Successful companies depend on healthy, creative employees. Successful societies depend on healthy, creative citizens. But what makes us healthy and creative as individuals and as communities? Are we investing in the right things, and if not, why not? Do we have a great ‘health care system’ or do we have a great ‘illness care system’? If we are to be healthy, creative and competitive as a community and country, we will need to better understand and invest in the factors that make us healthy, including the social determinants of health.

Post Presentation Links:

23 and

Join Carolyn Abraham, award-winning science journalist and author, for a discussion around the thorny questions springing from this fledgling genomic age.  The technology now exists to unravel your genetic code at affordable prices and with that, comes the possibility of truly personalizing medicine, designing prevention plans and treatments tailored to you.  But can the health system handle what falls out of that genetic closet? Can you?  When genetic science is still in its infancy, how much ambiguity do you want to live with?  What about issues of privacy?  How much should your insurance company know about your genetic secrets?  How

What if we could engineer a molecule to target cancer cells but leave healthy cells unharmed? Professor Patrick Gunning seeks to do just that with his latest research to design a molecule that targets a cancer-promoting protein called STAT3. STAT3 is hyperactivated in over 70% of all human cancers and plays a key role in tumour formation, survival and drug resistance. In the last three years, Gunning has developed a powerful family of molecules that disable the STAT3 protein and stops the spread of numerous cancers while leaving healthy cells untouched. In particular, lead compounds generated in his lab have

Throughout history, aging has been seen as a steady downhill slide into senescence and death (e.g. Shakespeare’s “Last scene of all, sans eyes, sans teeth, sans everything”).  Within the last 50 years, research has taught us that many “aging” changes which we previously regarded as inevitable, are in fact avoidable.  For example the muscle weakness which we associate with aging, is mostly due to inactivity, and is largely preventable or delayed in people who exercise regularly.  Cognitive training may offset the changes in memory which most of us experience in later life.  Thinning of bones can be lessened by appropriate diet,

A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease, or other forms of dementia, is devastating for all concerned.  It is important to understand what is happening to the brain in order to figure out what you can do to support the person who has been diagnosed with dementia.  This session will provide insight into what we know about memory and what we can do to support cognitive loss in dementia.  The emphasis will be on understanding how we can enhance function in dementia while continuing to provide opportunities for a life filled with meaning and purpose.

Post Presentation Links:

Health care in Ontario is in the midst of a significant transformation, our population is changing and the health care system, designed 50 years ago, will no longer meet the needs of patients in the future. We are in a time of economic turbulence and the system structure is facing increased pressure to make changes in order to meet these challenges.

A new era of health care is before us as we navigate the introduction of health care funding reform, a growing aging patient population and an increased focus on system integration while we continue to ensure access

eHealth has generated much discussion of late, especially related around the eHealth Ontario Agency, so where have we come on this journey? Healthcare in Ontario and Canada is undergoing a sweeping change and technology is at the forefront of this change. The personal experience of health related services will be explored against the backdrop of new technologies. The quality of our care will be impacted by the new technologies that are coming and we will explore how some seemingly unrelated technologies such a Social Media, Consumerization, and Personal Health Records, will and are having an impact on the quality and

Canada’s health system performance lags behind many other wealthy industrialized countries – due in large measure to its poorly organized and supported primary care sector and the narrow scope of health care coverage under Medicare. This worrisome state of affairs can be reversed through:

1. targeted investments to strengthen primary care as the foundation of a high-performing health care system and

2. expansion of public health insurance to cover prescription drugs and other essential health services.

Despite frequent claims to the contrary, such public investments are affordable and will not endanger the Canadian economy.