Health Innovators Breakfast: Innovating for Diabetes

BioAlberta and the University Hospital Foundation invite you to our next Health Innovators Breakfast, a morning event bringing together leaders from across Alberta’s health and life sciences ecosystem.

Designed as an engaging start to your day, this breakfast will feature a panel discussion on health innovation, along with opportunities for conversation and connection.

Join leading health innovators over breakfast to explore breakthrough ideas reshaping diabetes prevention, management, and outcomes.

Agenda:

7:30 - 8:00am - Registration & Networking Breakfast
8:00 - 9:00am - Panel Discussion

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Speakers

Padma Kaul
Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry - Medicine Dept, University of Alberta
Padma Kaul is a Professor in the Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine. She is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Women and Children’s Cardiometabolic Health and the Heart & Stroke Foundation Chair in Cardiovascular Research. She recently completed her term as a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Chair in Sex and Gender Science in Diabetes. She is a co-director of the Canadian VIGOUR Centre and the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute AI+Data Academic Lead. Her research utilises population-level administrative health data to examine the effects of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, particularly on the health of women and children. Her team is looking at how artificial intelligence can improve health-care decision-making, implement system-level improvements, and advance the development of a learning health system.

Lana Solberg
Patient Access, Health Policy, and Partnerships, Boehringer Ingelheim
Lana is a seasoned healthcare professional with over two decades of experience in strategic partnerships, patient advocacy and the healthcare ecosystem. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Regina and began her career as a Social Worker in Saskatchewan, where she served for nearly 10 years before transitioning into the pharmaceutical industry.
Since joining Boehringer Ingelheim in 2005, Lana has held a variety of roles, each contributing to her deep understanding of the Canadian healthcare landscape. Lana brings a strategic and empathetic approach to stakeholder engagement, cultivating relationships with government officials, patient advocacy groups, healthcare providers, and internal cross-functional teams. Her expertise lies in navigating complex environments, aligning stakeholder objectives with organizational priorities, and driving initiatives that improve patient outcomes and system efficiency.
She has led and co-created numerous impactful partnerships across Canada, including: collaborations with the University Hospital Foundation and the Government of Alberta; Virtual chronic disease management initiatives with Central Zone PCNs, Health Cities, and Alberta Innovates; Diabetes care improvement programs for Indigenous populations in Manitoba; Chronic disease initiatives with Saskatchewan Indigenous Communities and the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation (SHRF) and an Innovation-focused partnerships with Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, targeting planetary health, Indigenous health, and chronic disease. Lana’s work is guided by a strong understanding of the healthcare system, and she is recognized for her ability to connect stakeholders with divergent priorities, ultimately improving patient care.

Loreen Wales
Founder & CEO, My Viva
Loreen Wales is a registered dietitian, entrepreneur and founder of Revive Wellness and My Viva Plan.

Loreen spent the first ten years of her career caring for patients at the University Hospital in Edmonton. During this time, she grew a passion for building a practice that focused on prevention after witnessing the detrimental effects of poor health habits and diets leading to preventable health problems.

Loreen started Revive Wellness in September 2006, focusing on empowering people to take charge of their own mental, physical, and nutritional health. Over time, there was a need to spread and scale the one-of-a-kind health and nutrition service provided by Revive Wellness, and thus My Viva Plan was born to enable this service to be available to anyone from anywhere.

Loreen received her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Alberta. She has also completed a Nutrition Internship at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Moderator: Gail Stepanik-Keber
Chief Catalyst, Strategic Marketing & Alliances, University Hospital Foundation
Gail Stepanik-Keber’s passion is purpose, strategy, governance and innovation. A passion which helps guide the University Hospital Foundation into the future while ensuring health care, finances and stakeholders remain the focus. Gail is responsible for strategic health partnerships, prevention and primary care programs, marketing communications, digital marketing and signature event experiences for the Foundation.

After returning to Canada in the late 90’s from a career in Malaysia as a managing director of a PR company, Gail was introduced to the cooperative business model as a c-suite executive member of Servus Credit Union. For 21 years, she incubated, developed, and led the functions of brand, data science, innovation, communications, corporate social responsibility and digital banking. Gail went on to set up a niche boutique firm called Triniti Solutions, focused solely on helping individuals and businesses declare their purpose and design-think it into their life and work before joining the Foundation.

Health Innovators Breakfast

Health Innovators Breakfast

Event Info

Hosted By:

BioAlberta

BioAlberta