Leadership

Nora Aufreiter was a senior partner and director of McKinsey & Company where she worked for 27 years until she retired in June 2014. She was Managing Partner of the Toronto office of McKinsey’s Canadian Practice from 2008 until 2012. She then led the Firm’s North American Consumer Digital practice until her retirement. She served on a number of the Firm’s global Personnel Committees to elect and evaluate partners. Throughout her career she worked extensively in Canada, the United States and internationally.

Nora is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Nova Scotia, the Kroger Company and the Cadillac Fairview Corporation Board of Directors. She is also Chair of MyTheresa.com, a digital luxury retailer. Nora serves on the Dean’s Advisory Committee for the Ivey Business School, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Opera Company.

Nora has an HBA in Business Administration from Ivey Business School at Western University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

As Group Head, RBC Wealth Management and Insurance, Doug Guzman leads RBC’s businesses that serve the wealth management needs of affluent and high net worth clients globally, and teams that provide asset management and trust products. He also oversees RBC Insurance, which provides a wide range of insurance, wealth and reinsurance solutions to individual, business and group clients. In addition, along with other members of Group Executive, Doug is responsible for setting the overall strategic direction of RBC.

Prior to this appointment, Doug was Managing Director and Head of Global Investment Banking, RBC Capital Markets, responsible for the firm’s Investment Banking teams globally, as well as U.S. Municipal Finance. He had senior client coverage responsibility for a number of RBC Capital Markets’ most important clients and was a member of the firm’s Operating Committee and Loan Commitments Committee.

Before joining RBC in 2005, he was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs in New York and Toronto, where he had co-head responsibility for each of the Global Metals and Mining and the Canadian Investment Banking businesses.

He is Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Unity Health Toronto and the Chair of the Advisory Board of Ivey Business School at Western University.

Doug has an HBA from Ivey and an MBA with high distinction (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School. He is married with two children and lives in Toronto, Canada.

Helen is currently the CEO of AMS Healthcare, an Ontario-based charity that funds research in compassionate care and in the history of medicine. Helen is also a distinguished fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Helen had a 30-year progressive career in the public sector including 20 years working in the Government of Ontario, ten years working in government agencies as well as four years in management consulting. From June 2018 to September 2021 Helen served as Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Health and led the health response to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as an ambitious health sector modernization agenda.  During her time with the Ontario Government, Helen also served as the Deputy Minister of Treasury Board; Citizenship, Immigration and international Trade, Seniors Affairs and Women’s Issues.

Helen played a critical leadership role in the groundbreaking work of Cancer Care Ontario in both cancer and renal care. Helen has had a role in shaping health system directions from wide and diverse perspectives.

Dany Assaf is a globally recognized lawyer with deep and broad international business experience including opening the first offices for a major Canadian law firm in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. He specializes in competition and foreign investment law and policy having worked on some of the largest and most complex global and Canadian mergers and investigations over the last 25 years.

Dany teaches and lectures on competition and foreign investment law at major Canadian universities.

He is the former President of the Canadian Club of Toronto and an advocate for the No Fly List Kids project. He has proudly co-founded the annual Fast in the 6 event, bringing Canadians of all backgrounds together to celebrate its motto: Diversity. Unity. Prosperity. Dany is also the author of the book, “Say Please and Thank You & Stand In Line: One man’s story of what makes Canada special, and how to keep it that way.”

Wayne Barwise has three decades of experience in real estate development and asset management, both as a successful entrepreneur and as a corporate executive. At Cadillac Fairview Corporation, he is executive vice-president of Development, and oversees the strategic planning and execution of the office, retail and mixed-use development platform. Over his career, Wayne has successfully developed several billion dollars’ worth of commercial properties in Canada and the United States.

Wayne serves on a number of charitable boards and is chair of the Board of Governors of Branksome Hall, an independent girls’ school in Toronto. He holds a M. Arch. in Urban Design from Harvard University and a B.Arch. from the University of Toronto.

Derek Chum is a member of the Moose Cree First Nation (MCFN).  Derek provides consulting services to Indigenous organizations related to education and economic development. Derek was the Vice-President, Indigenous Relations at Hydro One, the largest transmission and distribution utility in Ontario, from 2017 to 2020. While there he lead engagement with Indigenous communities on the company’s capital projects.

