IHE/CAPT Precision Health Workshop: Key People

Speaker and Panelist Biographies

Louise Binder
Health Policy Consultant, Save Your Skin Foundation

Louise is a lawyer and health advocate who has been involved in informing the development of health policy and systemic treatment access practices from a patient perspective for more than 20 years. She started her work in this area in the HIV community in the early 1990s after her own diagnosis and before effective treatments were available for HIV. She co-founded the Canadian Treatment Action Council (CTAC) in 1996, which successfully ensured access to treatments and quality care for people living with HIV by working with the federal and provincial governments and other relevant stakeholders to enhance drug review and approval systems, pricing policies and access to liver transplants for this community. She wrote a paper on universal drug coverage a decade ago while chair of CTAC. She had a special interest in women's issues, chairing the Ontario women's organization Voice of Positive Women for more than a decade, and has been involved in these issues internationally as well. Two years ago, Louise began similar work in the cancer area and is presently health policy consultant for the Canadian Cancer Survivor Network. She has been recognized by many organizations for her work, including receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from her alma mater, Queen's Law School; the Order of Ontario from the Province of Ontario; and two Queen Elizabeth II medals.

Katherine Bonter
Director of Intellectual Property, Clementia Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Katherine has more than 15 years’ experience in intellectual property (IP) management and corporate development in the biopharmaceutical domain both in the private- and public-sector. Between 2009 and 2016, she worked for a National Centre of Excellence mandated with enabling personalized medicine innovation. This role included research and promotional activities as well as developing and managing the IP interests of the host institution as well as projects funded by the Centre. Starting in 2013, she was involved in Genome Canada funded academic research projects with a focus on patenting and clinical development trends. Her main research interest is the relationship between public policy and innovation. She is currently completing a PhD on this topic at McGill University. She is also currently Director of Intellectual Property for Clementia Pharmaceuticals, a Canadian Biopharma company repurposing small molecule therapies for rare diseases. Together with BioCanRx, an Ottawa-based Centre of Excellence, as well as other public- and private-sector partners, Katherine is involved in creating a stakeholder alliance, Alliance for Innovation in Molecular Diagnostics (AIMD). The main objective of the alliance is to enable improved market access and clinical implementation of molecular diagnostics in Canada by informing and advocating for policy reform.

Judy McPhee
Consultant, McPh2 Consulting

Judy recently retired from government, where she held the position of Executive Director of Pharmaceutical Services and Extended Health Benefits with the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness. In this role, she was responsible for advising and setting the strategic direction for the funding and use of medications in Nova Scotia. Judy is a pharmacist and, in addition to having experience in formulary management and the development of policy and legislation, she has experience in different facets of pharmacy. Before joining government in 2004, she worked for many years as a pharmacy manager in a large tertiary care hospital. She has also worked in community practice and in the pharmaceutical industry, and has been very active in many jurisdictional and professional committees at both the national and provincial level including having been Chair of the Drug Policy Advisory Committee at CADTH and Co- Chair of the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance for both brand and generic. She is currently a member of the National Drug Scheduling Advisory Committee.

Jennifer Pillay
MSc Student, University of Alberta

Jennifer has been working in research with the University of Alberta since 2005, and joined the Alberta Research Centre for Health Evidence in 2013. At ARCHE, she leads and contributes to all aspects of various forms of evidence synthesis and methods projects, within the University of Alberta Evidence-based Practice Center, commissioned by the U.S. Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality, and an Evidence Review Synthesis Centre, funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada and informing recommendations of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care. She has been working towards her MSc in the School of Public Health, specializing in Health Technology Assessment, for which she is conducting a thesis on the topic of assessment of companion diagnostics to help inform reimbursement decisions in Alberta.

Kelly Robinson
Director, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada

Kelly joined Health Canada in 2001. After 10 years with Health Canada’s Marketed Health Products Directorate, Kelly joined the Therapeutic Products Directorate in 2011. She is currently the Director of the Bureau of Metabolism, Oncology and Reproductive Sciences. In this role she leads a team of Scientists who are responsible for reviewing pharmaceutical drug submissions and recommending drugs for authorization in Canada.

Jim Slater
Chief Executive Officer, Diagnostic Services Manitoba

Jim began his career as a Medical Laboratory Technologist (MLT) and completed his advanced certification in Transfusion Medicine (ART) at Vancouver General Hospital. He furthered his education by completing his Bachelor of Science (BSc) and Masters of Business Administration (MBA). Jim held leadership positions at the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region where he was Executive Director of the Laboratory, Diagnostic Imaging, Nuclear Medicine and Infection Control & Infectious Diseases departments from 2003 to 2008. He became CEO of Diagnostic Services Manitoba in October 2011. Jim is currently Executive Sponsor for Choosing Wisely Manitoba as well as Personalized Medicine Manitoba. He serves on the Board of the Healthcare Reciprocal Insurance of Canada (HIROC), Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP), Advisory Medical Board for Cancer Care Manitoba and volunteers on the Board of Food Matters Manitoba (FFM). His appointments as Instructor, at the University of Manitoba and as Instructor, at Red River College provide an opportunity to share his passion for teaching leadership concepts and health system transformation to physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.