Healthcare

Kunal Parikh is a physician-turned-digital health strategist dedicated to transforming healthcare through technology, aging innovation, and caregiver support. After practicing medicine in India for three years, he transitioned into digital health to drive systemic impact beyond individual patient care. Over the past six years, Kunal has led aging and caregiving initiatives that reshaped healthcare delivery. As the first employee at a startup, he helped scale operations from a Minimum Viable Product to a commercial platform serving 12,000 unpaid caregivers across North America. His efforts reduced caregiver burnout by 12%, improved confidence by 20%, and boosted client retention to 95%. His research on virtual caregiver training identified a critical gap – many caregivers don’t recognize themselves as such. This led to his TEDx talk, “Did You Know You Are A Caregiver?”, and the development of a framework for senior-serving organizations to enhance caregiver inclusion. At Queen’s University, Kunal earned the Award of Excellence for his contributions to aging and caregiving research. He designed “The Anatomy of an Ideal Caregiver Intervention”, a workshop guiding age-tech companies in sustainable caregiver program design. He also co-authored “The Digitally Empowered Patient”, a white paper for Digital Health Canada on barriers to digital health access. Currently, as a Senior Systems Analyst at The Ottawa Hospital, Kunal integrates patient and caregiver needs into digital transformation. A professor and mentor at Algonquin College, he teaches digital health innovation. Committed to shifting healthcare towards an inclusive, caregiver-integrated model, Kunal continues to advocate for policy and technology-driven solutions. | 

Charmi Shah, MSc, is a 3rd-year medical student at the University of Toronto, Canada. She received her BSc from Brock University and her MSc from Queen's University in Translational Medicine, where her thesis explored how endothelial cells drive angiogenesis to refine cancer therapies. Her work studied this in a physiological context to uncover accurate therapeutic control to prevent blood flow to tumours. With her research background and interest in surgery, Charmi is passionate about healthcare sustainability and advocacy, having seen firsthand how the healthcare sector contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Charmi has worked at The Hospital for Sick Children for the past two years to reduce the carbon footprint of operating rooms while improving surgical efficiency. With the support of her team at SickKids, she has focused on revising how surgical instruments and disposable items are prepared and utilized. She created a streamlined method for waste audits of surgical equipment, leading to two leaned surgical sets that better reflect procedural needs—one of several initiatives the team has implemented to enhance sustainability, resulting in environmental and financial savings. Her efforts have earned national and international recognition, from winning the Canadian Medical Student Research Competition to presenting at leading conferences like the American Pediatric Surgical Association and American College of Surgeons’ Quality and Safety Conference. This is only the beginning—excited by the potential for standardized green surgical practices, she remains committed to advocating for sustainability in medicine. Charmi lives in downtown Toronto with her partner, Lai, and their Goldendoodle, Nayla.

Martin Persaud is the Director of AI & Technology Transformation at Verto, leading the research, development and implementation of AI / data products. His focus is to make health data more accessible to providers and patients alike, driving more efficient and effective healthcare across the board. The primary focus right now is a proprietary approach to processing free-text health data (where most of your health data lives) into a more useable format for analytics, clinical decision support, and data sharing. Martin is a CA, CPA and CFA Level III Candidate that holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce and a Master of Management in Artificial Intelligence from Queen’s University. Martin started his career in traditional accounting and finance at Deloitte but quickly pivoted shortly after discovering his passion for AI in 2016. He invested five years in the transition from professional services into the health AI / data space, leading the sales department of a startup, working on pan-Canadian digital roadmaps and standards, and getting years of hands-on experience building AI algorithms with health data. His goal of being a leader in the AI-health-data domain affords him the opportunity to work with a highly skilled team at Verto that focuses on the implementation safe AI solutions that tackle some of the most pressing health data issues. In the past year, Martin has developed with research institutions, health organizations in the US, and pan-Canadian groups to bring this technology to the forefront.

