SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

TUFH Program Manager, The Network: Towards Unity For Health (TUFH)

Aricia is the TUFH Program Manager for The Network: TUFH. She is responsible for the annual conferences, coordinating with the co-host. She coordinates the Organizing and Scientific Committees for the TUFH conferences. She oversees Virtual Programming, Student Development and Mentoring, Digital Development and Technology, and the Social Media and Membership Support. She works closely with the Regional Board Members to support their roles in membership growth and attract new members. She is responsible for the TUFH Online Community and is the first point of contact for all current and new members. In addition, Aricia is the liaison to the Student Network Organization Aricia holds a Masters in Health Education and Promotion from Ghent University and a Bachelor in Midwifery from Erasmus Hogeschool. She works as an independent midwife in Belgium and gives prenatal lessons, prenatal care, and postnatal follow-up. Prior to The Network: TUFH Aricia worked as a midwife in Gambia, Finland, United Kingdom, and Belgium in low-risk birthing units. She co-founded and was the first president of the Student Network Organization in 2015. She has been attending TUFH annual conferences since 2012.

Executive Director, The Network: Towards Unity For Health (TUFH)

Nicholas Torres (M.Ed.) works at the cross section between the private sector, government, and not-for-profits and aligns them toward collective social impact goals and public policy. Nick has over 20 years of experience in executive management. Nick founded and currently leads a social sector “think-tank” organization; and teaches at the University of Pennsylvania.

At-Large Regional Board Member, The Network: Towards Unity For Health (TUFH)

William Burdick (MD, MSEd) is Vice President for Education at FAIMER, and co-founder of the FAIMER Institute. William is Professor of Emergency Medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine and has been recognized for teaching excellence with the Lindback Award and the Trustees’ Award.

African Regional Board Member, The Network: Towards Unity For Health (TUFH)

Professor, Department of Public Health, Babcock University

South-East Asian Regional Board Member, The Network: Towards Unity For Health (TUFH)

Activist, Gender, Health & Human Rights

European Regional Board Member, The Network: Towards Unity For Health (TUFH)

European Regional Board Member, The Network: TUFH Professor in Nursing, VIVES University of Applied Science, Belgium Coordinator VIVES LiveLab: Interprofessional Education Researcher Centre of Expertise for Care Innovation, VIVES

Eastern Mediterranean Regional Board Member, The Network: Towards Unity For Health (TUFH)

Assistant Professor of Medical Education, College of Medicine and Acting Director of Medical Education Center, University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

North American Regional Board Member, The Network: Towards Unity For Health (TUFH)

Amy Clithero-Eridon is a faculty member in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.  Amy has a PhD in Family Medicine from the University of Kwazaulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa as well as a Masters of Business Administration with a health systems concentration and a Masters level certification in Medical Education.  In addition to teaching medical students about social determinants of health, health policy, and health services research, Amy participates in numerous educational research initiatives focusing on educational best practices and social accountability within medical education. 

Dr. Deanne (Dee) Taylor is the Scientific Director of the Rural Coordination Centre of BC
(RCCbc), the Corporate Director of Research, Interior Health and Adjunct Professor at UBC-O
in the Faculty of Health and Social Development. Over her career, Dr. Taylor has cultivated
partnerships with academic institutions within British Columbia, nationally and internationally.
She leads, cultivates, and facilitates a range of research and knowledge translation activities with
the aim of enhancing the use of evidence into practice and enabling broad engagement in
research. She is an advocate and active role model for scholarly practice, raising the profile and
engagement of research, evidence-informed practice/decision-making, and knowledge translation
in the Interior region and the province.
Dr. Taylor has a Baccalaureate in Athletic Therapy, a Masters of Disability & Community
Studies, a PhD in Community Health Science, completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship with the
Centre on Aging, Mount Saint Vincent University and completed the Fellowship in Health
Systems Transformation program from the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta.
She has presented at numerous times at local, provincial, national and international conferences
and scientific meetings in sociology, gerontology, and health care. She is a principal investigator,
co-investigator, and collaborator on a several research projects that range from regional,
provincial, national, and international levels. The focus of these projects include resident/patient
experience, care-giving, family, health and aging, policy, regulations, and the intersection
between worker characteristics and workplace conditions influences on the conditions of care.

Nelly D. Oelke
Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Okanagan
Scientific Director, Rural Coordination Centre of BC

Dr. Oelke is a health services researcher focused on integrated health systems and health services delivery with a specific focus on primary healthcare. My areas of interest include: interprofessional teams, mental health, and rural health. I am largely a qualitative researcher with expertise in integrated knowledge translation including deliberative dialogue.

Outside of work, I enjoy walking, gardening, hiking, and cross-country skiing. I am a mother to two daughters (both are nurses) and three grandchildren that I very much miss seeing given our current context.

Mustapha Aminu Tukur is a fifth year Medical Student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria who is passionate about achieving Universal Health Coverage using an interdisciplinary service delivery lens.

Rabia Khan

Michael Glasser

Co-Editor-In-Chief, Education for Health

Björg Pálsdóttir

Chief Executive Officer Training Health Equity Network (THEnet)

Akiko Maeda

Paulo Marcondes

David Bor

David Marsh

is the Chief Medical Director for Canadian Addiction Treatment Centres and Professor Clinical Sciences at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

Tine Hansen-Turton 

Specified Project Manager, Rural Coordination Centre of BC

Bruce Chater Head, Discipline of Rural and Remote Medicine Rural Clinical School The University of Queensland, Australia

Executive Assistant, Rural Coordination Centre of BC

Daniel Harper is an Executive Assistant with the Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc). He joined RCCbc in 2021 and is located on the ancestral, traditional, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (TsleilWaututh) Nations, also known as Vancouver.

