Catherine Backman, PhD, FCAOT, is Professor Emerita, Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, at the University of British Columbia and Senior Scientist at Arthritis Research Canada. An occupational therapist, her research primarily investigated the impact of arthritis on people’s participation in paid and unpaid work, including parenting, household work, employment, and social roles. Other work examined the effects of rehabilitation interventions.

Bella Cairns is an occupational therapist and Associate Clinical Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. She has worked clinically in an outpatient hand therapy practice and currently works in an inpatient mental health setting. Through her career she has worked with several individuals living with arthritis and aims to support them in living well with arthritis. Bella completed her MSc OT at McMaster University in 2023 and collaborated with CAPA as part of her final practicum to understand life hacks individuals use to live well with arthritis.

Trudy Flynn is a dedicated advocate for patient-centered care and an experienced patient partner in health research. Trudy began her work in patient engagement with CIHR- IMHA, where she collaborated with other patient partners to develop a set of online, self-directed, free modules applicable to any research where patient-partners are engaged. As a member of the Maritime SPOR Support Unit patient engagement community, Trudy has actively collaborated with researchers to enhance healthcare outcomes in many areas of research. With a strong belief in the power of lived experiences, Trudy champions patient engagement to ensure diverse perspectives are represented in research and decision-making processes. Trudy is the Chair of Fibromyalgia Association Canada.

Jillian Banfield is the Lead for Patient Partnership in CIHR’s Institute of Genetics. She works to build the Institute’s program around patient partnership in research. Jillian has extensive experience in clinical research and patient partnership in research. Jillian has lived with arthritis since she was 14 months old and brings this lived experience of chronic illness and disability to her work. Prior to her work in clinical research, Jillian obtained a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Waterloo.

Dr. Rebecca Gewurtz is an occupational therapist and Associate Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University and Adjunct Scientist at the Institute for Work and Health. She is IDEA’s Director and co-lead of Hub 2, Employment and Support Systems.

Gewurtz’s research focuses on work disability policy, income insecurity and employment among persons living with disabilities, with a focus on mental illness and other episodic disabilities. She has been examining the experiences of various stakeholders including people with disabilities, service providers, co-workers and employers as people with disabilities are hired and accommodated in diverse workplaces, as well as the impact and coordination of income security benefits.

She holds a PhD and an MSc in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Toronto. She also holds a BSc (Hons) in occupational therapy from Queen’s University. Gewurtz completed a collaborative program through the CHSRF/CIHR Training Centre in Health Services and Policy Research.

Alex Haagaard 

Alex is a design researcher focused on digital health equity and service co-design. They have lived with chronic illness since early childhood but did not receive a diagnosis for their primary condition until they were thirty. Half a decade later, their chronic pain and fatigue are still poorly managed. 

Since 2018, Alex has worked as a design and brand strategy consultant specializing in digital accessibility, and disability and LGBTQIA+ inclusion. Their clients have included Fortune 100 companies in the tech, automotive and retail industries, as well as federal research agencies, universities, and local and national non-profits. Alex’s research and design practice are informed by their lived experiences of invisibilized disability, queerness and housing instability, as well as their rural background.  Their research interests include: feminist science and technology studies, critical disability theory, implementation science, and speculative and trauma-informed design methodology.

Alex has a B.Sc. in Pathobiology from the University of Toronto, and an M.Des. from OCAD University in interdisciplinary art, media and design. In addition to their work with CAPA, they are a member of the steering committee for Pain Canada’s Putting the Pieces Together conference, the patient advisory committee of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the Ontario Health Patient and Family Engagement Committee, and they co-chair the Chronic Pain Network’s Knowledge Mobilization and Implementation Science committee.

Dr. Karine Toupin-April is trained in occupational therapy and is an associate professor at the University of Ottawa and affiliate scientist at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute and the Institut du savoir Montfort. She has research expertise in chronic disease management and shared decision making. Her work has included research in pediatric and adult rheumatology, with experience in developing clinical practice guidelines, patient decision support interventions and self-management tools. She is leading the Choice Research Lab (choiceresearchlab.ca) with people living with arthritis, clinicians and researchers. She is also a patient and a parent of children with asthma.

Linda is a person that has lived with rheumatoid arthritis for over 30 years and is a patient advisor involved in advising government on patient-centred care and former member of the Canadian Pain Task Force. She is also the President of The Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance, a virtual, grass-roots, patient-driven, independent, national organization with members across Canada. She has also been an active advocate for treatment access and quality of care for all patients both regionally and nationally for over twenty years.

Annette McKinnon has had Rheumatoid Arthritis for over 35 years and has seen huge improvements in the way RA is treated since her diagnosis. You can find her on Twitter @anetto. She has a history of involvement with the Sjogren’s Society of Canada, and as a past Public Member of the Council of the College of Occupational Therapists. She is currently a Health Mentor for the Centre for Interprofessional Education of the University of Toronto, a founding member of PAN (Patient Advisors Network) and a patient partner on research projects.

In an age where patient engagement is becoming the norm, she advocates for the patient voice to be included in health care decision making at all levels, and for patients and caregivers to be embedded in the governance structures of health and research organizations.