Prior to Hydro One, Derek was the Chief Executive Officer and President of the board of directors for Amisk Kodim Corporation, which was created to assist businesses from MCFN with contracts on the Lower Mattagami Extension Project (LMEP).  The LMEP is a $2.5 billion hydro redevelopment project owned by a partnership between Ontario Power Generation and MCFN.

Derek is a director of the Moose Cree Group of Companies LP, the business arm of MCFN.  It is involved in a number of enterprises including forestry, real estate, mining services, fly-in outpost camps and a remote fishing lodge. He is also a director for the Miziwe Biik Development Corporation, an organization focused on affordable housing for the Indigenous community in Toronto. He has also served as a director and chair for Five Nations Energy Inc., an energy transmission company servicing three remote First Nation communities along the coast of James Bay.

Derek practiced corporate/commercial law for eleven years in Toronto. He specialized in corporate and commercial law focusing on small to medium sized businesses and also advised First Nations individuals and organizations in commercial matters.

Hazel Claxton retired from Morneau Shepell (now LifeWorks) in 2018 where she served as Executive Vice-President and Chief Human Resources Officer. Prior to joining Morneau Shepell in 2013, Hazel spent 29 years at PwC Canada where she held several leadership roles, including Canadian Leadership Group member, Human Capital Leader, and Partner within the Corporate Advisory and Restructuring Group, an area she practiced in for 20 years.

Hazel serves on the boards of Allied Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, TELUS Corporation, and University Pension Plan Ontario. She previously served on the Boards of Queen’s University, St. Michael’s Hospital, and the Shaw Festival Theatre. Hazel earned a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from Queen’s University and is a CPA, CA. She also holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Ehren Cory is the CEO of the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB), an impact investor deploying $35 billion to develop the next generation of infrastructure Canadians need. He is a recognized leader in sustainable finance and infrastructure investing in Canada.

Ehren joined the Canada Infrastructure Bank in 2020, bringing his strong leadership approach, infrastructure expertise, and a track record of delivering results by partnering with the private and public sectors. He is focused on the CIB’s strategic direction including implementing the $10B Growth Plan to accelerate infrastructure investment in Canada and building the CIB as a results-oriented organization.

Prior to joining the CIB in November 2020, Ehren was the president and CEO of Infrastructure Ontario, a provincial Crown Agency responsible for financing, building, and enhancing the value of the province’s infrastructure and real estate assets. He became CEO in 2017 after spending four years with the Agency in executive roles responsible for the successful transaction structuring, tendering, and delivery of billions of dollars in infrastructure projects.

Between 2001 and 2012, Ehren was a partner at McKinsey & Company in Toronto, where he served as a leader in the Public Sector and Capital Projects practices, advising clients in both the private and public sectors.

Ehren is involved in a number of Canadian and international organizations tackling sustainability in relation to finance and the development of infrastructure, including the Sustainable Finance Institute at Queen’s University and the Toronto Region Board of Trade Financial Innovation committee.  He also serves on the Board of the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships.

Ehren is a graduate of the MBA program at INSEAD in Fontainebleau France, where he graduated with distinction. He also received an Honours degree in Business Administration (HBA) from the University of Western Ontario.

Kamala Jean Gopie is a committed educator and community volunteer. After retiring as an Education Officer from Ontario’s Ministry of Education, she was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board. She also served as an Ontario Human Rights commissioner. Her extensive volunteering includes time as president of the Jamaican Canadian Association, chair of the Urban Alliance Race Relations and vice-chair of the United Way of Toronto.

Kamala Jean is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Queen Elizabeth Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals, the Order of Ontario, the city of Toronto William P. Hubbard Award for Race Relations, the Gardiner Award from Metropolitan Toronto, and the Harry Jerome Award.

Kamala Jean is a graduate of the University of Toronto. She holds a BA and an M.Ed.

Elio Luongo is the Chief Executive Officer and Senior Partner of KPMG in Canada. He is a member of KPMG’s Global Board and the Global Council of KPMG International Cooperative.

Elio is responsible for setting the strategic direction for KPMG in Canada and leading a team of more than 820 partners and over 8,500 employees. Prior to being appointed to the role of CEO, Elio held senior roles in the executive of the firm. He has a passion for innovation, technology and ESG.

