Linda Wilhelm is the President of The Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance, a national, volunteer, patient driven organization that has worked to improve the lives of people living with arthritis since 2002. She is co-chair of the Steering Committee for the Chronic Pain Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR) Network, as well as a member of the networks patient advisory committee. She is also a member of The Evidence Alliance (SPOR) Network. Linda has participated in past Health Canada expert advisory panels and numerous conferences concerning access and drug safety issues. She is a former member of both the Expert Advisory Committee for Vigilance of Health Products and the Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network’s steering committee. Ms. Wilhelm has been an active advocate for treatment access and quality of care for all patients both regionally and nationally for over twenty years and is a past board chair for the New Brunswick Division of the Arthritis Society. Ms. Wilhelm has been living with Rheumatoid Arthritis for over thirty five years. Ms. Wilhelm is a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Golden and Diamond Medal and the 2015 Arthritis Alliance of Canada Qualman/Davies Patient and Consumer Leadership Award.
Dr. Tanya Horsley is the Associate Director, Research, at the Royal College. She is also the Principal Scientist with over 100 peer-reviewed abstracts and publications. She is a proud faculty member within the School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, where she teaches approaches to evidence syntheses including systematic and scoping review methods. Tanya leads a program of research looking at the formalization of integrated knowledge translation for the co-creation, use and influence of research and complex systems of care with an interest on patient & caregiver engagement. She is frequently sought after for her expertise in evidence synthesis approaches and work in reporting guideline development.
Christina Godfrey is an Associate Professor at Queen’s University School of Nursing and the Scientific Director/Methodologist for the Queen’s Collaboration for Health Care Quality: A JBI Centre of Excellence. As a specialist in research synthesis methodologies, she has received formal synthesis training through the Cochrane Collaboration and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI), and is a certified as a trainer in the JBI method of synthesis.
Dr. Godfrey provides methodological support to faculty, clinicians and graduate students internal to Queen’s University and to emerging synthesis groups and centres throughout Canada. She is a member of five international methodology committees focused on advancing the methodology of synthesis.
Sharon E. Straus is a geriatrician and clinical epidemiologist who trained at the University of Toronto and the University of Oxford. She is the Director of the Knowledge Translation Program and Deputy Physician-in-Chief, St. Michael’s Hospital; Director, Division of Geriatric Medicine, University of Toronto; Vice Chair, and Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto.
Dr. Straus currently holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Knowledge Translation and Quality of Care and has authored more than 400 peer-reviewed publications and 3 textbooks in evidence-based medicine, knowledge translation and mentorship. She is in the top 1% of highly cited clinical researchers as per Web of Science. She holds more than $57 million in peer reviewed research grants as a principal investigator. She has received national awards for mentorship, research and education.
PhD, MSc
@ATricco
Dr. Andrea C. Tricco is a Scientist and Director of the Knowledge Synthesis Team in the Knowledge Translation Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health & Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation. She is Co-Director & Adjunct Associate Professor for the Queen’s Collaboration for Health Care Quality JBI (formerly Joanna Briggs Institute) Centre of Excellence at Queen’s University and Nominated Principal Investigator of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) Evidence Alliance.
Dr. Tricco holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Knowledge Synthesis and has over 325 peer-reviewed publications. She has conducted knowledge synthesis at the international (e.g. World Health Organization), national (e.g. Health Canada), provincial (e.g. Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care), and local (e.g. Toronto Central Local Health Integrated Network) levels. She is the Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.
Annie LeBlanc is a clinical epidemiologist, Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Investigator in the Research Center of the Quebec Institute of Primary Healthcare and Social Services, Quebec, Affiliate Investigator, Knowledge and Evaluation Research Unit, Mayo Clinic, USA, and Interim Director, Capacity Building & Professional Development Core, Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR) Quebec SUPPORT Unit, Quebec.
Dr. LeBlanc’s research centers around the translation of comparative effectiveness research into practice through the design, evaluation, implementation, and sustainability of patient-centered interventions and their impact on patient important outcomes. She lives in Quebec City with her husband and two children.
Priscille-Nice Sanon is a sickle cell survivor. She was diagnosed with Sickle Cell type SS at birth. Due to complication to this disease, she has received over 100 blood transfusion and a bone marrow transplant. She is involved in patient engagement and has a passion for health research. She graduated with a master degree in pharmaceutical science: pharmacoepidemiology from Université Laval. She was also involved with the Quebec SPOR unit as a patient coordinator for University Laval and collaborated on several research projects as a patient. Being a patient partner allowed her to put her passion for research and volunteering at work while being able to make a lasting impact on health research.
