary care and addictions, in community and academic settings, her interest is in improving care pathways for people with substance use disorders through education, resource development and advocacy across the heath care sectors.

Dr. Pamela Leece practices clinically in substance use at Women's College Hospital, CAMH and community sites in Toronto.  She is an Assistant Professor cross-appointed with the Department of Family and Community Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health at University of Toronto. In her current role as a WIHV Innovation Fellow at WCH, her research focuses on population health and health systems research on substance use.

Ria graduated in 2022 from the University of British Columbia’s Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy program. Currently, she is a fourth-year PhD student at the University of Toronto and works as a pharmacist at CAMH. Through her PhD thesis work, Ria aims to leverage her clinical skills as a pharmacist, knowledge of pharmacotherapeutics and pharmacoepidemiology study design to optimize medication management for opioid use disorder.

Cassandra Smith is an Ontario-based researcher with over a decade of experience in community health and substance use services. Known for her expertise in centering the voices of people with lived and living experience (PWLLE), she has dedicated her career to bridging the gap between clinical data and the human reality of drug policy. Her work focuses on navigating the intersections of healthcare, systemic equity, and person-centered care.

Most recently, Cassandra contributed as a research assistant and collaborator on qualitative studies regarding Slow-Release Oral Morphine (SROM/Kadian) as an Opioid Agonist Therapy. In this role, she conducted community-based interviews to document client experiences, aiming to humanize clinical guidelines and advocate for treatment models that prioritize dignity and stability for people who use drugs. Other research projects include Scaling Up Supervised Supervised Consumption and Overdose Prevention Services: A Response to Canada's Drug Poisoning, The Four Pillar Model: Community-Led Capacity Building and Priority-Setting, How can Emergency Departments provide better care for people who use drugs? A study to improve training for Healthcare Professionals. 

Kevin is the Senior Manager, Black Health Strategy at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and an Adjunct & Sessional Lecturer in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. He is responsible for leading the provincial expansion of AMANI: Mental Health & Substance Use Services for Black Youth across Ontario, a collective impact initiative and the first-ever Canadian hospital and community partnership of its kind, focused on advancing care for Black youth. Kevin’s role also involves supporting the advancement of health justice for Black communities throughout various provincial clinical programs, as well as supporting the advancement of Ontario's Black Health Plan. Kevin is also the Co-Chair of the Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Panel with the Toronto Police Services Board. In this capacity, he provides leadership to the panel, which has a mandate to review, provide advice and make recommendations to the Board related to monitoring and evaluating the implementation of Toronto Police Service’s Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, and other matters related to policy involving mental health and addictions issues. Kevin holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Toronto, with a specialization in Mental Health and Health.

Dr. Jennifer Wyman is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, and Medical Director of the Substance Use Service at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. As a physician working in primary care and addictions, in community and academic settings, her interest is in improving care pathways for people with substance use disorders through education, resource development and advocacy across the heath care sectors.

Katie Dunham BSc Hons BScN MN NP-PHC is a primary care nurse practitioner with a background in global humanitarian aid, emergency nursing, primary-care, rapid access addiction medicine, withdrawal management in a community based live-in setting, and virtual addictions care through the Digital Front Door platform.  She acts as Nurse Practitioner Lead for Stonehenge Therapeutic Community Rapid Access Addiction Medicine, as the META:PHI Nursing Educator, and is a lecturer at University of Toronto Bloomberg School of Nursing. She is passionate about expanding access to substance-related care through education, and optimizing existing care pathways through community partnerships.

Emily Dakers (B.A., B.S.W., M.S.W., She/Her) is the Director at the Good Shepherd Barrett Centre and Health and Wellness programs in Hamilton, Ontario and has been with Good Shepherd for over 10 years.  She is a social worker who has worked with many populations within the city of Hamilton including youth, seniors, domestic violence survivors, and those experiencing mental health and addictions crisis.  Her work is centred on Harm Reduction and EDI and looks to increase access to holistic care for those she serves through effective program building and partnerships.

