Krembil Centre
Outreach

Strengthening primary care is essential to addressing Canada’s long-term healthcare challenges. Rising patient demands, workforce shortages, and increasing complexity in care delivery have strained health systems. At the same time, AI and smart technologies offer unprecedented opportunities to enhance clinical decision-making, improve patient safety, and transform the efficiency of care delivery.

The panel explored:

• How can AI and digital innovations address the most pressing challenges in primary care today?
• What key opportunities exist for using AI and smart technologies to enhance primary care systems?
• How can interdisciplinary, AI-supported primary care teams create value while ensuring high-quality, patient-centered care?
• What workforce transformations are needed to fully leverage AI and digital health while maintaining trust, equity, and human-centered care?

Integrating AI into healthcare is no simple task. Leaders must navigate the challenges of technology, strategy, and operations while ensuring responsible and transparent use of AI. This forum provided practical leadership and governance strategies to guide AI innovation in healthcare. We explored how organizations and health systems can leverage AI to boost performance, improve patient care, and reduce risks.
Our panel comprised of:

• Dr. Kevin Smith – President & CEO, University Health Network (UHN)
• Dr. David Blumenthal – Professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• Dr. Michael Pencina – Chief Data Scientist, Duke Health

The summit was hosted by Professor Joseph Mapa Krembil Chair in Health Management and Leadership and moderated by Dr. Abi Sriharan, Scientific Director, Krembil Centre for Health Management and Leadership, as moderator

The future of Al promises significant transformative changes for healthcare. As the proliferation of Al spreads across the sector, it’s important to keep up to date on emerging innovations and applications in the workplace. The industry leaders joined for a discourse on how Al is changing clinical and operational decision making and driving pioneering drug discovery, with insights into some of the most significant emerging AI solutions. Our panel included:

• Dr. Barry Rubin, Professor of Surgery, University of Toronto; Program Medical Director, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre
• Professor Agni Orfanoudaki, Associate Professor of Operations Management, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
• Mr. Alok Kanti, President, Apotex International, Investor Perspective

The summit was hosted by Professor Joseph Mapa Krembil Chair in Health Management and Leadership and moderated by Dr. Abi Sriharan, Scientific Director, Krembil Centre for Health Management and Leadership, as moderator

Transformations in our Canadian healthcare systems are needed to ensure survivability, to bolster its resilience to future shock and disruption and, most significantly, adapt to new ideas and innovations. The role of value-based healthcare is integral to this future. The virtual summit, in collaboration with The Conference Board of Canada, explored the essential principles of value-based healthcare and how they can drive transformative changes in the Canadian healthcare system.

Keynote Presentations and Speakers:

• VBHC: Global Perspective
  • Jennifer L. Bright, MPA | President, International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM)
• VBHC: Systems Perspective
  • Dov Klein, Former Vice President, Value-Based Care at Ontario Health (The title may change)
• VBHC: Clinic Perspective
  • Shannon Jackson, Physician Lead, Value-Based Health Care
  • Meghan MacLeod, Performance Improvement Consultant,
• Nova Scotia Health’s Oncology Transformation Project: Putting the Patient Voice at the Centre of a Data-Driven Health Learning System – Amanda Caissie, Head, Department of Radiation Oncology, Associate Professor, Dalhousie University, Halifax

The summit was hosted by Professor Joseph Mapa Krembil Chair in Health Management and Leadership and moderated by Dr. Abi Sriharan, Scientific Director, Krembil Centre for Health Management and Leadership, as moderator

The Krembil Centre for Health Management and Leadership participated in CONNECT 2023, an Alumni Conference to make continual connections with the community. At the conference, the Centre showcased its ambitious goals and Professor Mapa shared his vision for driving progress and innovation in healthcare management and leadership fields. Dr. Abi Sriharan, Krembil Centre Research Director and Senior Scientist presented research findings on “Key Healthcare Leadership Competencies: Perspectives from Current Healthcare Leaders”. Her ground-breaking research sheds light on the crucial competencies necessary to tackle the most pressing healthcare challenges and outline strategies for fostering successful leaders.

The fourth Krembil Healthcare Leadership Summit presented emerging research on healthcare leadership and explored how leaders and healthcare organizations can utilize adaptive leadership approaches. The summit also explained what style of leadership is best suited to navigate disruption and help shape the healthcare sector of tomorrow.

