Quality, Research & Ethics (QRE)

Vincent Bowman is the Chair of the QRE Committee at the Aphasia Institute. He brings insight and experience from having been the Director of Research for the Heart and Stroke Foundation Ontario, where he led a multidisciplinary team specializing in research program management, science information, evaluation, and health professional education.  Prior to joining the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Vincent was the Director of Grants and Partnerships for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Ontario Region.  He has many years of experience as a leader in the not-for-profit sector, including senior executive roles in hospital and long-term-care foundations.

Sandra E. Black, MD, FRCPC, holds the inaugural Brill Chair in Neurology, Department of Medicine,University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She received her medical and neurological training at the University of Toronto, completed postdoctoral research at theUniversity ofWestern Ontario in behavioural neurology and stroke, and also pursued graduate work in the history and philosophy of science at Oxford University. She directs the Brain Sciences Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, and is a Senior Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest.  She is Medical Director of the Regional Stroke Centre for N&E GTA and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Site Director for the Heart and Stroke Foundation Centre for Stroke Recovery. She was Head of Neurology at Sunnybrook (1995-2006) and currently directs the LC Campbell Cognitive Neurology Research Unit.  Her research interests include Stroke Recovery and Vascular Cognitive Impairment, diagnosis of dementia and the use of neuroimaging to study brain-behaviour relationships.  She has published over 350 papers and is actively engaged in clinical trials of Stroke and Stroke Recovery, Alzheimer’s and Vascular Cognitive Impairment. In 2001, she received the Mel Silverman Award for Outstanding Mentorship from the University of Toronto’s Institute of Medical Science in 2009 and University of Toronto, Department of Medicine Mentorship award.

Jan Carlisle is a Social Worker who was formerly in clinical practice at Sunnybrook and Baycrest, with a practice focus in gerontology. Her work was with clients and families on special care and palliative care units. She received her MSW from the University of Toronto. Jan had a previous career in various business settings in the retail industry in Cape Town, South Africa and in London, United Kingdom, where she was involved in administration and press and public relations. She is now retired.

Bev Powell-Vinden is the Senior Manager, Knowledge Exchange for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, accountable for enhancing the translation of knowledge to action and for the overall flow, accuracy and application of mission and science information within the Foundation. She leads a team of knowledge exchange specialists in the proactive collection, analysis and synthesis of credible, up-to-date mission and science information to support planning, evidence-based decision-making and mission impact messaging. Previous roles at the Foundation include Manager Stroke Care Delivery and Senior Specialist Professional Education, Ontario Stroke System. Bev has had several years of experience in health care education, project management and resource production in the non-profit and hospital sectors. She received her BNSc from Queen’s University and MEd from Brock University.

Tannis Fast-Vetter has enjoyed a life-long career in music as a vocal teacher, music educator, choral director and festival adjudicator. She graduated with a MMus (Voice) from Western, MA (Ed. Admin.) from U of T, and holds an A.R.C.T. (Voice & Piano) from the Royal Conservatory of Music. She has been a member of several professional music organizations for over 30 years. In addition to her private teaching studio, Tannis has also taught at private schools, colleges, conservatories and university. Her teaching philosophy has always been to help students find ways to communicate their musical stories more effectively. It is this philosophy that drew Tannis to the work at the Aphasia Institute helping members tell their stories. Tannis has volunteered in the Aphasia Institute’s conversation and music groups, book clubs, and Introductory Program. Tannis’ on-going interest in the role of music and the arts in care settings has led to facilitating a Music Journaling Workshop at Gilda’s Club, attending Music Care Conferences annually, as well as lectures and workshops in the growing field of music medicine.

Sherrill Meeks’ association with the Aphasia Institute began in October 2009, 8 months after her husband’s stroke. After the Introductory Program, her husband joined the Toastmasters

Program and she continued to attend the Family Group. Their connection with the AI community has made a tremendous difference in their lives. Sherrill’s career background is Social Work. She initially worked in children’s services, but in the 15 years prior to her retirement in 2004, she worked at West Park Healthcare Centre. Her first position there was on an inpatient rehabilitation unit and then, for almost 10 years, she was part of an outreach team with the Seniors Mental Health Service. In both positions, many of the people with whom she worked had experienced acute or chronic life-changing medical events or conditions. Sherrill also worked with many of their family members. In addition, the Seniors Mental Health staff presented educational programs on topics related to geriatric mental health.

Dr. Donald Meeks is an Emeritus Professor in the Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. Cross-appointed to the Addiction Research Foundation, now the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), he has over 30 years management and executive experience including service as Associate Director of the CAMH hospital, founding Director of the School of Addiction Studies and Coordinator of International Programs. Among other accomplishments, at the University of Toronto he was the founding chair of his Faculty’s Anti-Racism, Multiculturalism, Native Issues (AMNI) Project and a member of the President’s Advisory Committee on Race Relations and Race-Related Initiatives.  For 33 years, Professor Meeks has functioned as an international consultant for the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the International Labor Organization, CARICOM and other international bodies in over 40 countries. These countries have included Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Hong Kong, Australia, the former Yugoslavia, Greece, the Netherlands, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago. Professor Meeks is Co-director of the Caribbean Institute on Alcoholism and other Drug Problems (CARIAD), which has conducted an annual summer school in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Tobago for the past 33 years. Dr. Meeks is widely published and has produced four training films in the area of substance abuse counseling. His awards include the Arbor Award (University of Toronto), the Harry Jerome Award for Professional Excellence (2004), being listed by the University of Toronto as one of the “Great Teachers from our Past (1995),” named to the Order of Canada (2006), and inclusion in Canadian Who’s Who (2007).

Elyse Shumway is a speech-language pathologist in private practice.  She is a consultant to the Aphasia Institute and specializes in educational technology, training development, community rehabilitation and vocational communication intervention.   Recent projects at the Aphasia Institute include facilitating a new community of practice to encourage knowledge exchange in the area of communicative access, designing training modules for website display and hosting the broadcast of on-line training sessions.  Since receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and her masterʼs degree from the University of Kansas, Ms. Shumway has done additional graduate work at the University of Toronto in the areas of adult education and instructional technology.  She has worked in a number of teaching hospitals, in both clinical and management positions, including acute care, rehabilitation and long-term care settings. Ms. Shumway has presented at numerous national and international conferences and has taught post-graduate courses at the University of Toronto in cognitive-communication rehabilitation for individuals with post-traumatic brain injuries.

Dr. Aura Kagan is the Executive Director and Director of Applied Research and Education at the Aphasia Institute. Aura received her Ph.D. from the University of Toronto’s Institute of Medical Science and is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Together with colleagues at the Aphasia Institute, she has been instrumental in the development of Supported Conversation for Adults with Aphasia (SCA™) – an innovative tool for increasing communicative access to life participation and is currently working on a research project called A-FROM – Living with Aphasia: Framework for Outcome Measurement funded by a three-year grant from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care through the Ontario Stroke Strategy. A-FROM is a conceptual guide for thinking about outcome measurement in aphasia and is in line with the thinking of the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Aura has published and presented extensively in the area of aphasia and communicative access.