Vanessa Gruben is a professor in the Common Law Section of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, and Director of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics. An expert in Canadian health law and policy, her scholarship probes some of the most difficult legal and ethical issues related to health care, including assisted reproduction, harm reduction, organ donation and transplantation, and health care professional self-regulation. Professor Gruben is the co-editor of the 5th edition of Canada’s leading health law text, Canadian Health Law and Policy (LexisNexis, 2017). She clerked for Chief Justice Richard of the Federal Court of Appeal and then Justice Bastarache of the Supreme Court of Canada. She was called to the bar in Ontario in 2003, after which she practiced as an associate in the litigation group of a national law firm.

As a palliative care physician and health justice activist, Dr. Naheed Dosani is dedicated to advancing equitable access to healthcare for people experiencing structural vulnerabilities like poverty and homelessness. These efforts include founding and leading the Palliative Education and Care for the Homeless (PEACH) Program at the Inner City Health Associates in downtown Toronto, serving as the Medical Director of Kensington Hospice, as Health Equity Lead at Kensington Health, a Health Equity Expert Advisor at the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and as a palliative care physician at St. Michael’s Hospital at Unity Health Toronto. Dr. Dosani shares his passion for palliative care and health equity with learners as an Assistant Professor with the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. His research interests include improving care models for people experiencing structural vulnerabilities and access to palliative care for culturally diverse communities. Dr. Dosani has received many prestigious honours for his work. These awards include the Meritorious Service Cross for Humanitarianism from Canada’s Governor General in 2018,  a humanitarian award from the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians in May 2019, and the Early Career Leader award from the Canadian Medical Association in 2020.

Y.Y. Brandon Chen is a professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, Common Law Section. A lawyer and social worker by training, Professor Chen’s research program examines laws and policies at the intersection of health and international migration, particularly the mechanics of health inequities facing noncitizens and racialized minorities. His published work has addressed such topics as health rights litigation, migrant and refugee health, social determinants of health, health care solidarity, and medical tourism. Beside his scholarly pursuits, Professor Chen engages in a variety of community-based work and pro bono legal services. He has served as a member of the board of directors for several non-profit organizations, including the HIV Legal Network, the Community Alliance for Accessible Treatment, and the Canadian Centre on Statelessness.

Dr. Fierlbeck is Chair of the Department of Political Sciences at Dalhousie University. She is also cross-appointed to the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, the Department of International Development Studies, and the European Studies Program. She is a Senior Research Fellow at the Healthy Populations Institute, and is on the research committee for the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy. She is Director of the Jean Monnet Network for Health Law and Policy, an EU-funded network promoting research on health law and policy across Europe and North America. Her recent CIHR-funded research has included a project investigating upstream determinants of effective COVID-19 response learning from comparisons across Canada's provinces, and another looking at the impact of retirement income programs on health and health equity among Canadian seniors.

Andrew Bisson is from M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island. He has lived in Ottawa since 2002. Andrew is currently the Director of Health at the Assembly of First Nations, a position he has held since August 2021. In his career he has worked in a First Nations tribal council, a national First Nations organization, a government department, a federal Deputy Minister’s office, and a federal Minister’s office. He also teaches two part-time university courses at a joint program delivered in partnership between Toronto Metropolitan University and the First Nations Technical Institute. In September 2023 he was elected as one of the first off-reserve councillors in M’Chigeeng First Nation. He also sits on a number of Boards on Manitoulin Island relating to his Councillor position. Most importantly, Andrew is the father of an 18-year-old daughter.

Colleen M. Flood is Dean of the Faculty of Law at Queen's University. Prior to that she was Director of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa. She is recognized as one of Canada’s leading scholars in the area of health law and policy, and is an accomplished leader, author, and commentator. She has made a significant impact in research and policy development in healthcare delivery and in public health more broadly. Her comparative research has been incorporated into national and global debates over healthcare system design, accountability, and governance, pandemic preparedness and response, and the role of courts in defending rights in healthcare. Her latest work focuses on the governance of health-related AI. A recognized thought leader, she has served as honorary member of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, a Canada Research Chair, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and Massey College.

Matthew Horner is counsel with the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Prior to joining the Commission, Matthew was counsel for 11 years with the Constitutional Law Branch of Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General. He has represented the Commission and Ontario on numerous constitutional and Human Rights Code matters, including OHRC v Ontario (Jahn) before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario; CCLA v Canada and Francis v Ontario before the Ontario Court of Appeal; and Withler v Canada and Henry v British Columbia before the Supreme Court of Canada. Matthew was called to the bar in 2002 after completing a clerkship with Justice Michel Bastarache of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Jake Effoduh is a professor at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). He has expertise in international human rights advocacy at various ranks of domestic, regional, and international legal systems. He has also informed regulatory frameworks and policy formulation on AI, both for supranational organizations and domestic institutions in several countries including the United States, Brazil, and Nigeria. Prior to joining Lincoln Alexander Law, Jake served as chief counsel to the Africa – Canada AI and Data Innovation Consortium, mobilizing AI and big data techniques to build governance strategies. He is also the project coordinator of Canada’s Rights Role in Sub-Saharan Africa, a multi-year interdisciplinary SSHRC-funded partnership between Canada and several African countries.

