Mirette Dube RRT, MSc

Simulation and debriefing for systems integration is a passion for Mirette. Mirette started as a respiratory therapist in all critical care areas, transitioning to a quality and education lead role, and was a pioneer in using simulation as a tool for improving healthcare quality and safety. As a Provincial Director in Quality and Patient Safety Education she learned to use the “value add” of simulation to improve quality and safety across the health care spectrum. Mirette has led a broad range of large scale projects including: design, testing and commissioning of Canada’s first interventional trauma operating room amongst several other similar projects to use simulation in all phases of construction (pre to post construction); leading large scale projects for COVID workforce preparedness and response planning; evaluating and co-designing high risk policies and procedures (mass casualty, trauma, multi-agency communication pathways etc) using simulation and FMEA methodology; helipad commissioning projects, and informing multi-million dollar build decisions using simulation and human factors methods. Her breadth of experience includes using simulation in a global health setting (Uganda), undergraduate and post graduate simulation and Interprofessional education facilitator, coaching and mentoring of Inter-professional teams including faculty development. She is internationally recognized for her expertise as a leader in this field. If you are interested in helping your organization adopt this approach and improve their systems, Mirette is committed to working with your team.

Dr. Lennox Huang MD, FAAP, CPE, FRCP (C)

Dr. Lennox Huang is the Chief Medical Officer and Vice President for Medical and Academic Affairs at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and co-chairs the hospital’s Medical Advisory, Quality Management and Clinical Operations Committees. At a regional level Dr. Huang co-chairs the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN) Medical Affairs Committee and co-leads the TAHSN Escalation of Care Task Force. Dr. Huang is a staff physician in the Paediatric Critical Care Unit at SickKids and holds the rank of Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto and Associate Clinical Professor of Paediatrics at McMaster University. In addition to healthcare administration and clinical care, Dr. Huang has a special interest in the application of healthcare simulation to the design and testing of new facilities and in the detection of latent safety threats. He currently sits on the board of the Global Network for Simulation in Healthcare.

Dr. David Kessler, MD, MSc

is a practicing Pediatric Emergency Medicine physician in New York City and a graduate of Princeton University and Mount Sinai School of Medicine.  A longtime student of the growing art & science of simulation, Dr Kessler’s experience with simulation-based medical education, standardized patients, patient outcome oriented research, quality improvement, and change management has resulted to numerous grant-funded studies and peer-reviewed publications.

As co-director and one of the co-founders for INSPIRE, (International Network for Simulation-based Pediatric Innovation, Research and Education) an international pediatric research network focused on outcome oriented simulation research in acute care, resuscitation and skills—Dr. Kessler has helped to grow a community of practice dedicated to collaboration and mentorship among investigators committed to scholarship in simulation. 

Dr. Jennifer Reid, MD

Jennifer Reid, MD is a practicing Pediatric Emergency Medicine physician in Seattle, Washington.  She is a graduate of Columbia University in New York City, The University of Washington School of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia pediatric residency program.  For over ten years, she has been integrating simulation and quality improvement, leveraging the power of simulation to better understand healthcare systems, teams and individuals. As the Associate Medical director for Simulation at Seattle Children’s Hospital, she has developed a standardized approach to evaluate new clinical and non-clinical spaces, high risk-processes and complex teamwork interactions to promote the identification of latent safety threats and quality improvement opportunities.

Susan Biesbroek, M.Sc.

Susan Biesbroek is a Human Factors Specialist in the Alberta Health Services (AHS), Patient Safety Department.  She is one of the founding members of the Human Factors team in AHS and has spent the last 15 years employing Human factors methods to improve patient safety in healthcare. 

Susan has utilized a wide variety of Human Factors methodologies in a variety of healthcare areas, including usability test of medical devices (i.e. infusion pumps, anesthetic gas machines); use of tabletop and mock-up based simulations to evaluate healthcare environments (i.e. operating rooms, ICU patient rooms, cancer centers) during the design phases; human error investigations; and most recently supporting the development and user testing and optimization of large scale clinical information systems (electronic health records) workflows. She is passionate about improving patient safety using evidence-based evaluations to reduce the risk of adverse events in healthcare.

Jonas Shultz, MSc EDAC

Jonas Shultz works as a Human Factors Specialist with the Health Quality Council of Alberta. He is also an adjunct lecturer with the Department of Anesthesia, University of Calgary. Working over the last 15 years in medical human factors, he has provided human factors expertise to a variety of healthcare organizations, including Alberta Health Services, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, Health Canada, ISMP Canada, CSA Group, as well as the Center for Health Design and Clemson University’s Center for  Health Facility Design and Testing in the United States. The majority of Jonas’ work has focused on evaluating the design of built environments for healthcare, such as hybrid operating theatres and ambulances, minimizing human error during medication administration, evaluating medical devices, as well as testing usability and comprehension of visual displays. Jonas has published his work in peer reviewed papers, influenced provincial and national healthcare facility design standards, and has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international venues in Canada, the United States, Australia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. 

