Our Team

Role at Santis

Sally supports the Santis team by providing research, policy analysis, project management and stakeholder engagement.

Experience

Throughout the seven years of studying life sciences and conducting research, Sally has passion deeply rooted in the health care field.

Previously, Sally worked in Client Success at Phreesia, Inc., and helped healthcare organizations in the United States automate patient intake and improve the patient experience. As an associate, she managed a portfolio of a wide variety of medical groups from mid-size to enterprise, and has a deep understanding of the health care landscape. As a trusted advisor, Sally engaged with C-suite executives and practice managers on how to best use the software to optimize their business initiatives and meet their financial and operational objectives.

Volunteerism and Education

Sally holds a Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences from Queen’s University. She also completed her Master of Science in Microbiology and Immunology from Western University, where her thesis focused on the inflammatory response to multiple concussions by tracking the migration of immune cells in the body post trauma. Throughout her education, Sally enjoyed mentoring and teaching swimming to children within the community through various non-profit organizations.

Role at Santis

Izabella provides research, policy analysis, communications, project management and stakeholder engagement support to the Santis team and its clients.

Experience

Izabella has extensive skills and experience in leading multi-stakeholder projects that seek to establish evidence and influence health policies to act on necessary pathways to support healthcare improvement and innovation. Prior to joining the Santis team, Izabella worked as a Research and Partnerships Manager at a women’s health medical technology start-up, Eve Medical. During her time at Eve Medical, Izabella managed governmental contracts focused on technology innovation and also supported the research development, clinical validation, quality assurance, and sale of innovative self-sampling technologies to improve access to diagnostic tests for women in Canada. Izabella also worked at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre at the Practice-Based Research and Innovation (PBRI) Group where she operationalized PBRI’s 5-year strategic plan to ensure goals and objectives were being met. Along with developing new initiatives in engaging patients as co-learners in a didactic quality improvement curriculum to develop skills and collaboration between patients and clinicians to improve gaps in care.

Volunteerism and Education

Izabella completed her Master in Public Health degree at University of Waterloo in June 2020. Her final seminar presentation showcased a policy analysis on appropriate tax reform measures for vaping products in Ontario. She also holds a B.A. (Honours) is Anthropology and a professional diploma in Not-For-Profit Management from Western University

Role at Santis

Ben provides digital health advice and expertise to Santis’ clients, with a particular focus on public policy, strategy, innovation and stakeholder engagement.

Experience

Ben has 15 years of experience within Ontario’s digital health system. In his previous role, as the Manager of Strategy + Innovation with the Ministry of Health’s Digital Health Secretariat, Ben was responsible for the development of the province’s overarching digital health strategy. Ben helped to spearhead digital components of the Ontario Health Team initiative, the establishment of a provincial eConsult service and the creation of innovative virtual care pilots. He also negotiated provincial funding agreements and addressed policy barriers that were limiting the spread and impact of technology across the health system.

In addition to his position as an Associate at Santis, Ben is also an adjunct faculty member with the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. In this role, Ben serves as an instructor in the Master of Health Informatics program, with a particular focus on digital health policy.

Ben has also co-written and produced a pair of award-winning musicals that were staged at independent theatre festivals in Toronto.

Volunteerism and Education

Ben has a Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University as well as a Master of Public Administration from Queen’s University.

Role at Santis

Prakriti provides research, policy analysis, project management and stakeholder engagement support to the Santis team and its clients.

Experience

Prakriti has diverse experience in research and development and project management across multiple industries. She is passionate about scientific translation and leveraging her analytical skills to support projects in the biopharmaceutical, medical device and digital health sectors.

Prior to joining Santis, Prakriti worked at Precision Nanosystems as a Microfluidics Engineering Intern, advancing technologies for targeted drug delivery and vaccine applications. She also completed an internship at Teledyne DALSA as an Image Sensor Technologist, where she improved the cost efficiency of one of their major products by collecting data from various stakeholders and applying statistical analysis.

Prakriti brings academic research experience from her time as an Undergraduate Researcher at Caltech, where she developed novel nanomaterials for a venture-capital funded startup. She engaged in various aspects of project management including budget allocation, sourcing materials and communicating with stakeholders. She accomplished project deliverables for funding renewal and presented research findings to executive leadership of the startup.

Volunteerism and Education

Prakriti holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Nanotechnology Engineering from the University of Waterloo. As part of her degree, she completed a fourth-year capstone project where she designed a novel device to power wearable glucose monitors, enabling long-lasting detection with better durability and user comfort.

Role at Santis

Rosa is a Senior Consultant providing strategic problem solving, public policy analysis, and research services to the Santis Leadership Team and clients. Rosa brings significant public health and evidence-informed decision-making expertise to Santis.

Experience

Prior to joining Santis, Rosa worked as Manager of Knowledge Translation at CanCOVID, a network of researchers, academics, decision makers, and industry partners dedicated to an evidence-informed response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During her time at CanCOVID, she led a number of briefs and expert roundtables for federal agency clients on a breadth of topics including vaccines, long-term care, COVID-19 mitigation strategies, indoor ventilation, and mental health. She also collaborated with members of the Ontario Science Table, conducting research and analysis for their Post COVID-19 Condition brief.

Rosa also has on-the-ground healthcare experience at St. Michaels Hospital’s Emergency Department, providing patient coordination and administrative support, which streamlined patient care for Toronto’s most vulnerable populations.

Volunteerism & Education

Rosa holds a Masters in Public Health (MPH) from McMaster University’s Department of Research Methods, Evidence and Impact. She completed her thesis on improving the development of guideline recommendations for antibiotics and consideration of AMR and local contexts. During her time at McMaster, she collaborated on several health research projects, first authoring two published peer-reviewed papers in the BMJ-Open and the CJIDMM. Rosa also co-authored seven papers in journals including The Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, and BMJ Global Health. In 2019, she travelled with her thesis supervisor to the World Health Organization Headquarters, supporting an international expert panel updating a tuberculosis guideline.

She also completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Life Sciences at the University of Toronto, specializing in Human Biology, Immunology, and the Italian Language.

Role at Santis

Joining Santis in 2014, Ross brings more than 15 years of experience in public affairs, corporate strategy and journalism. In his role, Ross helps companies and organizations working at the intersection of healthcare, life sciences and innovation overcome strategy and policy challenges.

Experience

Most recently Ross was the Director of Government Affairs and Corporate Responsibility at AstraZeneca Canada (AZC), one of Canada’s leading innovative pharmaceutical companies. Ross was responsible for all public policy and government relations. He led a national team of colleagues and directly supported three CEOs in their government engagement and stakeholder outreach efforts.

Prior to joining AZC, Ross spent nearly four years as the Director of Strategic Partnerships at the MaRS Discovery District, the innovation incubator and urban science park in downtown Toronto. One of the organization’s first full-time employees, Ross built strong ties with all three orders of government, developed a global network of commercialization collaborators and launched the organization’s social innovation initiative.

Ross’ experience includes work for the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity at the University of Toronto and “Corporate Knights” magazine, Canada’s leading voice for corporate social responsibility. He also spent five years working in Washington, DC – first at the Embassy of Canada and then at the G7 Group, a political and economic forecasting company.

Volunteerism and Education

Beyond his work at Santis, Ross advises the Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care at Women’s College Hospital on public policy, strategy and stakeholder relations. Ross has an MPA from Queen’s University and an MBA from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.