Speakers

2026 Lectures

(Access recordings of our previous lectures )

Balfour Mount Lecture "Harnessing the power of routinely collected patient reported outcomes (PROs) to improve early access to palliative care: One provincial cancer jurisdiction鈥檚 experience"听 Date: January 21, 2026, 12:00 - 13:00 EST Speaker: Linda Watson Location:听Research Institute (MUHC),听1001 Decarie Blvd, Montreal, QC H4A 3J1 Learning Objectives: Understand how one provincial cancer jurisdiction in Canada integrated patient reported outcomes into routine care to improve capacity for targeted symptom management. Explore trends, patterns, and predictive capacity of routinely collected PRO data in relation to the cancer patients being treated for Advanced Cancer (8,500 patients in 2023). Discuss efforts underway to harness this data and our provincial EMR to develop decision support tools to flag patients who benefit from palliative care. 听听听		Dr. Linda Watson has been an oncology nurse in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for over 30 years. She has held a variety of nursing and inter-professional leadership and research roles within the Cancer Care Alberta (CCA) provincial program and currently holds the role of Executive Director, Supportive Care Services and Patient Experience. Dr. Watson also holds an adjunct professor position with the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary and is past President of the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology (CANO). She has also recenty completed a four year term on the Board of Directors for the International Society for Nurses in Cancer Care (ISNCC).
Teresa Dellar听Lecture Date: February 18, 2026, 12:00 - 13:00 EST Speaker: Nadia Collette Location:听Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence, 265 Rue Andr茅-Brunet, Kirkland, QC H9H 3R4		Nadia Collette is an art therapist certified by the Spanish Federation of Professional Associations of Art Therapy, at the palliative care unit of Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital, Barcelona, Spain, and at the Research Institute of the same hospital. She is a promoting team member of the task group on spirituality for the Spanish Society for Palliative Care. A master鈥檚 degree lecturer in palliative care, art therapy, psychology and nursing, Nadia has a PhD in Psychology; Master in Transdisciplinary Art Therapy and Human Development; Master in Integrative-Relational Counselling for Bereavement, Loss and Trauma; Postgraduate in Spiritual Accompaniment in Clinics; Bachelor of Medical Biology and a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She worked as a microbiologist at Bordet Institute-Tumor Centre of the Universit茅 Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, and as a university lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Valencia, Spain. Nadia's biography is marked by the death of her family on her mother's side in the Holocaust during the Second World War, a personal painful legacy that nevertheless fuelled her professional motivation. She is passionate about looking for a luminous confluence between art, science and biography, in order to contribute to more life, more dignity and more peace at the end of life.
Sheila Kussner Hope & Cope听Lecture Date: March听18, 2026, 12:00 - 13:00 EST Speaker:听Pierre Deschamps Location:听Aberman Auditorium, A-102. Jewish General Hospital, 3755 C么te-Sainte-Catherine, Montr茅al, QC H3T 1E2		Pierre Deschamps holds a degree in religious studies from the Faculty of Theology at the University of Montreal and a law degree from 51吃瓜网. An assistant professor at 51吃瓜网's Faculty of Law for nearly 20 years, he taught civil liability law and human rights law, as well as at the Bar School.听听 From 1999 to 2009, Mr. Deschamps was a member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. In 2015, he was appointed to the Quebec Commission on End-of-Life Care for a five-year term, which was renewed in 2020 for another five years. In 2018, he was appointed to the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal as an assessor for a five-year term, which was renewed for a further three years.听 In 2000, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of his contribution to research and to the cause of children with cancer. That same year, he received the Canadian Bar Association Quebec Division's President's Award for his social commitment. In 2003, the French government named him a Knight of the Order of Academic Palms in recognition of his remarkable commitment to human rights and his particularly active role in promoting dual legal systems and bilingualism in Canada and throughout the French-speaking world. In 2013, he became an emeritus lawyer with the Quebec Bar.听 Mr. Deschamps is the author of several articles on end-of-life care, including palliative care and medical assistance in dying. In 2017, he published a book entitled Les soins de fin de vie : 谤别辫猫谤别蝉茅迟丑颈辩耻别蝉, juridiques et so肠颈茅迟补耻虫 (End-of-Life Care: Ethical, Legal, and Societal Guidelines), which is currently being updated. He has also given several lectures on these topics.听听
