Chair - Dr. Angus A. Bruneau, O.C., Ph.D., P.Eng.
Dr. Bruneau was the Founding Dean of Engineering (1967 – 1974) and Vice President of Professional Schools and Community Services (1974 – 1978) at Memorial University, Newfoundland. He created the Centre for Cold Ocean Resources Engineering in 1973.
In 1986 he joined Newfoundland Light & Power as CEO. In 1987 he created Fortis Inc. serving as CEO from 1987 to 1996 and as Chairman from 1988 to 2006.
He has served on numerous commercial Boards of Directors, including in recent years Canada Life Assurance, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., Inco, Petro-Canada, and currently serves on Aurora Energy Resources.
Dr. Bruneau served in a volunteer capacity on Federal advisory bodies and Boards including National Research Council, the Science Council of Canada, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and recently chaired the National Advisory Panel on Sustainable Energy Science and Technology which published “Powerful Connections” in 2006.
He is a Director of Sustainable Development and Technology Canada and serves on the National Round Table for the Environment and the Economy.
He was the founding Chair of Festival 500: Sharing the Voices in Newfoundland and Labrador. He was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada in 1983, was awarded the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers Gold Medal in 1988, and received honorary Doctorates from both Memorial University and Dalhousie University.
Vice Chair - Dr. Robin Moore-Orr, D.Sc., R.D.
Until her retirement in August 1999, Dr. Moore-Orr was an Associate Professor in the Division of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland. She has authored / co-authored approximately 50 articles in refereed journals and government and professional publications.
She has served on a number of National Boards and Committees, including the Canadian Public Health Association, Breast Feeding Committee for Canada, Osteoporosis Society of Canada, Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative Management Committee, and the Advisory Committee to the Canadian Breast Cancer Initiative. She has also worked on numerous provincial and federal committees, including the Board of Governors of Cabot College, Provincial Advisory Committee on Midwifery, Nutrition Advisory Committee (Atlantic Provinces), Expert Working Group on Breastfeeding (Health Canada).
Dr. Morre-Orr’s Professional memberships include The American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada, Nutrition Society of Canada, Nutrition Society of Australia, Canadian Public Health Association (Chair of Family Health Division 1988-92). She was awarded an honourary Life Membership in Canadian Public Health Association in 1993.
Treasurer - Mrs. Eleonore Benesch
Mrs. Benesch has more than thirty-eight years’ involvement in Early Childhood Education in Ottawa. She was the Executive Director of the Children’s Centre and Greenboro Day Care Centre since their founding in 1979 and 1989 respectively until 2004 and remains on the Board of Directors as an Honorary Member. During her career she initiated and led the development of two child care centres, from lobbying for government construction grants and acting as key member on the architectural design team and for the construction process.
She was instrumental in initiating the inclusion of the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Early Childhood Education on the 10th Anniversary of the Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence in 2004. Her past professional involvements include serving as President of The Association of Early Childhood Educators, Ottawa Valley Branch and The Ottawa Carleton Day Care Association.
Mrs. Benesch has had extensive involvement in community-related Early Childhood Development issues at the municipal and provincial level, serving on numerous committees over the past 30 years. Mrs. Benesch continues to be involved with the Child Care Council of Ottawa-Carleton as a member of the Accreditation Committee and is a Professional member of the Association of Early Childhood Educators. She is currently a Board Member of the Charlotte Birchard Centres of Early Learning and a Board Member of the River Parkway Preschool Centre.
Past Chair - The Honourable Judith Erola
The Honourable Judith Erola is a Director of the Canadian College of Family Physicians and of Health Partners International and Chairs the Advisory Board of the University of Ottawa Health Administration Program.
Prior to her current roles she has served as Director, International Nickel Company of Canada; Director Imasco Inc. (1998-2000); President and CEO RX&D (formerly Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association of Canada) (1987-1998); Member of Parliament for the Nickel Belt riding (1980-1984) during which time she was Cabinet Minister, Mines (Minister of State), Status of Women, Consumer and Corporate Affairs.
Ms. Erola has received numerous Honourary recognitions including: Doctor of Human Letters Honoris Causa, Mount St. Vincent University (1992); Honourary Doctorate of Laws Degree, Laurention University (1996); Honourary Doctorate, University of Ottawa (1996); Member Board of Directors, College of Family Physicians of Canada; Life Member, Federation of Medical Women of Canada; Life Member, Science North Sudbury.
Members-at-Large
Board Member - Dr. Graham W. Chance, FRCPC
In 1970 following training and staff appointments in Birmingham, UK, Dr. Graham Chance was appointed Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at The Hospital for Sick Children Toronto and a professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. In 1979 he was appointed Chief of the Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine; Professor of Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Western Ontario and Director of Nurseries at St. Joseph’s Health Centre in London.
Dr. Chance’s research included studies involving children with diabetes, aspects of neonatal nutritional requirements and carbohydrate metabolism; and delivery of care to newborn infants and their mothers. He established programs in newborn resuscitation and transport, regionalization of perinatal care, respite support for parents with disabled children and strengthening of parenting skills.
He is the author/co-author of approximately150 articles on perinatal/paediatric topics in refereed journals, text books, text book chapters and government and professional society publications.
On retirement in 1997, he was appointed Professor Emeritus at the University of Western Ontario. In 2005 he was the recipient of the Canadian Paediatric Society’s Ross Award for his outstanding contribution to the care of children and youth.
