Join us in Theatre 4, Health Sciences Centre, within the Foothills Medical Centre on January 23, 2024, from 12:30 – 4:00 p.m. for an event that explores digital health in Alberta today and moving forward.

​Hosted by the W21C Research and Innovation Centre, this event honours Dr. Mamoru ‘Mo’ Watanabe, and his contributions in digital health and rural telemedicine, along with his promotion of health equity. Joining the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine (now named Cumming School of Medicine) to serve as professor and head of internal medicine in 1974, Dr. Watanabe served as dean of the Faculty of Medicine from July 1982 until June 1992, and is believed to be the first Japanese Canadian dean of a Canadian medical school. He passed away July 5, 2023, at the age of 90. 

​During this event, we will formally introduce and showcase “Health Everywhere“, a new eHealth and mHealth hub created from a $6.3M Major Innovation Fund award from the Government of Alberta. This will include a panel discussion and Q&A with the six theme leads of the Health Everywhere initiative. Here they will discuss their priorities and goals for moving forward and the partnerships with industry, non-profit organizations, and community groups that they have already fostered.  

In addition, the keynote address will be provided by Dr. James A. Makokis, with a lecture on the integration of mobile health to optimize recovery presented by Dr. Christy Cauley.  

Click here to register. We hope to see you there!

Agenda

12:30 – 1:00 – Registration and networking
1:00 – 1:10 – Opening Remarks – Dr. Mary Brindle
1:10 – 2:10 – Keynote by Dr. James Makokis
2:10 – 2:40 – Lecture by Dr. Christy Cauley
2:40 – 2:55 – Break
2:55 – 3:55 – Introduction of new initiative in eHealth and mHealth – Government of Alberta remarks and discussion with key project leads
3:55 – 4:00 – Closing Remarks

Keynote Speaker 

•  Speaker: Dr. James A. Makokis 

Dr. James Makokis is a pioneering Nehiyô (Neh-hee-yo) two-spirit physician hailing from the Onihcikiskapowinihk (Saddle Lake Cree Nation) in Treaty Number Six Territory. He maintains a Family Medicine practice in Kinokamasihk (Kih-no-kum-a-sick) Cree Nation in northeastern Alberta and runs a transgender health-focused practice in South Edmonton. Dr. Makokis was the inaugural Medical Director of Shkaabe Makwa (Shkaa-bay Muh-kwa) at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto—the country’s first Indigenous health center committed to transforming Indigenous mental health systems nationwide.

In 2019, Dr. Makokis, alongside his husband Anthony Johnson, made history as the first Two-Spirit couple to be crowned champions of the Amazing Race Canada. As “Team Ahkameyimok” (Ah-ka-may-mook), which translates to “Never Give Up” in Cree, they became the first two-spirit, Indigenous, married couple in the world to win the competition. Dr. Makokis’ impact was further recognized in 2020 when The Medical Post named him one of the country’s 30 most influential physicians—a title he humbly suggests should be shared amongst others. As a regular guest and a respected voice in the media, Dr. Makokis uses his platforms to educate people about Treaty issues and advocate for the revitalization of the Nehiyô medical system. His overarching vision is for a united Turtle Island, in peace and friendship.

Guest Lecturer  

• Speaker: Dr. Christy Cauley 
• Topic: Integration of mobile health to optimize recovery 

Christy Cauley, MD, MPH is a faculty member in the Safe Surgery Program at Ariadne Labs an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is a lead investigator in HealthPrism work at Ariadne. Her currently funded research focuses on patient centered outcomes evaluation using mHealth as well as Improving Implementation of mHealth in Surgery to Reduce Disparities. In previously funded work, she helped develop and test a communication guide to improve surgical decision-making before emergency surgical interventions in patients with serious illness with support from the Program for Cancer Outcomes Research Training Fellowship with the National Cancer Institute. This work led to peer reviewed publications, national and international presentations and the Owen Wangsteen Award at the surgical forum of the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress in 2016. 

She received her B.S. from Purdue University, her M.D. at Indiana University, and her Masters in Public Health from Harvard University. She completed residency training in general surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA followed by Colorectal Surgery fellowship training at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH.