Our Team
Dr. Helen Chen
President
Dr. Helen Chen specializes in health data analytics, health systems interoperability, and mobile health. Her research focuses on developing interpretable machine
learning models and explainable AI algorithms to accelerate real-world data extraction and real-world evidence generation in the healthcare and public health
domain. She also co-led the Professional Practice Centre for Health Systems at the University of Waterloo.
Dr. Chen has several impressive achievements throughout her career, including leading a multi-disciplinary team to build the Clinical Analytics for Real-World
Evidence (CARE) Platform, leading the mECG project which is set to break new ground in mobile lab data collection and data management, establishing Research
Collaboration between University of Waterloo and Multi Organ Transplant Institute in the University Health Network, designing Canada’s first patient radiation
monitoring platform to aggregate data from clinical practices, and co-founding the national coalition for patient radiation safety “Canada Safe Imaging”
Helen obtained her BA (Hon.) and MSc in Engineering Mechanics at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and her PhD in Computational Biomechanics at the University of
Waterloo.
Dr. Michael Duong
Chair of the Board of Directors
Michael is the Head of Innovation for Hoffmann-La Roche Limited across all of its Canadian divisions, including Roche Pharmaceuticals, Roche Diagnostics, and
Roche Diabetes Care. Michael also leads the Roche Innovation Hive – which is the creative space where the future of healthcare is being imagined and co-created
between Roche and its external partners. Michael is also a founding board member of the Canadian Personalized Healthcare Innovation Network (CPHIN) which is a
not for profit corporation representing a consortium of members from both public and private sectors focused on the acceleration of personalized healthcare for
Canada.
Michael received his undergraduate degree in Biology and Pharmacology and a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences with a specialization in Neuroscience, both from
McMaster University.
Barry Stein
Board Member
Barry is the President of Colorectal Cancer Canada (CCC). In this role, Barry actively represents the interests of cancer patients and speaks regularly to medical
professionals, industry, government, and patient groups across Canada and internationally about Colorectal Cancer, Patient Values and Preferences in Health
Technology Assessment, Clinical Trials & Real World Evidence, Young Adults with Colorectal Cancer, and a number of other CCC programs and research projects.
Barry sits on the Board of Directors of several corporations, not-for-profit organizations, and foundations including the Donald Berman Foundation, Exactis
Innovation, Tikva Children’s Foundation, and Anzie Accessories & Design Inc, in addition to CCC.
Barry graduated from McGill University and has been a member of the Bar of Quebec since 1981. Barry has established a prominent position in the fields of
commercial and corporate law with the law firm of GWBR, LLP in Montreal. A significant portion of his practice is also devoted to labour law and litigation in health
and administrative law.
Dr. Daniel Jun Martinez
Board Member
Daniel is the Medical Development Director of Oncology Canada at Amgen. Prior to joining the Amgen team in Canada in early 2019, Daniel was Amgen’s Country
Medical Director in Brazil, where he was responsible for therapeutic areas (oncology, hematology, cardiology, osteometabolism, and biosimilars), clinical research,
LATAM Hub), RMLs (MSLs), real world evidence, and medical scientific and customer communications / services. As part of the medical scientific and customer
communications / services, Daniel led a team of thirty-three individuals and oversaw the launch of five products and several new indications.
Daniel is a pediatrician and pediatric endocrinologist by training with more than 10 years of clinical practice, followed by more than 15 years of experience in pharma
and biopharma in different companies, medical roles and therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular and metabolism, rare diseases and oncology. His roles and
experience include both medical affairs and clinical development components.
Daniel obtained his MD from Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Executive MBA from Fundação Getúlio Vargas, and MSc in Pharmaceutical Medicine from
Hibernia College.
Huong Hew
Board Member
Huong is an established Johnson and Johnson leader with over 20 years of experience and has held a number of diverse roles with increasing responsibilities. Most
recently, she has been the Medical Director for solid tumour oncology for the past 5 years where she led the strategic development of innovative initiatives like the
Genitourinary Research Consortium (GURC) that engages top national and international experts across the three workstreams of science, education and best
practices. This consortium has published extensively over the several years. Prior to this, Huong was the Medical Director for Virology and introduced award-winning
solutions such as mutational validation and testing for hepatitis C into the Canadian marketplace. Huong is currently setting up a Centre of Excellence for Evidence
Generation and Strategic Alliances at Janssen and will oversee the methods, operations, policy and strategic alliances groups for the organization.