Since it was formed in 1977, Dr. Chance has worked in various capacities for the Canadian Institute of Child Health, including chair of the Canadian Coalition for the Prevention of Developmental Disabilities, as a Board member (and its Chair) and as Chair of the CICH Advisory Council.
Since his retirement, Dr. Chance’s principal work with CICH has been to ensure continuing publication of The Health of Canada’s Children: A CICH Profile and to ensure that the effects of environmental contaminants on children’s health would become a focus of research, national concern and government action.
Board Member - Dr. Marco Di Buono, Ph.D.
After completing a Bachelors degree in Honours Biochemistry at McGill University in 1995, Dr. Di Buono received his M.Sc. in Dietetics & Human Nutrition from McGill University in 1998 for studies on cholesterol metabolism and weight loss. He then moved to the University of Toronto and obtained his Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences. Findings from his doctoral research on amino acid requirements were cited in the Dietary Reference Intakes Report on Macronutrients, published in 2002.
Dr. Di Buono then pursued a post-doctoral fellowship at the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital, in the area of chronic disease risk reduction through dietary modification. In May 2003, Dr. Di Buono joined Kellogg Canada Inc. as Senior Manager, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs where he played a significant role in product innovation, health professionals outreach, and helping the company continue its history of providing quality products for a healthier world. In fall 2007 Dr. Di Buono was named Director of Research at the Ontario Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Dr. Di Buono is the recipient of numerous academic and student leadership awards, including the American Society for Nutritional Sciences/Procter & Gamble Graduate Student Research Award. He was twice nominated for the American Society for Clinical Nutrition Young Investigator Award, and received an FCAR Doctoral scholarship to pursue his Ph.D. in Toronto. Dr. Di Buono currently serves as a reviewer for the Canadian Journal of Dietetics Practice and Research.
Board Member - Dr. Arne Ohlsson, MD, MSc, FRCPC, FAAP
Dr. Ohlsson joined the staff of the Department of Newborn and Developmental Paediatrics at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto in 1984. He received his Master of Science degree in Clinical Epidemiology from McMaster University in 1990. In 1998 he took up the position as Director Evidence Based Neonatal Care and Outcomes Research, Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto. The same year he became the Director of the Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre and served as such until 2005.
He is Professor, Departments of Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto. He is Active Staff Neonatologist at Mount Sinai Hospital and Hospital for Sick Children and Consultant Staff Sunnybrook & Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, Toronto.
He has developed a Masters’ of Science Course in Systematic reviews/Cochrane reviews, and has successfully supervised a large number of Master of Science students with a background in neonatology, obstetrics, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, pharmacology and medical communication/illustration
He has served for many years as Member, Co-Chair and most recently until 2001, as Chair, Fetus and Newborn Committee, the Canadian Pediatric Society. He has led the development of several Practice Guidelines in Neonatology that have changed clinical practice for the better, and has published more than 260 peer-reviewed papers.
He has served as an Editor of Pediatric Research and as a Member of the Canadian Institutes of Research Clinical Trials Committee, and in 2003 was presented the Distinguished Neonatologist Award from the Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine Section of the Canadian Paediatric Society.
Board Member - Ms. Brenda Swick
Ms. Brenda Swick is a partner in the Litigation Group and a member of McCarthy Tétrault’s International Trade and Investment Law Group.
She is recognized as a leader in the field of international trade law in the 1008 Chambers Global Directory and in Martindale Hubbell Legal Directory and the 2005 Canadian Legal Expert Directory as consistently recommended for her expertise in international trade matters.
Ms. Swick is Vice-Chair of the Trade Law Committee of the International Bar Association and Past Chair of the International Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association. She is a member of the American Bar Association, International Law Association and American Society of International Law and a member of the Board of Editors of Regulatory Boards and Administrative Law Litigation and a contributing editor to the North American Corporate Lawyer.
She is a frequent speaker and the author of numerous published articles on international trade. At the 2005 International Bar Association annual conference in Prague, Ms. Swick co-chaired the Trade and Customs Law panel on "The Impact of Regional Trade Agreements on Business." She recently delivered a speech on "WTO Dispute Settlement, Making the Remedy More Effective" at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the International Law Association.
Ms. Swick received her Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours, Economics) in 1981, and Bachelor of Law from Queen’s University in 1985. She was awarded the David Sabbath Prize for the Taxation of Trusts and Estates. She was called to the Ontario bar in 1987.
Board Member - Dr. C. Robin Walker, MD, ChB, FRCPC, FAAP
Dr. Robin Walker is currently serving as Vice-President, Medicine at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, NS and a Full Professor of Pediatrics at Dalhousie University.
He has been Director of Perinatal Pediatrics at The Moncton Hospital, Moncton, NB; Chief of Neonatology at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON; and Medical Director of Critical Care at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, ON.
Dr. Walker’s research as Co-Principal Investigator of the Medical Information Technology Research Group is in decision-support systems using artificial intelligence tools in neonatal medicine, as well as evidence-based approaches to improving practice in neonatal intensive care.
He is Chair of the Committee on Pediatric Education of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a former Vice President, President and Past President of the Canadian Paediatric Society.
He has been actively involved in a broad range of activities to support the health, well-being and rights of children and youth in Canada at the community, regional, provincial, national and international levels.
