Our Team

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 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.

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.

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

EXPERIENCE

Helen has diverse experiences in the health care field, including academic research, market
research, and relevant consulting project experiences.
Previously, Helen worked at the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for
Governance, Accountability, and Transparency in the Pharmaceutical Sector. As a research
assistant, Helen identified, analysed, and extracted relevant data to support research
projects. She also managed the planning and execution of a 2-day workshop on Corruption
During COVID-19: Looking Backward and Forward, where international leaders in the field,
health system workers, and students participated and learned from each other about this
timely topic.

Additionally, she worked in Ipsos as a healthcare research analyst, where she supported
market research projects that aimed to help clients identify opportunities to address patient
and physician pain-points during diagnosis, prescription, and treatment processes.

VOLUNTEERISM AND EDUCATION

Helen holds a MPhil in Management from Cambridge University. She completed her BSc in
Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,
where she published a first-author literature review on Molecular Pathology and Therapeutic
Strategies of Type 2 Diabetes. Helen also recently completed a non-degree year at the
University of Toronto, where she completed courses in health policy and public health.

Throughout her education, Helen took part in advocating for cultural diversity and inclusion
through organizing various interactive activities such as thematic game nights and
discussion groups.

ROLE AT SANTIS

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

EXPERIENCE

Previous to Santis, Urvi has extensive experience as a clinician and educator. She spent six years as a frontline paramedic and has an on-the-ground understanding of healthcare systems. She provides a nuanced and unique perspective on healthcare processes, digital health issues, and clinical improvement. Urvi has specifically leveraged her clinical experience to effectively define, investigate, and propose solutions for data problems in paramedicine.

Urvi is also an active professor at Humber College within their paramedicine program – focusing on applied clinical skills and pharmacology. She is also passionate about and involved in research focusing on policy change in paramedicine.

VOLUNTEERISM AND EDUCATION

Urvi completed her Master’s in Health Informatics at the University of Toronto in mid-2023. Her Master’s project led to the definition of a novel governance model for paramedicine. She also has a Paramedic Diploma from Humber College and a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from McMaster University.

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.