Dr. Rosanne Aleong is the Director of Research, Innovation, and Translation at Baycrest. She received her MSc and PhD in Neurological Sciences with her research focusing on: 1) inflammatory models of neurodegenerative disease; and 2) body image and visual perception among young adults. In her current role at Baycrest, she: 1) manages a research support and services hub, supporting clinicians, health care professionals, and industry in conducting applied and evaluative research; 2) co-leads the Baycrest Research Training Centre in developing and implementing skill and career development opportunities for research trainees; and 3) implements institution-wide, strategic initiatives including institution-wide funding opportunities, research commercialization projects, as well as national and international stakeholder relations.

Rob Attwell is COO and founder of Careteam Technologies. Rob is an entrepreneur who has extensive experience helping health organizations’ strategy on major innovative initiatives for primary and secondary care.  He is responsible for strategic initiatives and partnerships including Careteam’s work with the Canadian Digital Technology Supercluster.  Rob is Advisor to and Past Chair of the Neil Squire Society, a national not-for-profit providing services to Canadians with disabilities.  He has an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business where he was recognized as an Ivey Scholar and is recipient of the Ivey Alumni Award.

Ginna Baik is the Senior Care Practice Leader for CDW Healthcare, a leading provider of technology solutions for healthcare organizations nationwide. Baik is responsible for leading CDW Healthcare’s strategic business development initiatives in the senior care market, helping to define the necessary technology solutions for senior care organizations while strengthening and expanding industry partner relationships.

Baik joined CDW Healthcare in 2014 after holding many senior roles in the long-term care market and gaining several years of experience focusing on technology in senior living. Previously she served as the national director of innovation and resident technology for Emeritus/Brookdale Senior Living, where she was responsible for developing and creating a national strategic plan focused on implementing technology for seniors. Prior to Emeritus, she was senior vice president of engagement and innovation at ConnectedLiving, a senior social platform, focusing on building technology solutions for the senior living and long-term care markets.

Baik has spoken at several conferences such as HIMSS, America’s Society on Aging, Argentum, Senior Housing News, National Investment Conference, What’s Next Boomer Summit and Leading Age. Most recently she was awarded by Mary Furlong and Associates, Leader in Technology Award in 2016.  CDW Healthcare received in March 2017 the inaugural Technology and Aging award from America’s Society on Aging.  She also serves as a board member on America’s Society on Aging and other organizations.

Mel Barsky is Director of Business Development at CABHI. He is responsible for developing and identifying new commercial opportunities that will expand the continued Canadian and international growth of CABHI, as well as leading the business development, marketing and communications functions of the organization. Mel brings to CABHI more than 25 years of leadership experience in venture capital, healthcare IT, sales, marketing, operations, financial services and information technology. Most recently, Mel was President, Co-Founder, and Chief Operating Officer of INTERVENT Canada, where he directed all facets of the organization delivering evidence-based health programs via online platforms and health coaches in clinical and corporate settings. Mel has also served as Director, Connected Health at Dynacare Medical Laboratories, Executive Director & Co-Founder of Scotia Private Equity, and Director of Strategy & Business Development at American Express. Mel holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Business Administration, Finance and International Business from Queen’s University.

Ron is an active advocate for the dementia, caregiving, aging, and research communities. Being a caregiver to his father who lived with Alzheimer’s for 10+ years to age in place at home until January 2018, Ron utilized technology, community, creative strategies and access to research to support his family’s life to live well and as best as possible. In recent years, Ron has been invited to do presentations locally and internationally for Alzheimer’s Societies, communities, police, educators, innovators and corporations. He shares his knowledge on caregiving as we age, ways to use technology for caring, and living safely with dementia, especially for those at risk of wandering and going missing. He is an active member, advisor, and mentor to numerous organizations and educational institutions such as AGE-WELL NCE, Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI) at Baycrest, City of Toronto’s Seniors Strategy, SE Health (formerly known as Saint Elizabeth Health Care) and the Translational Research Program (TRP) at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine.
Further in his past, Ron has a background in Computer Sciences, Space and Communication Sciences, Marine Aquaculture, Life Coaching and Culinary Arts. He was the Founder and Executive Director of a Youth Career and Employment Centre that served over 30,000 young people, immigrants and career changers in the Toronto area during its operation.
Ron’s activities are usually posted on his twitter feed at www.twitter.com/rb33canada 

