Advisory Board
Board Chair
Associate Professor, Department of Population Medicine
Coordinator, Master of Public Health Program
University of Guelph
Dr. Andrew Papadopoulos is an Associate Professor and Coordinator, Master of Public Health Program. He joined the Department of Population Medicine in July 2008. Previously, he was an Associate Professor and Director, School of Occupational and Public Health, Ryerson University. Much of his research is conducted in partnership with public health agencies and is focused on environmental public health, public health policy and administration, and the development and delivery of public health education. Andrew uses various quantitative and qualitative methodologies including conjoint analysis and economic epidemiology, to assess and improve population health. His professional experience includes being the Executive Director of the Association of Local Public Health Agencies, the organization that represents the 36 Boards of Health in Ontario, and working in local public health as a public health inspector. He continues to remain active within the public health system by sitting on numerous provincial and federal boards and committees. Andrew is currently the editor of the Environmental Health Review, the journal of the Canadian Institute of Public health Inspectors in Canada. Dr. Papadopoulos received his PhD (Population Medicine) from the University of Guelph, his MBA from York University, and his BASc (Environmental Health) from Ryerson University.
Director, Institute of Agricultural Rural & Environmental Health (IAREH)
University of Saskatchewan
James A. Dosman is considered the “Father of Agricultural Medicine” in Canada. Dr. Dosman received his undergraduate training at the University of Saskatchewan, graduating in Medicine in 1963. In 1986 he became founding Director of the Centre for Agricultural Medicine, University of Saskatchewan. He also became founding Director of the Institute of Agricultural Rural and environmental Health (I.ARE.H) when it was formed in 2001, and that of the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture when it was established in 2006. He was the founding Chair of the Canadian Coalition for Agricultural Safety and Rural Health and founding Co-Chair of the Canadian Rural Health Research Society.
Dr. Dosman is credited with establishing the Agricultural Health and Safety Network in Saskatchewan, a farm safety and rural public health municipal based grass-roots knowledge translation organization involving, by 2014, 30,000 rural families. Dr. Dosman received the Award for Meritorious Service to the People of Saskatchewan from the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities in 2001. He was awarded the University of Saskatchewan Award for Distinction in Public Service and Extension in 2003, was inducted into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2005, and received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2005. In 2007 he received the Dean Stueland Scholar Award from the National Farm Medicine Centre, Marshfield, WI, USA. In 2007 he was instrumental in founding and was named President and CEO of Agrivita Canada Inc, a not-for-profit company aimed at promoting research, public health and safety in agriculture. In 2009 he was bestowed an Honourary Membership in the Canadian Medical Association and was named among the 100 most influential alumni in the 100 year history of the College of Arts & Science, University of Saskatchewan. In 2010 he was named Distinguished Research Chair, University of Saskatchewan, inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and named an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 2011 he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame. He is married to Susan McKay Dosman. They have 5 children.
Public Health Physician, Environmental and Occupational Health
Public Health Ontario
JinHee obtained her B.Sc in kinesiology at Simon Fraser University and MD at the University of British Columbia. She completed her MPH (Epidemiology), residencies in Family Medicine and Public Health and Preventive Medicine at the University of Toronto. Following her training, she worked briefly at Toronto Public Health as an Associate Medical Officer of Health, working in communicable disease control. Since 2014, JinHee has been a Public Health Physician with the Environmental and Occupational Health team at Public Health Ontario. She works on a variety of environmental public health issues and projects on the team spanning environmental burden of disease, food safety, environmental exposures and risk communication. In addition, JinHee (co-)supervises the many residents and students who cycle through the team, and is involved more broadly with educational efforts at Public Health Ontario, including offerings to practising public health professionals and resident rotations. She is also active on the program committee of The Ontario Public Health Convention, an annual conference for public health practitioners.
