¶¡ÏãÔ°AV

Mike Harcourt served as Premier of British Columbia from 1991-96 and prior to that mayor of Vancouver. Mike served as an Executive Committee member of the National Round Table on the Environment and Economy and Chaired the Urban Sustainability Program. He was also a federally appointed BC Treaty Commissioner and was Chair of the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee for Cities and Communities, mandated to examine the future of Canada’s cities and communities. Mike is the lead faculty of United Way's Public Policy Institute, and on the Advisory Board of Canada’s ECOFISCAL Commission. His career as Lawyer, Community Activist, and Politician has been honoured with the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service, Canadian Urban institute’s Jane Jacobs Lifetime Achievement Award, Order of B.C., and Order of Canada.

Andrew Sixsmith is the Director of the STAR Institute, the joint Scientific Director of AGE-WELL NCE,  and a professor in the Department of Gerontology at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV. He is past President of the International Society of Gerontechnology and was previously Director of the Gerontology Research Centre and Deputy Director of the IRMACS Centre at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV. His research interests include technology for independent living, theories and methods in aging and understanding the innovation process. His work has involved him in a leadership and advisory role in numerous major international research projects and initiatives with academic, government and industry partners. He received his doctorate from the University of London and was previously a lecturer at the University of Liverpool in the Institute of Human Ageing and Department of Primary Care. 

Pam Borghardt is the Managing Director of the ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV STAR Institute. She is responsible for the overall management of the Institute including staff supervision and financial management. Pam has been affiliated with the AGE-WELL Network since the proposal development stage and spent most of 2017 as their Acting Managing Director. Previous to that she was the Managing Director of the highly successful ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV IRMACS Centre for over 12 years.

Lynda Brown-Ganzert is the Founder and CEO of Curatio – a digital health platform used in over 70 countries to deliver private social networks to patients and their families as a way to improve patient education, adherence and self-management. In addition to senior roles with world-class companies, including Edelman and Electronic Arts, Lynda has also represented Canada on two UN missions and authored national trade action plans, roadmaps and sector strategy. She was instrumental in developing the business plan and $40M funding raise for the Center for Digital Media that now houses the Masters of Digital Media program where she is visiting faculty. Lynda holds the title of Chair Emerita for ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV and is a Director for the Canada Foundation for Innovation. 

Theodore Cosco is an Assistant Professor of Mental Health & Aging at the Department of Gerontology, ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV and Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, University of Oxford. Teddy is a Chartered Psychologist trained in applied social research methods and epidemiology. For his contributions to pedagogy, he has been elected to Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy and for contributions to psychology Associate Fellowship of the British Psychological Society. Recently, he received the Early Career Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association and European Health Psychology Society, the Young Investigator Colloquium Scholarship from the American Psychosomatic Society, as well as becoming the youngest recipient of the Canadian Association on Gerontology’s Recognition Award for Excellence in Longitudinal Research in Honour of Betty Havens. 

Aly Devji is the Director of Stakeholder Relations and Business Development for Good Samaritan Society. He is also the President of the BC Care Providers Board of Directors. Formerly, Aly was the Director of HR/Operations for the Delta View Campus of Care. Founded in 1976 by the Devji family, the organization had grown from its humble beginnings as the 48 bed Ladner Private Hospital to what is now known as the 296 bed Good Samaritan Delta View Care Centre. Aly studied Business Administration and Health Care Management while also earning his CPHR designation. In years past, he was the Chair of the BC Care Provider Association Governance Committee, Emerging Issues and Policy Committee as well as the Conference Committees.

Kahir Lalji is a Certified Professional Gerontologist with a Masters of Gerontology from ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV, and also holds a fellowship in Developmental and Executive Non-profit Leadership. Kahir is the Director of Healthy Aging and Government Relations with the United Way of the Lower Mainland. Kahir has extensive Community and Leadership experience including sitting on various boards, including a founding member of the Aging 2.0 Vancouver Chapter. Kahir is on the Program Advisory Committee for the Gerontology Program at Langara and is a seasoned professional in Life course preventative health particularly interested in the roles communities can play in enhancing the quality of life of all Canadians.

Sarah Lubik is the Director of Entrepreneurship for ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV. She is a lecturer in entrepreneurship and innovation at the Beedie School of Business, and co-director of the Tech Entrepreneurship@¶¡ÏãÔ°AV program.  Dr. Lubik is currently focused on stimulating and supporting university-based entrepreneurship with a focus on interdisciplinary entrepreneurship and innovation. In her research, she is particularly interested in early-stage strategy formation, partnerships, market selection, innovation ecosystems and incubation.

Jim Mann was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2007 at the age of 58 following a 25-year career with Canadian Airlines/CP Air and 14 years as a business consultant. Jim is now focused on living as well as possible with dementia, reducing stigma and shattering stereotypes. Jim was appointed to the federal Minister of Health’s first Advisory Board on Dementia and is active with both the Alzheimer Society of Canada and the Alzheimer Society of B.C. He is a member of the AGE-WELL NCE Research Management Committee, the Patient Council of the BC SUPPORT Unit and a board member of the AGE-WELL National Innovation Hub: Digital Health Circle. Jim collaborates with research projects and is a mentor to two Canadian researchers.

Carlo Menon has received a Laurea degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is a Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Technology at the Schools of Mechatronic Systems Engineering, and founded the Menrva Research Group (). He received the Career Investigator Award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and the New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He has published over 300 articles, half in journals, and is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Bionic Engineering and Associate Editor of Bionics and Biomimetic, Frontiers.