Before joining RCCbc, Daniel worked for four years in the UBC Department of Sociology. He has a dual honours BA in Spanish and Chinese and a Masters in Languages & Cultural Research from the University of Manchester. He is passionate about his new career path in the healthcare field and is looking forward to being part of TUFH 2022.

Executive Assistant, Rural Coordination Centre of BC

Ashley Medwid is an Executive Assistant with the Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc). She joined RCCbc in 2018 and is located on the ancestral, traditional, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (TsleilWaututh) Nations, also known as Vancouver.

Throughout her time with RCCbc, she has taken part in many provincial conferences and gatherings. This is her first TUFH Conference and she is excited about taking part.

Networks Coordinator, Rural Coordination Centre of BC

Paul Kendal is Networks Coordinator with the Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc). He is located on the ancestral, traditional, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (TsleilWaututh) Nations. He has participated in one previous TUFH conference and is excited to bring TUFH to BC, where he is thrilled to help BC communities tell their stories on the world stage.entation.

Senior Director, Ministry of Health | Mental Health & Addictions | Elders, Metis Nation BC

Tanya Davoren is in her 14th year as a Senior Director for Metis Nation British Columbia. She has been married for 24yrs to her husband Rob and is a proud mother of 3 children. Tanya is passionate and committed to her work and the relationships she has built across numerous sectors. Tanya’s career started as a Registered Nurse over 20 years ago, working in hospital as a full-time float RN and then as a Patient Care Coordinator/Nursing Care Clinician. In 2008, she took a “leap of faith” and left the formal healthcare system, and started a career supporting the health needs of the Métis community. This position allowed her to highlight and put her knowledge, advocacy skills, and unique leadership style to work for her Nation. Tanya has grown the MNBC Health | Mental Health & Addictions | Elders Ministry team to 17 staff positions across the province.

As the Senior Director, she has negotiated many contribution agreements at both the federal and provincial levels. In addition, Tanya is the lead on the information-sharing agreement between the BC Ministry of Health and Metis Nation British Columbia’s central registry resulting in a Metis Client File of almost 18,000 Citizens. Tanya is well known in BC for her collaborative working style, program development, and community outreach. Tanya has combined the celebration of her Métis heritage and her passion for health, where she actively works towards improved health and wellness for her fellow Métis Citizens as MNBC’s Senior Director of Health | Mental Health & Addictions | Elders.

Director, Urban and Away from Home, Office of the Chief Operating Officer, First Nations Health Authority

Wayne Wallace is a descendant of the Wolastoqey Nation and a member of the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation with First Nation and French family roots in northwestern New Brunswick. After acquiring a Bachelor of Education from the Université de Moncton and a Law Degree from the University of Ottawa, Wayne began a career as a federal public servant with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada where he spent 22 years working with First Nations in the context of Band governance, Specific Claims and treaty negotiations. Throughout his public service career, he gained valuable leadership competencies and skills as well as experience in negotiations, consultations, conflict resolution, establishing and maintaining partnerships,  providing strategic advice, program and policy development, managing interdepartmental and intergovernmental files, financial and human resource management – to name a few.

From May 2017 to May 2021, as part of the Interchange Canada program, Wayne worked with the First Nations Health Authority as an Executive Advisor. During this period, Wayne supported, amongst other projects and initiatives, the organization in its response to the 2017 BC wildfires crisis; co-led the planning, development and delivery of the First Nations Primary Care + Mental Health and Wellness Summit, and; led work in support of the urban and away-from-home population including the research and development of the FNHA’s Urban and Away-from-Home Health and Wellness Framework which launched in October 2020. On May 3 2021, Wayne joined permanently the FNHA as the inaugural Director, Urban and Away from Home and looks forward to continuing to support the health and wellness of all First Nations people in BC, including the urban and away-from-home population and the broader Indigenous population.

After obtaining degrees in Medicine and Ophthalmology from Université de Sherbrooke in Canada, Hélène Boisjoly specialized in Cornea at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and the Schepens Eye Research Institute, affiliated with Harvard University. Later, she obtained a Master of Public Health degree from the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. She was a clinician-scientist at Université Laval (1983-1993) in Québec City before moving to Université de Montreal (1993-present). She was the first Scientific Director of the Quebec Province Vision Health Research Network (1996-2002). A full professor at Université de Montréal since 1998, she served as Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology (2000-2008) and as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine (2011-2020). Her research interests include corneal transplant outcome, ocular herpes viral disease, and functional visual outcomes after ocular surgeries and in patients with low vision from chronic eye diseases. She received research funding, and trained students and fellows without interruption until 2013. She is a member of several Boards of directors and organizations for the advancement of science and medical education. Since 2012, she leads Université de Montréal as a member of the M8 Alliance, an international network of universities and national academies dedicated to improving global health. Member of the Order of Canada and of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, she was also awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Canadian Ophthalmological Society and by the Harvard Ophthalmology Department.

Directeur de la Direction en santé mondiale at Univérsité Laval

Candice Chen, MD, MPH, is the Chair of Beyond Flexner Alliance (BFA) and an Associate Professor in the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University.