Chris Brickler is CEO and Co-Founder of MyndVR, a national health and wellness company providing Virtual Reality solutions to the dramatically growing senior market (through long-term care communities, veterans homes, home healthcare providers, and directly to seniors “aging in place”). The company has curated a vast library of VR content and creates original programming designed for both recreational and therapeutic effects. In addition, MyndVR is working with leading US universities and researchers to study the potential health benefits of VR for our dynamic and aging population.

From Texas to London to LA to Silicon Valley, Chris has managed large business units at Verizon, British Telecom, AT&T, and GuideSpark and has served on the boards of a NASDAQ company and several non-profits. His production group in Los Angeles, Xlantic.com, created an artistic, multi-platform video program around love and relationships that was nominated for an Emmy. From a creative perspective, he has produced a large library of video projects with Disney, Sony, Microsoft, Dole Foods, Restoration Hardware, PWC, Aetna, HP, Bose along with several start-ups.

Michael Alison Chandler is managing editor of MemoryWell, a digital platform for elder storytelling. She oversees a national network of 600 freelance journalists who write life stories for seniors and people with Alzheimer’s and dementia in long-term care settings. She also manages production and content for a news platform about aging and family caregiving.

She came to MemoryWell after 13 years as a reporter for the Washington Post, where she covered gender, family issues and education. Her coverage included breaking news, long form narratives, investigations and data-based analyses.

Michael was a senior Fulbright fellow in South Korea and a leadership fellow in public affairs for Coro Northern California. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and Mills College.

Dr. Ted Chang is Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Vice President of Quanta Computer, known as the world’s biggest ODM and laptop computer maker. He oversees corporate technology strategy, future product development and global research partnership. Along with his role as CTO, he also serves as president of Quanta Research Institute (QRI) for advanced technology and innovation research, and as the General Manager of BU12 dedicated to e-Heath and Smart hospital business.
Starting in 2004, Dr. Chang has initiated and served as the Quanta program director of the T-Party Project, a 10-year 45Mil. strategic research collaboration project for future computing and communication between Quanta and Computer Science and Artificial Lab (CSAIL) of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also a Visiting Scientist at MIT CSAIL.

Dr. Chang joined Quanta in 2000 and was promoted as the first CTO in Quanta history in 2010. During his first ten years with Quanta, he led the planning office, research lab, visual communication business unit, the corporate intellectual property team, as well as incubated several new business units and new spin-offs. He also served as the executive assistant to the CEO and Chairman of Quanta on his strategic planning effort.

Dr. Chang is a board director of Epoch Foundation, Quanta Research Cambridge, Inc. and Digimax, Inc., the best 3D animation film winner of Tokyo Anime 2008 and LA Movie Festival 2010.

Over the past decade, Dr. Chang along with the QRI team have received recognition globally, including Best Technology Management Team Award from CSMOT (2006), Regional Winner Award from European Satellite Navigation Competition (2008), Best Innovation Enterprise Award from MOEA in both 2003 and 2010, Quanta Best Invention Award (2010, 2013) and Outstanding Alumni Award of IAA NCKU (2012) among many others.

Dr. Chang’s past projects, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) and the QRI research model, were published as business cases by Harvard Business School.
Dr. Chang holds B.S. (88), M.S. (92) and Ph.D. (96) degrees, all from the Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng-Kung University. Dr. Chang’s research interests now focuses on human centric innovation for smarter lifestyle through cloud computing and big data analytics.

