Chris Simpson was born in Moncton in 1967 and raised in Nackawic, a small pulp mill town of 1,000 people in western New Brunswick.  Torn between pursuing a career in music or medicine, he obtained a BSc at the University of New Brunswick while playing saxophone with The Thomists, a 20-piece big swing band based in Fredericton and well-known across the Atlantic provinces. 

He went on to medical school at Dalhousie University in Halifax and obtained his MD in 1992.  He subsequently completed internal medicine and cardiology training at Queen’s University in Kingston and then a Heart and Stroke Foundation Clinical and Research Fellowship in Cardiac Electrophysiology at the University of Western Ontario, under the supervision of Dr. George Klein.                                                      

After returning to Kingston in 1999, he founded the Heart Rhythm Program at Kingston General Hospital, establishing catheter ablation and implantable defibrillator programs as well as the inherited heart rhythm disease clinic. From 2006-2016 he served as Professor and Head of Cardiology at Queen’s University, as well as Medical Director of the Cardiac Programs at Kingston General Hospital/Hotel Dieu Hospital.  From 2016-2021, he served as the Vice-Dean (Clinical) of the Queen’s University Faculty of Health Sciences and Medical Director of the Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Organization (SEAMO), stepping in as Acting Dean of the Faculty and Acting CEO of SEAMO for 6 months in 2019.

Currently, he is the Executive Vice President (Medical) and Chief Medical Officer at Ontario Health – the provincial agency overseeing Ontario’s health care system.  He is also an Affiliate Scientist with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES-Queen’s) and a member of the Queen’s School of Policy Studies Health Policy Council.

Dr. Simpson’s primary non-clinical professional interest is health policy – particularly access to care, seniors’ care, wait times and medical fitness to drive.  He served as the chair of the Wait Time Alliance (WTA) – a federation of 17 medical specialty societies and the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) – and is a past chair of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society’s (CCS) Standing Committee on Health Policy and Advocacy.  He has served on the Cardiac Care Network of Ontario (CorHealth) Board of Directors, is a past member of the CCS executive and a former governor of the American College of Cardiology.  He served as the Canadian representative at the World Medical Association. He currently serves as chair of Ontario Health’s Quality Standards Committee. 

He served as the first president of the Canadian Heart Rhythm Society – the national association of heart rhythm specialists and allied health professionals.  Over the years he has served on numerous editorial boards and advisory committees, and has chaired or been a member of several national consensus conferences and guidelines statements, including the CCS Consensus Conference on Medical Fitness to Drive and Fly, of which he was co-chair.  He is a co-editor of the CMA Driver’s Guide. 

He served as the 2014-2015 President of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), during which he championed seniors’ care and helped to guide the profession on the issues of medical aid in dying (MAID) and medical marijuana.  In 2015, Dr. Simpson was elected to fellowship in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and served as CAHS President in 2020-2021. 

An active clinician, educator and researcher, Dr. Simpson has authored or co-authored over 350 peer reviewed papers and abstracts and has won numerous teaching awards.  His clinical and research interests include access to care and medical wait times, medical fitness to drive, atrial fibrillation, sudden death in the young, catheter ablation and cardiac resynchronization therapy. 

Outside medicine, Dr. Simpson is a proud supporter of University Hospitals Kingston Foundation and Queen’s Advancement. He has served as Chair of the Kingston Blue Marlins Swim Team Board of Directors and as a director on the Board of Cantabile Choirs of Kingston.  The proud father of three daughters and a son, he immensely enjoys watching and cheering their academic, musical and athletic pursuits.

Dr. John Muscedere, MD, FRCPC, is an intensivist at Kingston General Hospital (KGH), and Professor of Critical Care Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Queen’s University. He also serves as the Research Director of the Critical Care Program at Queen’s and KGH, and Co-Chair of the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group (CCCTG) Knowledge Translation Committee.

John is an accomplished critical care researcher whose primary research interests include nosocomial infections, clinical practice guidelines, knowledge translation and critical care outcomes. He has led or participated in the development of many national and international clinical practice guidelines which have guided critical care practice including guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of ventilator associated pneumonia, hypothermia post cardiac arrest, calcium channel blocker poisoning and sepsis. 