Liz Kamler, RN, MPH, is the Clinical Team Leader at Oasis, a low-barrier, harm reduction–focused primary care walk-in clinic within Sandy Hill Community Health Centre in Ottawa. Oasis hosts an embedded Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) clinic, supporting timely access to addiction care for people who use drugs.  Liz holds a Bachelor of Nursing and a Master of Public Health from McMaster University. Her work has focused on mental health, substance use, and harm reduction across clinical, community, and research settings, including roles with Ottawa Inner City Health, the Ottawa Hospital Substance Use Program, the Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre ACT Team, and research at The Royal.

Tasha Maier is the Manager of the Addiction Medicine Pillar for Stonehenge Therapeutic Community and has worked in the Addictions field for almost 20 years. She leads with compassion, integrity and commitment to client-centered practice.  Tasha is passionate about supporting individuals on their recovery journey, while empowering her team to deliver ethical, evidence informed care. She believes strong leadership starts with creating a space where both clients and staff feel heard and valued. Outside of work, Tasha is a proud mom of three girls and helps support her family’s sheep farm by feeding bottle babies and “assisting” in bringing home more animals for her husband to feed. For Tasha, leadership, advocacy and nurturing extend far beyond the workplace.  

Amritdeep (Nikki) Khela is a second-year medical student at NOSM University with a strong interest in rural and remote medicine and advancing health equity for BIPOC and other structurally underserved communities. Nikki’s research interests are shaped by community-based learning experiences and a commitment to culturally safe, trauma-informed care. She is particularly drawn to projects at the intersection of mental health, substance use, and system-level barriers, with the goal of helping build more compassionate, accessible, and community-responsive models of care.

Dr. Franklyn was a family physician practicing in Sudbury for 25 years prior to his retirement in 2018 after suffering a massive stroke. He had been providing addiction care to patients in Northeastern and Northwestern Ontario for over 20 years with a special interest in substance use in pregnancy and youth as well as First Nations communities. 

He provides care for patients suffering with various substance use disorders in Sudbury as well as several communities throughout the North. He serves as medical director of the Harm Reduction Home (HWH), a CMHA sponsored managed alcohol program (MAP) for the homeless. He was involved in establishing the Sudbury Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) Clinic and led the expansion of RAAM clinics throughout NE Ontario. Dr. Franklyn is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the Northern School of Medicine (NOSM U). He also works in corrections providing primary care, MHA care and OAT, and co-ordinates the care of women involved in human trafficking who become pregnant or who seek care for problematic substance use.

Nya Elijah is a Research Analyst with the Policy and Partnership Team at Thunderbird Partnership Foundation. Nya belongs to the Turtle Clan and is Oneida and Lenape from Oneida Nation of the Thames and  Delaware Nation at Moraviantown.

Nya holds a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Leadership Studies from the University of Western Ontario. She is also working to achieve her Master of Public Health degree from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario. When she is not working or studying, Nya enjoys spending time outdoors doing activities like hiking, paddleboarding and swimming.

Sherrie Nicholas, who is from the Oneida Nation of the Thames, is a Trainer with the Training and Education team at Thunderbird Partnership Foundation. Sherrie holds a Master of Social Work degree from Wilfred Laurier University and is also registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.  Sherrie’s previous employment as a social worker gave her experience in supporting First Nation communities to access mental wellness support, providing individual counseling, and facilitating psycho-educational groups. She also gained valuable experience through her work at a residential treatment centre for Indigenous youth who were experiencing issues with substance use.

Joanne MacMillan is a policy analyst/writer on the Policy and Partnerships team at Thunderbird Partnership Foundation. Joanne’s credentials include a Master of Social Work, Bachelor of Social Work, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. She also brings over 30 years of experience in health and social services including direct service, program design and evaluation, and strategic provincial policy. Joanne worked for the British Columbia Public Service for 12 years, primarily in the field of mental health and substance use strategic policy and partnerships. She joined Nishnawbe Aski Nation in 2022 to work on the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal case with respect to child welfare and Jordan's Principle Reform.

Dr. Dafna Kahana is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and Clinician Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. She is the Medical Lead of the Youth Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (Y-RAAM) clinic at CAMH. Her research focuses on youth mental health and substance use, and she is especially interested in new therapies and approaches for care.