Manmeet is the CEO and Co-Founder of Trexo Robotics, an innovative company dedicated to empowering children with disabilities through wearable robotic exoskeletons. His journey began in 2011 following his nephew’s diagnosis with cerebral palsy, which inspired Manmeet to create a life-changing solution enabling his nephew—and thousands of children like him—to walk independently for the first time. Leveraging his background in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from the University of Toronto, Manmeet partnered with classmate Rahul Udasi to found Trexo Robotics in 2016. Under his leadership, Trexo developed the first pediatric exoskeleton, achieving FDA and Health Canada approval and dramatically increasing accessibility to robotic-assisted walking therapy. Today, Trexo’s users have collectively taken over 100 million steps—equivalent to multiple journeys around the Earth—demonstrating the profound impact and scalability of this technology. Manmeet envisions Trexo becoming the world’s leading exoskeleton company, utilizing the extensive step-data collected to build adaptive, AI-powered mobility solutions for adults, the elderly, and diverse markets including healthcare, industrial applications, and everyday mobility. Manmeet’s work has been recognized by numerous awards, including the University of Waterloo’s Team Alumni Achievement Medal, MIT Enterprise Forum Startup Spotlight Award, and the Mississauga Board of Trade Innovation & Technology Business Award. Driven by innovation and compassion, Manmeet remains deeply committed to transforming lives through advanced robotics and redefining mobility for people worldwide.

Marlee Socket is a communications professional with 5+ years of experience driving strategic communications for leading technology, healthtech and financial companies, including RBC, Meta, Scotiabank, Dyson and DoorDash. She currently serves as the Communications Manager at Maple, Canada's leading virtual healthcare platform, where she shapes the company's public relations and communication strategies. She is an expert in managing and building engaging multi-channel communications programs, orchestrating high-profile launches and events, and cultivating meaningful relationships with media and stakeholders. Her peers would describe her as a flourishing leader, an innovative problem-solver, a calm crisis manager, and a PR person who delivers results, no matter the complexity or pace of the project. Marlee holds a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Communication from Toronto Metropolitan University, graduating with distinction, and a postgraduate certificate in Public Relations from Humber College, where she made the Dean's List. Beyond her professional endeavors, Marlee actively volunteers with Fuckup Nights Toronto, a speaker series and community sharing stories of professional failure, aiming to break down stigmas and amplify the message that failure is essential to learning and growing.

Brooks Roche proudly serves as Senior Manager of Patient Engagement with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, where he strives to build meaningful connections with patient communities across serious diseases, leveraging his own lived and professional experience with chronic illness. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at a young age, Brooks has advocated across grassroots and nonprofit contexts to raise awareness of this disease’s burdens, previously leading patient education and engagement initiatives with Diabetes Canada. He has worked in partnership with Atlantic provincial governments to introduce and expand public access to innovations like insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors — programs now considered Canada’s best — as well as contributing to the design of Live Well PEI, a novel community program that promotes public health and chronic disease prevention on Prince Edward Island. Brooks is also an alumnus of the Prime Minister's Youth Council, where he provided non-partisan advisory to the federal government on public policy and prioritized the development of a national framework for diabetes, increased financial supports for Canadians with disabilities, and equitable access. Brooks now works in partnership with rare disease communities including cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, beta thalassemia, type 1 diabetes, and myotonic dystrophy. He continues to build meaningful partnerships, raise awareness of novel therapies and clinical trials in Canada, and ultimately integrate the voices and priorities of patients into the drug discovery process.

Mike Gourlay, CPA, CMA and MBA is the VP Finance & Support Services and CFO at St. Mary’s General Hospital in Kitchener. In this role, he is responsible for providing strategic financial leadership to the organization, and for overseeing the daily operations of Financial Services, Capital Planning, Procurement and Materials Management, Facilities Management, Dietary Services, Housekeeping/Environmental Services, Data Governance and Business Development. Mike is a committed member of the community and has served on a variety of volunteer boards. In his spare time, he enjoys coaching his kid’s hockey and soccer teams.