Elio is a member of the Board of Directors of the Conference Board of Canada, a member of the Catalyst Canada Advisory Board and is a champion of inclusion and diversity as part of KPMG’s talent strategy.

Christine (Chris) Morris is Senior Executive Vice-President, Transformation, Enablement and Customer Experience. She is a member of TD’s Senior Executive Team and oversees global transformation programs, enterprise data and analytics and artificial intelligence, North American customer operations, marketing, digital strategy, payments and innovation, enterprise change and operational excellence, and corporate and public affairs.

Over more than three decades at TD, Chris has held positions of increasing responsibility across many different areas of the Bank. In March 2020, she was appointed Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, Canadian Personal Banking and was responsible for strategy, customer acquisition, operations, delivery, data and analytics, and governance. Prior to that, Chris led the Canadian Real Estate Secured Lending business and was promoted to Executive Vice-President of Lending Solutions, Canadian Personal Banking in 2019. Chris served as Chief Financial Officer, Canadian Banking and Wealth from 2016-2017 after leading a variety of teams within Risk Management, Operations, Business Banking and Finance.

Chris is an active supporter of TD’s diversity and inclusion initiatives and serves as the Chair of the Bank’s Women at TD Committee. She is also the director of the board for the United Way of Greater Toronto and the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors at Catalyst.  She previously served on the Equifax Advisory Committee.

Chris holds a Bachelor of Arts and Economics from the University of Western Ontario and completed the RMA/Wharton Risk Management Program. She resides in Toronto with her husband, and they have two adult children.

Kate Stevenson is a seasoned board director and business executive, currently Chair of the Board for CIBC. She is a former executive in the telecommunications and financial services industries.

Kate was named one of the 2018 Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada.

She serves as a board member on a variety of corporate and not-for-profit boards, including Open Text Corporation and Capital Power Corporation. She brings learnings from years of experience in corporate boardrooms across a number of industries, including the pharmaceutical and health-care sectors. Kate also was Vice-Chair of University of Guelph, Board Chair of Bishop Strachan School, and has served on the board and executive committee of St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation.

Ben Vaughan is an Operating Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Brookfield’s Infrastructure Group and is responsible for overseeing all global asset management initiatives.

Since joining Brookfield in 2001, Mr. Vaughan has held several leadership roles across the Infrastructure Group and broader Brookfield Asset Management.

Mr. Vaughan holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University.

Michael Zerbs is currently serving as Strategic Advisor, Technology at Scotiabank. In this role, he provides consultative support to the CEO and senior leadership team on all enterprise-wide, information technology-based strategies, as well as transformative IT projects.

Prior to his current role, he served as Group Head, Technology & Operations at Scotiabank with responsibility for the advancement of Scotiabank’s overall technology and global operations strategy while planning jointly the digital strategy. His mandate included overall responsibility for Information Technology & Solutions (IT&S) and Global Operations.

Before joining Scotiabank in 2014 as Senior Vice President & Head, Risk Management Information Technology, Michael held senior positions in IT, including President and Chief Operating Officer at Algorithmics and Vice President, Risk Analytics at IBM. Most recently, he was Chief Technology Officer and prior to that appointment, Executive Vice President and Co-Head of Information Technology, Enterprise Technology.  He was also instrumental in building Scotiabank’s initial digital blueprint and launching the Digital Factory.

Michael holds a Master of Science in Social and Economic Sciences in Commerce, a Master of Business Administration in Finance and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Economics. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences and on the Advisory Board of the Creative Destruction Lab through the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

Michael is married and has three children.

Dr. Tim Rutledge is the first President and CEO of Unity Health Toronto. He joined the network in 2018, leading the integration of St. Joseph’s Health Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital and Providence Healthcare to create one of Canada’s largest academic health science organizations.

Under his leadership, Unity Health launched its first strategic plan in 2019, centred on the pursuit of the best care experiences. The visionary plan imagines new ways of understanding, delivering and improving care. The network is focused on advancing and leading in areas such as health equity; world-class specialty care for trauma, critical care, multiple sclerosis and brain and heart care; and use of advance analytics and artificial intelligence to transform health care.

Previously, Dr. Rutledge served as the President and CEO of North York General Hospital from 2010 to 2018. He has a background in emergency medicine, and held a number of leadership positions at the hospital, including Medical Director of the Emergency Services Program, Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee, and Vice President of Medical and Academic Affairs.