Bruce Croxon made his mark as a digital pioneer by co-founding Lavalife and revolutionizing how people connect. Under his direction, he grew this early tech start-up into the marquee brand in online dating with over two million users. Partner, chairman and CEO, Croxon helped lead the company’s growth from four to 600 employees, and achieving revenue of just under $100 million. After its spectacular rise, he led the sale of the company for $180 million dollars. Since that time, Bruce has been active as both an investor and advisor in early stage companies in the technology and hospitality sectors, continuing to expand the reach of his entrepreneurial successes. As an ex Dragon on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, he adds a broad range of businesses and products to his portfolio that tap into his passion for digital media, health and marketing. Croxon currently helms Round13, a company dedicated to investment in growth stage digital Canadian companies. He currently co hosts The Disruptors on BNN and CTV, a weekly show spotlighting Canadian business and believes our entrepreneurs can hold their own with anyone in the world.

Dr. Ryan C.N. D’Arcy is the co-founder and senior scientist/entrepreneur for Health Tech Connex Inc. Trained in neuroscience and medical imaging, Dr. D’Arcy holds a BC Leadership Chair in Medical Technology and is full Professor at Simon Fraser University. He also serves as Head of Health Sciences and Innovation at Fraser Health’s Surrey Memorial Hospital and is widely recognized for co-founding Health Tech Connex Inc.

Dr. D’Arcy received a B.Sc. (with distinction) from University of Victoria along with both M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in neuroscience from Dalhousie University. He did post-doctoral training in medical imaging at the National Research Council’s Institute for Biodiagnostics, and spent over a decade leading the development of Atlantic Canada’s biomedical imaging cluster. He has extensive experience in translational neuro-imaging, has been the driving force in taking several biotechnology products to market.

Mary Furlong, Ed.D., President and CEO of Mary Furlong & Associates (MFA), is a leading authority on the longevity marketplace. Successful social and serial entrepreneur, (SeniorNet (1986), ThirdAge Media (1996), and MFA (2002)), Mary has secured over $150 million in venture financing and corporate sponsorships for companies with products and services to serve the needs of the boomer/senior marketplace. Next Avenue named Mary one of its “2016 Influencers in Aging.” She is also a past winner of the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s “Top 100 Women of Influence” award, and the author of Turning Silver into Gold: How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace.

Mary produces the industry-leading What’s Next Boomer Business Summit and the Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit and Business Plan Competition. She has appeared on NBC, CBS, and NPR and is an advisor to the Ziegler Link•age Longevity Fund, L.P., the Thrive Center, and the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation.

Ariel Garten co-founded Muse® as an expression of her background in neuroscience, psychotherapy and art, along with her dedication to bring easy-to-use and accessible tools for well-being to the masses. Ariel is also the co-host of “Untangle” podcast, where she interviews groundbreaking neuroscientists, psychologists and meditators to teach listeners about the brain, how it works and how to use it to its full potential.

Ariel studied neuroscience at the University of Toronto and worked in labs at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre, researching Parkinson’s disease and hippocampal neurogenesis. Post graduation, she trained as a psychotherapist and had her own private practice as well as designing a clothing line that opened Toronto Fashion Week and has been sold across North America. It was her desire to understand the self from both scientific and artistic perspectives that led her to work with BCI technology in the lab of Dr. Steve Mann. There she recognized the opportunity to commercialize technology that would fundamentally disrupt multiple markets and soon co-founded Interaxon, makers of Muse®. The company debuted with the creation of “Bright Ideas,” Ontario’s feature showcase at the 2010 Winter Olympics, where visitors in Vancouver controlled the lights on the CN Tower, Niagara Falls and the Canadian Parliament buildings with their minds from across the country.