Alexandra offers counselling to Youth-RAAM clients and their families in times of critical need.  As a registered social worker, she channels a culturally humble and trauma-informed stance with the family and collaborates with the interdisciplinary team to develop a tailored treatment plan.  In her practice, Alexandra draws on evidence-based psycho-social interventions like Motivational Interviewing and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy to support youth and their families around substance use and mental health challenges.

Colm is a former award winning documentary filmmaker, writer and music culture historian. His work was firmly rooted at the intersection of youth culture, mental health, trauma and expressive arts. He has performed at CAMH in a variety of roles and now serves as Peer Support Worker for the Youth RAAM initiative.

Adam McInnis, NP, MN, MScCH (AMH) is a Nurse Practitioner in Addiction Medicine at CMHA Thames Valley Addiction & Mental Health Services in London, Ontario. A University of Toronto graduate, his practice spans community-based addiction care, advisory and guideline-development roles, and education that strengthens access to evidence-informed treatment across the system. Drawing on lived experience in recovery alongside clinical and public-health expertise, Adam works at the intersection of frontline care and health-system change. Through this work, he prioritizes reducing stigma and expanding equitable access to addiction care.

Dr. Lee is the Medical Director at the London Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) Clinic. The RAAM Clinic was started in 2014 (one of the original 7 RAAM Clinics pilots). The RAAM Clinic is a part of the London HART Hub & Youth Hub. Supporting 60 HART Hub beds, 12 Mental Health Crisis beds, Elgin Withdrawal Management 7 beds, the RAAM Clinic is part of the London Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), providing Medical & Psychiatric care to persons diagnosed with major mental illnesses. CMHA provides >800 supportive housing units.

Other current work includes:

·      Veterans Affairs Canada Operational Stress Injuries Clinic treating Canadian Forces Veterans suffering from PTSD

·      Surgical assistant at London Health Sciences Centre (University site)

·      College of Physicians & Surgeons of Ontario (Quality Assurance)

Western University Appointments:

·      Family Medicine

·      Psychiatry

Past work has included:

·      10 years at the London InterCommunity Health Centre

·      10 years at the Salvation Army Medical Clinic (located within a homeless shelter & detox facility)

·      10 years at Regional Mental Health Care London

·      5 years at London Middlesex Children’s Aid Society and Genest Detention Centre for Youth

·      Medical Consultant to the London Drug Treatment Court

Derek Roberts is a Canadian Certified Addiction Counsellor and member of the Canadian Addiction Counsellors Certification Federation with nearly 10 years of experience in the addictions field. He currently provides counselling services with the Windsor Family Health Team and in private practice, supporting individuals through one-on-one counselling and group facilitation. Derek’s professional background spans withdrawal management services, community outreach, and program development, including the co-creation of the ONE Team Recovery family of programs. He employs trauma-informed, client-centred, and evidence-based approaches, fostering safe and supportive spaces that empower clients to build resilience, insight, and sustainable recovery.

Elizabeth Lalonde is a Certified Addiction Counsellor through the Canadian Addiction Counsellors Certification Federation with over 10 years of experience in addiction and concurrent disorders. She provides individual and group addiction counselling within a team-based primary care model at the Windsor Family Health Team, where interdisciplinary collaboration reinforces her client-centered, trauma-informed approach. Elizabeth provides empowerment and practical skill development, assisting those with substance use in meeting their goals for wellness. She has co-developed and facilitated several outpatient programs under the OTR framework. Her background includes working at several community agencies, mentoring professionals, and teaching addiction studies at the college level.

Jennifer has worked in the social services sector in Toronto for over 30 years. Her experience includes roles in case management and crisis support, as well as involvement in two provincial programs at Surrey Place: The Community Network of Specialized Care (CNSC) and The Mashkikiiwininiwag Mazinaatesijigan Wichiiwewin (MMW) Clinical Videoconferencing program. She currently serves as a manager, of the Safer Steps My Way: Community Outreach for Drug and Alcohol Use, a four-year Harm Reduction program funded by Health Canada.

Jennifer feels honored to work alongside the community to strengthen and develop systems that better support individuals with intellectual disabilities and unique needs. 

