Canadian Bioethics Society
Société canadienne de bioéthique

CBS Administrator: Marylou Scott-Smith

canadianbioethicssociety@gmail.com

​

Marylou serves as the Administrator for the Canadian Bioethics Society, and supports the Executive Board in its effort to build organizational capacities for the CBS.

​

Board of Directors

 

President: Bashir Jiwani

Bashir Jiwani, PhD, is Lead Ethicist and Executive Director, Ethics and Diversity Services, at the Fraser Health Authority which serves one of Canada’s largest, fastest growing and most diverse regional populations.

 

Bashir leads a team that provides decision support in patient care and at the system-level, builds capacity to deal with complex, ethically challenging situations in contexts of diversity, enables access to language resources and builds partnerships for understanding and collaborating with diverse communities.

 

Bashir currently serves on the Drug Benefit Council for BC, the Expensive Drugs for Rare Diseases Committee for BC, the pan-Canadian Advisory Panel on a Framework for a Prescription Drug List and the Core Team for the Aga Khan University Thinking Group on Ethics, Stem Cell Science, and Regenerative Medicine.

 

Bashir received his BA in Philosophy from McGill University and his MA in Philosophy with a specialty in Bioethics from the University of British Columbia. He received a PhD in Public Health Sciences from the University of Alberta, Canada.

 

More information about Bashir and his work can be found at incorporatingethics.ca.

​

President -Elect: Cory Labrecque

Cory Andrew Labrecque, PhD, is associate professor of bioethics and theological ethics, and the inaugural chair of educational leadership in the ethics of life at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at Université Laval in Quebec City, where he is vice-dean and director of graduate programs in theology.

 

He previously served as the Raymond F. Schinazi Scholar in bioethics and religious thought, director of Catholic Studies, and director of graduate programs in bioethics at Emory University in Atlanta. Cory earned a BSc in anatomy and cell biology, an MA in religious studies with specialization in bioethics, and a PhD in religious ethics at McGill.

 

Cory’s teaching and research examine how the Abrahamic religions—with a focus on the Roman Catholic tradition—approach ethical issues in medicine, biotechnology, and the environment. He is especially interested in the context of aging, end-of-life ethics, and understandings of personhood. He is vice-president of the National Committee for Ethics and Ageing (Quebec) and is corresponding member of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

​

Treasurer: Zachary Walbaum

Zachary has a B.A. (Hons) in Philosophy from Brandon University, a Master of Philosophy (Humanities), and a Master of Health Ethics from Memorial University of Newfoundland. 

​

Zachary works full-time as a Clinical Research Coordinator for Interior Health in Kelowna, B.C. Zachary completed a Clinical Ethics Internship with William Osler Health Systems in Brampton, ON. In 2024, Zachary will begin his PhD in Health Sciences at UNBC. His research interests include moral epistemology, personal identity, ageing-related issues, and end-of-life issues.

​

Conference Liaison: Kristina Kékesi-Lafrance

Kristina Kékesi-Lafrance is a clinical ethicist for the Montreal West Island Integrated University Health and Social Services Centre, which is the most cosmopolitan area of the city. She is a member of the Quebec Bar since 2018 and her academic background includes a Master of Laws and Bioethics from McGill University. She has experience as a lawyer in private practice as well as in academia, as an academic associate for the Centre of Genomics and Policy (McGill University).

 

She also serves as the legal representative on the Cells, tissues, genetics and qualitative research (CTGQ) REB of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) as well as on the REB-3 (minor and adults incapable of providing consent) of the Faculty of Medicine of McGill University. Her research areas of interest include genomics and assisted reproductive technologies.

​

Communications Officer: Open

​

​

Deputy Communications Officer: Amanda Porter

Amanda Porter is an Assistant Professor and Health Care Ethicist in the Department of Bioethics at Dalhousie University, providing clinical and organizational ethics support to the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the IWK. 

 

Amanda’s collaborative work is intended to build capacity and opportunity for thoughtful handling of ethically challenging situations that arise in everyday practice and decision-making. She holds an MA and PhD in philosophy from Western University.

​

Social Media Officer: Monique Visser

Monique Visser is an early career Ethicist with the Health Ethics Alliance, based out of North York General Hospital and Oak Valley Health. Monique's academic background includes a Master of Bioethics (MBE) from Harvard Medical School and further ethics training by completing the Alberta Health Services two-year clinical ethics fellowship. She also has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) and practiced as a registered nurse in several communities across Canada and in Saudi Arabia. She worked primarily in high acuity acute care settings and completed a graduate certificate in critical care (CCAC).

