Jennifer Phillips, PhD
Associate Scientist, Mood Disorders Research Unit
The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research, affiliated with the University of Ottawa

Dr. Jennifer Phillips is an Associate Scientist at The Royal’s Institute of Mental Health Research, affiliated with the University of Ottawa. Her research interests are in clinical neuroscience with a focus on depression, suicide prevention and brain imaging. One of the goals of her research is to identify gender-specific risk factors for mental illnesses to better inform targeted interventions.

Zainab Samaan, MBChB, MSc, MRCPsych (UK), PhD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry, McMaster University

Dr. Zainab (Zena) Samaan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Dr. Samaan is a clinician scientist, a sought-after mentor and educator. She received the President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision 2018. She is an accomplished investigator with 98 peer reviewed publications. Her research program focuses on biological and clinical predictors of addiction and psychiatric disorders.

Sherry H. Stewart, PhD
Professor, Dalhousie University
CIHR Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Addiction and Mental Health

Dr. Sherry Stewart is Canada Research Chair in Addictions and Mental Health in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology & Neuroscience at Dalhousie University. She is the Atlantic lead in the CIHR-funded Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse. Dr. Stewart is internationally-respected for her research on psychological factors contributing to emotional disorders, addictive disorders and their co-occurrence, with a focus on women and couples. With funding from Tri-Council research agencies, she has developed and evaluated novel interventions for these disorders.

Sherry Pictou, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Women’s Studies, Mount Saint Vincent University

Dr. Sherry Pictou is Mi’kmaw from L’sɨtkuk (Bear River First Nation), Nova Scotia. Her research focuses on decolonizing research, social justice for Indigenous Women, and Indigenous Women’s food and lifeways. Dr. Pictou is a co-investigator on the CIHR –Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship Network at Dalhousie University. She is also the principal investigator in partnership with KAIROS on the SSHRC Individual Partnership Engagement Research Grant: Building Indigenous-Academic-Not for Profit Relations for Mobilizing Research Knowledge – Gendered Impacts of Resource Extraction.

Donna W. Stewart, CM, MD, FRCPC
University Professor, University of Toronto
Senior Scientist, Toronto General Hospital Research Institute at UHN

Dr. Donna Stewart is a University Professor in Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Family Medicine at the University Health Network and the University of Toronto. She is a Senior Scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute. Her research into violence against women and perinatal mental health have been funded by CIHR and the Public Health Agency of Canada and others. Her research findings have been incorporated into health professional and social service provider training and practice internationally.

Lori A. Brotto, PhD
Executive Director, Women’s Health Research Institute
Professor, University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute

Dr. Lori Brotto is a Professor in the UBC Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and a Registered Psychologist.  She is the Executive Director of the Women’s Health Research Institute in Vancouver. Dr. Brotto holds a Canada Research Chair in Women’s Sexual Health. She leads the UBC Sexual Health Laboratory which focuses on advancing the science of psychological and mindfulness-based interventions for women’s sexual health. She is passionate about knowledge translation, and sharing sexual health information through media.

Thais Coutinho, MD
Prevention & Rehabilitation Division Head and Chair, Canadian Women’s Heart Health Centre,
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Ottawa

Dr. Thais Coutinho is a Cardiologist, Clinician-Scientist, Chief of the Division of Cardiac Prevention and Rehabilitation and Chair of the Canadian Women’s Heart Health Centre at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. She is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Her research centres upon arterial health and how it can be used to improve risk assessment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases, with special focus on sex and gender differences.

Andrée-Anne Ledoux, PhD
Research Investigator, CHEO Research Institute
Adjunct Professor, University of Ottawa

Dr. Andrée-Anne Ledoux is a Research Investigator in the Evidence to Practice Program at the CHEO Research Institute.  She earned her PhD studies in Experimental Psychology at the University of Ottawa, specializing in behavioural neuroscience. She completed her Post-Doctoral studies in Clinical Research, focusing on sex-based recovery trajectories in pediatric concussion.  Her research interest includes the development of novel approaches for the assessment, prognosis, treatment and understanding of concussion in the pediatric population.

Dawn Martin-Hill, PhD
Associate Professor, McMaster University
Paul R. MacPherson Chair in Indigenous Studies

Dr. Dawn Martin-Hill is of the Mohawk Nation and holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology. Her primary research works with Indigenous women and youth ways of knowing and being. She is Principle Investigator on the Co-Creation of Indigenous Water Quality Tools, an Indigenous-led research project focused on access to clean water and is a Canada and U.S. Fulbright scholar, holding both a Fulbright community grant and NSERC developing grant. Her projects include Mohawk- and female-led projects focused on suicide prevention and mental health among youth and, currently, Ohe’n:ton Karihwate’hkwenis ‘giving greeting to [the] natural world’.

Louise Pilote, MD, MPH, PhD
Senior Scientist, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre
Professor, McGill University

Dr. Louise Pilote is a tenured Professor of Medicine at McGill University, holding a James McGill chair since 2008. An international leader in the generation and translation of sex and gender differences in cardiovascular disease, she is a principal investigator of the CIHR Vascular network. Her research into the comparative effectiveness and safety of cardiac drugs, devices and on regional variations in access to care has impacted the quality of cardiovascular care internationally.