Nicholas Simard, is currently a third year Industrial Ph.D. Candidate in Electrical and Computer Engineering at McMaster University. While a student he is the COO of TBIfinder, a data analytics company specializing in brain damage. He received a M.A.Sc. (2018) from McMaster University in the School of Biomedical Engineering, specializing in MRI technological developments. Concurrently he worked as a Teaching Assistant in Anatomy and Physiology and had 3 publications and presented at 4 conferences (including in Barcelona and Paris) during his Masters. Received a B.Eng. (2016) from McMaster University in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering. During Undergrad, designed and built a Capstone prototype which detected concussion-like symptoms using pupil response signals. Worked as an Assistant Prosector (14’-16’) in the Education Program in Anatomy lab.

Olivia Scott is a Clinical Research Assistant with the Canadian Concussion Centre, UHN. She completed her MSc in Clinical Neuroscience at King's College London (UK) in 2020 and her BScH in Life Sciences at Queen's University in 2019. Her Master's thesis focused on Traumatic Brain Injury as a risk factor for later Neurodegenerative Disease. Olivia's research interests include understanding the factors that contribute to recovery course following concussion and the link between concussion and neurodegenerative processes.

Hajr Hameed holds a BSc from the University of Guelph and is currently a MSc student at York University under the supervision of Dr. George Mochizuki, studying the relationship between gait and cognition in community-dwelling adults with concussion.

Galit Liffshiz is the owner and president of GLA Rehab, Galit Liffshiz & Associates and GLA Assessments. GLA rehab is a rehab company that provides assessment and treatment to clients with complex injuries by CMs, OTs, PTs, RSWs, SWs, MT’s and psychologists. GLA assessments provide CAT application assessment, FCC and Capacity Assessments. She has been qualified and accepted as an expert witness in the courts of Ontario as an Occupational Therapist, Catastrophic assessor, Capacity Assessor and as a Certified Life Care Planner.

Ethan Danielli is a biomedical engineering PhD student from McMaster University researching the characteristics of human brain structure and function following mild traumatic brain injuries through the use of various magnetic resonance imaging and biomarker detection techniques. His current research examines the structural, functional and vascular effects of sport-related concussive and sub-concussive events in the brains of adolescents, young adults and retired professional athletes. Previous undergraduate and graduate projects have focused on human anatomy, sweat and dehydration, and pedagogical techniques for the undergraduate level.

Dina Safarini is a Clinical Research Assistant with the Canadian Concussion Centre, UHN. She completed her HBSc in Genetics, and Molecular Biology at the University of Toronto in 2020. Her research interests include improving patient outcome post concussion, and the molecular mechanisms in neurodegenerative disorders.

Brenda Colella is a registered Psychological Associate practicing in the area of Clinical Neuropsychology. She completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Toronto. Since 2017 she has been involved in the development and establishment of the Telerehab Centre for ABI at Toronto Rehab, UHN, where research is fully integrated with clinical care. The research focus at the Centre is the development of mechanism-based treatments to prevent declines in chronic brain injury as well as evaluating the feasibility and efficacy of remotely delivered interventions to improve long-term cognitive and emotional outcomes after brain injury

Catherine Wiseman-Hakes is an affiliate scientist with KITE-University Health Network, Toronto Rehab Institute, a scientist with the Hull Ellis Concussion and Research Clinic at Toronto Rehab Institute, and an assistant clinical professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University in Hamilton. She holds a PhD in Rehabilitation Science form the University of Toronto. She has conducted and published research on sleep and wakefulness following traumatic brain injury across the spectrum of recovery and severity in both children and adults.

Dr. Vaidyanath obtained her MD from the University of Western Ontario in 2001 and completed a residency program in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Queen's University in 2006. She earned her Canadian certification in Electromyography (EMG) in 2006. She is a lecturer at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Vaidyanath has an interest in acquired brain injury rehabilitation, including the diagnosis and treatment of individuals with concussion/mild traumatic brain injury. Dr. Vaidyanath sees patients with acquired brain injuries ranging from mild to moderate at the St. Michael's Hospital Head Injury Clinic. She also provides consultation services to the E.W. Bickle Centre for Complex Continuing Care at UHN - Toronto Rehabilitation Institute.

Administratively, Dr. Vaidyanath became the Physician Lead at the Head Injury Clinic in 2020.