Tesha is a Research Assistant at Surrey Place with over 15 years of experience in the developmental services sector.  With an academic and professional background in health research, Tesha combines her dedication to evidence-based research with her passion for supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Tesha assists the Safer Steps team with program development ongoing evaluation to help bridge the gap between research and real-world application for those using substances.

Dr. Meldon Kahan is currently Medical Director of META:PHI. Dr. Kahan has written a number of peer-reviewed articles on addiction, and has been a principal or co-principal investigator on several randomized trials and observational studies. He has been extensively involved in policy and advocacy. He has helped write several guidelines on opioid agonist treatment and opioid prescribing for chronic pain, and has co-authored several handbooks and guidance documents. His main interest is the integration of addiction medicine into primary care, emergency departments, and hospital units. Dr Kahan has five grandchildren who like to remind him how old and slow he is.

Anne-Rachelle Boulanger (she/her) is a lawyer and Policy Analyst at the HIV Legal Network, where she leads research and advocacy to advance the rights of people living with HIV and other communities facing barriers to healthcare. Her work includes access to healthcare and harm reduction in prisons, as well as access to services for migrant communities, youth and children, and people who are homeless or precariously housed. Her background is in forced migration and international human rights, including consulting work with the United Nations. She holds degrees from McGill University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Cambridge.

Dr. Monty Ghosh is an internist and addiction medicine specialist based in Alberta, Canada, and an Associate Professor at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. He works around systems innovations for vulnerable populations.  Dr. Ghosh has led or co-led projects sponsored by CIHR, Health Canada, and Alberta Innovates, amongst others. His work bridges clinical care, policy, and community-based implementation to improve outcomes for people who use substances and other marginalized populations. His work has been featured in the Washington Post, CBC National, and Macleans, and the National Overdose Response Service has won the Governor General's Innovation Award and the Excellence in Community-Campus Research Partnership Award.  

Dr. George is Professor of Psychiatry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto (UofT), and Senior Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).  He received his B.Sc. (1988) and M.D. (1992) degrees from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and then did his psychiatry residency (1992-96) and a fellowship in translational neuroscience (1996-98) at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. He joined the Yale Psychiatry faculty in 1998, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2004. In 2006, he moved to UofT and CAMH as the inaugural Chair in Addiction Psychiatry, which he held until 2012. He has held several leadership positions, including as Chief of Schizophrenia (2008-16) and Addictions (2016-19) Divisions and Medical Director of the Complex Mental Illness Program (2012-16) at CAMH, and Co-Director of the Brain and Therapeutics Division in the UofT Department of Psychiatry (2006-2018).

Dr. George’s research focuses on understanding and treating substance use disorders in people with serious mental illness. He has published over 375 peer-reviewed articles, reviews and other reports. His work has been funded by NIDA and CIHR since 1999. From 2021-2023, he served as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee at the Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA). He wrote the chapter on Nicotine and Tobacco in Cecil Textbook of Medicine in the last five editions (2011, 2015, 2019, 2023 and 2027). He is Co-Principal Editor for the psychiatric neuroscience journal, Neuropsychopharmacology (NPP).

Jennifer Bondy (MD MSc CCFP FCFP) is a family physician and the medical director of Windsor Shelter Health.

Luke Di Paolo, Clinical Director at Windsor Regional Hospital, leads Mental Health & Allied Health programs, driving innovation, research, and collaboration to enhance patient care and health outcomes.

Kelly leads the H4 drop-in centre and Housing Hub planning, advancing homelessness and health programs that improve wellness and support efforts to end chronic homelessness.

Nicole Sbrocca is CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Windsor-Essex. A senior health-care leader with 20+ years’ experience, she is committed to innovation and system transformation.

Angie Hamilton is a retired lawyer, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Families for Addiction Recovery (FAR) and the parent of a child with addiction. She is a member of the Policy Committee of the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine and a Board Member of The Ontario Family Caregivers’ Advisory Network. Angie is or has been a member of various advisory panels for Toronto Public Health, The Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health of Ontario, Health Canada and the CCSA. She was a member of the National Board of MADD Canada and the Chair of their Public Policy Committee.

