The 2009 Mental Health Summit
Confirmed Speakers
Karen M. DeBortoli, B.A., LL.B., is the director of Watson Wyatt’s Canadian Research and Innovation Centre where she advises associates and clients on a wide range of pension and benefits, privacy and employment law matters, and also prepares internal and external articles, memoranda and submissions on a variety of topics. Prior to joining Watson Wyatt in January 2001, DeBortoli worked with a law firm focusing primarily on pension and benefits law. DeBortoli received her Bachelor of Laws degree from Dalhousie University and was called to the Ontario Bar in 2001.
Dr. Carolyn Dewa is the program head for the Work and Well-being Research and Evaluation Program, a senior scientist in the Health Systems Research and Consulting Unit, and associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation.
Using a trans-disciplinary approach to research, Dr. Dewa investigates workplace mental health by examining the impact of work on people with mental illness, and the workplace’s impact on mental health. She is also involved in community mental health program evaluation, and economic evaluation initiatives.
Dr. Marie-Helene Pelletier is responsible for planning and directing all aspects of Human Solution’s professional services. With over 15 years of health and wellness experience, she is also a coach on human resource management issues. She is registered in both British Columbia and Québec and is involved as a professional services provider to organizations in the area of psychological health. Dr. Pelletier has been active in professional associations and has been published in peer-reviewed psychology journals. Her work has been recognized through awards and distinctions from the Canadian and the American Psychological Associations.
Dr. Pelletier has been committed to services that enhance the community, including serving as a board member to a Vancouver-based, internationally partnered, not-for-profit organization to assist women in their efforts to return to the workforce. She also mentors MBAs at The Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia.
Dr. Pelletier received her BA and MA in clinical psychology from Laval University. She received her PhD and MBA from the University of British Columbia.
Joseph Ricciuti, B.Comm, is the client solutions leader, group and healthcare, Canada, for Wayston Wyatt. He is also a member of the company’s North American Operating Committee for group and healthcare and brings with him over 30 years of experience.
Ricciuti is a spokesperson and subject matter expert in Canada on health, work and performance; total absence management; mental health in the workplace; effective return-to-work processes; and strategic benefit plan designs. Prior to joining Watson Wyatt, Ricciuti was senior vice president of group distribution, marketing and healthcare research at a large Canadian insurer.
Ricciuti is a board member of the West Park Healthcare Centre and a member of the Third Party Advisory Committee for MOHLTC. He also co-authored the Literature Review and Gap Analysis Report: Mental Health in the Labour Force. He received his Bachelors of Commerce degree from McMaster University.
Dr. Ayal Schaffer is head of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto and an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto.
His research and clinical interests involve the management of bipolar disorder and treatment-resistant depression, as well as examining mood disorders from a population health perspective.
He has been a principal or co-investigator of studies funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research, National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.), Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the Stanley Medical Research Institute, and others.
He has been awarded a New Investigator Fellowship from the Ontario Mental Health Foundation and received the 2008 John Dewan Prize presented in recognition of outstanding research in the field of mental health.
Dr. Schaffer is an active member of CANMAT (Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments) and has co-authored the Canadian Guidelines for the Management of Bipolar Disorder. He enjoys teaching at multiple levels, including to undergraduate medical trainees, psychiatry and family practice residents and at CME events locally and nationally.
Karen Seward is the senior vice president, business development and marketing at Shepell·fgi. In her role, she leads the development of innovative health management products and prevention tools that promote workplace health and support employees' well-being and their employers’ business productivity needs.
Seward was named a Who’s Who In Workplace Health by Working Well magazine and Rogers Media in 2008. She is also a member of the Conference Board of Canada.
Featured as a speaker at numerous conferences and seminars, Seward has also published articles in periodicals including Benefits Canada and Benefits & Pensions Monitor, and often appears in national media to speak on workplace health and productivity issues. She holds a BA from the University of Toronto and is noted for her unique approach in treating health in the workplace as a business issue, bringing quantitative figures to show how an investment in a healthy workplace drives productivity and offsets disability costs to a company’s bottom line.
Dr. Valerie Taylor, MD, PhD, FRCPC, is the chair of the mental health program for the Canadian Obesity Network; an assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences at McMaster University, where she heads the Mood Disorders Somatic Health Program; and the director of the Bariatric Surgery Psychiatry Program.
Dr. Taylor is also involved in clinical research at the Bariatric Clinic at the Hamilton General Hospital the Center for Minimal Access Surgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital. There, she researches on the associations between addiction, obesity and mental health. She has also integrated mental health research with a variety of different medical sub-specialties.
Dr. Taylor has published in peer-reviewed journals and has grant funding from NARSAD, OMHF, CIHR, RMA, Hamilton Community Health and Research Fund, and Eli-Lilly Neuroscience. She is the recipient of numerous academic and research awards and fellowships.
For more information, contact Kerry Maddocks, Editor, Benefits Canada Across Borders magazine
This page was last updated: September 21, 2009 |