Dr. Rutledge is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. He has been recognized for his work in education and received a prestigious W. T. Aikins Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the university.

Bev Bulmer became St. Michael’s VP of Education in 2016 and the first person with a health discipline background to hold the role at a Toronto academic institution. Bev is a Physical Therapist with a B.Sc. in Physical Therapy and a M.Sc. in Community Health, both from the University of Toronto. Bev started her clinical career at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, moving to St. Michael’s Hospital Mobility program in 2006. She held the role of Director of Health Disciplines Practice and Education prior to this role.  In the director role, she gained a strong understanding of the practice and education issues that affect health-care providers.

She is a lecturer in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto. Bev is committed to a collaborative and scholarly approach to education for all learners that supports excellent patient care and outcomes.

A Registered Nurse, Sonya Canzian joined St. Michael’s Hospital in 1989. Since then, she has held progressively senior positions spanning acute and critical care, education and administration. Sonya has a Masters of Health Sciences, Nursing from Charles Sturt University in Australia and currently holds an Adjunct Clinical appointment at the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto.

Sonya has executive oversight of Nursing and Health Disciplines professional practice, education and research, as well as the programs that report to Manson Locke, Vice President, People and Chief Human Resources Officer; the Vice President Clinical, Surgery, Critical Care, Oncology and Women’s and Children’s Health (which includes Surgery, Mobility & IPAC; Trauma, Neurosurgery & Critical Care; Women’s and Children’s; Heart, Lung and Vascular; and Oncology and Endoscopy); and the programs that report to Trixie Williams, Vice President Clinical, Rehabilitation and Transitions (which includes the Houses of Providence; Rehabilitation & Palliative; Seniors & Ambulatory Care; and Pharmacy).

Dr. Rob Cirone is the Chief of Anesthesia at St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Co-Medical Director of the Peri-Operative and Surgical Services Program at Unity Health.

With more than 25 years of experience in combined anesthesia and critical care practice, he previously served as the Medical Director of the Intensive Care Unit at St. Joseph’s. Rob was also the Program Lead and Hospital Organ Donation Physician for Trillium Gift of Life Network at St. Joseph’s from 2015 to 2020.

Rob has been the site Principal Investigator for St. Joseph’s for several published critical care trials and helped lead the expansion of scholarship in both the hospital’s intensive care and anesthesia programs.

He completed his undergraduate training at the University of Toronto, and his medical degree at the University of Ottawa. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto.

Christopher De Bono is a highly regarded Catholic senior leader, ethicist and practical theologian with more than 20 years’ experience in progressive and strategic health-care roles in secular and Catholic sponsored health-care in both British Columbia and Ontario.

Prior to joining Unity Health in November 2021, Christopher was with Providence Health Care, a Catholic health-care network in British Columbia, where he was most recently the VP of Mission, Organizational Development and Ethics. Previous roles at Providence include VP of Mission, Ethics and Spirituality, VP Mission, People and Ethics, and Executive Sponsor for Indigenous Wellness and Reconciliation. Before joining Providence in 2016, Christopher held a number of progressive roles in Ontario, including as a clinical ethicist at Unity Health’s Centre for Clinical Ethics.

In a dual role, Christopher also serves as Executive Director Mission Integration for the Catholic Health Sponsors of Ontario.

Christopher holds a PhD in Practical Theology, a post-doctorate in Catholic Bioethics, and a Master of Divinity. Christopher is also certified as a specialist in spiritual care through the Canadian Association of Spiritual Care.

For the past eight years, Melanie has held various positions in Toronto academic hospitals leading legal, risk management, patient safety, privacy, ethics, governance, procurement and operational readiness functions. Prior to this, she was a lawyer for healthcare organizations and care providers within the Health Law Group of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. Melanie earned her Juris Doctor at the University of Toronto and her Master’s in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. For the past seven years she has taught Health Law & Risk Management for Quality Improvement in the M.Sc. Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Program, and more recently Health Law and Ethics in the Masters of Health Administration program, at the University of Toronto. She has a particular interest in quality improvement and responsible innovation in health care.

