PROGRAM
Thank you for your interest in the 21st annual Health and Human Rights (HHR) Conference!
The theme of our conference this year is Health And Human Rights in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Through keynote addresses, breakout workshops, and research fairs, we will explore how we can work together to better issues that challenge us here and abroad regarding this very important topic. The conference will run from 9:o0 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday, March 9th, 2019.
Dr. Sunit Das is a Scientist in the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science and neurosurgeon at St.Michael’s Hospital. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto. Dr. Das studied English Literature at the University of Michigan and Philosophy at Harvard University before moving to Chicago for medical school at Northwestern University. He completed a Doctor of Philosophy at the National Institutes of Health, where he studied the molecular processes that underly adult neurogenesis in the lab of Dr. ZuHang Sheng. He returned to Chicago for his neurosurgical residency, during which time he also began work on cancer stem cells in primary brain tumours in the lab of Dr. John Kessler. He was recruited to the University of Toronto in 2010. Dr. Das’s clinical practice and clinical research focus of the treatment of patients with tumours of the brain and spine. His laboratory at the Hospital for SickKids focuses on non-coding RNA and control of cell identity in glioblastoma and neural stem cells. He is a member of the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre at the Hospital for Sick Children, and faculty with the Institute of Medical Science and Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology.
This year, Dr. Das will give a seminar on the status of healthcare/medical practices and how digital age technologies, including AI, are becoming an ever-necessary player in our healthcare system. As well, he will speak on the plethora of ethical challenges that come into play as a result of this inclusion of fourth industrial revolution practicies. Dr. Das will be speaking on the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how society, especially our healthcare systems at home and abroad have begun to (and must) adapt to these changing trends.
Dr. Sunit Das
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Dr. Sunit Das
Dr. Avi GoldFarb
Dr. Petra Molnar
Dr. Jay Shaw
Dr. Shaw is a health systems researcher who studies how and why innovations are adopted (or rejected) in health care policy and practice. His research spans a range of innovations, focusing primarily on virtual care technologies and new models of integrated care. Dr. Shaw is an interdisciplinary researcher, drawing on theories and methods from Science and Technology Studies as well as Organization Studies. He has expertise in the phenomenology of practice, and has written on a variety of philosophical and methodological orientations to health and health care.
Dr. Shaw’s research has been supported by doctoral research awards and postdoctoral fellowships from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and he collaborates with researchers in Spain, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and across Canada.
Research Interests
Jay’s research interests include: transitions and integrated health care across the continuum, home and community care, health policy and comparative policy analysis, health services research methodologies, and qualitative research methodologies.
Dr. Anna Goldenberg
Anna is a Senior Scientist in the Genetics and Genome Biology Program at SickKids Research Institute and Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto (Computational Biology Group) with a cross appointment in the department of Statistics. Her main research focus is to develop machine learning methods that can help decipher human disease heterogeneity, which involves combining data from multiple sources. Examples of her recent research include predicting necessity of thyroid biopsy and resection and age of cancer onset in children with cancer predisposition syndrome. Anna trained in machine learning at Carnegie Mellon University, with a postdoctoral focus in computational biology. The Goldenberg Lab collaborates with clinicians to ensure that work is relevant in the clinic. Anna is also a Member of the CIFAR Child and Brain Development group and a Member of the Scientific Management Committee of the Centre for Computational Medicine at SickKids.
Dr. Brent Barron
Brent is the Director, Public Policy at CIFAR, where he works to maintain and expand CIFAR’s partnerships with governments at the federal and provincial level.
Prior to joining CIFAR, Brent worked as a Senior Policy Analyst in the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, where he worked on the creation of Compute Ontario to coordinate high-performance computing in Ontario, as well as the relaunch of the $65 million Ontario Research Fund - Research Excellence program. He also held positions in the Ministry of Government Services working on IT strategy and in the Treasury Board Office in the Ministry of Finance.
Brent completed his Master of Public Policy degree at the University of Toronto. While there he co-edited the Public Policy and Governance Review and volunteered as a consultant for a non-profit organization as part of the Public Good Initiative. Brent completed his BA at Western University with a specialization in Media, Information and Technoculture and a minor in Economics.
Dr. Brad Bass
Brad Bass is an active educator in complex systems, founding and directing the University Research Experience with Complex Systems (URECS), which offers opportunities for undergraduate and secondary school students to develop virtual labs to explore complex systems. As the Associate Director for the Foundation of Student Science and Technology, Dr. Bass creates professional STEM opportunities for secondary school and undergraduate students. As an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto, Dr. Bass continues to create research opportunities for undergraduate students. All student research in complexity is conducted using Dr. Bass' agent-based software, COBWEB. Dr. Bass has been active for many years in green infrastructure research. His energy, urban heat island and biodiversity analyses were used to develop Toronto's Green Roof Bylaw. His most recent work has been in areas of non-market valuation and the behavioural change towards new innovations.
WORKSHOPS
CIFAR
CIFAR
Bitmaker
Cafe Bioethics
CIFAR is a Canadian-based, global charitable organization that convenes extraordinary minds to address science and humanity’s most important questions. CIFAR plays a significant role in artificial intelligence research in Canada and around the world. They helped to enable some of the fundamental breakthroughs in the field through our Learning in Machines & Brains program, a program which continues to deliver ground breaking research. CIFAR leads a $125 million national strategy to establish Canada's international leadership in AI. And even runs a program that explores the ways that AI will reshape our society and how we should respond.
Bitmaker
Cafe Bioethics
Café Bioethics is a safe space where individuals, who do not necessarily have a background in bioethics, medicine, or law, may participate in deliberative democracy and develop their own opinions regarding various topics. Monthly events are a place where anyone is welcome to attend and either share ideas and participate within the discussion, or sit back and listen to further educate themselves about the topic of interest.
PRESENTATIONS
Research Poster Fair
Research Poster Fair
The Research Poster Fair is a display of research work done by various students at the University of Toronto. All of the research displayed is focused on the conference’s theme: Health and Human Rights in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. These students have conducted research globally and locally, and are showcasing it at this year’s conference to explain their findings and engage delegates in thought-provoking discussions about Healthcare and Human Rights