Chief Medical Officer, Urban Environment and Healthy Lifestyle Division, Santé publique de Montréal
Adjunct Professor, University of Montreal
Dr. Perron is a physician specialized in public health and preventive medicine. He worked at Montreal’s Public health Department from 2007 to 2018, first as a medical consultant and after as the chief medical officer for the urban environment and healthy lifestyle division. In September 2018, he joined the toxicological and radiological unit of the Insititut National de Santé Publique du Québec. He works as a clinician in the Université de Montréal Hospital Center’s occupational and environmental medicine clinic. He is adjunct professor at Université de Montréal’s department of preventive and social medicine and at McGill University’s department of epidemiology and biostatistics. His field of activities focuses on health related outcomes associated with physical and chemical risk factors, emergency preparedness and response, housing, transportation and urban design.
Manager, Environmental Health Services, First Nations Health Authority
Linda Pillsworth has 17 years of experience in environmental public health. Her team of Environmental Health Officers, managers, technicians, and program experts support the promotion of healthy environments, and the prevention of health risks through assessment, monitoring, and capacity-building programs for First Nations communities. The last 10 years leading First Nations environmental health programming communities has progressively enriched her understanding of First Nations connections to land, reliance on traditional food systems, and the importance of both to the physical, mental, cultural, and spiritual health of individuals and communities. Through strong collaborations and partnerships with communities and regional, provincial, and federal agencies, her goal is to create opportunities to enhance public health and environment systems to better support the holistic concepts of First Nations well-being, and overall improvement of health in BC First Nations communities. Linda is supported by her husband and 2 lively sons.
Professor,
Conestoga College
Dr. Wendy Pons is a full time professor at Conestoga College in the Bachelor of Environmental Public Health Program in Kitchener, Ontario. She joined Conestoga in 2018. Much of Wendy’s research has been related to small drinking water systems, risk assessment, vector borne disease, climate change and food safety. Previously she worked at the Region of Peel health department in various roles related to environmental health, including food safety, vector borne disease, health hazards and health promotion. Dr. Pons has a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Guelph, a MASc in Environmental Science and Management, a BASc in Environmental Health from Ryerson University and is a certified public health inspector.
Director, Environmental Public Health Science, Health Protection
Alberta Health
Merry is currently the Director of Environmental Public Health Science within Ministry of Health for Alberta. Her knowledge and skills rest in the connection between the natural or man-made environment and humans, and how this intersection point may lead to health impacts for individuals, communities, the province and nation. Her education has focused on all things environmental, risk communication and management and addressing scientific uncertainty and providing opportunities for engagement with all types of stakeholders on how to protect the health of the citizens potentially being impacted. Merry’s portfolio includes participating in the regulatory reviews of industrial developments, working with communities on concerns from industrial development, and leading in assessing environmental risks during emergency events and supporting communities recovering from natural and/or man-made disasters such as Horse River (Fort McMurray) Wildfire and the Obed Mine release.
Trained as a public health inspector she practiced in northwestern Alberta and currently represents Alberta on the National Collaborative Centre for Environmental Health, the national Committee on Health and Environment as well as various other advisory or academic boards in the domain of environmental public health. Her Master’s degree studied how risk communication practices may be able to identify opportunities to engage with the public and other stakeholders when scientific uncertainty exists. She recently completed a Fellowship in Health System Improvement and pursuing certification as a Canadian Health Executive through the Canadian College of Health Leaders.
Outside of the office, she tries to dash off to dive the deep blue sea as often as she can and spending summers and Thanksgiving camping throughout the western provinces.
Director, Healthy Environments, New Brunswick Department of Health
Karen is the Director of the Healthy Environments Branch, Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health in New Brunswick. The Healthy Environments branch mandate is to anticipate potential environmental health hazards and protect New Brunswickers by reducing or preventing exposure through policy and program development, education, advocacy and collaboration, and technical support.
From 2001 to 2007, Karen worked with the New Brunswick Department of Environment as an approvals engineer for industrial air and water quality approvals, then focused mainly in municipal drinking water. In July 2007 she began work with the New Brunswick Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health as a public health engineer for the environmental health programs until she was promoted in early 2010 Karen to lead the newly created Healthy Environments Branch.
Karen obtained her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and masters in chemical engineering with a focus in environment at the University of New Brunswick.