An award-winning, medical doctor, researcher, and expert on the neuroscience behind innovation, leadership, and motivation, Dr. Shimi Kang provides science-based solutions for health, happiness, and achievement at home, work, and in the classroom. She draws on 25 years of clinical experience, and extensive research into the science behind optimizing human intelligence, to show audiences how to cultivate key 21st century skills, including resilience, connection, adaptability, creativity, and more.
Kang is a practicing psychiatrist and clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia. She is also the founder of Future-Ready Minds, Director of Mental Health at the Centre for Neurology Studies, and the principal investigator of several ground-breaking research studies on new treatments for addiction and depression. Kang is helping to usher in a new era of wholistic medicine.
As a thought leader, Kang has been featured in major media outlets around the world, including BBC World News, US News & World Report, TIME, NPR, CBC, and The Washington Post. She is also the author of The Self-Motivated Kid; the #1 national bestseller, The Dolphin Parent; and The Tech Solution: Creating Healthy Habits for a Digital World. Kang is also the host of the YouTube series, “Mental Wealth”.
An entertaining and experienced speaker, Kang has presented at events ranging from the world’s largest conferences to customized workshops for small groups. She has shared the stage with cutting edge scientists, movie stars, CEOs, music legends, professional athletes, and global leaders. Her 2016 TEDx presentation on the power of adaptability has been viewed millions of times.
In recognition of her work, Kang has been honoured with five national awards and the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in Health. She is also the proud recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Governor General of Canada award for her years of outstanding community service.
Pearl Kwong MD PhD is a board-certified Pediatric Dermatologist in Jacksonville, Florida. Dr Kwong received her Doctorate in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, degree in Medicine from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta Canada, Pediatric Residency at the University of Alberta, followed by a Dermatology Residency at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.
Previous positions held were Chief of Pediatric Dermatology at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, PA where she held an academic position of Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, then became Chief of Pediatric Dermatology at Nemours Children’s Clinic, Jacksonville FL and was Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville Fl.
She is currently active in clinical trials in Pediatric Dermatology and is also busy teaching dermatology residents at the Orange Park Medical Center/Nova Southeastern University.
Dr Kwong is a multinational dermatologist who was born in the Philippines, of Chinese descent who grew up in Canada and married a South African. She has one daughter, Emma, who followed tradition and is currently a Dermatology resident at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
Dr Nathalie Gamache is a former biology teacher, sea turtle researcher, coroner, and currently a gynecologist, who completed a fellowship in menopause in 2005.
A clinician and surgeon at The Ottawa Hospital until 2012, she also owned and directed clinics in Gatineau and Ottawa, while running a women’s health satellite program in Renfrew, Ontario until 2017. She is currently a clinician in Vancouver. Her specialties include menopause and hormone therapy, sexuality, premenstrual syndrome, premature ovarian insufficiency, and cancer survivorship.
An educator at heart, she was an assistant professor with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa for ten years, where she taught and collaborated to develop, and launch the new medical school curriculum. She has trained several fellows in women’s health and developed educational programs for professionals and the public at large.
She is a fierce advocate for mature women’s health, frequently presenting at conferences, locally, nationally, and abroad, and is the recipient of several teaching and speaker’s awards.
She has recently accomplished her dream and opened a gin distillery, so she is now a GINecologist as well. She loves to sail, ski, hike, kayak, travel, explore the culinary world and fine wines, and take in the art and cultural scenes in all their forms.
Dr. Jane Healey is a hospital-based pediatrician at Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga. Dr. Paul Healey is an emergency physician at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. Together they created the Physician Financial Independence (PFI) online community in 2017, which now has over 41,000 members. It is a space where physicians can teach each other about personal finance and happiness that does not accept any advertising and is free from industry bias. Jane & Paul are strong advocates for promoting financial literacy and reducing burnout in medicine and helped create a formal financial curriculum at UofT’s Faculty of Medicine. They pride themselves on being a neutral, non-biased source of financial information for Canadian physicians.
Additional speaker announcements and bios will be shared shortly.