Ariel and the Muse® headband have been featured in global media, including CNBC, CNET, CNN, Forbes, Popular Science, TechCrunch, the Wall Street Journal and VentureBeat, which credited Ariel for creating “the most important wearable of 2014.” In addition to her full-time position at Muse®, Ariel keynotes around the world on technology, mindfulness and entrepreneurship and supports and advises a variety of start-ups.

Lanny is Head of Design at You X Ventures. Launching his career as an interactive designer and developer, Lanny gained invaluable skills that catalyzed his journey with user experience; founding his own company, Pixel Smashing, in 2008. As Creative Director, Lanny was able to channel his design expertise in specialising e-learning and knowledge sharing products for health & pharmaceutical companies such as Roche, and Johnson & Johnson. His extensive involvement in the industry has led him to hearten the state of design, working in a breadth of industries including entertainment, finance, and banking.

With a unique eye for the intersections of storytelling, business requirements, and visual design, Lanny helps underpin design principles, leading as VP for User Experience Design at Digiflare, and most recently, as VP Director of Strategy & User Experience at OneMethod. Determined to continue pushing the needle, Lanny has continued to advocate that good design makes the world a better place.

John Hopper is Chief Investment Officer at the Linkage Investment Ziegler Link•Age Longevity Fund, L.P. The Fund is the first to focus exclusively on aging market companies that provide innovative products, services and technologies to meet the growing needs of seniors and their care providers.

Jon is co-founder and CEO of Motitech. He is a former motorcycle mechanic, who together with public and private health care in the Nordics, has developed a concept that turns the elderly and people with dementia into dedicated athletes. The concept is called Motiview and it is spreading across the Nordics, England and Canada right now. Soon to be introduced in Asia and the US, based on an endless need for solutions that can make the elderly more independent and increase life quality for people living with dementia.

Linda is the Lead Data Scientist at MEMOTEXT, responsible for discovering new insights from health data, applying machine learning techniques to assist with digital health program design and identifying actionable opportunities for patient empowerment. She holds a Master of Health Informatics from the University of Toronto, a Certificate in Data Analytics, Big Data, and Predictive Analytics from Ryerson University, and a B. A & Sc. in Cognitive Science from McGill University where she completed her Honours thesis in MEG research. She is now using her interdisciplinary knowledge to maximize the value of available health information and turn it into practical applications.

Padideh Kamali-Zare, PhD, is Chief Executive Officer of Darmiyan. She is a world-renowned geometrical modeling expert with an outside-the-box thinking approach to complex problems. Her major skill is to put things into context and visualize the big picture (story-telling). She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at New York University, School of Medicine, where she previously completed three years of postdoctoral training in biophysical neuroscience, 2010-2013.

Padideh got her PhD in biological physics from Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden in 2010. Her PhD thesis entitled “Biophysical mechanisms underlying cellular homeostasis” provided a non-classical explanation for the relationship between cell structure and function. In her free time Padideh enjoys teaching Persian classical music and writing blogs.

Tom Kamber is an award-winning social entrepreneur, educator and activist who has created new initiatives in aging, technology, affordable housing and the arts. As founder and executive director of Older Adults Technology Services (OATS), Tom has helped over 30,000 seniors get online and created the country’s first technology-themed community center for older adults. Tom has taught social entrepreneurship and philanthropy at Columbia University and has published widely in academic journals on topics including public policy, business strategy, and technology. He speaks regularly at local, national, and international conferences, including the Consumer Electronics Show, the Institute of Medicine, the American Society on Aging and the Federal Communications Commission.  His work has been featured widely in the media, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, National Public Radio, and The Today Show, and he has won awards from local, state, and national organizations.

Jeh is a serial entrepreneur and the Founder of Breezie – a tablet-based platform that helps senior care providers to deliver better care at lower costs. Over the past 7 years, Breezie has expanded from the UK to US, Australia and now Canada and is used across the care continuum from home care and IL/AL to memory care and skilled nursing. The Company is pioneering the use of smart technologies to develop personalized, touch screen interfaces for older adults. These smart interfaces can be created and managed by family or care givers remotely and can integrate with a wide range of solutions ranging from smart home / IOT sensors, biometric devices and healthcare systems.

Jeh completed his engineering at MIT-India and is a Sloan fellow from London Business School. He has more than 20 years of entrepreneurial experience and prior to founding Breezie, he worked for many years in early stage venture capital and a wide range of sectors from manufacturing, retail and telecoms to media across Asia, Europe and the US.

Jay Lefton is a partner in the Toronto office of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin. He practises in the areas of corporate and securities law, including public and private financings, mergers & acquisitions and technology transfer. His clients range from start-ups to multinationals, and he also advises universities, hospitals and other academic institutions as well as inventors and entrepreneurs in connection with the commercialization of their discoveries. He has been an Adjunct Faculty member of Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business. He has lectured at University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, McMaster University Graduate School, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Entrepreneurship Program and Lakehead University, as well as at various teaching Hospitals in Toronto.  Jay is on the Start-Up Companies Committee of Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children and is the former Chair of the Board of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute.

I am a 66-year-old person living with dementia. I suffered a massive stroke in 2008 and was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2009. Life was a struggle until in 2015, I found the Alzheimer Society of Toronto. It was the beginning of my advocacy for those living with dementia. I have done interviews with major networks. I am also on a personal campaign to try and convince young people to quit smoking. I smoked for 52 years and when I quit in 2014 and I now have a mild case of COPD. In October of 2016 I joined a group for youth dementia awareness symposium headed up by Dr. Kristine Newman and her research team. It has been an amazing journey and has exposed me to many opportunities and introduced me to so many people who are trying to find cures, and trying to make life more bearable. I never knew there was such a large number of people dedicating their lives in so many ways to help. I feel so lucky to be part of this group of very talented people.

David Lindeman, PhD, is Director Health, Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS), UC Berkeley, and Director, Center for Technology and Aging (CTA).  Dr. Lindeman has worked in the fields of health care and long-term care for nearly 40 years as a health services researcher and gerontologist, conducting research related to health care technology, assistive technologies, chronic disease management, healthy aging, disabilities, dementia, community-based and residential services, health care workforce, and family caregiving. Dr. Lindeman’s current focus is working with researchers, entrepreneurs and investors on the incubation, start-up, evaluation, and scaling of technology-enabled health care solutions, including initiatives that address critical health care challenges through mobile/cloud, sensors/IoT, telehealth, robotics, assistive technologies, and machine intelligence (AI/machine learning).  Dr. Lindeman serves as an advisor to foundations, government agencies, businesses, and venture firms.

Graeme Moffat, PhD is Chief Scientist and VP Regulatory Affairs at Interaxon, makers of Muse®. Graeme has two decades of experience in neurotechnology, neuroscience, digital health, brain health, medical physics, scholarly publishing, medical devices, and data science.

He has helped established collaborations using Muse® technology in hundreds of brain research labs and institutes around the world and has presented Muse®’s scientific and educational work at international research meetings including the Society for Neuroscience and Advances in Meditation Research.

Prior to joining Muse®, Graeme served as Chief Scientist with Meta (now Chan-Zuckerberg Meta), as Managing Editor of Frontiers in Neuroscience while it grew to become the largest open access scholarly journal series in the field, and as a research engineer on cochlear implants with Oticon Medical and the Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique in France. He holds a BSc in physics from McMaster University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Université Aix-Marseille.

As CEO of Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF), Patrick works with the SHRF Board and staff, partners and stakeholders to strengthen research capacity and competitiveness; increase investment in research and innovation; and align research with stakeholders’ needs. In addition, Patrick works closely with government to determine how Saskatchewan’s world-class research environment can best respond to a transformed health system and be leveraged into the province’s innovation agenda.

