What's new and what's next at the O'Brien Institute
Date: April 21, 2026
Time: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Venue: Health Sciences Centre, University of Calgary
O'Brien Institute Spring Forum
Meet with your O'Brien Institute for Public Health colleagues for a spring forum focused on where the Institute is headed and how our work connects to policy, equity, and real-world impact.
The morning will feature Institute updates with new and current leadership and offer insight into emerging priorities, strategic directions, and how the Institute is responding to today’s most pressing public health challenges. Participants will have opportunities to share perspectives on where the Institute should focus and invest next.
In the afternoon, attendees can take part in hands-on workshops focused on policy and science communication, including a practical session on writing for The Conversation Canada and a policy-focused workshop designed to support researchers in understanding Canadian jurisdictions and the policy-making landscape.
This in-person forum is an opportunity to reconnect and build skills that strengthen the reach and impact of public health research.
Who should attend:
O’Brien Institute members, trainees, and collaborators interested in Institute priorities, knowledge mobilization, and policy-relevant research.
Event Schedule
9 - 9:30 a.m.
Light refreshments
9:30 - 10 a.m.
Featuring Dr. Kirsten Fiest
10 - 11 a.m.
Featuring Dr. Khara Sauro, Dr. Kathryn Birnie and Dr. Fiona Clement, moderated by Dr. Pamela Roach
Join an informal fireside chat with the Institute’s new directors to learn about their portfolios, priorities, and visions for the future. The discussion will explore how the Institute is responding to emerging public health challenges and opportunities, and how future-thinking is shaping strategic decisions and research directions.
11 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Moderated by Dr. Kirsten Fiest
How do learning health systems, equity and policy intersect to shape better care?
This session brings together researchers whose work spans clinical practice, digital innovation and health systems transformation.
- Dr. Dave Campbell, Addressing gaps in diabetes care for populations facing structural vulnerability
- Dr. Tito Daodu, The RESPECT study - Responsive Engagement of Surgical Patients for Equitable Care and Treatment
- Dr. Sayeh Bayat, Everything, everywhere, all at once: the promise of digital biomarkers in healthy and cognitive aging
- Dr. Ariel Ducey, Data, touch, technology and what is 'right' in medical care
12 - 1 p.m.
1 - 3 p.m.
Attendees are invited to attend a professional development workshop in the afternoon and may choose one of the two concurrent sessions outlined below when registering:
From research to readership: writing for The Conversation Canada
Explore how to write for The Conversation Canada in this focused knowledge-mobilization workshop led by Kelly Johnston and Pauline Hull. This session will guide participants through the process of pitching their own articles, explaining their research clearly, and adapting academic work into an accessible, journalistically styled piece. Designed for researchers aiming to reach broader public audiences, the seminar emphasizes practical strategies for crafting compelling, concise, and news-relevant stories rooted in scholarly expertise.
Who does what? Understanding policy-making across Canadian jurisdictions
This workshop will examine the distinctions in policy-making across different levels of government in Canada. Led by Dr. Mike Law and Dr. Fiona Clement, this session will examine the distribution of policy responsibilities, the appropriate points of contact for policy-related inquiries, and the jurisdictional scope of federal, provincial, and municipal governments.
This workshop is designed to provide participants with foundational knowledge of Canada’s policy-making landscape and the roles of policy-makers at each level of government.
Workshop Facilitators
Dr. Fiona Clement, PhD
Dr. Fiona Clement is a Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences and the Director of the Centre for Health Policy. An accomplished academic leader, she has an international reputation for her expertise and leadership within health policy and health economics. Dr. Clement’s research has guided evidence-informed changes to legislation, regulatory frameworks, and government policy on multiple issues. She has received numerous awards for her work including being named one of 2020’s Most Powerful Women in Canada and being inducted into the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.
Dr. Michael Law, PhD
Dr. Michael Law is a Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences and a member of the Centre for Health Policy at the University of Calgary. His research focuses on pharmaceutical policy, the affordability of prescription drugs, and the use of administrative data for policy evaluation across numerous topic areas. His research and interactions with policymakers at the Federal and Provincial levels have informed several significant policy changes that improved access to medicines and reduced drug expenditures in Canada.
Kelly Johnston
Kelly Johnston is on the Communications and Marketing team at the Cumming School of Medicine. Her primary role is media relations. She was part of the team that created the Science Communication Certificate Program at the CSM. Before her career in communications Kelly had a career in broadcasting as a news reporter, anchor, and newsroom manager. Her last position in broadcasting was as the director of news and public affairs at CTV Calgary.
Pauline McDonagh Hull
Pauline McDonagh Hull is a PhD candidate in the University of Calgary’s Department of Community Health Sciences, in the Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies program, examining the history of caesarean birth, and works full-time as a program coordinator in the Cumming School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is also an author and former BBC journalist, and she works with a number of organizations to develop policy and patient information within maternity services.
Speakers
Dr. David Campbell, MD, PhD
Dr. David Campbell is a medical specialist in Endocrinology and Metabolism and a health services researcher focused on social disparities and their impacts on clinical outcomes of cardiometabolic diseases, like diabetes. He is the co-director of the Health Policy Trials Unit at the O'Brien Institute for Public Health at the University of Calgary and the medical director of the Diabetes Mobile Clinic. He conducts research that uses mixed methods, interventional approaches, community and stakeholder engagement, and knowledge translation to contribute to reducing the impact of social disadvantage on clinical outcomes by informing health policy and clinical practice.
Dr. Tito Daodu, MD, FRCSC
Dr. Tito Daodu is a Pediatric Surgeon at Alberta Children’s Hospital and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Surgery and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary. In 2020, she became the first Black female pediatric surgeon in Canada. Dr. Daodu is an award-winning researcher and educator whose work focuses on health equity, anti-racism, and improving access to surgical care for underserved populations. She has secured over $1 million in research funding and published extensively on how race, geography, and systemic barriers affect surgical outcomes, particularly for Indigenous, rural, and racialized patients.
Dr. Sayeh Bayat, PhD
Dr. Sayeh Bayat is a Schulich Research Chair and Assistant Professor in the Departments of Geomatics Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Calgary, where she leads the Healthy City Lab. Her interdisciplinary research sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, digital health, and aging, with a focus on developing human-centred, context-aware technologies to monitor behaviour, support cognitive health, and enable aging in place. By integrating digital phenotyping, machine learning, and real-world sensing, her work aims to inform scalable and personalized models of care for older adults and individuals living with dementia. Dr. Bayat works closely with older adults, caregivers, and clinicians to co-create technologies that are inclusive, ethically grounded, and responsive to lived experiences.
Dr. Ariel Ducey, PhD
Dr. Ariel Ducey is a Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. Her research centers on issues of responsibility, ethicality, knowledge, and emotions in health care. Dr. Ducey has studied the impact of training and education programs on frontline health care providers, and published two book chapters on affect and caregiving labour in early, influential collections. She has led interdisciplinary, CIHR-funded qualitative research examining the values and practices in pelvic floor surgery and their impact on women’s health. And most recently, Dr. Ducey co-led a transdisciplinary, NFRF-funded project on medical ways of sensing and knowing, with colleagues and graduate students from sociology, family medicine, and learning sciences.