Louise Bélanger-Hardy is a full professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa. Her current research interests include human rights of older persons, the rights of caregivers and patients in healthcare settings, liability issues and private home care, consent in medical and research settings, and professional responsibility. She is a member of the Life Research Institute and of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics. For over ten years she held cross-appointments to administrative tribunals dealing with health professions and health services in Ontario.

Jennifer A. Chandler is a professor and Vice Dean at the Faculty of Law with cross-appointment to the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa. She studies the legal and ethical aspects of biomedical science and technology, with focuses on the intersection of the brain sciences, law and ethics. She also studies legal policy related to organ donation and transplantation. In her research she collaborates with a diverse international group of academics and clinicians. She led the recent publication of the first international comparative study of the laws of psychosurgery, with the contributions of leading functional neurosurgeons from Europe, Asia and the Americas. She coordinates a new tri-national project – Hybrid Minds – bringing together researchers from Switzerland, Germany and Canada to examine the implications of embedding AI within neuroprosthetics. She holds degrees in Law from Harvard University and Queen’s University, and clerked for Justice John Sopinka of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Barbara von Tigerstrom is a Professor at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law, where she has been a member of faculty since 2005. She holds a law degree from the University of Toronto and Ph.D. in law from the University of Cambridge. She has received several awards for excellence in teaching and research, and has held research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Stem Cell Network, and others. Dr. von Tigerstrom’s main areas of teaching and research are information and privacy law, health law and policy, and tort law. She is the author of Information and Privacy Law in Canada (Irwin Law, 2020) and numerous articles and book chapters on privacy law, health information, and public health law and policy.

Teresa Scassa is the Canada Research Chair in Information Law and Policy, a member of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society, and a full professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa, with cross-appointment to the School of Information Studies. Her research explores the intersection of law and technology, and she draws upon interdisciplinary approaches and networks in her work. She has written widely about intellectual property and privacy law issues in a broad range of contexts. Her ongoing research projects are on AI and the law, data governance, data privacy, and legal dimensions of data scraping. Dr. Scassa is a member of Canada’s Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence, a member of the Law Commission of Ontario’s Advisory Panel on the AI in Civil and Administrative Justice Project, and currently sits on two data policy-related working groups in Ontario.

Sonia Ouellet is the Interim Executive Director of the University of Ottawa’s Community Legal Clinic, which provides legal advice and representation for a range of criminal, family, and tenant-related matters. She is also a part-time professor at uOttawa’s Faculty of Law, where she teaches the core Health Law course in French. An experienced adjudicator, Sonia previously worked for the Social Benefits Tribunal, and was Vice-Chair of the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board and the Health Services Appeal and Review Board for a decade. She also practiced at Gowling WLG from 1998 to 2003. Throughout her career, Sonia has served on many boards and organizations that work to improve services and access to justice for Francophones in Ontario. Namely, she did so as the Executive Director and President of the Association des juristes d’expression française de l’Ontario (AJEFO). Highly engaged in her community, especially in helping vulnerable people, Sonia was on the Board of the Vanier Community Services Centre in Ottawa for 16 years, including three as President, and was active in the Centre Espoir Sophie, a women’s community centre.

Jessica represents and advises clients in the health care sector, including health care organizations (big, small, acute, sub-acute, community) and individual practitioners. She is especially passionate about mental health law, human rights applications and providing pro-active risk management advice to health care organizations. Prior to co-founding McIntyre Szabo PC, she worked as Legal Counsel at Ontario Health, a Crown Agency of the Government of Ontario. She was exposed to and provided advice on a wide array of legal and risk issues including corporate, digital, privacy, clinical, litigation and mental health issues. This in-house corporate work was a natural complement to her previous role as an associate in the Health Law Group (Specialized Disputes) at Borden Ladner Gervais and Legal Counsel at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Lorian Hardcastle is a professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary with a joint appointment to the Department of Community Health Sciences in the Cumming School of Medicine. She is also a member of the One Health Consortium, the O’Brien Institute for Public Health, and the Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board at the University of Calgary. She is currently involved in research on antimicrobial resistance (funded by Alberta's Major Innovation Fund), AI and health (funded by the CIHR), regulation of long-term care, and legal and policy issues arising from COVID-19. Lorian is also a frequent contributor to health policy debates in the media.

Erin Nelson joined the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta in 2000 after clerking for Justice John Sopinka of the Supreme Court of Canada. In 2012–13 she served as senior legal counsel to the Honourable Catherine Fraser, Chief Justice of Alberta. Her research interests include the interface of healthcare law and ethics, women's health, issues in reproductive health, and feminist legal theory. She has published articles and book chapters on a number of health law related topics such as consent, the regulation of health care practitioners, intervention in pregnancy, paediatric genetics, and tort law duties of pregnant women. Her recent book, Law, Policy and Reproductive Autonomy (Hart, 2013), explores theoretical and practical issues in reproductive decision-making.

Christine is a partner at BLG. She advises and advocates for a variety of organizations and professionals in the health and pharmaceutical sector. She advises major corporations and start-up entities on a wide range of federal and provincial health-related regulations across Canada, assisting with establishing operations and complying with the applicable regulatory frameworks. Within her advocacy practice, she represents hospitals, public health authorities and other health sector organizations and their employees in civil lawsuits. She has also acted for forensic mental health facilities before the Ontario Review Board and on appeals at the Court of Appeal. Christine has appeared as lead counsel at tribunals and at all levels of court in Ontario.