Navigating pain together

(She/her) is a chronic pain scientist at Women’s College Hospital and the University of Toronto where she leads the Centre for the Study of Pain and drives pain research, education, and knowledge translation across the academic centers in Toronto.

She also has the awesome opportunity to work within a pain clinic where she works with clinicians and patients to identify the “pain points” that they face around the access to pain care and pain management, and work with smart people to innovate and test solutions. She is thrilled to work with Pain Ontario to bridge the gaps in support, education, and research that are very real for patients living with pain and to lend her voice and experience towards advocacy. Beyond the field of pain, her “around the clock” job is to be a mom to her young, goofy son Matthias.

(She/her) is a pediatric anesthesiologist and professor at the University of Toronto; her day job involves providing compassionate care to children, youth, and their caregivers at the Chronic Pain Clinic at SickKids, where she is Medical Director.  Her journey toward advocating for pain relief began with a deeply personal experience when her mother developed neuropathic pain following a car accident.  Fiona has served as Treasurer and President of the Canadian Pain Society, was inaugural co-chair of the Ontario Chronic Pain Network (Pediatric section), and co-chaired Health Canada's Canadian Pain Task Force, which developed an Action Plan for Pain in Canada. She also played a pivotal role in creating the world's first Pediatric Pain Management Standard.  Fiona rides her bike to work year-round, plays tennis and enjoys a good work/life balance.  She is delighted to serve as a founding board member of Pain Ontario, bringing a wealth of leadership, board expertise, passion and unwavering dedication.

Arun is a family physician focusing on chronic pain. He is dedicated to enhancing care for people living with chronic pain within primary care settings through research and innovations.  He has an expertise in developing clinical tools, digital health solutions, and educational innovations for healthcare providers, earning him awards for innovation and excellence in healthcare. In serving people living with chronic pain, he is also interested in addressing disparities in healthcare access.

Arun is affiliated with The Ottawa and Bruyere Hospitals while conducting research at the Bruyere Research Institute and the Equity in Health Systems Lab. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa and the University of Toronto. He leads nationally funded projects to improve clinical care for chronic pain through mentorship, digital health tools, and initiatives promoting equity in health systems.

Outside of his professional work, he is involved in philanthropy, serving as a board member with the Centre for Effective Practice and the Foundation for the Advancement of Family Medicine, two national not for profit organizations.

(he/they) is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, and Indigenous Engagement Lead in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto and is the founder and chair of the Indigenous Pharmacy Professionals of Canada. He is a queer, Two Spirit, Saulteaux and Ukrainian pharmacist from Yellow Quill First Nation.

He received a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Saskatchewan, a post-baccalaureate Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in education from the University of Saskatchewan. His primary areas of research and practice include pain, HIV/AIDS, substance use disorders, 2SLGBTQ+ health, and Indigenous health.

Every member of his family lives with or has lived with chronic pain, which has pushed him to give back in this space. Dr. Swidrovich was a member of the Canadian Pain Task Force and is a current National Advisory Committee member of Pain Canada. He is also a board member of Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP) and a founding board member of Pain Ontario.

Jennifer’s (she/her) professional background is in marketing and strategic planning in higher education, and in public and private sectors. Since a sudden onset of severe abdominal pain, she has been on a journey of learning to live with persistent acute episodes of pain and adapting to the dramatic changes this has brought to her daily life.  She wrote about her journey in a blog post…this journey continues.

She now leverages her skills and experience to advocate, collaborate and share her perspective as a person with lived experience/patient partner/advisor with national and provincial pain research initiatives and projects, including volunteering with the Chronic Pain Network, Knowledge Mobilization and Implementation Science (CPN-KMIS), the Canadian Pain Society (CPS) and the North American Pain School (NAPS’23).

Her passion for advocacy is rooted in the desire to increase the incorporation of the lived experience perspective into research, broadened awareness of chronic pain, improving understanding about the value of patient engagement in research and for improved access to health care and support for people living with pain.

Dr. Kattail (she/her) is a pediatric anesthesiologist and pain physician at The Hospital for Sick Children, with a focus in the full spectrum of pediatric pain medicine from acute to chronic pain management and pediatric regional anesthesia.  She has a special interest in dissemination of education in pediatric pain medicine including development of the website www.SolvingPain.ca, associate editor for the Pain Medicine section of www.OpenAnesthesia.org and editor of www.Baby-Blocks.com.

She is an active member of the Society for Pediatric Pain Medicine where she is currently an executive board member and chair of the communications committee. She is involved in various organizations advocating for improvements in pain care at the national and provincial levels in Canada, as pediatric co-chair of the Ontario Chronic Pain network, affiliated with Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and member of the National Advisory Committee for Pain Canada. She was recently honoured as a 2023 fellow of The May Day Pain & Society fellowship.

(she/her) has lived with chronic pain since she was a teenager and recently beat stage 3 breast cancer. Vina is passionate about sharing her story and advocating for the unique needs of disabled, diverse and low-income youth living with painful conditions. Vina was engaged as a patient partner in research as a teenager, which led her to her current career. She facilitates patient engagement in pain research, policy, education, and clinical practice in Canada and internationally. Vina partners with organizations like Solution for Kids in Pain (SKIP), the Canadian Pain Society (CPS), and the Chronic Pain Network (CPN). Vina currently works at the iOUCH Pain Research Lab at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Vina will be beginning her PhD at the University of Toronto in the Institute for Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation in September 2024.