Meet our 2025 Panelists

Ahmed Bayoumi is an internal medicine physician and scientist at MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions. His research exploring the value and feasibility of supervised injection facilities was fundamental to establishing the evidence base for these services in Canada. In Toronto, his work was used by public health officials, community groups, and elected officials to support applications to the Federal Government that resulted in the introduction of supervised injection facilities in Toronto. Read more

Zoë Dodd is MAP’s inaugural Community Scholar. She has worked in harm reduction for almost 20 years as a program coordinator, organizer and advocate. She helped develop a model of treatment and support for people who use substances living with Hep C, which has been adopted in several areas across Ontario. Read more

Mikaela Gabriel is a clinical and counselling psychologist, Canada Research Chair in Women and Two-Spirit Mental Health and Housing and a scientist at both MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions and Well Living House. Her research explores Indigenous health and wellbeing, urban cultural connection and housing transitions for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Read more

Tara Gomes is a professor at the University of Toronto, Canada Research Chair in Drug Policy Research and Substance Use, Scientific Director of the St. Michael’s Urban and Community Health Research Pillar, scientist at MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions and the principal investigator of the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network. Through her research, she is working to develop evidence, tools and best practices to strengthen drug policy decision-making in Canada and around the world. Read more

Stephen Hwang is an internal medicine physician, Canada Research Chair in Homelessness, Housing and Health and director of MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions. His success co-leading the At Home/Chez Soi study persuaded the federal government to commit to scaling up Housing First interventions across Canada. Read more

Tara Kiran is a family doctor, scientist at MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions and the Fidani Chair in Improvement and Innovation at the University of Toronto. Her OurCare study was Canada’s largest-ever public engagement on primary care reform, and provided the blueprint for Ontario’s 2025 Primary Care Act. Read more

Stephen Lucas is the CEO of Mitacs, science policy advisor to Unity Health Toronto and former Deputy Minister of Health Canada. He brings four decades of public sector experience in economic, innovation, energy, environment, health and social policy development. Read more

Seema Marwaha is the Editor-in-Chief of Healthy Debate (healthydebate.ca), where she brings years of experience in journalism, advocacy and health communication. She is also an internal medicine physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and an investigator with the St. Michael’s Hospital Urban and Community Health Pillar. She is a regular contributor to CBC, Chatelaine and has written for Post Media, the Canadian Press and Macleans, among others. Read more

Nav Persaud is a family doctor, Canada Research Chair in Health Justice, scientist at MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions and chair of the the Government of Canada’s Committee of Experts to make recommendations on National Pharmacare. Dr. Persaud’s research is dedicated to narrowing the health gap between the highest and lowest wealth brackets, and to ensuring that everyone in Canada can afford the food and medication that they need. Read more

Fahad Razak is an internal medicine physician, Canada Research Chair in Healthcare Data and Analytics and a scientist with the St. Michael’s Urban and Community Health Research Pillar. He served as the Scientific Director of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, shaping the province’s pandemic response. Read more

Mina Tadrous is an ICES scientist, Canada Research Chair in Pharmaceutical Policy and Real-world Evidence and co-director of Pharmaceutical Policy and Pharmacy Practice at the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network. His research focuses on evaluating drug policies and working closely with policymakers on drug safety and effectiveness. Read more

Andrea Tricco is the Executive Director of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital and a scientist in the Knowledge Translation Program. She is a professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto and holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Knowledge Synthesis. She is Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. Her research focus is on advancing the science of knowledge synthesis and responding to the needs of decision-makers (including policy-makers, healthcare providers and patients) through knowledge synthesis. Read more

More 2025 panelists will be announced soon.

Agenda

The full agenda will be announced soon.

Learn about our past symposiums

2023: The Science and Practice of Implementation Success

On March 23, 2023, almost 200 researchers, service providers, policymakers, students and community experts gathered at the second Solutions for Healthy Cities Symposium to explore our 2023 theme: The science and practice of implementation success. Keynote speaker Dr. Ibram X. Kendi joined the event virtually, in conversation with MAP Director Dr. Stephen Hwang and followed by a Q&A with the audience. Learn more

In Participants’ Words:

“All of the speakers were amazing! Great blend of disciplines and topics.”

“The program progression and accompanying guide were really helpful, no matter what stage, focus or level of expertise.”

“There was such a diversity of people in attendance – excellent to meet people in all types of work.”

“I loved the thoughtful planning to connect the different projects. Really excellent and seamless event!”

“A highlight was the opportunity to ask questions of Ibram X. Kendi – fantastic!”

“I appreciated the breaks, food, and care for us so that we could be fully present to learn.”

“The affordability was amazing and really opened doors for access.”

“I loved that all the presentations were focused on equity-seeking projects.”

2020: Co-designing for Real World Impact

At the first Solutions for Healthy Cities Symposium on March 2-3, 2020, MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions launched 10 collaborative solutions networks with a common goal: to effect real-world social change by co-designing and demonstrating what works to address critical urban health challenges in our communities. The symposium gathered more than 170 network members including scientists, community partners, policy makers, and people with lived expertise from across the country. Learn more

Questions?

Contact Emily Holton at emily.holton@unityhealth.to.