Taran Ghatrora is the CEO and co-founder of Blume, a skincare brand redefining beauty with clean, effective, and gentle products for acne-prone and sensitive skin. Blume has grown into a go-to brand for Gen Z and Gen Alpha, stocked in Sephora and Ulta across North America. Taran is passionate about healthy skin over perfect skin and creating effective formulations for acne-prone skin while fostering a brand that educates and empowers young consumers. Blume bridges the gap between first-time skincare users and high-performance formulas, making skincare simple yet powerful.

Ben leads the Customer Success team at Caribou, working with over 150 home healthcare agencies across North America to coach them on how to better celebrate and engage their caregivers through fun, automated, and performance-driven rewards. Caribou provides customizable software and services to help companies better attract, engage, and ultimately retain their care staff, addressing the critical burnout and turnover issues within faced within the industry and communities across the continent. Caribou's customer reward platforms have now helped over 5000 care staff find new jobs and facilitated over $5,000,000 being given back to frontline caregivers to date

After my Opa passed away, my family had to figure out how to care for my Oma. We didn’t know where to start. Finding caregivers was overwhelming, and the existing system wasn’t built for families like ours. We needed guidance - someone to help us navigate care, find the right caregiver, and ensure things ran smoothly. That experience stuck with me. Families don’t just need a list of caregivers. They need expert advice, a way to manage care, and confidence that their loved one is in good hands. That’s why I started Quilt. Our agent understands a family's situation, finds them a caregiver and manages ongoing care. It provides the kind of personalized support that families have never had before. Since launching in April 2024, we’ve bootstrapped to $250K in annualized GMV, helped 31 families find caregivers, and maintained an 87% NPS. We’re proving that AI can make a real human impact.

Sahar is a visionary leader, dedicated mother, and wife, driving transformational change in the health and insurance industries. With a sharp strategic mindset and a passion for innovation, she has redefined organizational models and driven positive business outcomes. With extensive experience in digital transformation, health services innovation, and strategic leadership, she has been instrumental in reshaping operating models and driving growth for industry leaders such as Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaw, and Walmart. At GreenShield, she leads clinical strategy and operations, driving health outcomes, product innovation, and the expansion of key health verticals. In addition, as a Board Member of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Sahar leverages her influence to champion mental health advocacy, extending her impact beyond organizations to communities. Through her work, Sahar exemplifies the power of leadership that aligns innovation with purpose, setting a new standard for health delivery.

Suze Mason is the Co-Founder and COO of Sprout Family, a digital health company providing comprehensive fertility and family-building benefits. As rates of infertility rise (now 1 in 6 people), Canadians face complicated, expensive, and stressful journeys to build their families, limiting their ability to be productive and engaged at work. Sprout partners with Canadian employers to support employees on diverse paths to parenthood, including fertility treatments, surrogacy, and adoption. Their solution combines a digital health platform to help employees navigate these pathways, paired with inclusive and cost-effective financial benefits administration. Before founding Sprout, Suze built a strong track record in scaling and leading operations and finance at Canadian tech companies. Most recently, she was Head of Operations at Properly. She also holds a CPA, CA designation from previous finance roles at PwC and Top Hat.

Tanya Kololian is a strong advocate for wellbeing in every sense. In 2022, Tanya made the bold decision to quit her successful corporate career in commercial real estate to shift into the wellness industry full time. As a heart led entrepreneur, she continues to build businesses that support others in optimizing their health in order to optimize their lives. Tanya is the Co-Founder & CEO of Trove Wellness Inc., Toronto’s newest wellness landmark, which opened the doors to its first location in Toronto in April, 2024. She is also the Founder of Tanya Kololian Coaching Inc., where she facilitates powerful transformation for her clients. Her passion for wellness is fuelled by her own experience with panic disorder and depression and a 130-pound weight loss journey. Tanya knows that when we feel our best, we do our best and there is nothing more important to her than creating spaces that foster mental and physical wellbeing.