Our panel members comprised Dr. Abi Sriharan, Research Director and Senior Scientist, Krembil Centre for Health Management and Leadership, Eric McNulty, Associate Director for the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, Harvard University, Iris Yusupov (MBA’22), Sessional Instructor, Schulich School of Business, Ph.D. Candidate, Faculty of Health, York University, and Bri S. Darboh (MBA’22), Sessional Instructor, Schulich School of Business, Ph.D. Candidate, Faculty of Health, York University. The insightful discussion was moderated by Professor. Joseph Mapa, Krembil Chair in Health Management and Leadership.

The third Krembil Healthcare Leadership Summit explored how AI-driven automation technologies can transform the health industry and discussed essential principles for responsible adoption of these technologies for better healthcare.

The panel comprised of Dr. Leo Anthony Celi, Clinical Research Director and Principal Research Scientist, MIT Laboratory for Computational Physiology and Staff Physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Dr. Amol Verma, Clinician-Scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. Dr. Leo spoke about machine bias and global perspectives related to Artificial Intelligence. He was joined by Dr. Amol who presented how Canada is leveraging digital technologies to improve healthcare. The insightful discussion was moderated by Dr. Abi Sriharan, Krembil Centre Research Director and Senior Scientist at the Schulich School of Business.

The Krembil Centre for Health Leadership and Management, in collaboration with Accenture, hosted their second Leadership Summit on March 30, 2022, themed on Workplace Culture, Talent, And Leadership in the Covid Era

Dean Detlev Zwick, and Centre Chair Joseph Mapa, along with the health sector experts joined the thought leadership event to discuss the future of the workplace culture in the healthcare sector along with topics of shifting labour dynamics, workforce burnout and attrition, and responsible leadership.

The panel comprised of Karen Forward, Managing Director, Human Potential at Accenture, Sean Hinton, Founder and CEO at SkyHive Technologies; and Dr. Abi Sriharan, Senior Krembil Fellow, Krembil Centre for Health Management and Leadership, Director of Leadership Wellness Lab. The insightful discussion was moderated by Jimmy Yang (MBA ’07), Managing Director and National Health Industry Leader, Accenture.

In addition to our Summits, the Centre will be making continual connections with our alumni with educational sessions.

Our first session themed on “The Great Disruption: Impact and Key Shifts in Healthcare” was organized on February 16, 2022, with 130+ registrations. An informative and engaging panel comprising of Rina Lamba (MBA ’19), Director, Public Health, York Region; Lauren Rinaldo (MSTM ’17, MBA ’21), Epic Project Training Lead, Scarborough Health Network; Andrea Spencer (MBA ’13), Principal (Consulting), Optimus SBR discussed about new perspectives about how we work and want to work, how to innovate, how to seize new opportunities, and how to lead in a world where technology can be embraced at lightning speed. The session was hosted by Keith Loo (MBA ’12), CEO, Skinopathy and moderated by Joseph Mapa, Krembil Chair in Health Management and Leadership.

On September 23, 2021, Schulich’s newly established Krembil Centre for Health Management and Leadership, in collaboration with Deloitte, hosted our launch summit to celebrate leadership and help reshape the best practices in our industry.

The Summit was preceded with the official launch of our Centre. Robert Krembil (MBA ’71, Hon LLD ’00) and members of his family along with Dean Detlev Zwick, President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton, Dean Emeritus Dezsö J. Horváth, and Krembil Chair Joseph Mapa launched the Centre with great enthusiasm and aspirations.

Our first Leadership Summit which followed, took stock, and reflected on the ideas of renowned thought leaders in four vital and timely areas of healthcare: 1. Long-Term Care and the Impact of COVID; 2. The Digital Future of Healthcare; 3. The Role of AI and Data Analytics, and 4. Reimagining the Healthcare Workforce.

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Martin Gersch, Freie Universität Berlin
Prof. Dr. Martin Gersch delved into the European Health Data Space (EHDS), emphasizing its impact on utilizing health data for 450 million citizens and its implications for research and healthcare services. He is renowned for his extensive research and mentorship in digital ecosystems and health innovations, led the discussion. His work, including over 150 peer-reviewed publications, positions him as a leading authority in the field, making this webinar a must-attend for those interested in the future of European healthcare.

