Day 1 Chair: Unpacking the complexities of artificial intelligence and its effect on population health
Dr. Alex Choi, MD MHSc CCFP FRCPC
Medical Health Officer, Vancouver Coastal Health
Clinical Instructor, UBC
Dr. Alex Choi is the Medical Health Officer for Vancouver Coastal Health. She is a dual-certified family physician and public health specialist physician, and a Clinical Instructor at UBC. She holds a Medical Degree from McMaster University, a Master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology from UBC, and has served populations through public health work at the local, regional, and international levels.
She has a strategic interest in the role of artificial intelligence in shaping population health and public health practice.
Day 2 Co-chairs: Healthy aging and digital equity
Dr. Simon Carroll, PhD
Adjunct Professor, Department of Sociology and the School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria
Research Associate, KISSS-AT
Dr. Simon Carroll is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Sociology and the School of Public Health and Social Policy, at the University of Victoria. He teaches a variety of courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. His research focusses in the areas of sociology of aging, sociological theory, the sociology of health and illness, and in social justice and social inequalities.
His research over the past 20 years focused on sociological approaches to understanding health systems, specifically on reorienting health systems from a health promotion perspective. Methodologically, he was involved in an emerging approach to knowledge synthesis called ‘realist synthesis’.
Over the past decade, Dr. Carroll was engaged in the field of Aging and Technology. He worked with the AGE-WELL network and acted as the Research Associate for the KISSS-AT project, Implementation Science Team focused on assistive technologies to improve the health and well-being of older adults.
Dr. Shannon Freeman, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of Northern BC
Academic Director, Centre for Technology Adoption for Aging in the North
Academic Director, University of Northern BC Research Data Centre
Dr. Shannon Freeman is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at that University of Northern British Columbia. Dr. Freeman has expertise in the health and social care needs of older adults in rural and northern communities, both among community-dwelling adults and those in long-term care.
She holds a PhD in Health Studies and Gerontology from the University of Waterloo and an MSc in Internal Medicine and Rehabilitation from Tohoku University School of Medicine in Japan.
Since moving to northern BC in 2014 to pursue research, Dr. Freeman has spearheaded and contributed to a number of cutting-edge projects in the area of aged care, including establishing CTAAN, the Centre for Technology Adoption for Aging in the North in 2019, an AGEWELL national innovation hub and collaborating center dedicated to enhance innovations in technology development and implementation to support older adults in rural and northern communities (www.ctaan.ca).
Dr. Freeman was awarded a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research – AGE-WELL Network of Centers of Excellence (NCE) 2020 Scholar Award. Dr. Freeman’s interest in improving quality of life and care for older adults shows through her engagement in a range of community-partnered research activities, which are having a real-world impact on the rural and northern communities where the research is taking place.