Building Trust: confronting Anti-Black Racism in Health and Regenerative Medicine
(OTTAWA, ON)
DATE: Saturday, March 16th, 2024
TIME: 9 am – 5 pm
LOCATION: 101 Centrepointe Drive, Nepean, ON (Ben Franklin Place)
VIEW FULL EVENT VIDEO including panel discussion and Q & A


Ottawa Event Partners









An event hosted by the Caribbean African Regenerative Medicine project |
Welcome and Introductions – Carl E James, PhD
Dr. James is the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora in the Faculty of Education where he is Professor, and Senior Advisor on Equity and Representation in the Office of the Vice President of Equity, People and Culture, York University. His research examines the education, employment and health of racialized Canadians – noting the ways in which societal and institutional structures mediate their lived realities. With attention to equity, he studies the ways in which race and its intersection with gender, class, citizenship and other identify constructs – mediated by accessible and equitable opportunities – account for the lived experiences of Black Canadians.

Dr. Istvan Mucsi
Presentation: Regenerative Medicine
Dr. Mucsi is a CIHR-funded clinician investigator, a transplant nephrologist at the Ajmera Transplant Centre at UHN and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on reducing ethnocultural inequities in access to kidney transplants. He has been collaborating with community and religious organizations to develop culturally responsive transplant education. In a Health Canada-funded research, he analyzed quantitative and qualitative data from ~ 700 participants (~250 ACB community members) to better understand inequitable access to live donor kidney transplants.

Dr. Michael Sefton
Michael Sefton is the scientific director of Medicine by Design. He is a University Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry and the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto.
Professor Sefton holds degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Toronto (1971) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1974), and has been at the University of Toronto since 1974. He has been active in the preparation of blood compatible materials through heparinization, the microencapsulation of mammalian cells in synthetic polymers and various strategies for vascularizing tissue constructs.

Dr. Ewurabena Simpson
Presentation: Blood Donation in the Black Canadian Community
Dr. Simpson will be speaking about:
- Sickle Cell Anemia and Interventions in Black Health; and
- Donation Matters: Blood, Cells, and Organs
Dr. Simpson received her medical degree from McGill University and completed her General Pediatrics training and Hematology/Oncology fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto. During her fellowship training, she also completed a Master’s in Public Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as a Global Health Scholar. Dr. Simpson is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at CHEO and she is also appointed as an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine. Her major clinical and research interests have centered upon health systems improvement for children and adolescents with sickle cell disease and other chronic hematologic disorders. In July 2021, Dr. Simpson was appointed as Assistant Dean for the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine. In this role, she aims to strengthen faculty-wide approaches for supporting our diverse community of trainees, staff and faculty and to prioritize a culture of equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging within the Faculty and greater community.

Dr Josephine Etowa
Presentation: Black Health and Impact of Racism
In plenary session #2, Professor Etowa will be speaking with Prof James et al on “Black Health and the Impact of Racism”
Dr Josephine Etowa, PhD RN RM FWACN FAAN FCAN FCAHS is a Full Professor & OHTN Chair in Black Women’s HIV Prevention and care at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Nursing. Her research focuses on inequities in health and healthcare with emphasis on women’s health, perinatal health, HIV/AIDS, nurses’ worklife, community health nursing and the health of African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) Canadians.

Tanya Elese
Topic: Vaccine Equity in the Sickle cell Community Tanya Elese will be speaking in the following sessions:
- Donation Matters: Blood, Cells, and Organs
- SCAGO session
Sickle Cell Advocate, Tanya Elese is a Christian, married and mom to 3 wonderful children. She is an HR Professional with the Parliament and holds a Master’s in Project Management. She supports SCAGO in the following capacities: Ottawa/Gatineau Region Coordination, Advocacy through the Patient Advisory and Advocacy Council and French translation. Tanya is always prompted to contribute to different awareness actions or campaigns for women, children, or the black community. Her motto: Awareness is key!

Dr. Jacqui Getfield
Dr. Getfield is an adjunct member of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, York University. Her research interests include mothering, blackness, race, disability, and home-school-community partnerships. She theorizes through the lenses of Black Feminism, Critical Disability Studies and Critical Race Theory. Dr. Getfield is the Vice-President of the Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators (ONABSE) and a board member of the Caribbean African Canadian Social Services (CAFCAN). She lectures at the Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), Seneca College and Centennial College.

Dr. Arjun Law
Presentation: Stem Cell Transplantation for Blood Disorders
Dr. Law is a Clinical Hematologist and Stem Cell Transplant Physician at Princess Margaret Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Medicine, at the University of Toronto, specializing in acute and chronic leukemia care and stem cell transplantation. His research focuses on advanced genomics, adoptive immunotherapy, and stem cell transplantation. He has recently started a collaborative effort with the University of Toronto`s Stem Cell Club, a student organization, to improve access to stem cell and bone marrow transplants for racialized communities.

Charles Cook
Presentation: Organ Donation
I am a 2-time deceased donor transplant recipient. I received my heart in 2016. I received my kidney in 2017. Both of my surgeries were performed by the incredible transplant teams at Toronto General Hospital.
I have received 2 Gifts of Life which I can never pay back. I strive to do whatever I can to pay those gifts forward. I share the story of my journey and my lessons learned whenever and wherever I can with the hope of benefiting the patients coming along behind me.
I spend my time volunteering with several organizations including the ACB Organ Health YT Channel, the Kidney Foundation, the Transplant Ambassador Program, Can-SOLVE CKD and the CDTRP to name a few.
It is an added honour and privilege for me to be of service to a community of people who look like me.

Dorothy Vernon-Brown
Presentation: Donor Drive 4 Dorothy
For the last 9 years Dorothy Vernon-Brown has been on a mission to create awareness,
educate and help recruit young, healthy Black men and women 17-35 to join Canada’s
national stem cell registry to help save the lives of desperate blood cancer and blood
disorders patients.
As the co-founder and current chair of Donor Drive 4 Dorothy (DD4D), the mission is
personal being the successful recipient of a stem cell transplantation.
She is the owner of AKB² Small Business Marketing and proud recipient of the Woman
of Honour Award given by Canada’s Black Business & Professional Association (BBPA)
for serving the Black community with distinction.

Delaney Hines
Presentation: Sickle Cell
Delaney Hines has strong formative training with a professional Master of Public Health (MPH) degree focused in healthy public policy and sustainability from Western University.

Dr. Egbe B. Etowa
Presentation: Addressing Health Inequities
Dr. Egbe B. Etowa is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Community Services (in FCS). He holds OHTN Winston Husbands Leadership Award in Strengthening the Response to HIV among Black Communities.