 

Her research areas of interest include exploring moral distress and the role of ethics education as part of preventative ethics.

​

Fundraising Officer: Open

​

Diversity Officer: Moji Adurogbangba

Moji is currently the System-Level Ethicist at Fraser Health Authority in British Columbia. She promotes and advances ethical decision-making through the consultation process, developing and reviewing policy guidelines and strategies.

 

Moji was educated and worked as a Dentist before obtaining a Master of Public Health in Nigeria and a Master of Arts in Bioethics from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. She then earned a Fellowship in Clinical Ethics at the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto. She has worked as a Clinical Ethicist for over ten years in two Ontario locations before moving to British Columbia. Moji’s passion for Social Justice, excellence in Public Health, Clinical and Organizational ethics spans all her work.

 

Her areas of interest include exploring the ethics of prioritizing scarce health care resources and identifying, articulating, and addressing ethical implications of organizational decisions on patients, health care providers, and the community.

​

Membership Officer: Victoria Seavilleklien

Victoria Seavilleklein is a member of Alberta Health Services (AHS)’ Clinical Ethics Service, and is the Clinical Ethicist for the central part of the province.

 

She holds a PhD in Philosophy (specializing in Bioethics) from Dalhousie University, an MA in Philosophy from the University of Calgary, and a BA in Philosophy from the University of Victoria. She completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Clinical and Organizational Ethics from the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto and a Doctoral Fellowship in Ethics of Health Research and Policy in a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Strategic Training Program, jointly held between Dalhousie University and the University of British Columbia.

 

She is a Clinical Lecturer with the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre at the University of Alberta and a regular guest lecturer at Red Deer College.  Victoria’s role includes ethics consultation, education, policy review, and support for organizational initiatives. She is particularly concerned with matters of social justice.

​

New Initiatives Officer: Katherine Duthie

Katherine Duthie is member of the AHS Clinical Ethics Service, and is the Clinical Ethicist at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. 

 

Katherine’s educational background includes a BSc in Biology (minor Philosophy), an MA in Philosophy, and a PhD in Public Health with a focus on the intersections between clinical and organizational ethics.  She completed her residency in clinical ethics at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.  In addition to her AHS role, Katherine is a consulting ethicist with the Fraser Health Authority and the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Healthcare.  She is also a member of the Health Research Ethics Boards of Alberta Cancer Research Ethics Committee, and is an Assistant Clinical Professor with the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre at the University of Alberta.  

 

Katherine’s research and professional interests include harm reduction, values-based decision-making methodologies, and health technology assessment.

​

Partnerships and Community Relations Officer: Catherine Fullarton

Catherine Fullarton is a Faculty Fellow at the University of King's College in Halifax, NS, and a PhD candidate in Philosophy at Emory University (Atlanta, USA).

 

She has a Master's degree in Philosophy from Ryerson University (Toronto, ON), where her work focused on phenomenology and embodiment.

 

Her current research considers phenomenology, Aristotelian virtue ethics, and ethics of care to propose a model of empathic virtue, with specific interest in the role of empathy in patient-physician relationships.

​​

Undergraduate Student Member-at-Large: Lea Love

Lea is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto studying bioethics and global health.

 

She is an executive member of multiple clubs and teams at U of T, including Canadian Feed the Children. Lea has worked closely with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind to provide piano lessons for blind and vision impaired youth, and volunteers at local flu clinics and charity organizations. She is particularly passionate about reducing global disparities in medicine and healthcare, supporting First Nations communities in Canada, and reproductive rights in the bioethics field.

​

Graduate Student-at-Large - Megan Bailey

Megan Bailey has a Master’s in Health Policy and Equity from York University and is currently completing a Ph.D. in Ethics and Public Affairs at Carleton University. She has professional experience grounded in acute care settings with formal clinical ethics training from William Osler Health System in Brampton, Ontario, where she is a Senior Clinical Ethics Intern. Her multifaceted role involves providing ethics education, supporting intern training, leading ethics quality improvement projects, supporting policy initiatives and clinical consultations, as well as conducting ethics quality improvement research. Megan is passionate about health justice and health equity-related issues across the Canadian healthcare landscape.