Gordon Keller earned his PhD in Immunology at the University of Alberta and completed a Post Doctoral Fellowship at the Ontario Cancer Institute in 1983. His career has taken him to Basel, Austria, Denver and New York. In 2007, Keller returned to Canada to accept the position of Director, McEwen Stem Cell Institute at the University Health Network in Toronto. Dr. Keller is best known for his research in lineage specific differentiation of mouse and human embryonic stem cells. In December 2016, Keller was named Scientific Co-Founder of BlueRock Therapeutics, a next-generation regenerative medicine company.

Karen resides in Toronto with her husband and two young boys. In addition to her corporate experience, she is an avid volunteer in the non-profit health care community, making meaningful contributions to a number of organizations and initiatives. Her experience in neuroscience combined with her leadership, partnership building, and people management skills make her a dynamic leader for advancing Parkinson Canada successfully into the future. No Matter What.

A results-oriented executive leader with more than two decades of experience working in public affairs and health research. Cate has a proven track record of helping national organizations move their mandates forward. She currently serves as the Executive Director and COO for Canada’s Stem Cell Network (SCN) and has secured $69M in federal funding for stem cell and regenerative medicine research (and she is not done yet).

The Stem Cell Network is a national not for profit that supports stem cell and regenerative medicine research and training across Canada. SCN’s goal is to translate science from bench to bedside. SCN is funded by the Government of Canada and works in partnership with industry, health charities and research institutions to build Canada’s emerging regenerative medicine sector.

Cate is now in the midst of leading and driving change for SCN through the implementation of a new and expanded strategic plan that will see SCN supporting the broader field of regenerative medicine research – a field traditionally fueled by stem cells. It is Cate’s hope that by the end of the decade we will see numerous life changing and lifesaving therapies, catalyzed by SCN, benefitting hundreds of patients from coast to coast.

André Picard is a health reporter and columnist for The Globe and Mail, where he has been a staff writer since 1987. He is also the author of five bestselling books.

André is an eight-time nominee for the National Newspaper Awards, Canada’s top journalism prize, and past winner of the prestigious Michener Award for Meritorious Public Service Journalism.

He was named Canada’s first “Public Health Hero” by the Canadian Public Health Association, as a “Champion of Mental Health” by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health, and received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his dedication to improving healthcare.

André is a graduate of the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, and has received honorary doctorates from six universities, including UBC and the University of Toronto.

Jonathan Kimmelman, PhD, is James McGill Professor of Biomedical Ethics at McGill University, and directs the Biomedical Ethics Unit as well as his own research group, STREAM (Studies in Translation, Ethics and Medicine). Kimmelman’s research centers on ethical, policy, and scientific dimensions of clinical development. Kimmelman received the Maud Menten New Investigator Prize (2006), a CIHR New Investigator Award (2008), a Humboldt Bessel Award (2014), and was elected a Hastings Center Fellow (2018). He has sat on various advisory bodies within the U.S. NHLBI and NIAID, served for four tours of duty on U.S. National Academies of Medicine committees, and chaired the International Society of Stem Cell Research Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation revision task force 2015-16. His research has been covered in major media outlets, including NPR’s All Things Considered, STATNews, and Nature. Kimmelman is deputy editor at Clinical Trials, and associate editor at Cell Med.

Jonathan Kimmelman, PhD, is James McGill Professor of Biomedical Ethics at McGill University, and directs the Biomedical Ethics Unit as well as his own research group, STREAM (Studies in Translation, Ethics and Medicine). Kimmelman’s research centers on ethical, policy, and scientific dimensions of clinical development. Kimmelman received the Maud Menten New Investigator Prize (2006), a CIHR New Investigator Award (2008), a Humboldt Bessel Award (2014), and was elected a Hastings Center Fellow (2018).  He has sat on various advisory bodies within the U.S. NHLBI and NIAID, served for four tours of duty on U.S. National Academies of Medicine committees, and chaired the International Society of Stem Cell Research Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation revision task force 2015-16. His research has been covered in major media outlets, including NPR’s All Things Considered, STATNews, and Nature. Kimmelman is deputy editor at Clinical Trials, and associate editor at Cell Med.