Dr. John Kortbeek B.Med.Sc., MD FRCSC FACS

John brings an extensive experience in Trauma, Critical Care, and Health Care Systems and Administration.  Clinically, he trained as a General Surgeon, and then went on to do fellowships in Critical Care and Trauma, in Calgary, and Birmingham Alabama.  He led the establishment of the Regional Trauma and Critical Care program in Southern Alberta, and served as the Director of the Department of Surgery for the Calgary Health Region for 10 years.  He has commissioned, advised on and/or co-led numerous design and build projects, including the development of the greenfield site South Hospital, the McCaig Tower, the Foothills Integrated trauma surgery and IR suite and the Advanced Technical & Surgical Simulation Center at the Cumming School of Medicine.

He has also been a world leader of the  Advanced Trauma Life Support program, of the American College of Surgeons.  He was the senior editor for the 8th edition of the ATLS program, and oversaw the launch of the ATLS program in 11 new countries, worldwide.  All of these programs have used simulation and system-based analysis as the core of program development, including  curriculum, physical workplace design, and the development of care protocols. 

Dr. Alyshah Kaba, PhD

Alyshah Kaba is currently the Provincial Scientific Lead for eSIM Provincial Simulation Program in the department of Quality Health Improvement within Alberta Health Services.  Dr. Kaba completed her PhD in Medical Education at the University of Calgary, where she worked with the Health Human Factors Team at the W21C Innovation and Research Centre. For her dissertation work she received the prestigious CIHR Vanier Canadian Scholarship. Alyshah was awarded the Gold Medal of Excellence from the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR), recognizing her as one of the top 5% of doctoral students in the country, and the 2015 Emerging Young Investigators Award in Simulation Research from Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Dr. Kaba has had a breadth of international experience as a health professional educator in system integration simulation, program evaluation and design, implementation science, curricular innovation, interprofessional education and collaboration (IPE/C), psychometrics, measurement, assessment. As a mixed-method researcher, she has co-authored a number of abstracts and peer reviewed publications and has presented both locally, nationally and internationally on her areas of expertise. Alyshah is also actively involved as Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary and holds a number of committee and leadership roles in the Cumming School of Medicine.

Monika Johnson, RN BScN

A pioneer of virtually facilitated simulation and program development.  Monika’s passion and interest lies in improving clinical practice, quality and safety in remote and rural healthcare facilities internationally. She is an expert in debriefing and a collaborative and inclusive team member.

Monika has expertise and a clinical background in obstetrics and neonatal intensive care and has worked as a clinical nurse educator in Women’s Health. Currently she is a simulation consultant in the largest simulation program in Canada and takes a lead as a virtual educator in remote Arctic communities.

Kristin Simard, RN BsCN

A pioneer of virtually facilitated simulation and program development.  Kristin brings expertise in debriefing and systems evaluation to improve quality and safety in healthcare facilities.  She played a key role in using systems focused simulation and simulation for education and training to open the largest Correctional Facility in Canada. She has a passion for interprofessional/interdisciplinary simulation and is a leader in this field. 

Kristin brings a diverse background to simulation. Her clinical expertise includes Cardiovascular intensive care, Emergency, Pediatrics, Correctional nursing, working in various staff, educator and simulation consultant positions. Additionally Kristin has expertise in trauma nursing in war torn Afghanistan.  As a lead educator in virtual simulation Kristin has made a tremendous impact on clinical practice in Artic communities. 

Travis Whitfill, MPH, MPhil, PhD(c)

Travis Whitfill is an Associate Research Scientist in the Departments of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at Yale University. His academic work has focused on measuring and improving pediatric emergency care. He worked extensively to use a combination of large data sets, simulation-based research methodologies, and survey-based instruments to measure pediatric care in Emergency Departments. Travis also has a background in biotechnology, finance, and venture capital. He is currently a Partner at Bios Partners, which is a life science-focused venture capital firm with over $300 million assets under management. He sits on the board of four portfolio companies, including IN8bio (NASDAQ: INAB), Azitra Inc., SIRPant Immunotherapeutics, Immusoft Corporation (observer), and 410 Medical, Inc. (observer). He is the co-founder of several startup companies, He’s also the Senior Analyst at Bios Research, which brings experience in public markets, and drug development to support venture capital investments. Mr. Whitfill has been the principal investigator (PI) or co-PI of over $18 million in federal grants/contracts, holds nearly a dozen patents, and has co-authored approximately 50 publications and book chapters. Mr. Whitfill received degrees from Yale School of Public Health (MPH), University College London (MPhil), and Dallas Baptist University (BS) and is working on a PhD in health policy from University College London.