Patrick joined SHRF in October 2007 as the Director of Impact and Evaluation before becoming CEO in 2017. As director, Patrick played a key role in monitoring, evaluating and reporting on the progress and impact of SHRF’s work in advancing health research and innovation in Saskatchewan. His work has established SHRF as a leader nationally in research evaluation and impact assessment and has recently gained SHRF recognition internationally by the ROI Institute as one of their 2017-2018 award winners for most innovative approach to ROI (Return on Investment).

Mr. Odnokon has a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from the University of Saskatchewan and has worked in research over the past twenty years. He is an experienced collaborator and has contributed to more than thirty publications including peer reviewed papers, published abstracts and professional communications.

Teresa Pitre, RPh, BScPharm, is General Manager, Pack4U Ontario. Teresa combines excellence in clinical pharmacy practice with progressive management, leadership skills, and industry involvement. She has served for six years on the board of the Canadian Society of Consultant Pharmacists and is a Past President. Teresa has worked and developed strong relationships with a significant portion of the Canadian long-term care market, and has held two senior executive positions with enterprise long-term care service organizations. Teresa has a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Ottawa, a BSc in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of British Columbia, a Management Certificate from Seneca College and multiple Certifications from the Ontario Pharmacists Association.

Dr. Dana Jeffrey Plude is Deputy Director in the Division of Behavioral and Social Research (DBSR) where he also manages a research portfolio on cognitive aging (including experimental aging research, driving and memory/attention/decision-making). He also serves as the point-person for training/career development applications, conference grants and small business activities. Prior to joining NIA in December, 2016, he served as Associate Director and Research/Review Integrity Officer in the Division of Receipt & Referral in the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) before which he was Chief of the Bio-behavioral and Behavioral Processes Integrated Review Group (BBBP IRG) and Scientific Review Officer for the Cognition and Perception study section as well as Special Emphasis Panels including those involving fellowships and small business applications. During his tenure at CSR he also served as Acting Division Director (AIDS, Behavioral and Populations Sciences), Acting NIH Research Integrity Officer and Acting Chief of the Population Sciences and Epidemiology IRG. Before joining CSR in 2002, he was Associate Professor and Associate Chair in Psychology at the University of Maryland – College Park for 17 years. He earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from Syracuse University, where he specialized in lifespan development and mental function in the elderly. His basic and applied research centered on aging, selective attention and memory and this research was supported in part by funding from NIA, including pre-doctoral T32 support, a post-doctoral F32 NRSA award and R01 and SBIR funding.

Cindy Plunkett is the manager of eLearning and educational technologies at Baycrest Health Sciences and the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation. She is also the executive director of finance for the Canadian eLearning Conference, and a part-time professor in the education faculty at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.  Cindy has a Bachelor of Education and a Masters in Educational Technologies and is currently pursuing her Ph.D in Education specializing in eLearning.  Cindy has been creating learning experiences leveraging technology for over 15 years.

Dr. Rothman, MD, CMD is a geriatrician, a physician executive with experience in multi-facility, multi-state provider organizations and risk-bearing entities, and a subject matter expert in geriatrics, post-acute care, palliative care, and physician leadership.

Most recently he served as the Chief Medical Officer of Kindred Healthcare, Inc., at that time the nation’s largest integrated post-acute care provider. At Kindred Dr. Rothman oversaw medical affairs, physician engagement, quality and patient experience across Kindred’s 2,400+ locations in 45 states including: 600 home health and hospice branches, 120 acute inpatient rehabilitation hospitals/units, 82 long-term acute care hospitals, 92 sub-acute skilled-nursing and assisted-living facilities, and home-based primary care practices in five states. During his tenure at Kindred the organization grew from 5.5B to 7.1B in revenue through strategic acquisitions in rehabilitation (Centerre) and home health (Gentiva), divested its nursing home line of business, and in 2018 was taken private by TPG, Welsh-Carlson & Stowe, and Humana.

