RSI Research Day

Topic: Patient Advocacy and Partnership in Research

Bio: Annette McKinnon is an active and engaged patient and a member of the Steering Committee of the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance (CAPA), Sjogrens Canada, and the Arthritis Patient Advisory Board of Arthritis Research Canada. Starting with a blog and a social media presence (@anetto), she has become involved with research teams and is a founding member of the Patient Advisors Network, a community of practice for patient and family caregiver advisors. She is also a graduate of the PaCER (Patient and Community Engagement Research) Course at the University of Calgary, and a research partner on several research teams, as well as a grant reviewer for CIHR and The Arthritis Society. She has been a Health Mentor for the Interdisciplinary Education Program of the University of Toronto for the past 10 years and was a 2014 MedX ePatient Scholar. 

Panel: Patient-oriented Research from Three Perspectives: the Patient, the Caregiver, and the Researcher

Bio: Ryan Cowley is a sportswriter, author, public speaker, and an ambassador for the stuttering community, having spoken to Communication Disorders departments at over 70 schools across Canada and the United States. He also works for the Content Diversity Tracking project for CBC, collecting data from shows and regions across Canada. He has been a Person Who Stutters since he was six years old and helps educate others with his own experiences with stuttering. He lives in Toronto with his wife, Shannon.

Panel: Patient-oriented Research from Three Perspectives: the Patient, the Caregiver, and the Researcher

Bio: Mr. Ron Beleno is an active advocate for dementia, caregiving, aging, and research communities.  Being a caregiver to his father who lived with Alzheimer’s for 10+ years, he utilized technology, community, and access to research to support his family’s quality of life.  As strong supporter of patient engagement, Mr. Beleno is an active member, advisor, and mentor to numerous organizations and educational institutions such as AGE-WELL NCE, Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI) at Baycrest, City of Toronto’s Seniors Strategy, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), SE Health, and the Translational Research Program (TRP) at the University of Toronto. He is also on the Board of Directors with the Ontario SPOR Support Unit which is Ontario’s catalyst for patient-oriented research.

Panel: Patient-oriented Research from Three Perspectives: the Patient, the Caregiver, and the Researcher

Bio: Dr. Lisa D. Hawke is an Independent Scientist and the Unit Head of the Patient-Oriented Research Unit at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Dr. Hawke is a co-principal investigator on several CIHR-funded patient-oriented research projects. She conducts research on lived experience engagement in mental health and substance use research, as well as engaged research on issues of high relevance to people with lived experience. By engaging patients and families in her work, alongside research and clinical teams, she aims to produce research that is relevant to a wide range of stakeholders, for real-world impact.