Dr. Barbeau completed a B.A. at the University of Western Ontario, M.Sc.(A) at McGill University and her MD at McMaster.  She attended NOFM for her Family Medicine Residency.  She has worked in a number of primary care models including FHG, RNPGA, FHO and more recently a FHT (Family Health Team).  She currently is the Lead Physician for the Sault FHO and has a full-time family practice at the Superior Family Health Team (SFHT).   She has also worked in Addiction Medicine for the last 8 years and is one of four physicians at the local RAAM clinic.  In the past, she has been Head of Service for Addiction Medicine at the Sault Area Hospital (SAH) for a 3-year term.  Dr. Barbeau is currently a member of the Department of Mental Health and Addictions as well as the Medical Director for the SACC (Sexual Assault and Care Clinic).  She is currently President (2-year term) for the SAH for the Medical Staff Executive and has served in various other roles.  Dr. Barbeau teaches medical students and residents and is an Associate Professor at NOSM.  She is very passionate about her work in Addiction Medicine and Concurrent Disorders and is involved in presentations and research in the area.  

Katie Dunham BSc Hons BScN MN NP-PHC is a primary care nurse practitioner with a background in global humanitarian aid, emergency nursing, primary-care, rapid access addiction medicine, withdrawal management in a community based live-in setting, and virtual addictions care through the Digital Front Door platform.  She acts as Nurse Practitioner Lead for Stonehenge Therapeutic Community Rapid Access Addiction Medicine, as the META:PHI Nursing Educator, and is a lecturer at University of Toronto Bloomberg School of Nursing. She is passionate about expanding access to substance-related care through education, and optimizing existing care pathways through community partnerships.

Kirsten has over 20 years of experience across the health, human services, and non profit sectors. As Advisor of Substance Use and Harm Reduction with Peel Public Health, she leads the planning and implementation of the Peel Substance Strategy, advancing equity and community participation in substance use health. She brings expertise in strategic planning, policy development, and evaluation, and has led high impact initiatives including Peel’s first Supervised Consumption Services Clinic and the Peel Drug Toxicity Urgent Response Plan. A collaborative leader, Kirsten builds strong partnerships and advances diversity, equity, and inclusion through inclusive leadership and continuous learning.

Michael Bennington is the Manager of Substance Use and Harm Reduction at Peel Public Health. In this role, Michael oversees the work of several teams to address or prevent the harms associated with the use of substances. This includes outreach, harm reduction supplies distribution and training provided by Peel's Mobile Harm Reduction Team as well as work by Peel's Tobacco, Cannabis and Vaping Team and Peel's Substance Use Prevention Team to collaborate with system partners, apply research evidence in policy and program development and ultimately enable residents in Peel to limit the harms associated with substance use.

Dr. Franklyn was a family physician practicing in Sudbury for 25 years prior to his retirement in 2018 after suffering a massive stroke. He had been providing addiction care to patients in Northeastern and Northwestern Ontario for over 20 years with a special interest in substance use in pregnancy and youth as well as First Nations communities. 

He provides care for patients suffering with various substance use disorders in Sudbury as well as several communities throughout the North. He serves as medical director of the Harm Reduction Home (HWH), a CMHA sponsored managed alcohol program (MAP) for the homeless. He was involved in establishing the Sudbury Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) Clinic and led the expansion of RAAM clinics throughout NE Ontario. Dr. Franklyn is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the Northern School of Medicine (NOSM U). He also works in corrections providing primary care, MHA care and OAT, and co-ordinates the care of women involved in human trafficking who become pregnant or who seek care for problematic substance use.

Dr. Sharon Cirone is a Family Physician in focused practice of Mental Health and Addictions Medicine. She provides care in remote First Nations communities in the Sioux Lookout region of Northwestern Ontario. Her clinical care has included service in urban and rural practices, in both in-patient and outpatient settings, for all ages, but with a focus on adolescent and youth populations. She enjoys the engagement process with young patients, the challenge of creating youth-friendly environments, and also the rewards of working with this population over time, into adulthood.

Joanne MacMillan is a policy analyst/writer on the Policy and Partnerships team at Thunderbird Partnership Foundation. Joanne’s credentials include a Master of Social Work, Bachelor of Social Work, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. She also brings over 30 years of experience in health and social services including direct service, program design and evaluation, and strategic provincial policy. Joanne worked for the British Columbia Public Service for 12 years, primarily in the field of mental health and substance use strategic policy and partnerships. She joined Nishnawbe Aski Nation in 2022 to work on the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal case with respect to child welfare and Jordan's Principle Reform.