A general internal medicine physician, Dr. Irfan Dhalla joined the active staff of St. Michael’s Hospital in 2008. He joined the faculty as a clinician-scientist, and over the first few years of his career his research was recognized with awards from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Society of Internal Medicine and the University of Toronto.

From 2013 to 2019, he served as a vice-president at Health Quality Ontario, a government agency tasked with supporting improvements in the quality of care provided to Ontarians. In 2020, he returned to Unity Health Toronto, and joined the executive team. He is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Institute for Health Policy and Management at the University of Toronto.

Irfan is responsible for the Equity, Patient Experience and Quality portfolios across the network. He also has accountability for the Mental Health and Addictions Program at St. Joseph’s and St. Michael’s.

As Vice President of Stakeholder Relations and Chief Communications Officer, Sabrina Divell works to enhance Unity Health Toronto’s reputation and awareness within the provincial health-care system and across the diverse communities we serve.

Sabrina began her career as a journalist, covering health and business for a variety of Torstar publications. She later joined the communications team at St. Joseph’s Health Centre where she held several progressively senior leadership roles over the span of 12 years. Since Unity Health’s integration in 2017, she has been working to combine communications efforts across the sites as well as leading the design and implementation of our network’s overall brand communications strategy, overseeing crisis and issues management, and stakeholder relations. She is a graduate of the Humber College Journalism program as well as the Cornell University Change Leadership and Executive Leadership Certificate Program, the Strategic Marketing Skills for Managers at York University’s Executive Education Centre Schulich School of Business, and has completed the Advanced Health Leadership Program at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.

Throughout her career, Sabrina has been the recipient of several honours and awards, including the Gold Quill Award of Excellence from the International Association of Business Communicators, APEX Grand Award and AVA Digital Gold Award.

Maria joined St. Joseph’s Health Centre Foundation in 2010, following senior positions at St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation, the University of Toronto, Cystic Fibrosis Canada and the Office of the Premier of Ontario. Under her leadership, the foundation has become one of the top community hospital foundations in Canada.

Maria has worked in Canada, the United States and Australia and has more than 25 years of experience in fundraising, consulting, alumni and government relations, marketing and communications.

Maria has an honours BA in History from Western University and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University. She is an active volunteer and sits on advisory committees for Humber and Seneca Colleges. She is also the co-founder of D3: Debate, Debunk, Delight, Canada’s leading conference for fundraising leaders.

Jonathan Fetros is an experienced health leader who is passionate about high quality care, effective clinical services delivery, and health systems transformation.

Currently Jonathan serves as Vice President of Clinical Programs at Unity Health Toronto. Jonathan has worked at Unity Health since 2005 when he joined St. Michael’s Hospital as a Registered Nurse in the Mental Health Program. He has held a variety of leadership positions in key program areas, such as Senior Clinical Program Director of the Medicine Program and Senior Clinical Program Director of the Kidney & Metabolism Program. Outside of Unity Health, Jonathan served as Regional Director at the Ontario Renal Network (a branch of Ontario Health). In this role, he successfully oversaw all four renal programs within the Toronto Central region, demonstrating his commitment to advancing renal care on a broader scale.

Jonathan holds a Master of Nursing, Health Systems Leadership & Administration from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of the Advanced Health Leaders Program at the Rotman School of Management. Jonathan also holds the designation of Certified Health Executive (CHE) through the Canadian College of Health Leaders.

Kevin Goldthorp joined St. Michael’s and Providence Foundation in April 2023 as President and Chief Executive Officer. As the fundraising affiliate of Unity Health Toronto and under Kevin’s leadership, the Foundation manages fundraising, fund management and donor stewardship for St. Michael’s Hospital and Providence Healthcare.

Prior to this role, Kevin served as President & Chief Development Officer at SickKids Foundation for seven years, where he played a key role in the $1.7-billion No Limits Campaign. His previous executive roles include Chief Executive Officer, Sinai Health Foundation and Executive Vice-President, Advancement & Marketing, Sinai Health System; Vice-President, External Relations, at Western University; and Chief Executive Officer of Sunnybrook Foundation in Toronto.

Kevin is a leader in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work and an active volunteer in the community, participating on the board of Jörgen Dance, the Advisory Committee of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors Canada and as a campaign advisor to St. Felix House, Toronto.