Prior to joining Kindred, Dr. Rothman directed post-acute medical services for the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center and practiced geriatric, post- acute and palliative medicine with the Permanente Medical Group. Dr. Rothman organized the post-acute teams into a cohesive unit functioning across multiple sites of service, increased direct referrals from the ER fourfold, achieved industry leading performance in 30-Day Rehospitalizations from skilled-nursing (11%), and reduced length of stay to 13.5 days.

Dr. Rothman is a graduate of the New York University School of Medicine. He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine, and fellowships in Geriatric Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology at the Yale University School of Medicine. While at Yale he conducted research in frailty, patient decision- making, and post-acute care outcomes. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, and Hospice & Palliative Medicine, and is a Certified Medical Director.

A technologist and creative media maker, Mandy believes that wellbeing is intricately connected to the ability to share stories and experiences. Mandy and her team at Mentia, located in San Francisco, have developed Deva World, an immersive interactive virtual world that acts as a cognitive scaffold for people who find it difficult to express due to their dementia, and which allows caregivers to step in, communicate and learn about their world. Deva is being rolled out across the eldercare ecosystem, with customers in Canada, the US and Australia.

Mandy draws on an extensive body of work in television, radio, theater, print media, and applied research. Her Ph.D. in Media and Gerontology (Swinburne University of Technology, 2016), was the springboard for Deva World. She holds a BA in drama & visual arts, and an M.A. in media & communication. She is an active member of the Aging2.0 Alliance and Creative Aging San Francisco.

Eliav Shaked is the founder and CEO of RetiSpec, a medical device startup developing a non-invasive eye scanner for early detection of Alzheimer’s Disease pathology. The company was founded in 2016 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Eliav holds a B.Sc and a M.Sc in Biomedical Engineering from Tel-Aviv University and is a recent graduate of Singularity University’s flagship Global Solutions Program (NASA/Google).

An experienced biomedical engineer and emerging entrepreneur, Eliav have led several products from ideation to launch in several medical device startups. Throughout his career, graduate school, and army service as a combat medic, Eliav had a foothold in each step of the value chain – from R&D to product roadmapping, and business development to implementation by clinicians.

Carrie Shaw is the CEO and founder of Embodied Labs, an award-winning, immersive education and wellness platform that is dedicated to revolutionizing the way health care providers, caregivers, and patients learn about human health through virtual reality storytelling. With a background in medical illustration and public health education, Carrie has a particular interest in conveying the first-person perspective of vulnerable patient populations. Carrie frequently speaks at conferences in the aging and VR space, and has been invited to accompany renowned experts on countless panels as a thought leader in harnessing today’s technologies for tomorrow’s elders. Recently, Embodied Labs was named the Grand Prize winner of the AARP’s National Caregiving Innovation Challenge and took First Place in The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global XR in Education Prize Challenge.

Hailing from the Detroit Suburbs, I went on to Hail the Victors at the University of Michigan, where I received a degree from the Ross School of Business. In my early career, I struggled within the confines of a cubicle. Escaping the doldrums of TPS reports, I joined LivingSocial and helped millions of people get out of the bubble and start living socially as a leader in the Adventures and Live Events verticals.

Equipped with my LivingSocial experience and an MBA from Emory’s Goizueta Business School, I joined SoftBank Robotics to lead North American sales and partnerships for Pepper and NAO, the humanoid robots. Realizing that there is a huge opportunity to leverage social companion technology to redefine the experience between humans and machines, I recently joined Intuition Robotics helping bring our first proactive companion, ElliQ, to market.

I have a voracious appetite for helping people live a more active and engaged lifestyle, I love building relationships, and I can’t wait to introduce you to ElliQ!

