Who we are

Executive Director
Mark J. Dobrow, PhD

Dr. Mark Dobrow is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation within the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Dr. Dobrow’s research interests focus on the development and use of different types of evidence (i.e., research, contextual, experiential) to inform policy and the design and function of evidence infrastructure to support decision-making within health systems. In addition to his academic role, Dr. Dobrow has experience as an embedded scientist within a provincial cancer agency (Cancer Care Ontario) and held senior leadership positions with both national (Health Council of Canada) and provincial health care agencies (Health Quality Ontario). Dr. Dobrow has done postdoctoral work in the UK and was a Harkness fellow with the US-based Commonwealth Fund.

Scientific Director
Ahmed M. Bayoumi, MD, MSc

Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi is a Scientist at the Centre for Urban Health Solutions at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital, and a general internist and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) physician at St. Michael’s Hospital. He holds the Foundation Baxter & Alma Ricard Chair in Inner City Health at St. Michael’s and the University of Toronto. He is a Professor in the Department of Medicine and in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. His research interests include economic evaluation, decision analysis, and quality of life assessment, particularly for marginalized populations. He is a Senior Adjunct Scientist at the ICES, past President of the Society for Medical Decision Making and a member of the Canadian Drug Expert Committee.

Converge3 Fellow
Rebecca Hancock-Howard, PhD

Dr. Rebecca Hancock-Howard is an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation within the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Dr. Hancock-Howard is a health economist with broad experience in both the private and public sectors. She has conducted economic evaluations in a variety of clinical areas and settings, serving governments, local and global pharmaceutical companies, start-ups, device manufacturers, hospitals, and the academic community. Her research interests include health technology assessment, valuation of health benefits and outcomes through novel methods, and maternal and child health.

The governance structure for Converge3 includes both a Governance Committee and an Advisory Board.

The Governance Committee

The Governance Committee includes representation from all partners and its functions include (1) providing strategic guidance on the Centre’s workplan and budget, and (2) providing oversight and support for rigorous analysis, inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration, overall sustainability and impact.

• Adalsteinn Brown (Co-Chair)
  Dean
  Dalla Lana School of Public Health
  University of Toronto
• Mark Stabile (Co-Chair)
  Professor of Economics
  The Stone Chaired Professor in Wealth Inequality
  INSEAD
• Irfan Dhalla
  Vice President, Evidence Development and Standards
  Health Quality Ontario
• Patrick Dicerni
  Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy and Planning
  Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
• Peter Donnelly
  President and CEO
  Public Health Ontario
• Jeremy Grimshaw
  Senior Scientist, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
  Professor, University of Ottawa
• John Lavis
  Professor, McMaster University
  Director, McMaster Health Forum
• Muhammad Mamdani
  Director, Li Ka Shing Centre for Healthcare Analytics
  Research and Training (CHART), St. Michael’s Hospital
• Michael Schull
  CEO
  ICES
• Aklilu Tefera
  Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Social Policy Development
  Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services
• Ahmed Bayoumi (ex officio)
  Scientific Director, Converge3
• Mark Dobrow (ex officio)
  Executive Director, Converge3
• Jonathan Weisstub (ex officio)
  Co-Chair, Converge3 Advisory Board

The Advisory Board

The Advisory Board includes members with extensive experience working in policy and political advisory capacities, including serving several former prime ministers. The Advisory Board’s functions include (1) providing advice on the program of research and analysis, (2) reviewing reports and recommendations for rigour and relevance, and (3) providing advice on knowledge translation including practical guidance for the effective uptake and optimal utility of Converge3 work.