Dr. Damian Jankowicz joined Unity Health Toronto in 2023 from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where he was most recently the Vice President, Information Management, Chief Information Officer and Chief Privacy Officer.

He is a visionary and strategic leader with a track record of delivering complex initiatives, building highly effective teams, and fostering relationships to propel clinician engagement and digital transformation. With established credibility in digital healthcare environments, Damian will co-lead the implementation of Unity Health’s Electronic Patient Record (EPR). Damian has significant experience engaging clinical teams to transform care. In 2021, Damian received the international HIMSS Changemaker in Health Award for clinician engagement and harnessing the power of information and technology to transform care and research.

Damian holds a PhD from McMaster University specializing in artificial intelligence, machine learning and computational modelling.  He is an Adjunct Professor at Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto where he teaches health informatics.

Damian has executive oversight of Information Technology, Enterprise Risk, Emergency Preparedness, Privacy, Health Records, Diagnostic Imaging and the EPR, as well as the programs that report to Dr. Muhammad Mamdani, Vice President, Data Science and Advanced Analytics.

Mike Keen provides corporate leadership in redevelopment, facilities management and corporate services, and the development and implementation of strategic capital plans. In this capacity, he currently leads over $750 million in redevelopment as well as a significant renewal of inpatient, outpatient and surgical programs.

As a member of the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Standards Development Council, Mike leads national health standards development in the role of Chair of the Strategic Steering Committee for Health & Well-Being.  He is also a faculty member in the education of Healthcare Facility Planning & Design and has overseen research projects to inform evidence-based decision-making, in essence supporting his commitment to system learning.

Mike Keen began his career with St. Michael’s in 1993, eventually assuming his current role with Unity Health in 2018. He is a recognized leader in health-care infrastructure and development of the built environment of care. Internationally, he was past chair of the Healthcare Technical Committee at the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and the inaugural Chair of the Infectious Diseases Committee.

Manson joined Unity Health in 2019 as the Senior Director of Human Resources. In 2022, he became the VP of People and Chief Human Resources Officer. In his role as Senior Director, Manson co-led the development of Unity’s inaugural People Strategy, re-designed the human resources service delivery model and made significant contributions to the organization’s strategic priority of anti-racism, equity and social accountability.

Prior to joining Unity Health, he worked as the executive lead for human resources at Ontario Health and supported standing-up the new agency. Prior to this, Manson was the VP of Human Resources and Corporate Administration at the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network (TC-LHIN). He also held the role of Executive Director at Baycrest Health Sciences.

Manson holds a Master’s of Industrial Relations and Human Resources from the University of Toronto, as well as an Honours BA with a specialty in Employment Relations and a certificate in Human Resource Management. Manson became credentialed as a Certified Human Resources Executive from the Human Resources Professional Association in 2019.

Dr. Muhammad Mamdani is working to expand our advanced analytical capabilities, including the application of artificial intelligence, using our own hospital data as well as other data sources to improve quality and operational excellence. In his previous role as the inaugural Director of the Li Ka Shing Centre for Healthcare Analytics Research and Training (CHART), Muhammad brought together hospital staff and physicians with data science researchers to solve real world problems by applying advanced analytics to health-care data. He now works to transform care by applying data science and advanced analytics on a much larger scale, across Unity Health.

Prior to joining the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute and St. Michael’s Hospital in 2006, Muhammad was a Director of Outcomes Research at Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals in New York. Muhammad’s research interests include pharmacoepidemiology, drug policy, and the application of advanced analytics to clinical practice. He has published approximately 500 research studies in peer-reviewed medical journals. Muhammad is a professor at the University of Toronto, and in 2010 was named one of Canada’s top 40 under 40.

Dean Martin joined the network in October 2018 from Trillium Health Partners where he had been the senior VP of Corporate Services, CFO and Queensway site lead since January 2014. His career in health-care financial leadership has also included positions at North York General Hospital, CAMH and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

Dean holds a bachelor’s of Business Administration from Brock University, a master’s in Health Administration from the University of Ottawa, and is a Certified Healthcare Executive and a Certified Management Accountant.

A surgeon, scientist and administrator, Dr. Ori D.Rotstein joined St. Michael’s in 2004 as Surgeon-in-Chief. In 2005, he became the Director of the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science. Since May 1, 2019, he has been the VP of Research and Innovation for Unity Health Toronto.