Dr. Rachel Ollivier is a determined advocate for women’s and maternal health, specifically postpartum sexual health, both locally and globally. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from UBC Okanagan (2016), a PhD in Nursing from Dalhousie University (2022), a Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner Diploma from Queen’s University (2023), and is a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner (2024). Since entering the nursing profession, she has worked in various settings across the globe, including four provinces (AB, BC, NS, ON) and three countries (Canada, Zambia, Tanzania). She currently works as a full-time Nurse Practitioner and women’s health scientist at BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre, providing care to underserved populations in the areas of women’s cardiovascular health, complex menopause, and complex gynecology. Dr. Ollivier also acts as the Nurse Practitioner Lead for the new, first-of-its-kind Menopause & Midlife Health Program at BC Women’s. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the UBC Faculty of Medicine (Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology) and an Adjunct Professor in the UBC School of Nursing. Dr. Ollivier also serves on the Board of Directors for both the Canadian Association of Perinatal & Women’s Health Nurses (Director at Large) and Options for Sexual Health (Vice-President), in addition to volunteering as a workshop speaker with Dress for Success Vancouver and as the CAPWHN Representative for Immunize Canada. Dr. Ollivier has spearheaded crucial conversations about sexual health after birth and other important women’s health topics, having appeared on numerous televised and podcast interviews such as CTV’s The Social, CTV Your Morning, and CTV News. She is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award (2024) and the King Charles III Coronation Medal (2025).

- William spent his entire career working in healthcare startups/scaleups and his last 6 years at Maple. - He supported Maple in establishing its B2B function nationally now serving more than 5,000 clients and partners. - His deep understanding of the healthcare landscape and employee benefits sector allows him to provide tactical insights to help organizations shape their digital health strategy.

Victoire is a graduate of McGill University, where she excelled academically and accelerated two years ahead of her peers. She was recognized among the top 15 students of her management program, leading to her selection to manage a prestigious investment fund. She began her career in investment banking, where she developed financial expertise and worked on private placement transactions in the technology & innovation sector. She then joined the Weston Group, focusing on capital strategies for major Canadian companies, including Loblaw. In this role, she managed share buyback programs and optimized financing for store operations across Canada. In 2022, she joined Dialogue, a high-growth company to develop its Strategy to help grow the company into a leading virtual care provider, enabling millions of Canadians to access vital primary care, mental health, and wellness services.

Dr. Justine Giosa is a research scientist and health care leader with more than 15 years of experience bridging the knowledge to practice gap in health services. In her role as Executive Director and Scientific Director, Justine leads the SE Research Centre as an embedded centre of excellence for research and evaluation at SE Health to support its social impact mission to improve the health and care of all Canadians. Dr. Giosa directs a mission-driven, investigator led, and scientifically autonomous research portfolio and supports a diverse team of scientists, fellows, trainees and research staff to design and execute high quality, transparent, meaningful and rigorous research studies. Since 2019, Justine has also held an Adjunct Professor appointment in the School of Public Health Sciences at University of Waterloo, where she actively collaborates on research grants with fellow academic investigators and participates in both undergraduate and graduate level teaching, training and mentorship activities. With $2.5 million in current research funding and more than 20 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Giosa continues to demonstrate positive commitment to research that drives quadruple aim and health equity outcomes across the health care system; emphasizing home and community care solutions for the aging population. Her specific research interests include integrated and goal-oriented care delivery, aging-focused mental health care, interdisciplinary teamwork, health workforce stabilization and authentic inclusion of equity-deserving groups in community-based research. Dr. Giosa has methodological expertise in mixed and multi-methods, health measurement and participatory research approaches.

With over 14 years of experience as a Registered Nurse, Ashton has dedicated her career to advancing pediatric care in a variety of clinical settings, including the renowned SickKids Hospital Emergency Department and the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. As a mother of two, she brings a unique perspective to her role, understanding firsthand the challenges families face when navigating healthcare systems. Currently serving as the Director of Clinical Services, Ashton is committed to optimizing children’s health and wellness through compassionate, evidence-based care. Her leadership is grounded in a deep passion for empowering parents and caregivers by ensuring they have the resources and support needed to make informed decisions about their children's health. With a strong foundation in pediatric physical and mental health, Ashton continues to push for innovation and quality improvements in healthcare delivery, always with a focus on the well-being of children and their families.

