Dr. Jean Clinton
McMaster University and Offord Centre for Child Studies
Dr. Jean M Clinton,
MD FRCP(C) is an Associate Professor at McMaster, child
psychiatrist, and an associate member of the Offord Centre
for Child Studies. She leads Hamilton's Best Start Primary
Care Engagement Strategy for the enhanced 18-month-well-baby
visit. Her special interests lie in the crucial importance
of relationships, in brain development parenting, and
asset building.
Jaynane Burning-Fields
Niagara Regional
Native Centre.
Jaynane is Aboriginal from Six Nations
Reserve and was raised in the traditional culture. She
has spent 16 years working at the provincial level as
a manager of the Aboriginal Children’s programmes
that service the urban Aboriginal population. Jaynane’s
knowledge and skill set have been developed through this
work and has been strengthened by her knowledge of traditional
values and principles. Jaynane has had the opportunity
to use her skills and knowledge about culture based programming
in various capacities, including working with Statistic
Canada on the development of the Aboriginal Children’s
Survey, Ministry of Children and Youth’s Panel of
Experts (Early Learning Frame Work) and the Foundation
of International Training – Egypt. Jaynane is currently
the Executive Director of the Niagara Regional Native
Centre.
Dr. Michelle F. Mottola
Schulich School
of Medicine and Dentistry and R. Samuel McLaughlin Foundation
- Exercise and Pregnancy Laboratory at the University
of Western Ontario
Dr. Michelle F. Mottola, PhD, FACSM
is an Associate Professor in the School of Kinesiology and
Faculty of Health Sciences and Department of Anatomy and
Cell Biology at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry.
She is the Director of the R. Samuel McLaughlin Foundation
- Exercise and Pregnancy Laboratory, at The University of
Western Ontario, which is the only lab in North America
that specializes in the area of exercising pregnant and
postpartum women.
Wendy Burgoyne
Best Start Resource Centre
Wendy Burgoyne works with Best Start Resource Centre,
Health Nexus, a provincial resource centre funded to support
Ontario service providers who address preconception, prenatal,
and child health. She has worked extensively on teen pregnancy,
reproductive health risks in the workplace, health before
pregnancy, and the effects of tobacco smoke and alcohol
during pregnancy. Wendy assists communities across the
province by providing workshops, consultations, and designing
new provincial resources. Recently she guided the development
of a provincial awareness survey related to preconception
health, building on the information gathered in previous
related provincial surveys.
Diane Finkle
Consultant for the Best Start Resource Centre
Diane Finkle, MA has been working with the
Best Start Program on an extensive literature review on
early child development and chronic disease prevention.
Diane has knowledge and experience in a wide range of
chronic disease and health promotion subjects and issues
including: tobacco control, cancer prevention and screening,
health promotion, the environment, genetics and cancer,
breast cancer, cervical cancer, and youth issues.
Dr. Carol Crill Russell
Invest in Kids
Dr. Carol Crill Russell is the Senior Research Associate at Invest in Kids, specializing in research on parenting in the early years. She is a former research and policy advisor to the Ontario Government, and has served as a member of a number of Canada's leading applied research projects
Wendy McNalley and Nadira Rambritch
Health Canada
Wendy has been a Product Safety Officer with the Federal Department of Health Canada for 32 years. Prior to her current position, she was with the Federal Consumer Fraud Protection Division of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. She has a Bachelor of Applied Science degree from the University of Guelph.
Nadira graduated from the University of Toronto acquiring a Hon BSc. in 2002 with a major in human biology and a minor in animal physiology and history. She began her career with the Public Service as a student customs officer at Pearson International Airport and continued her career working in various government departments. Prior to joining Health Canada she was a Passport Examiner at the Scarborough Passport Office and most recently she worked for the Canada Border Services Agency as a Customs Inspector at the International Mail Processing Centre.
Nadira and Wendy’s areas of expertise include enforcement of the Hazardous Products Act, which regulates consumer products regarding chemical, flammable and mechanical hazards; investigation of non-regulated issues; recommendations for policy development; and providing product safety information to consumers, industry, other government agencies, associations, private laboratories, and the media.
Dr. Patricia Mousmanis
Ontario College of Family Physicians
Dr. Patricia Mousmanis is a community based
family practitioner who has been the Coordinator of the
Healthy Child Development Program of the Ontario College
of Family Physicians since 1999. She has lectured at the
University of Toronto, McMaster University, in various
settings around Ontario, and annual Family Medicine Forum
conferences across Canada on topics related to the Early
Years, Child Development, and Maternal/Newborn Health.
Dr. Diane Meschino
University of Toronto, Women's College Hospital
(WCH), Sunnybrook HSC, and the Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health
Diane de Camps Meschino, MD is a Psychiatrist at the
University of Toronto, on staff at Women's College Hospital
(WCH), Sunnybrook HSC and the Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health. She is the Programme Leader of the Reproductive
Life Stages Programme, WCH. Her professional foci include
the interface of medicine and mental health, the impact
of interpersonal trauma on illness experience and outcome,
and the enhancement of health care delivery systems.