Ori has made numerous and significant contributions to the organization and health care sector. He has almost 350 publications; given more than 300 presentations worldwide; been awarded multiple grants from various funding agencies, including the CIHR, CFI and NIH; and is the recipient of many honours and awards, including the inaugural Keenan Chair in Research Leadership.

He received his MD and a M.Sc. from the University of Toronto. He completed postgraduate specialty training in General Surgery at U of T, followed by a research fellowship at the University of Minnesota. An expert in the management of intra-abdominal infection and inflammation, Ori’s research interests are in understanding how traumatic injury leads to alterations in the immune response of patients.

Dr. Sharon Straus was most recently the Physician-in-Chief at St. Michael’s Hospital and the Director of the Knowledge Translation Program at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute. She is also a geriatrician and scientist at St. Michael’s, and has held leadership positions at the hospital and the University of Toronto (U of T) since 2009. As a clinician, Dr. Straus works at St. Michael’s and Providence. She received the Complete Physician Award from St. Michael’s. She served on the Internal Medicine Examination Committee for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada for several years, using evidence to drive change.

At Unity Health, Dr. Straus has created connections between and beyond the network’s sites. Dr. Straus has also been an advocate for health of older adults, promoting equity in access to care. At U of T, as a Professor and former Director, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Dr. Straus has been responsible for the geriatric medicine training program at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, helping launch innovative approaches to recruit trainees to this field, which will be crucial as the country faces an aging population.

Dr. Straus is recognized for her commitment to and excellence in mentorship, impactful research, and knowledge translation. In 2021, she was appointed as a Member to the Order of Canada, elected as a Fellow in the Royal Society of Canada, and to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, receiving three of the country’s highest honours. She recently received an honorary doctorate from the University of Montreal. Having co-authored more than 650 peer-reviewed publications, her work has created evidence for clinicians, patients and policy makers to drive change.

An underlying current in all her work is equity. Dr. Straus is internationally known for helping to enhance diversity in health care and academia and received the May Cohen Equity, Diversity and Gender Award from the Association of Faculties of Medicine in Canada for this work. As Vice Chair of Mentorship, Equity and Diversity, in the Department of Medicine at U of T, she helped create policy and processes for hiring using an equity and anti-racism lens, and education opportunities. She is also passionate about mentorship and career development, leading workshops and writing the first book on this topic for physicians.

Dr. Straus holds a Doctor of Medicine degree and a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Toronto. She completed her Research Fellow training at the University of Oxford.

Bio to come

Dr. Ashley Verduyn is the Vice-President of Medical Affairs and Chief of Providence Healthcare. On the clinical side, she currently works as a hospitalist specializing in geriatric and medical rehabilitation.

Dr. Verduyn began her career at Providence as a long term care physician working in the Cardinal Ambrozic Houses of Providence in 2008. Later in 2017, she became the Medical Director of the long term care home.

Having completed her undergraduate medical training at McMaster University and her residency training in family medicine at the University of Toronto, Dr. Verduyn is now also a lecturer within the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the University of Toronto. In 2018, she was the recipient of Providence’s Living our Values Award for Sanctity of Life.

As a registered nurse with over 25 years of experience in healthcare, Trixie Williams is a passionate leader with many accomplishments. Her most recent management of major hospital programs include Cardiovascular and Stroke, Medicine, Seniors Strategy, Oncology and Palliative Care.

Trixie joined Unity Health Toronto in 2024 from Scarborough Health Network (SHN) where she was most recently Associate Vice President, Clinical Programs. She previously held leadership positions with Ontario Health (OH), as Regional Lead helping to implement the Vascular and Stroke System design. At OH, she led the team in important regional initiatives such as diabetes care, cardiac care and stroke services. Before her time with OH, Trixie was the Program Manager of Diabetes Care, Renal, Transplantation, Endocrinology and Ophthalmology at Unity Health’s St. Michael’s site. In this role, she helped support the regional renal network while working to improve access, flow and quality patient care.

Trixie is also a Faculty Advisor for the Practical Nursing Program at George Brown College. She holds a Diploma in Nursing from George Brown College, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Toronto Metropolitan University, a Master of Health Studies from Athabasca University, and a Certificate in Leadership from the University of Toronto.