In addition to his clinical and academic posts, John is the Scientific Director and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Frailty Network (CFN), a not-for-profit funded under Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program. CFN is improving care of the frail elderly by: increasing frailty recognition and assessment, increasing evidence for decision-making, mobilizing evidence into policy and practice, and advocating for change in the healthcare system to meet the needs of this vulnerable population.

As an intensivist, he has first-hand knowledge of caring for critically ill frail older adults both in academic and community settings, as well as a keen interest in the design of healthcare systems to optimize patient centered outcomes.  He has participated in the redesign of the Ontario provincial critical care system including serving as the regional critical care lead for the South East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) for 10 years.

Dr. Finlayson's research program focuses on developing, implementing and evaluating self-management programs and rehabilitation services to enhance the health and well-being of people affected by multiple sclerosis (MS). These people include both individuals with the disease and their family caregivers. The ultimate goal of Dr. Finlayson's scholarship is to enable people affected by MS to lead healthy, meaningful lives, and exert choice and control over their participation in daily activities at home and in the community particularly as they age. Her specific topical interests include falls prevention, fatigue management, caregiver support, and utilization of health-related services. She is the co-founder of the International MS Falls Prevention Research Network, which includes 9 other MS rehabilitation researchers from the US, Ireland, Italy, and the UK.

Robert (Bob) Watts is a much sought after expert in Indigenous policy, negotiations, training and conflict resolution.

He is the former Interim Executive Director of the Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which examined and made recommendations regarding the Indian Residential School era and its legacy. Bob led the process, supported by an excellent team and many organizations from across Canada and internationally, to create the policies and processes in order to firmly establish the Commission.

Bob also served as the Chief of Staff to the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine, where he was a member of the team that negotiated the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the largest class action settlement in Canada’s history.

His public service includes Assistant Deputy Minister for the Government of Canada and Senior Executive in Ontario. Bob is a graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and Fellow at the Harvard Law School where he researched and lectured on the role culture plays in conflict. Bob has had the benefit of excellent Indigenous mentorship and western learning which allows him to work well in both worlds. Some of his Indigenous learning has focused on medicine plants, traditional songs, traditional environmental knowledge and leadership. Bob has led the negotiations of co-management agreements, helped build strong corporate partnerships and has lead processes focused on strategic plans and community development.

In 2019 Bob served as Chief of Staff to National Chief Perry Bellegarde and played a key role in historic budget allocations and the passage of Bills C-91 and 92.  Currently, Bob is the Vice President of Indigenous Relations at the NWMO and an Adjunct Professor and Distinguished Fellow at Queen’s University, Kingston Ontario where he developed one the first graduate level courses on Reconciliation in the country.

Bob is a Board Member with the Consensus Building Institute, Cambridge MA and with the Indigenous Advanced Education and Skills Council.  He is also the Chair of the Downie-Wenjack Fund and Chair of Reconciliation Canada.   Bob is a recipient of the Indspire Award for Public Service and recently received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from McMaster University. He has taught, debated and lectured at a number of universities in Canada and the United States.

He is from the Mohawk and Ojibway Nations and resides at Six Nations Reserve, Ontario. Bob carries and honours his Ojibwe Spirit Name, Kinoozishingwak (Tall Pine) and is a member of the Bear Clan.

David M.C. Walker is Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the School of Medicine at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., where he is cross-appointed to the School of Policy Studies. He is a member of the consultant staff at Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC).

Born in England, Dr. Walker attended Harrow School then immigrated to Canada. He graduated with an MD from Queen’s and was certified in internal medicine. He was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1975.

A career in academic emergency medicine at Queen’s and KHSC led to roles as department head, associate and vice-dean. From 1999 to 2010, he was Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, director of the university’s School of Medicine and CEO of the Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Organization (SEAMO).

Dr. Walker has been President of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and Chair of the Council of Ontario Faculties of Medicine. He has served government (by Order in Council) as Chair of the Expert Panel on SARS and Infectious Disease Control. He served as inaugural Board Chair of the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion (Public Health Ontario), and as an advisor to ministers of health on policy areas concerning public health and ageing, and more recently to the Auditor General of Ontario and Ontario’s Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission.