Tieghan Killackey is an Assistant Professor in the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto. She holds the RBC Financial Group Chair in Cardiovascular Nursing Research at the University Health Network and the University of Toronto. Dr. Killackey is a Certified Cardiovascular Nurse, and her research program uses qualitative and mixed-methods to improve patient and family experiences within chronic illness care, with specific emphasis on enhancing patient autonomy and supporting self-management using technology. Dr. Killackey's research has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research and the Hospital for Sick Children’s Labatt Family Heart Centre.

Dr. Christina Huang is a board-certified dermatologist in Toronto with a broad interest encompassing medical, surgical, and cosmetic dermatology. She completed medical training at Queen's University followed by Dermatology Residency at the University of Toronto, where she served as Chief Resident. She has authored many peer reviewed publications in the field and trained under world renowned dermatologists from Canada, United States, and Asia. With a holistic approach to skin health, Dr. Christina Huang strives to provide patient-centred personalized treatment plans. Working together with you, Dr. Huang’s main objective is help you reach your skincare goals and feel confident in your own skin!

I'm the founder of Reya Health - digital platform dedicated to personalized reproductive and sexual health support. I'm a reproductive rights and sexual health advocate, I'm a part of and helped to establish the HPV Prevention Advocacy Coalition. As an advisor for Femtech Canada - a non profit empowering women's health innovation, I maintain a pulse on up and coming solutions and share my passion for women's health with a growing, fierce community. I am the Chair of the Board for StartOut Canada, an organization on a mission to support 2SLGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs in Canada. When I'm not working you can find me hiking, canoeing and hanging out with my chickens!

Fahreen Walimohamed is a health informatics professional with diverse experience spanning hospitals, home care, vendors, research, and academia. Passionate about leveraging health information technology (HIT) to enhance patient care, she is dedicated to improving efficiency and quality in healthcare delivery. Fahreen holds an Honours Bachelor of Science and a Master of Health Informatics from the University of Toronto. She currently works as an Implementation Manager at OnCall Health, a leading telehealth and patient portal in the behavioral health space. Additionally, she holds an academic appointment as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) in the Master of Health Informatics program and has previously taught as a Professor at George Brown College within their Health Informatics Post-Graduate Program. A primary published author in the digital health research space, Fahreen has authored papers on Canadian digital health policy and challenges with AI training for High-Risk Conditions in Ontario. She is also a sought-after speaker and moderator, having led discussions at eHealth, HIMSS, and the Future of Health Leadership, Informatics, and Policy (FHLIP) conferences. Her moderation of the 2024 FHLIP panel, “PHIPA Good Enough or Time to Modernize?” was featured on the cover of Canadian Healthcare Technology Magazine, April 2024 edition. Fahreen is the co-founder of Empower Speaks, a platform fostering dialogue and sharing knowledge. Within Empower Speaks she hosts Healthcare Talks, a podcast that empowers patients, clinicians, and tech enthusiasts by exploring industry insights, innovation, and personal stories that drive change in healthcare.

SunMin Park (she/her) is a first-year MSc student in Chemistry at Mount Allison University and the founder of Mount Allison Gives Blood, a student-led initiative dedicated to raising awareness about life-saving blood, stem cell, and organ donation. Since the creation of MtA Gives Blood during the pandemic to help address the national blood shortage in Canada, she has led the group into one of the top-performing donation champions in New Brunswick and sparked a "Give Blood" movement across universities in Atlantic Canada. Health advocacy and community engagement have always been at the heart of SunMin’s work and she hopes to continue empowering others to take action and build healthy communities as an aspiring healthcare professional. In her free time, SunMin loves travelling, watching sports, and umpiring badminton!