Aditi (she/her) currently works at Canadian Blood Services as a Medical Officer and a Hematologist and Transfusion Specialist at St Michael's Hospital and Sunnybrook Health Sciences in Toronto. Aditi completed her medical degree at McGill University, and her post-graduate training in Internal Medicine, Hematology, Transfusion Medicine and a Masters in Systems Leadership and Innovation at the University of Toronto. More importantly, she is a proud naturalized Canadian, a daughter to two aging parents who bravely started their life anew in a foreign land, a sister to an assault survivor, an aunt to two happy boys with the brightest sparkle in their eye and a dog parent.
She is a stem cell registrant, previously a blood donor no longer eligible, a blood prescriber, a passionate advocate for improving blood use and availability and a medical educator. She is willing to talk to anyone who wants to donate and will hold your hand through the process.
Delaney Hines is currently the Senior Manager of Health Equity and Partnerships at Heart and Stroke and holds a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Science from Carleton University, a Master of Public Health from Western University’s Interfaculty program in Public Health at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, and a Master of Business Administration from Quantic School of Business and Technology. Delaney brings over 11 years of experience working in public health research digital health, and most recently equity, inclusion, and diversity.
His interest in advancing the equity of Sickle Cell Disease care, and health promotion activities such as genetic screening stems from his time supporting the Ethical, Social, and Cultural (ESC) Program for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Health and Global Development programs at St. Michael’s Hospital and the International Network for Evaluating Outcomes (iNeo) of neonates at the Maternal-Infant Care Research Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Delaney has served as lead for the Postgraduate Medical Education Global Health Education Initiative (GHEI) for residents and fellows from 2010 – 2019 and the Global Health Mini-Masters (GHMM) summer program for Grade 7-12 students since 2016
Dr. Simpson received her medical degree from McGill University and completed her Pediatrics training and Hematology/Oncology fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. During her fellowship, she also completed a Master’s in Public Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Lembi Buchanan is a leading advocate for Canadians living with mental illness, taking on the Canada Revenue Agency single handedly – and winning. Her dedication and perseverance lobbying the federal government for more than 20 years has helped to ensure fair tax treatment for her husband Jim and others living with disabling conditions that prevent them from fully participating in activities of daily living. In 2001, Lembi established her “Fighting for Fairness” campaign and spearheaded the Coalition for Disability Tax Credit Reform that led to important amendments in the Income Tax Act.
She was subsequently appointed to several federal advisory committees that brought about major improvements in the administration of tax credits for all Canadians with disabilities. As co-chair of the Disability Tax Fairness Alliance, Lembi continues her advocacy work to ensure that government policies do not discriminate against some of the most vulnerable members of our society.
Aisha Bruce is a Pediatric Hematologist specializing in sickle cell disease at the Stollery Childrens Hospital, Edmonton Alberta and is an Associate Professor at the University of Alberta. Her research passion includes quality of life and investigating patient directed outcomes. She is passionate about improving quality of life for and the longevity of people living with sickle cell disease.
Devan is an experienced government relations advisor with extensive experience on behalf of clients in the health care sector, including patient advocacy groups, and has supported SCAGO in its Ontario government relations efforts since 2020. Prior to joining Counsel in 2014, Devan served as Senior Policy Advisor responsible for Land Use Planning & Development for two Ontario Ministers of Municipal Affairs and Housing. He also formerly served as an advisor and special assistant to the Minister of Labour and the Premier of Ontario.
Dr. Andrea Cervi is a hematologist at the Windsor Regional Hospital, Windsor, Ontario where she currently serves as the Thrombosis Department head. Her practice is mixed but predominantly focuses on non-malignant hematology, with an emphasis on hemoglobinopathies and thrombosis.
Jaspreet Randhawa (HBSc, MHSc) is a healthcare innovator and educator in the fields of pediatrics, orthopedics, cardiology and urinary health. Jaspreet is completing her Master of Medical Science (MMSc) in Medical Education at Harvard Medical School. Jaspreet completed her Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Medical Sciences with a minor in applied computing from Brock University and her Master of Health Science in the Translational Research Program at the University of Toronto. Her areas of professional interest include learner assessment, curriculum development, translating evidence-based clinical guidelines into practice, and critically analyzing the role of technology in medical education.
Jaspreet is the Project Manager of the Pediatric Colostomy Training Module and the Project Co-Manager of the Tibial Fracture Fixation Training Module at Medical Makers. Jaspreet is the Co-Founder and CTO of Specifix Dx (14528573 Canada Inc). Jaspreet is a cardiology research fellow with the Cardiovascular Network of Canada (CANet) at Western University.
Peola Ellis is a recent graduate from the University of Toronto where she studied Translational Research in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences under the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. Currently, Peola alongside her team members Fairuz, Geil, Jaz and Janine are developing an HCP module that focuses on improving SCD care for youth that transition from pediatric to adult healthcare.
Previously, Peola completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa where she pursued a Bachelors Honours in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences with a Minor in Life Sciences and Specialization in Integrative Health Biosciences. Outside of academia, Peola enjoys graphic design and creative arts.
Fairuz Karim is a recent graduate of the Translational Research Program at the University of Toronto where she completed an MHSc in Translational Research. To develop an intervention that could better bridge the gap between the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare for youth with SCD, Fairuz and her capstone team (Geil Astorga, Peola Ellis, Jaspreet Randhawa, and Janine Noorloos) conducted research with individuals living with SCD and healthcare providers to co-design an educational module framework that could be used by healthcare providers to be better informed.
Fairuz and her team are now working with Karen Fleming from the Sickle Cell Awareness Group of Ontario to develop this module as part of their Sickle Cell Disease Education Program for Healthcare Providers. Fairuz is passionate about the connections between health equity, intersectionality, and sustainability.