Dr. Hartley Stern
Board Member
Dr. Stern is currently Senior Advisor to Pulvermacher Kennedy and Associates. He has had several important Chief Executive positions most recently at the
Canadian Medical Protective Association where he oversaw protection of 100,000 physicians, assets of $5B, and an operating budget of over $700 M, and in which
he focused on enhancing safety in the Canadian Healthcare system through education and standing up a subsidiary Saegis . Prior to that he led the Jewish General
Hospital in Montreal through major quality improvement strategies, and capital expansion ; and earlier the Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre through its capital
expansion and regional networking. He began his career as an Academic Surgeon including Chairing the Department of Surgery at the University of Ottawa and
publishing 200 manuscripts.
Dr. Alan Forster
Board Member
Alan J. Forster MD, FRCPC, MSc is the Executive Vice President, Chief Innovation and Quality Officer at the Ottawa
Hospital, Canada’s largest Academic Health Sciences Center. His focus is enabling teams to create higher value health
care – in which patient centered health outcomes are realized and health system costs are lowered.
Over his career, he has led research on patient safety and quality improvement. He performed the seminal work
evaluating the incidence of adverse events following discharge from hospital. He has also led the Ottawa Hospital’s
data strategy which has been used to support research, operations, and planning. Overall, his work has led to over 240
publications in peer review journals and innumerable advances in quality of care.
In addition to his role at the Ottawa Hospital, Alan is a leader in the field of healthcare quality. He is a Professor of
Medicine at the University of Ottawa and Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He provides
ongoing advice to agencies at the local, national, and international levels, and he has served as associated editor for
several prestigious peer-review journals.
Dr. Jack Kitts
Executive Advisor – Stakeholder Relations
Dr. Jack Kitts received his medical degree from the University of Ottawa in 1980. After a 3-year tour of duty as a medical officer in the Canadian
Armed Forces, he specialized in anesthesiology and completed a research fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. He joined the
Department of Anesthesia at the Ottawa Civic Hospital in 1988, where he served as the director of research and medical director of the
preoperative assessment clinic prior to his appointment as Chief of the department and Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa, faculty of
medicine.
In 1998, Dr. Kitts was appointed Vice-President of Medical Affairs and led the medical staff during a complex restructuring in which three
hospitals and five large programs were merged into The Ottawa Hospital. He completed his master’s degree in business administration in 2001
and was named President and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital in February 2002, a position he held until his retirement on June 26, 2020.
With more than I,000 beds, 12,000 employees and approximately 1,400 physicians, The Ottawa Hospital is recognized as one of the largest and
most important research and teaching hospitals in Canada. Its research institute is one of the foremost institutes in Canada, involving more than
1500 scientists, clinical investigators, trainees and staff.
Dr. Kitts’ inclusive team-oriented strategic leadership, passion for delivering quality patient-centered care, and the development and mentoring of
emerging healthcare leaders, has been a central, unifying force in establishing and sustaining The Ottawa Hospital’s vision – To provide each
patient with the world-class care, exceptional service and compassion that we would want for our loved ones. Dr. Kitts is known nationally for his
focus and expertise in patient experience, performance measurement and physician engagement, which make him a sought-after advisor and
inspirational speaker on these key topics in healthcare today.
Dvorah Richler
Executive Advisor – Policy
Dvorah has been in the pharmaceutical industry for 28+ years and is now providing consultation services more broadly. She brings her 15+ years of health and health data policy expertise to the CPHIN team.
Dvorah was also one of the original founding members of CPHIN. Dvorah founded the Policy Modernization Group (PMG) in 2018, a team of policy and health data experts which has grown to include 45+ members from the private, public, and not for profit sectors. The PMG recently published a paper entitled A World Class Health Data System for Canada: Framework for Action. In this paper, in an effort to facilitate rapid modernization, the authors highlight key examples from other jurisdictions that could be starting points towards a world class health data system for Canada.
Dvorah is excited to be back at the CPHIN table helping to support and catalyze the important work that the team is facilitating.
Melina Tsagaris
General Manager
Melina is a biotech professional with diverse experience spanning almost a decade. She currently serves as the General Manager of CPHIN where she oversees operations and strategic development.
Melina began her career as a Research Assistant at The Hospital for Sick Children in 2014. She transitioned to the biotech industry in 2016, where she worked as a Drug Discovery Associate at a preclinical startup in the Toronto Medical Discovery Tower, further honing her skills. From 2016-2017, she returned to the medical research sector and worked as a Research Assistant in the cancer research program at Sunnybrook Hospital.
Melina completed her Masters of Biotechnology at the University of Toronto. From 2018 to the present, she has been working at Roche Canada in various roles in personalized healthcare and innovation.