• Hugh Segal (Co-Chair) is the Principal of Massey College, a Graduate residential College at the University of Toronto, having been elected a Senior Fellow in December of 2013. He is a former member of the Canadian Senate, where he was vice chair of the subcommittee on urban poverty, chair of Foreign affairs and of the special Committee on anti-Terrorism. He has been Chief of staff to the Prime Minister of Canada, associate cabinet secretary in Ontario for federal provincial affairs, and secretary to the Policy and Priorities Board of the Ontario cabinet. A graduate of the University of Ottawa, he has lectured at the Queen’s school of Policy studies, the Smith school of Business at Queens and the University of Toronto law school. During his time as President and CEO of the Institute for Research on Public Policy in Montreal, he oversaw the Task Force on health care that made detailed policy recommendations to First Ministers prior to the federal government’s decision in 2003 to re-invest substantial amounts of federal dollars in Canada’s health care systems. He has written seven books on public policy, and holds three honorary doctorates, from the University of Ottawa, Royal Military College and Queen’s University. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and member of the Order of Ontario.
• Jonathan Weisstub (Co-Chair) is a founding partner of Common Wealth. He specializes in strategy, transaction structuring, and the interface between the public and private sectors. Mr. Weisstub is a lawyer and former senior advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada with senior executive experience in government, professional services, and the corporate sector. As Assistant Deputy Minister at the Ontario Ministry of Finance and Executive Vice President at Infrastructure Ontario, he led government-wide expenditure management exercises and major transactions related to public assets. He worked as a corporate lawyer at Stikeman Elliott, specializing in securities, fund formation, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity. He is a licensed lawyer in both Ontario and New York. A graduate of McGill, Oxford, and the University of Toronto Law School, Mr. Weisstub is chair of the board of the Halifax International Security Forum, one of the world’s leading forums on international security.
• Anthony Dale is President and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA). Appointed to this role in 2013, he is dedicated to an agenda of policy innovation, relationship-building and high standards of member engagement and service. He has been at the OHA since 2004, most recently as Vice President, Policy and Public Affairs. Previously he served as an aide to Michael D. Harris, Ontario’s 22nd Premier, and to Elizabeth Witmer in her capacities as Minister of Health and Long-Term Care and Minister of Labour. He has also worked as a consultant at a leading public affairs consulting firm. He is a Member of the Board of Trustees for the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), and a Board Member of The Change Foundation, a Toronto-based health care think tank. Mr. Dale has served as a Trustee of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg and as a Member of the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE), appointed in both instances by the Government of Canada. He also sits on numerous advisory groups and panels within Ontario's health care system. Mr. Dale holds a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in political studies, both from Queen's University. He has also completed the Accelerated Development Program (ADP) in General Management at London Business School in the United Kingdom.
• Frank Gavin For over twenty years Frank Gavin has worked to advance patient- and family-centred care. In 1995 he joined the Family Advisory Committee to The Hospital for Sick Children, chairing it from 1997 to 2001. In 2002 Frank founded and then for six years chaired the Canadian Family Advisory Network, which links family councils at paediatric centres across Canada. From 2011 to 2017 Frank was a public member of The Canadian Drug Expert Committee at CADTH. He serves on the boards of The Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research, The Ontario SPOR Support Unit, and on CIHR’s Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health. Since 2016 he has chaired the Citizen Engagement Council of CHILD-BRIGHT, the national CIHR research network focused on children with brain-based disabilities. For nearly 30 years Frank taught English at Centennial College.
• David Goldbloom was born in Montreal and raised in Quebec and Nova Scotia. He completed an honours degree, majoring in Government, at Harvard University and then attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar where he obtained an M.A. in Physiological Sciences. He trained in medicine and psychiatry at McGill University and is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Goldbloom's activities have been recognized and awarded by his peers and students. He has authored numerous scientific articles and book chapters and has provided talks and lectures to student, professional and public audiences. He is the editor of two textbooks in psychiatry and co-author with Dr. Pier Bryden of the best-selling book “How Can I Help? A Week in My Life as a Psychiatrist”. He maintains an active clinical and teaching role at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health where he serves as Senior Medical Advisor. He served as Vice-Chair and then Chair of the Board of the Mental Health Commission of Canada from 2007 to 2015. He is a member of the Boards of the Graham Boeckh Foundation, Jack.org, and the CAMH Foundation. In addition to his professional activities, Dr. Goldbloom is a member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Conservatory of Music and a past Chair of the Board of Governors of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
• Chaviva Hosek O.C. Ph.D, LLD. Is President Emeritus of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) which she led from 2001-2012. She was the Director of Policy and Research in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) between 1993 and 2000. Between 2012 and 2017 she was a Professor at the School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Toronto.
• Barry McLellan is Executive-in-Residence and Professor, Department of Surgery, at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. He is also Chair of the Government of Ontario team that is negotiating a Patient Services Agreement with the Ontario Medical Association and an Investigating Coroner in Toronto and York Region. He was the President and Chief Executive Officer at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Ontario from 2007 to 2017. In this role he provided leadership for one of Canada's largest academic health sciences centres. Prior to his position as President and CEO at Sunnybrook, Dr. McLellan was the Chief Coroner for Ontario.
• Emily Nicholas Angl Emily’s patient journey has taken her through ER’s, OR’s, MRI’s and many acronyms in between. Her broad range of experiences led to a keen interest in how patients can become partners in their own care and in health system improvement. Emily has been helping bring the patient voice to Canadian health care for over ten years. She previously sat on the board of Patients Canada and is one of the founding members of The Patient Advisors Network (PAN). She has consulted on patient and family engagement with hospitals, government agencies, research institutes and other organizations across Canada. She currently has advisory roles with The Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) Collection for Patient Oriented Research panel and Health Quality Ontario’s Health System Performance committee. Emily works as Director of Health Engagement and Communication with Reframe Health Labs where she specializes in bringing the patient perspective to RHL’s evidence-based approach to health and wellness communication.
• Peter J. M. Nicholson has served in numerous posts in government and business including as Deputy Chief of Staff, Policy in the Prime Minister’s Office; Special Advisor to the Secretary-general of the OECD in Paris; and in senior executive positions with Scotiabank in Toronto and BCE Inc. in Montreal. He retired in 2010 as founding president of the Council of Canadian Academies. He is a Member of both the Order of Canada and Order of Nova Scotia and has received five honorary degrees from universities in Canada. His formal education is in physics (BSc, MSc, Dalhousie University) and mathematics (PhD, Stanford).
• Adalsteinn Brown (ex officio) is the Dean of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and the Dalla Lana Chair of Public Health Policy at the University of Toronto. He has held senior leadership roles in policy and strategy within the Ontario government, founding roles in start-up companies, and has extensive experience in performance assessment. He received his undergraduate degree in government from Harvard University and his doctorate from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Converge3 is a policy research centre based in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, that focuses on integrating health, economic and equity evidence to inform policy.

The Centre has multiple partner organizations, including the Ontario Ministry of Health, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital, McMaster University, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, ICES, Health Quality Ontario, and Public Health Ontario.