At Queen’s, Dr. Walker chaired the Principal’s Commission on Mental Health as well as the coordination and planning for the university’s 175th anniversary, served for three years as interim executive director of the School of Policy Studies and, most recently, was Special Advisor to Principal Patrick Deane on COVID-19.

He chairs the Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Ontario Health Team’s Transitional Leadership Collaborative and teaches in the schools of medicine and policy studies at Queen’s.

Lori Turnbull is the Director of the School of Public Administration and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Dalhousie University.

From July 2015 until July 2017, she was on secondment to the Privy Council Office (PCO), first as a Policy Advisor in the Machinery of Government Secretariat, then as Departmental Liaison to the Office of the Minister of Democratic Institutions, and finally as a Policy Advisor at the Priorities and Planning Secretariat.

Lori's research and teaching focus on parliamentary democracy and governance, public sector ethics, and democratic reform. She has taught political science and public administration at Dalhousie, Queen’s, Carleton, and Acadia universities. She has published a number of articles and book chapters and freelances with The Globe and Mail.  She is a featured columnist with the Canadian Government Executive magazine.

Her book Democratizing the Constitution: Reforming Responsible Government, co-authored with Mark Jarvis and the late Peter Aucoin, won the Donner Prize in 2011 and the Donald Smiley Prize in 2012.

Dr. Martha Munezhi is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the School of Policy Studies in Kingston, Canada. She is also the Executive Director, Bridging Divides at the Office of the Vice President-Research and Innovation at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), Toronto, Canada. 

Martha holds PhD, MSc and BSc degrees in Sociology, Demography and Economics. Her current work focuses on administrative management of the  Migrant Integration in the Mid-21st Century: Bridging Divides research program. Bridging Divides is a Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) research program that uses analytics, artificial intelligence and data-driven research to build a modern understanding of migrant integration in urban centres, locally and around the world. 

Martha has conducted research at numerous academic, government and not-for-profit organizations in Canada, the United States and Zimbabwe and believes in the importance of data-driven decisions and research that improves lives. Her research has been funded by grants from Queen’s University Faculty Association (QUFA) and Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). 

She is a Fulbright Fellow (2011-2013), Population Reference Bureau Fellow (2014-2015) and Philanthropic Education Organisation Fellow (2013-2014). She served on Queen’s University’s Senate as a Staff Senator; was a member of Queen’s University’s General Research Ethics Board; served on the Board of Kingston Community Health Centres and Kingston Health Sciences Centre; and led the Black Community Representation and Inclusion Working Group that is implementing the Scarborough Charter at Queen’s University.

Jamshed Merchant started his career as a Faculty Lecturer/Research Associate in the Department of Geography at McGill University. Following this, Jamshed joined the Alberta Department of Environment as a soil scientist providing advice to landowners, energy industry staff and other government officials on land reclamation principles and practices across the province.

Whilst still in Alberta, Jamshed joined the federal public service as a Soil Conservationist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). In this capacity he worked with farmers, local decision makers, farm organizations, academia and provincial officials across the Prairie Provinces to promote and implement environmentally sustainable agricultural practices. Jamshed also worked as Director of Communications for a branch of AAFC that was headquartered in Regina, SK.

Jamshed moved to Ottawa and assumed the role of Executive Assistant to the Deputy Minister of AAFC and then as AAFC’s Director General of Strategic Business Planning. Jamshed left AAFC to become the Director General of Government on Line and e-Services in the department of Canadian Heritage.

Following this, Jamshed joined the Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada. Initially as the Executive Director for Transport, Infrastructure and the Environment and then as Assistant Secretary responsible for Aboriginal and Northern Affairs, the Climate Change Review and the Blue Ribbon Panel on Grants and Contributions.

Jamshed returned to AAFC as Assistant Deputy Minister, Agri-Environment Services Branch. Following this, Jamshed assumed his last position in the federal public service, before retiring, as Consul General for Canada in the US Upper Mid-West, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Jamshed has a BSc in Environmental Science from the University of East Anglia, UK and an MSc in Pedology and Soil Survey from the University of Reading, UK.