Neuro Supportive Care Lecture Date: April 15, 2026, 12:00 - 13:00 EST Speaker:听Janis Miyasaki Location: Jeanne Timmins Auditorium, Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), 3801 University Street, Montreal, QC H3A 2B4 听		Janis Miyasaki, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FAAN,听is a graduate of the University of Toronto听(don't hold it against her!)听medical school听neurology residency and movement disorders fellowship. She joined the University of Toronto faculty in 1997 and first introduced palliative care for Parkinson's Disease and related disorders in 2007. This has led to collaborations internationally in research and program development. Dr. Miyasaki is interested in spirituality in palliative care and caregiver experience for those with neurologic illness. She is currently the Zone Department Head of Clinical Neuroscience (Neurology, Neurosurgery, Rehabilitation Medicine, and NeuroICU). She is the recipient of the International Neuropalliative Care Society Lifetime Achievement Award (2023), the AAN President's Award and the Movement Disorders Research Award (2025), the King Charles III Coronation Medal for service to Parkinson's Disease in Canada and Internationally听(2025) and the Thomas Marrie Mentorship Award at the University of Alberta (2025).听听听听
Douglas Hospital Foundation听Lecture Date: May 20, 2026, 12:00 - 13:00 EST Speaker:听Sean Morrisson Location: Douglas Mental Health University Institute,听6875 Blvd. LaSalle, Verdun, Quebec H4H 1R3		Dr. R. Sean Morrison is the Ellen and Howard C. Katz Professor and Chair of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. He is also Co-Director of the Patty and Jay Baker National Palliative Care Center and Director of the National Palliative Care Research Center, national organizations devoted to increasing the evidence base of palliative care in the United States. Nationally, he has served as President and Secretary of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.听 Dr. Morrison is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine鈥檚 PDIA National Leadership, Excellence in Research, and Visionary Awards; the American Cancer Society鈥檚 Distinguished Achievement in Cancer and Clinical Research Professor Awards; the American Geriatrics Society鈥檚 Outstanding Achievement for Clinical Investigation Award; and the Jacobi Medallion (Mount Sinai鈥檚 highest recognition). 听 Dr. Morrison has received over $75 million dollars in research funding focused on improving care for seriously ill older adults and their families. His work has appeared in all major peer-reviewed medical journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine, and the Journal of the American Medical Association. He edited the first textbook on geriatric palliative care and has contributed to more than 15 books on the subject of geriatrics and palliative care. As one of the leading figures in the field of palliative medicine, Dr. Morrison has appeared numerous times on television and in print to discuss his own research and to comment on matters related to older adults and those with serious illness. 听 R. Sean Morrison received his ScB from Brown University and his MD from the University of Chicago Pritzker School Of Medicine. He completed his residency training at the New York HospitalCornell Medical Center followed by post-graduate fellowship training at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He has been on Mount Sinai鈥檚 faculty since 1995.听听听
St. Mary's Hospital Lecture Date: June 17, 2026, 12:00 - 13:00 EST Speaker:听Allison Kestenbaum Location: Auditorium (basement level), St Mary's Hospital Center, 3830 Av. Lacombe, Montr茅al, QC H3T 0A2		Allison Kestenbaum听(MA, MPA, BCC-PCHAC, ACPE)听is the Supervisor of Spiritual Care and Clinical Pastoral Education at UC San Diego Health. She is an Associate Clinical Professor in Health Sciences in the Department of Medicine and Affiliate Faculty at the Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion at UCSD. She is a Board Certified Chaplain (NAJC and APC) with Advanced Certification in Hospice and Palliative Care. She is also a Certified Pastoral Educator (ACPE). Allison conducts research about palliative and spiritual care and education and is founding faculty at SpiritualAIM.org. She has worked at UC San Francisco Health, Jewish Theological Seminary and UJA-Federation of New York. She was the first chaplain to receive a Sojourns Scholar Award for palliative care leaders.
