2016 Keynote Speakers
Dr. Sheldon Tobe
Dr. Tobe became the inaugural Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF)/Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) Chair of Rural and Aboriginal Health in 2013. He is also a Nephrologist and Hypertension Specialist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. He received his Master of Science, Community Health, Health Practitioner Teacher Education degree from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health in 2013.
Dr. Tobe’s research in the 1990s focused on dialysis research, but by the end of the decade, his focus shifted to blood pressure management to help keep patients off dialysis.
Dr. Tobe’s significant contributions have been recognized by awards such as Blood Pressure Canada’s Certificate of Excellence (2008), the HSF Ontario’s Award for Volunteer Excellence (2010), and many teaching awards. As former chair of the Canadian Hypertension Education Program (CHEP), his knowledge translation efforts have contributed to the dramatic improvement in hypertension awareness treatment and control in Canada over the past 20 years and the associated improvement in mortality from heart failure, stroke and heart attack. Dr. Tobe is also Co-Chair of the Canadian
Cardiovascular Harmonized National Guidelines Endeavour (C-CHANGE) guidelines that have been endorsed by the Council of Federation’s Healthcare Innovations Working Group in 2012 for implementation in primary care across Canada.
As the HSF/NOSM Chair of Rural and Aboriginal Health, Dr. Tobe brings his experience working with Indigenous communities including The Diabetes Risk Evaluation and Microalbuminuria (DREAM) studies and the Aboriginal Hypertension Management Program (AHMP). His Hypertension Management Program (HMP) and AHMP study has resulted in improved treatment and control of hypertension in Ontario. He is co-PI of the CIHR/GACD funded DREAM-GLOBAL study (Diagnosing hypertension- Engaging Action and Management in Getting Lower Blood Pressure in Aboriginal and LMIC).
A recognized leader in his field, Dr. Tobe’s effective collaborations with researchers, clinicians, policymakers and Indigenous people have had significant impact in Canada. Dr. Tobe works closely with the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research (CRaNHR) and has initiated pilot projects to increase the awareness and appreciation for research among Northern health-care providers.
Dr. Sheldon Tobe presented Perspectives From the NOSM-Heart and Stroke Foundation Chair in Aboriginal and Rural Health
Dr. Frank Sullivan
Dr. Frank Sullivan has been an Academic General Medical Practitioner with an interest in clinical trials and health informatics since 1984. After graduating from the University of Glasgow, he combined clinical training in Scotland and service general practice with a Ph.D. in Health Services Research. He has mainly worked clinically in two Scottish inner city practices and, more recently, in Toronto. In the early years of his career, Frank undertook a sabbatical to set up a health services research unit in the Republic of Seychelles. From March 1998 until February 2014, he was the NHS Tayside Professor of Research and Development in General Practice and Primary Care and was involved with the development of a regional and national diabetes register in Scotland. The register has been used for clinical care, quality improvement, and research. In the seven years before moving to Toronto, he was the Director of Dundee’s Health Informatics Centre and Director of the Scottish School of Primary Care. He is currently the Gordon F. Cheesbrough Research Chair at North York General Hospital in the University of Toronto, Director of the University of Toronto Practice Based Research Network (UTOPIAN) and a clinician in the Family Medicine Teaching Unit.
Dr. Sullivan is a chief investigator on thee large family practice trials in earlier diagnosis of lung cancer (ECLS), tonsillectomy for adults (NATTINA) and management of childhood eczema (CREAM) as well as the Scottish Research Register (SHARE). He is also a principal investigator on twelve other studies including two large European Union-funded informatics projects.
Dr. Sullivan has published 222 papers in peer-reviewed journals and his NEJM paper of a trial of steroids and antivirals for Bell’s palsy won the 2009 BMA research paper of the year award. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2011.
Dr. Frank Sullivan presented Early Diagnosis of Lung Cancer: The Challenge and Early Results from a 12,000 Patient Trial in Scotland