Katie Hoffman is a Knowledge Mobilization Specialist on the Policy and Partnership team at Thunderbird. She earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto, and a Research master’s degree in philosophy from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, specializing in phenomenology. Katie’s areas of research interest centre around the subjective experience of drug-induced altered states and addiction on the levels of temporality, spatiality, and understanding the self as it relates to others and the world. Her master’s research explored the subjective experience of a sensation of love during states of opioid intoxication through reference to phenomenological structures of perception.

Cory Byrne is a third-year medical student at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry. During his undergraduate degree at McMaster University, he became involved in research on correctional settings, with a focus on ADHD and the prescription of stimulant medications. He is also a member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada interest group for prison health.

Dale Guenter (MD, MPH) is a family physician with experience in community-oriented primary care among populations living on the margins of society and the health system, including people in the inner city, remote northern communities, the Philippines, and people experiencing incarceration. He has been focused clinically on managing illness from blood-born pathogens, chronic pain, addiction and mental health issues.

Dr. Jennifer Wyman is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, and Medical Director of the Substance Use Service at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. As a physician working in primary care and addictions, in community and academic settings, her interest is in improving care pathways for people with substance use disorders through education, resource development and advocacy across the heath care sectors.

Walker (she/her) is a Peer Support Worker at Women’s College Hospital’s Substance Use Clinic, where she brings her lived experience to provide compassionate and informed support to others. She is deeply passionate about assisting individuals on their journeys through addiction recovery, mental health challenges, accessing affirming medical care, and navigating government and housing systems.

Dr. Pamela Leece practices clinically in substance use at Women's College Hospital, CAMH and community sites in Toronto.  She is an Assistant Professor cross-appointed with the Department of Family and Community Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health at University of Toronto. In her current role as a WIHV Innovation Fellow at WCH, her research focuses on population health and health systems research on substance use.

Laurie Barkun is a Registered Nurse Prescriber at Street Health Centre - a part of the Kingston Community Health Centres in Kingston, Ontario. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from McGill University.  Having worked in everything from neonatal intensive care to hospice palliative care, she found her passion 5 years ago when she worked as a screener at Street Health Centre during the pandemic. Since then, she has been working as part of the Rapid Access Addiction Medicine program and was part of the team that got the Catalyst Contingency Management Program up and running.

Natasha Larkin (she/her) is a Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner at Street Health, a RAAM clinic within Kingston Community Health Centres in Kingston, Ontario. She provides low-barrier, equity-focused addiction, primary care, sexual health, and infectious disease services to underserved populations. Natasha leads innovative nurse-led programs including rapid STI testing, outreach models of care, and contingency management research for stimulant use. She is currently completing a PhD in Nursing at Queen’s University, with research focused on nurse-led and implementation science approaches to sexual and reproductive health. Her work emphasizes accessible, compassionate, and evidence-informed addiction care.

Sarah den Ouden is a Community Support Worker at Street Health Centre – Kingston Community Health Centres.  Sarah uses her lived experience with substance use and recovery to connect with clients and to create a safe, welcoming space. She spends most of her time as the designated Community Support Worker for the Catalyst Contingency Management Program for Crystal Methamphetamine and/or Cocaine Use but can also be found promoting harm reduction in the Needle Exchange Program and on outreach with the Hep C team.

Stephanie McConkey is Oneida nation, a member of Six Nations of the Grand River and has mixed European settler ancestry. Stephanie grew up in Brantford, Ontario and moved to London in 2010 to pursue post-secondary at Western University. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Kinesiology (Honours Specialization), a Master of Public Health (MPH), a Master of Science in Epidemiology & Biostatistics, and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Epidemiology at the University of Toronto. Stephanie holds the position as Epidemiologist at Thunderbird Partnership Foundation.

Majd Radhaa is an epidemiologist at Thunderbird Partnership Foundation. Majd obtained his Master of Science in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Western University, with a focus on Indigenous health and health economics. His experience spans across academic, non-profit and technology sectors.

