Bridging the Knowledge Gap for Lasting Impact: Keynote Address
Every year an inspiring presenter, whose research, impact, and experience is intrinsically aligned with the Showcase theme, is invited to deliver our Keynote Address. We are excited that Dr. Melanie Noel will be joining us as part of the opening to the 2025 Celebrating Our Future Showcase! Her talk will be followed by a student-moderated fireside chat and Q & A session with the audience.
Melanie Noel, PhD, RPsych - Keynote Speaker
Melanie Noel, PhD, RPsych is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Calgary and a Full Member of the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute and the Hotchkiss Brain Institute. She directs the PEAK (Pain Education, Advocacy, Knowledge) Research Laboratory within the Vi Riddell Pain & Rehabilitation Centre at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Canada.
Fiona Clement, PhD, Head of CHS Land Acknowledgement
Dr. Clement has extensive training in Health Services Research, Health Economics and Health Policy. She is the current Head of Community Health Sciences and the Director of the Health Technology Assessment Unit at UCalgary; a policy responsive research unit that completes evidence synthesis, economic evaluations, health technology assessments and reassessments in response to decision-makers’ needs. Her research interests include drug and non-drug technology reimbursement and cost containment policy, evidence in decision-making, and evidence in health policy development.
Pamela Roach, PhD, Interim Scientific Director, O'Brien Institute Welcome & Keynote Introduction
Dr. Roach is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary and is the Deputy Director and Associate Scientific Director - Population Health at the O'Brien Institute for Public Health. She is a PhD health researcher and member of the Métis Nation of Alberta who has worked in a variety of academic and community health care settings, both in Canada and the UK for more than 20 years. Her research focuses on Indigenous health, specifically brain health and dementia in underserved populations.
Emma Mierau, Fireside Chat Student Moderator
Emma is graduating from UCalgary with a Bachelor of Health Sciences Honours, majoring in Health and Society, concentrating in Political Science. Her thesis and other research projects have centered on older people with experiences of homelessness, with a goal of translating lived experiences into actionable housing and aged care policies. She is President of the Health and Society Scholars club and an Executive on the Bachelor of Health Sciences Engagement Committee. Emma's passionate about women's health, global health, analyzing policies, structural determinants of health, and poverty impacted groups. She is targeting a career in health policy at the provincial or federal level, or with an international organization.