Dr. Jane Poulson Lecture Date: September 16,听2026, 12:00 - 13:00 EST Speaker:听Billy Rosa Location: Osler Amphitheatre, Montreal General Hospital, 1650 Av. Cedar, Montr茅al, QC H3H 1V6		Billy Rosa, PhD, MBE, APRN, FAAN, is an Assistant Attending Behavioral Scientist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). He received his PhD and Master of Bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania, completed MSK鈥檚 Hospice & Palliative Medicine Interdisciplinary Clinical Fellowship, and served as Co-Chief Fellow of MSK鈥檚 NIH/NCI T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Psychosocial, Palliative, and Community Research in Cancer. He鈥檚 the editor of 5 books and has contributed more than 300 publications in journals and texts. Dr. Rosa is Co-Chair of the Lancet Respiratory Medicine Commission on Palliative Care Integration in Serious Respiratory Illness and served on the advisory board for the World Innovation Summit for Health and World Health Organization report, Palliative Care: How Can We Respond to 10 Years of Limited Progress? He serves or has served as a Collaborator for the Lancet Commission on Cancer and Health System and Commissioner for the Lancet Oncology Commission on the Human Crisis of Cancer, writing committee for The Lancet Commission on Breast Cancer report and the expert panel for the 2024 ASCO Palliative Care Guideline Update. Dr. Rosa is Editor-in-Chief of Psycho-Oncology, Associate Editor for Nursing for Journal of Pain & Symptom Management, and Editor for the Journal of Palliative Medicine鈥檚 Top Ten Tips series. He is a Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns Scholar, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Harold Amos Scholar, and Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Hospice & Palliative Nursing Association, and the New York Academy of Medicine. Dr. Rosa has been recognized with numerous national and international distinctions, including the International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care鈥檚 Individual Recognition Award (high-income country category) and the International Council of Nurses鈥� Kim Mo-Im Policy Innovation & Impact Award. In 2024, he was named a Visionary in Hospice & Palliative Care by the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine. For more information, visit his .
J. Craig Miller Lecture for Cedars Date : October 21, 2026, 12:00 - 13:00 EST Speaker:听Eduardo Bruera Location: MUHC, Glen Site (DS1.1427), 1001 Bd D茅carie, Montreal, QC H4A 3J1	听	听
November听Lecture Date: November 18, 2026, 12:00 - 13:00 EST Speaker:听Dannell Shu Location: RI Institute (MUHC), 1001 Decarie Blvd, Montreal, QC H4A 3J1		Dannell Shu BFA, MWS, is a respected Family Advocate and Clinician Educator in palliative, hospice, and bereavement care. She is known as a thought leader, trusted consultant, and purposeful community builder who brings forward the embodied wisdom of family perspectives with charisma and warmth. Dannell's passion for improving care and inventing in clinician education began as Levi鈥檚 mom, a child born with severe HIE and medical complexities. She led an in-home ICU for seven years till his death. In the US, Dannell serves on the National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care, Pediatric Division and the Minnesota Palliative Care Advisory Council. As a Bereaved Parent Faculty for the University of Minnesota鈥檚 Pediatric End of Life Care Skills Workgroup, she collaborates with an interdisciplinary team of clinicians and SIM professionals to improve trainee鈥檚 competence, resiliency, and interprofessional skills to provide quality care. Through RedBird Time, Dannell consults with palliative care teams, designs innovative resources, and facilitates illuminating Brave Spaces for clinician training and wellness.
Bernard J. Lapointe Lecture Date: December 9, 2026, 12:00 - 13:00 EST Speaker:听Holly Prince Location: Aberman Auditorium, A-102. Jewish General Hospital, 3755 C么te-Sainte-Catherine, Montr茅al, QC H3T 1E2		Dr. Holly Prince is an Anishinaabekwe and a member of Opwaaganisiniing in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. She has a Ph.D. in Educational Studies and a Master鈥檚 in Social Work. Dr. Prince鈥檚 research focuses on decolonial and Indigenist education, the resurgence and re-activation of Indigenous Knowledges, Indigenous health equity and community-based research. Dr. Prince leads the Indigenous People's Health & Aging Division at the Centre for Education and Research on Aging & Health, Lakehead University. She is also the Senior Advisor to the Canadian Virtual Hospice's LivingMyCulture.ca project. In addition to her leadership roles, Dr. Prince provides advice, guidance, and subject matter expertise as a Coach and Advisor for Healthcare Excellence Canada's Improving Equity in Access to Palliative Care initiative, which aims to support people experiencing homelessness or those who are vulnerably housed. Dr. Prince has devoted the last 20 years to advancing the right of Indigenous peoples to access culturally appropriate and equitable healthcare and has mobilized her efforts as a national champion of human rights and dignity for people preparing to journey back to the spirit world.
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