Christine Vogt is a social worker that has developed a concurrent disorders program over the last 20 years which includes evidenced based therapies specific to mental health and addictions.  Dr. Lamba has assisted in rounding out what is offered to patients in Burlington through the addition of Cognitive Processing Therapy and Community Reinforcement Approach.  

Wiplove Lamba is an addiction medicine, psychiatrist who works primarily as the substance use service lead at Sinai Health System in Toronto.  For the last 4.5 years, he worked 1 day every other week at Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington.  In Burlington, working with an experienced social worker Christine Vogt, they have provided concurrent disorders care including psychiatric assessments, medication adjustment, addiction medicine as well as the mainstay of treatment for concurrent disorders—the psychosocial interventions.    

Ria graduated in 2022 from the University of British Columbia’s Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy program. Currently, she is a fourth-year PhD student at the University of Toronto and works as a pharmacist at CAMH. Through her PhD thesis work, Ria aims to leverage her clinical skills as a pharmacist, knowledge of pharmacotherapeutics and pharmacoepidemiology study design to optimize medication management for opioid use disorder.

Shaleesa Ledlie is a Senior Research Associate at the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network housed at Unity Health Toronto. She holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences and an MPH in Epidemiology, both from the University of Toronto. Shaleesa’s research interests lie in applying pharmacoepidemiologic methods to help improve pathways of care through the healthcare system for people who use drugs.

Dr. Farihah Ali is a Scientist and Manager at CAMH’s Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, within the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Matters, Ontario Node. As a qualitative researcher, her current work focuses on opioid use, harm reduction, drug policy evaluation and specialty-based addiction treatment to support policy and practice for marginalized populations.

Andrzej Celinski is a co-founder of RECLAIM Collective and serves on the board of Workers for Ethical Substance Use. His work focuses on drug policy and harm reduction through activism, advisory roles, research and evaluation, steering committees, and national working groups. He presents widely on safe supply, peer-based interventions, opioid agonist treatment (OAT), deprescribing, substance use policy, substance use in the trades, and the clinical and structural challenges of an increasingly toxic and unpredictable drug supply. He has written and contributed to peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and op-eds, and is engaged in community-led research, knowledge translation, policy development, and the organization of conferences, webinars, and collaborative initiatives that centre the perspectives of people who use drugs. Andrzej holds a diploma from Seneca College and a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies with an Urban Planning Certificate from York University, where his graduate research examined substance use and the housing crisis.

Savannah Torres-Salbach is a Research Analyst for the Ontario Node of the Canadian Research Initiative on Substance Matters (CRISM) and the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Ontario. She has worked in both public sector and academic research settings, with over five years of experience in qualitative research focused on public health, health policy, and mental health and addictions.

Sandra Ka Hon Chu is a lawyer and co-executive director of the HIV Legal Network, a health justice organization that works to uphold the human rights of people living with and affected by HIV or AIDS and other populations disproportionately affected by HIV, punitive laws and policies, and criminalization, in Canada and internationally. She has helped guide the Legal Network’s litigation in key court cases in Canada and internationally, including lawsuits challenging governments’ failure to adopt prison-based needle and syringe programs and criminal laws governing sex work, and provincial laws and policies restricting the operation of supervised consumption services.

Chris Cull overcame a near decade long opioid addiction and is a two-time cross Canada cyclist, healthcare worker, filmmaker, mental health and addictions advocate and policy consultant. He has shared his expertise and advised numerous institutions, including but not limited to, Ontario Health, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM), the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), the Canadian Minister of Health, the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the World Health Organization's Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Mental Health, Neurological and Substance Use Conditions.

Tara Gomes is Scientific Director of the Urban and Community Health Pillar at Unity Health Toronto, Program Director of the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, and a Scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital and ICES. She is also a Professor at the University of Toronto and holds a Canada Research Chair in Drug Policy Research and Substance Use.  Her research program focuses on pharmacoepidemiology, drug safety and drug policy research, with a specific interest in developing evidence to inform policies that address the ongoing drug toxicity crisis across Canada and that integrate perspectives of impacted communities.