Please join us to mark the release of our report:

AI4PH and Statistics Canada Workshop: Laying the groundwork for artificial intelligence to advance public health in Canada

The event will be chaired by Deirdre Hennessy (StatCan) and begin with a presentation of the report by Laura Rosella (AI4PH), followed by a response from Elissa Strome (CIFAR) and panel discussion with Dan Lizotte (AI4PH), Claudia Sanmartin (StatCan), Chris Allison (PHAC)  and Jeff Hatcher (CIHI) focused on how to begin to address the challenges and implement the recommendations highlighted.

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Event Date/Time:

• May 22nd 2024, 11AM-12:30PM ET

Location:

• Online: joining instructions will be shared with registrants.

Discussant:

Elissa Strome (CIFAR)

Executive Director of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy at CIFAR, Elissa works with leaders at Canada’s three national AI Institutes in Edmonton (Amii), Montreal (Mila), and Toronto (Vector Institute) and across the country to advance Canada’s leadership in AI research, training and innovation. She is a champion of equity, diversity and inclusion in science, and an ambassador for Canada’s position in AI research, innovation, and policy internationally. Elissa is a member of the federal government’s AI Advisory Council, where she co-chairs the Public Awareness Working Group, and the OECD Network of Experts on AI.

Panelists:

• Dan Lizotte (AI4PH, Western)
  Associate Professor at the University of Western Ontario, Dan’s research aims to adapt and improve reinforcement learning, machine learning, and statistical techniques so they can be applied to new sources of health data, and can in turn provide stakeholders with the best available evidence for non-myopic health decision making. 
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• Claudia Sanmartin (StatCan)
  Director General, Analytical Studies and Modelling Branch at Statistics Canada, Claudia leads The Branch, which is the research and modelling hub of the agency and is also responsible for delivering a range of data access solutions, as well as data literacy training. She plays an active role in conducting research and developing new data sources to meet emerging information needs in the area of health, health care, and health system performance. Her research interests include access to health care services and determinants of access to care. She holds a doctorate in health services research from the University of British Columbia and a master’s degree in health administration from the University of Toronto
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• Jeff Hatcher (CIHI)

  Director of the Advanced Analytics branch, Jeff provides CIHI with technical expertise and fosters alignment, collaboration and advancement across the organization for advanced analytics tools, methods and techniques. Prior to joining CIHI as a senior methodologist in 2002, he spent time at Statistics Canada, Bell Canada, Nortel and the Canadian Medical Protective Association.
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• Chris Allison (PHAC)
  Chief Data Officer and leader at the Centre for Data Management, Innovation and Analysis at the Public Health Agency of Canada, Chris has been working in government for 20 years across operations, policing, immigration, national security, policy, major projects, air travel, open source collaboration, learning and leadership.

Moderators/Speakers:

• Deirdre Hennessy (StatCan)
  Principal researcher with the Health Analysis Division, at Statistics Canada, Deirdre has a doctorate in Epidemiology from the University of Calgary and has completed post-doctoral training at Statistics Canada and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. The primary focus of her research has been the development of microsimulation models of chronic disease. Her other interests include open science and reproducibility, especially the use of the data science approach to better document complex models and communicate the results of modelling studies.
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• Laura Rosella (AI4PH, U of T)
  Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and nominated Principal Investigator for AI4PH at the University of Toronto, Laura holds the Canada Research Chair in Population Health Analytics and leads the Population Health Analytics Lab.
  

The national organizations (Statistics Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada and the Canadian Institute of Health Information) involved in this project have expressed an interest in continuing and expanding the conversation around the creation and use of AI technologies more broadly. As a result, we will be hosting a limited-run seminar series, with each organization presenting between May 2024 and December 2024.