Hiltrud Dawson
Best Start Resource Centre
Hiltrud Dawson, RN is a health promotion consultant with
the Best Start Resource Centre, Health Nexus. She has
extensive experience in the maternal newborn field as
a nurse, midwife, as well as lactation consultant. She
has worked on a number of projects related to perinatal
mental health. Her passions include breastfeeding and
the adjustment of mothers and families after the birth
of their baby and the impact of mother's physical, social,
and mental issues on infants.
Donna Launslager
Multiple Births Canada
Donna is Multiple Births Canada's Health and
Education Committee Chair. Experiencing first hand the
overwhelming physical, emotional, and financial stresses
of raising quadruplets with little community support,
roused a deep concern for the lack of parent education
programs for parents of multiple-birth children. Enkindling
service provider and government appreciation for the unique
needs of multiple birth children and their families has
become her mission.
Laurie Ann Staniforth
First Words
Laurie-Ann graduated from the Université de
Montreal with her master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology.
For the last 5 years, she has been working for First Words,
Ottawa's preschool language program, and the Children's
Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Laurie-Ann is also a lecturer
at the University of Ottawa for students in the Master's
program for Speech Pathology.
Louise Choquette
Best Start Resource Centre
Louise Choquette is a Bilingual Health Promotion Consultant
for the Best Start Resource Centre where she has led initiatives
in reaching francophones and in prenatal education, among
other topics. Previously, she was involved in a variety
of health promotion initiatives in public health and for
not-for-profit organizations in the areas of heart health,
physical activity, tobacco use prevention, and substance
abuse prevention.
Saleha Bismilla
Toronto Public Health
Saleha Bismilla, RN, BScN, MN is a Healthy Babies Healthy
Children Manager at Toronto Public Health. She worked
as a senior community health nurse in Maternal Child Health
in South Africa. She has extensive experience working
in access and equity, cultural competency, and community
development, particularly in the maternal child health
context. She role models and advocates for the integration
of empowerment and community capacity building in health
promotion activities.
Tammy MacKenzie
Jean Tweed Centre
Tammy MacKenzie is employed at The Jean Tweed Centre
in Toronto as Manager of Pathways to Healthy Families.
She has over 11 years of front line and management experience
working in substance use services with a particular focus
on working from a Harm Reduction approach. Her educational
background includes a degree in psychology and sociology,
a diploma in addictions counseling, and is presently a
Masters of Education candidate at the Ontario Institute
for Studies in Education.
Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt
University of Ottawa, McMaster University, and
Offord Centre for Child Studies
Dr. Tracy Vaillancourt is a Canada Research Chair in
Children’s Mental Health and Violence Prevention
at the University of Ottawa in the Faculty of Education
and the School of Psychology. She is also an adjunct professor
in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour
at McMaster University, and a core member of the Offord
Centre for Child Studies. Dr. Vaillancourt’s research
examines the links between aggression and bio-psychosocial
functioning, with particular focus on bully-victim relations.
Dr. Vaillancourt is currently leading a Community-University
Research Alliance on the prevention and intervention of
bullying which is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada.
Rachel Epstein
Sherbourne Health Centre
Rachel Epstein has been doing research, education,
and community organizing related to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay,
bisexual, trans, queer) parenting for 17 years and since
2001 has coordinated the LGBTQ Parenting Network (Sherbourne
Health Centre). The LGBTQ Parenting Network provides resources,
information, and support to LGBTQ parents, prospective
parents and their families, and training for health care,
legal, social work, and education professionals. Rachel
is also editing an anthology on LGBTQ parenting, to be
published by Sumach Press in Spring, 2009.
Dr. Nick Kates
McMaster University, Hamilton Family Health Team, and the Quality Improvement and Innovation Partnership
Dr. Nick Kates is a professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University, Program Director of the Hamilton FHT, and the Provincial Lead of The Quality Improvement and Innovation Partnership. He will be presenting with representatives from four Family Health Teams (FHTs):
Jess Rogers and Wanita Livingstone
Centre for Effective Practice and Haliburton Highland FHT
Jason Bandey and Heather Kane
Stratford FHT
Mel Krass
Niagara Falls FHT
Tracy Hussey and Peggy Carter-Arrowsmith
Hamilton FHT
Dr. Donna Lero
Centre for Families,
Work and Well-being at the University of Guelph
Dr. Donna Lero is the Jarislowsky Chair in Families and
Work and leads a research program on Public Policies,
Workplace Practices and Family Supports at the Centre
for Families, Work and Well-being at the University of
Guelph. She is recognized as a leader on childcare and
on work and family issues.