Dr. Allison Sekuler is the Managing Director of the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). She is also Vice-President, Research & Sandra Rotman Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience at Baycrest Health Sciences. She joins Baycrest after a long and distinguished career as a Professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University, where she was the first Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience (2001-2011). She is also the Chair of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s (NSERC) Scholarships & Fellowships group along with being a member of NSERC’s Committee for Discovery Research. The recipient of numerous awards for research, teaching and leadership, Dr. Sekuler has a notable record of scientific achievements in aging and vision science, cognitive neuroscience, learning and neural plasticity, and neuroimaging and neurotechnology, as well as vast experience in senior academic and research leadership roles.

Ane is the CEO of Ably Medical Inc, the North American division of a Norwegian medical device startup. Ane relocated to Toronto about a year ago to oversee Ably’s Canadian studies and develop market entry strategy for the Canadian and US market. Ane previously worked with Norway’s largest health technology cluster to develop the Norwegian Health Innovation Ecosystem as well as building international market access programs for Norwegian health tech companies. Ane holds a dual Master in International Business & Administration from EAE Business School and Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya in Spain.

Bianca Stern is Executive Director, Health Innovation at CABHI. Her career spans over 35 years in health care within private and public sectors; including community, post-acute and long term care. She has also been involved at university and college levels in curriculum design, research, teaching and student mentorship. Bianca has built on her Bachelor’s Degree in Occupational Therapy and Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Science, creatively intersecting the art and science of healthcare with innovation, technology, and industry. Bianca is a thought leader in the area of innovation, blending design thinking and arts based tools with an inclusive, participatory user focus, capitalizing on emerging technologies and theoretical knowledge to stimulate innovative solutions for the journey of aging. Bianca currently oversees the innovation team at CABHI including the Design Lab, Seniors Advisory Panel, Innovation Office and project pipeline. She is also actively involved in helping to foster a culture of innovation and knowledge mobilization at Baycrest Health Sciences and across the CABHI network partner sites.

Alexandra Stewart is the Executive Director of the Weston Brain Institute and the Executive Director, Neuroscience of The W. Garfield Weston Foundation. The Institute works to accelerate the development of treatments for brain diseases of aging, prevention strategies and strategies for healthy brain aging.

Prior to this position Alex was Chief Operating Officer of Tribute Entertainment Media Group, a multimedia publisher. She previously spent 7 years at McKinsey & Co. in the New York and Washington, D.C. offices, where she was a member of the Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology practice. Her clients included C-suite executives from Fortune 100 as well as mid-size companies and focused on business building and commercialization.  This work covered five continents, including work on the ground across the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and China.  Alex has held other positions at Tribute and in the venture capital group at American Express. She is also a senior advisor to several philanthropic organizations.

Alex holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a Business Bridge certificate from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University, and an Intensive B.Sc. with Distinction in Neurobiology – Biology and Computer Science from Yale University.

Charles de Vilmorin is the CEO and Co-founder of Linked Senior, Inc, the leading resident engagement platform for senior care based in Washington, DC. He serves on the board of The Validation Training Institute.The Validation Method is proven method of communication developed by Naomi Feil that helps improve the connection between caregivers and older adults experiencing dementia. He also serves on the board of AMDA: The Society for Post Acute and Long Term Care Medicine.

He holds a Master’s Degree in Communication, Culture and Technology from Georgetown University, and a Master’s Degree in International Management from Dauphine University, Paris.

Christina Weise is the Chief Executive Officer of Research Manitoba. She has a Master’s degree in public administration from the University of Manitoba. Christina has more than 20 years of experience developing and implementing public policy in the areas of research and innovation and in managing funds and programs to support research. Prior to joining Research Manitoba, Christina was with the Manitoba Department of Innovation, Energy and Mines as Director, Research and Innovation Policy.
Christina promotes collaboration among the research enterprise in Manitoba and Canada through participating on key boards and committees including, the National Alliance for Provincial Health Research Organizations, Bioscience Association of Manitoba, and the Institute of Health Services and Policy Research and the Centre for Healthcare Innovation.