Click this link to watch the recording on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0JY6yYsSHM

About the Speaker: Laura Rosella, PhD, MHSc, is a Full Professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health and holds the Canada Research Chair in Population Health Analytics. She is the Principal Investigator and Scientific Director of the Population Health Analytics Lab, a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, and holds various other leadership roles. Her research focuses on leveraging data science and predictive models to enhance population health and equity, evidenced by over 200 peer-reviewed publications in epidemiology, population health, and health services research.

This seminar, titled “AI’s Transformative Impact on Public Health: Insights from Dr. Laura Rosella,” provided insights on building AI capacity within public health organizations and the broader workforce to achieve significant strides in population health outcomes. Recording will be uploaded shortly.

About the speakers:
Dr. Barry Rubin completed a B.Sc. in physics and physiology and medical school at McGill University, and a PhD in Experimental Medicine and General and Vascular Surgery training at the University of Toronto. He is certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in these specialties, and received the Bernard Langer Award as the outstanding graduate of the Surgical Scientist Program in 1993. Dr. Rubin joined University Health Network (UHN) in 1995, and is currently Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Rubin received the Wylie Scholar Award in 1998 from the Foundation for Vascular Cures, San Francisco and is the only Canadian recipient of this award. He has been funded continuously for basic science research by CIHR from 2002 – 2017.

Dr. Rubin was Head of Vascular Surgery from 2001 – 2010. He has been Chair and CEO of the Mount Sinai Hospital UHN Academic Medical Organization since 2003 and Medical Director of the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at UHN since 2010. Dr. Rubin was Chair of the Expert Panel on Appropriate Utilization of Imaging Studies, Ontario from 2012 – 2014.

Dr. Bo Wang is the Chief AI Scientist at UHN and the Lead Scientist of the Artificial Intelligence Team for Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at University Health Network. He is also a Faculty Member of Vector Institute. His research areas include machine learning and computational biology.

Dr. Wang obtained his PhD from the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University, and has extensive industrial research experience at many leading companies such as Illumina and Genentech. His PhD work covers machine learning algorithms for solving problems in computational biology with an emphasis on integrative cancer analysis and single-cell analysis. Bo Wang’s long-term research goals aim to develop integrative and interpretable machine learning algorithms that can help clinicians with predictive models and decision support to tailor patients’ care to their unique clinical and genomic traits.

Click this link to watch the recording on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGEBpDO5BD4

About the speaker: Aly Háji, previously a prosecutor in Toronto’s regulatory law space, brings a wealth of knowledge to the discussion. Holding an LL.M. from Cambridge University with first-class honors for his thesis on healthcare causation, Aly’s background includes clerkship at the Supreme Court of Canada and contributions to federal-level public policy. His active involvement in The Advocates’ Society, particularly in their AI & Automated Decision-Making Task Force and Diversity & Inclusion Steering Committee, showcases his dedication to ethical governance in healthcare AI.

Click this link to watch the full recording on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St8soF3aC-k

Speakers:

Dr. Amol Verma is a physician, scientist, and Assistant Professor in General Internal Medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto and the 2023 Temerty Professor of AI Research and Education in Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is a health services researcher, studying and improve hospital care using electronic clinical data. Amol co-founded and co-leads GEMINI, one of Canada’s largest hospital clinical data research networks, which is collecting data from >30 hospitals in Ontario.

Dr. Fahad Razak is an internist at St Michael’s Hospital (Unity Health Toronto), and Canada Research Chair in Healthcare Data and Analytics at the University of Toronto. He co-founded GEMINI(https://www.geminimedicine.ca/), the largest hospital research network in Canada, and one of few such examples globally. He was the Scientific Director of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table and co-authored >50 science and policy briefs that shaped the policy, public health and clinical response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Click this link to watch the recording on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRLxwol60xc

Speaker: Dr. Andrew Pinto is the founder and director of the Upstream Lab, a research team focused on tackling social determinants of health, population health management, and using data science to enable proactive care. He holds the CIHR Applied Public Health Chair in Upstream Prevention. He is a Public Health and Preventive Medicine specialist and family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. He is the Associate Director for Clinical Research at the University of Toronto Practice-Based Research Network, the lead for clinical research of Ontario’s POPLAR network, and the founder of the Canadian Primary Care Trials Network. He serves on the Institute Advisory Board of CIHR’s Institute for Population and Public Health, is an adjunct scientist at the Institute for Work and Health, and an honorary senior lecturer at St. Andrews University in Scotland.

Speaker: Dr. Mamdani, Vice President of Data Science andAdvanced Analytics at Unity Health Toronto

Click this link to watch the recording on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDQAYfqtz2c