Keynote Lecture:
Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
Wednesday, Feb 26

Dr. Mamdani is Vice President of Data Science and Advanced Analytics at Unity Health Toronto and Director of the University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM). Dr. Mamdani’s team bridges advanced analytics including machine learning with clinical and management decision making to improve patient outcomes and hospital efficiency. Dr. Mamdani is also Professor in the Department of Medicine of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. He is also an Affiliate Scientist at IC/ES and a Faculty Affiliate of the Vector Institute.

Previously, Dr. Mamdani was named among Canada’s Top 40 under 40. He has published over 500 studies in peer-reviewed medical journals. Dr. Mamdani obtained a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (PharmD) from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and completed a fellowship in Pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research at the Detroit Medical Center. During his fellowship, Dr. Mamdani obtained a Master of Arts degree in Economics from Wayne State University with a concentration in econometric theory. He then completed a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University with a concentration in quantitative methods.

State-of-the-Art Lecture:
Dr. Michael Ombrello
Thursday, Feb 27

Dr. Michael Ombrello is an adult and pediatric rheumatologist and a principal investigator at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), where he leads the Translational Genetics and Genomics Section. His research focuses on discovering new genetic causes of inflammatory diseases in humans to enhance understanding of their pathophysiology and identify new therapeutic targets.

Dr. Ombrello has been a pioneer in the field of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) genomics, establishing an international collaboration that produced the first genomic studies of sJIA and continues to yield new discoveries nearly a decade later. He also leads a NIAMS research protocol investigating the genetics, pathophysiology, and natural history of Still’s disease in individuals of all ages. In addition to his work on Still’s disease, he has discovered and described several related forms of autosomal dominant immune dysregulation caused by variation in the gene encoding phospholipase C gamma 2. Dr. Ombrello has received numerous accolades for his contributions, including the Distinguished Fellow Award from the American College of Rheumatology, Merit Awards from NIAID and NIAMS, and two NIH Director’s Awards.

Dunlop-Dottridge Lecture:
Dr. Dafna Gladman
Friday, Feb 28

Dr. Dafna Gladman is Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto. Dr. Gladman is a Clinician Scientist at the University of Toronto, Senior Staff Physician at the Toronto Western Hospital, Co-Director of the Psoriatic Arthritis Program, and Co-Director of the University of Toronto Lupus Clinic. She is a Senior Scientist at the Krembil Research Institute and the Schroeder Arthritis Institute.

Dr. Gladman has had an extensive clinical and translational research program in both psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The research has been supported by the Arthritis Society, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Krembil Foundation, National Institutes of Health (US) and the National Psoriasis Foundation (US). She authored 993 peer reviewed publications, 143 chapters and invited publications, authored 2 books, and edited 3 other books.

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