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Speakers

Annual meeting presenters

  • Lisa Calder, MD, MSc, FRCPC

    Chief Executive Officer, CMPA

    Dr. Calder completed her Medical Degree at the University of Western Ontario. She has a Master of Science degree in Epidemiology from the University of Ottawa, where she also completed her Royal College Emergency Medicine residency and an Emergency Medicine research fellowship.

    She then pursued her passion for patient safety by completing two additional fellowships: the Patient Safety Fellowship in Emergency Medicine from the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and the Emergency Medicine Patient Safety Foundation, and the American Hospital Association’s Fellowship in Patient Safety Leadership.

    As a researcher, she has published over 80 peer-reviewed publications and has been successful in securing research funding, including over 2 million dollars as principal investigator.

    Dr. Calder is an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Department of Emergency Medicine, and has received the University of Ottawa’s Excellence in Emergency Medicine Quality and Safety Award as well as the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians’ Teacher of the Year Award.

    Dr. Calder spent more than a decade practising as an emergency physician in Ottawa before joining the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) in 2015 as the Director of Medical Care Analytics. She was appointed CEO of the CMPA in August 2020. Her areas of focus are to be there for members, modernize the CMPA, and do so in a collaborative way.

  • Michael T. Cohen, MD

    President, CMPA

    Dr. Michael T. Cohen is a family physician who practises medicine in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador. He graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland with a Bachelor of Medical Sciences in 1977 and a Doctor of Medicine in 1979. In 1975, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Francis Xavier University.

    Since 1980, Dr. Cohen has been on active staff at the Central Newfoundland Regional Health Centre, where he served as president of the medical staff and chief of staff for 10 years.

    Throughout his medical career, Dr. Cohen has served on numerous governance bodies. He is a past president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (1996-1997), a founding member of the Atlantic Provinces Medical Peer Review program, and a past chair of the Canadian Medical Association’s committee on health care and promotion (2001-2005).

    Dr. Cohen was first elected to CMPA Council in 2000. He has served on many of the Association’s committees, including the Executive Committee, and as the chair of the Case Review Committee and Governance Committee. Prior to his election as president, Dr. Cohen served as the CMPA’s second and first vice-president.

    Dr. Cohen is a strong advocate for protecting physician integrity and safe medical care

  • Cory Garbolinsky, CPA, CA

    Executive Director, Financial Services and Chief Financial Officer

    Cory Garbolinsky is the CMPA’s Executive Director of Financial Services and Chief Financial Officer. His responsibilities encompass the Association’s finance, investment, and actuarial functions.

    Cory joined the CMPA in 2012 as the Director of Finance. Prior to the CMPA, Cory worked as the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President Finance for International Datacasting Corporation, previously a TSX listed technology company. Cory obtained his Chartered Accounting designation in 1998 and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Manitoba in 1995.

  • Darcy Johnson, BSc, MD, CCFP, FCFP

    Council Member and Chair, CMPA Audit Committee

    Dr. Darcy Johnson provides medical care at several rural Manitoba family practices, the Stony Mountain Institution, and at the Canadian Forces Base 17 Wing. He is also on active medical staff at Concordia Hospital in Winnipeg, where he served as chair of the department of family practice.

    A graduate of the Max Rady College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba, Dr. Johnson is a past president of Doctors Manitoba (2007-2008) and a past president of the Manitoba College of Family Physicians (2003-2004).

    As a longstanding and passionate advocate for physicians, Dr. Johnson has served on many boards and committees. He is currently secretary of the section of family practice at Doctors Manitoba, and serves on MD Financial Management’s inaugural physician advisory council. Dr. Johnson has also served on the boards of the Canadian Medical Association and the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC).

    Dr. Johnson is the recipient of the CFPC Award of Excellence (2008), was named Family Physician of the Year in 2009 by the Manitoba College of Family Physicians, and was one of CFPC’s Canada’s Family Physicians of the year in 2009.

Education Session presenters

  • Tino D. Piscione, MD, PhD, FRCPC

    Acting Director, Safe Medical Care Learning, CMPA

    Dr. Tino Piscione is a Senior Physician Advisor and the Lead of Learning Strategy, Safe Medical Care at the CMPA. He joined the CMPA as a Physician Advisor and was responsible for developing and delivering CMPA medico-legal education content including workshops on test follow-up and diagnostic reasoning. Before joining the CMPA, Dr. Piscione graduated in Medicine at Queen’s University and completed residency training in Pediatrics at SickKids Hospital in Toronto. He subsequently completed clinical and research training in Pediatric Nephrology at SickKids and obtained a PhD in Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto before joining SickKids’ faculty as a pediatric nephrologist, clinician-scientist, and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics.

  • Janet Nuth, MD, CCFP (EM)

    Physician Advisor, CMPA

    Prior to joining the CMPA in 2008 as a Physician Advisor in Practice Improvement, Dr. Janet Nuth worked in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Ottawa Hospital for over 20 years. Dr. Nuth is an associate professor at the University of Ottawa and was the co-director of the University of Ottawa’s emergency medicine clerkship for third year students and the director of Faculty Development for the Department of Emergency Medicine. While at the CMPA, she has given over 500 presentations to a wide variety of physician members. She co-developed the CMPA Resident Symposium: a full-day interactive educational event for Canadian medical residents that focuses on patient safety and medical-legal risk reduction. She received the 2017 CMPA Award of Excellence for Team Innovation for her work on this project.

  • Louise Dion, MD, CSPQ, FRCSC)

    Senior Physician Advisor, CMPA

    Dr. Louise Dion is a Senior Physician Advisor, Programs and Operations at the CMPA. She joined the CMPA in 1998 as an Assistant Secretary Treasurer, became Senior Medical Officer in 2000, Special Advisor in 2018 and then in her current position since 2020. Before joining the CMPA, she worked as a trauma surgeon and surgical intensivist in Miami and Montreal for 13 years. She obtained her medical degree from the University of Ottawa in 1980.

  • Shirley Lee, MD, MHSc (Ed), CCFP, CAC-EM, FCFP

    Physician Advisor, CMPA

    Dr. Shirley Lee is a Physician Advisor at the Canadian Medical Protective Association. She completed medical school at Western University, and her postgraduate training at the University of Ottawa, followed by a Master’s degree in Health Science (Education) at the University of Toronto.

    Dr. Lee has previously served in a number of leadership capacities at the University of Toronto at the undergraduate, postgraduate and faculty level. In addition, she has served with a number of national specialty society organizations including the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) and the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP). Nationally, she has been the recipient of numerous awards for her teaching, as well as international recognition for her work in creating innovative CPD programs to provide equity in improving healthcare access in rural areas of Canada.

    Her professional interests include the use of digital technology in health professional education, physician wellness, and leadership. She is passionate about supporting the well-being of physicians, and in helping to provide physicians with the tools needed to practice medicine with joy and resilience. She continues to practice emergency medicine at the Ottawa Hospital.

  • Donna M. MacKenzie

    Partner, Gowling WLG

    Donna MacKenzie is a partner in Gowling WLG's Ottawa office practising in the Advocacy Department, specializing in medical defence work. She previously focused on litigation and administrative tribunal work, primarily in the areas of health law and professional liability.

    Donna is presently on the board of a local charitable educational institution.