David J. Mikulis, MD is Full Professor and Director of the Functional Neuroimaging Research Lab in the Joint Department of Medical Imaging at the University Health Network and the University of Toronto. The primary emphasis of this work has been translational research focusing on the application of novel imaging methods into the clinical environment. He established one of the first fMRI labs in Canada in 1993 and is currently involved in developing advanced neurovascular imaging methods with major program arms including: 1) quantitative measurement and clinical application of cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) metrics leading to the development of “the brain stress test” (analogous to the cardiac stress test) that assess the effectiveness of the cerebral circulatory system in meeting the metabolic needs of the brain, 2) high resolution and functional imaging of intra and extra-cranial blood vessel walls that improves diagnostic accuracy for assessing diseases that directly affect blood vessels, and 3) discovery of a new method for measuring brain blood flow that does not require injection of contrast agents. Research in these areas has improved assessment of the structure, function, and performance of the vascular system in health and disease. These capabilities have further defined the important roles that abnormal vascular performance measures have in the pathophysiology of a number of conditions including for example Alzheimer’s and vascular dementias, and in improving diagnostic accuracy of acute concussion. Translation of these methods has been achieved locally, nationally, and internationally confirming the importance of these tools in research and clinical settings.

GARY R. WILL is the Managing Partner of WILL DAVIDSON LLP, which now has six offices in Ontario including Toronto, Oakville, Huntsville, Midland, Bowmanville and Whitby.

He has been recognized as one of Canada’s premier legal experts in the practice of personal injury litigation and is certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a specialist in Civil Litigation.

Gary Will has a busy practice acting for individuals suffering serious personal injuries or for the families of individuals suffering fatal injuries. He has extensive experience in the areas of personal injury law, products liability, professional negligence, insurance, environmental, bad faith, and class action litigation. Gary has a practice built on referrals from other lawyers throughout Canada and has been recognized by his peers repeatedly for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in Canada.

Gary received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from York University in 1979, specializing in Political Science and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1984. In 1982 Gary attended Osgood Hall Law School: LLB (1982).

From 1981-1983 Gary received Certificates in the following areas: Private International Law from Hague Academy of International Law (1983), Certificate in Civil Law, University of Sherbrooke, Quebec (1981), Certificate in Comparative Law, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia (1981). He articled at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt (1982 -1983).

Gary is a Past-President of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association and was the Provincial delegate to the American Association for Justice from 1996 to 2007. He currently is on the Board of Governors for AAJ. He is the recipient of the H. T. Bruce Hillyer Award presented by the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association on June 1, 1996, in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the cause of civil justice, having exemplified the spirit of OTLA in fearlessly advancing the cause of individual rights by the effective use of trial advocacy. He was a finalist for the 2002 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award established by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice.

Gary is an active member of The Canadian Bar Association, Metropolitan Lawyers Association, Halton Law Association, Simcoe Law Association, American Association for Justice, Legal Fraternity, Phi Delta Phi.

Gary has received a series of awards over his years of practice including:

• Recipient of the H.T. Bruce Hillyer Award presented by the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association on June 1, 1996 “in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the cause of civil justice, having exemplified the spirit of OTLA in fearlessly advancing the cause of individual rights by the effective use of trial advocacy”.
• Certified by the Law Society as a Specialist in Civil Litigation
• Finalist for the 2002 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award for the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
• Selected for inclusion in the 2006 inaugural edition of the Best Lawyers in Canada. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which 24,000 leading attorneys throughout the country cast almost two million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their specialties, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honour. Corporate counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice”.
• Listed in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a leading practitioner in the Personal Injury field.
• Selected for inclusion in the Financial Post Best Lawyers: Personal Injury in 2007.
• Selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 editions of the Best Lawyers in Canada

Dr Rutka is a professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Toronto with a subspecialty interest in otology and neurotology. He is the co-director of the UHN Center for Advanced Hearing and Balance Testing and the Hertz Multidisciplinary Neurotology Clinic. His chief academic interests have been in areas of topical and systemic ototoxicty, canal based surgery for dizziness, the conservative management of patients with vestibular schwannomas, time trends in the surgery for chronic ear disease and the evaluation of dizziness in the head injured patient. His CV lists over 130 peer-reviewed publications and 4 text books in addition to numerous book chapters/supplements/non-peer reviewed articles.

Dr Rutka is a professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Toronto with a subspecialty interest in otology and neurotology. He is the co-director of the UHN Center for Advanced Hearing and Balance Testing and the Hertz Multidisciplinary Neurotology Clinic. His chief academic interests have been in areas of topical and systemic ototoxicty, canal based surgery for dizziness, the conservative management of patients with vestibular schwannomas, time trends in the surgery for chronic ear disease and the evaluation of dizziness in the head injured patient. His CV lists over 130 peer-reviewed publications and 4 text books in addition to numerous book chapters/supplements/non-peer reviewed articles.

Dr. Gladstone is a consultant neurologist with a practice dedicated to Headache Medicine and Head Injury Medicine.

Dr. Gladstone completed both his Doctor of Medicine degree and the Neurology Residency Program at the University of Toronto. He completed a one-year Headache Medicine Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Gladstone is the Director of the Gladstone Headache Clinic in Toronto. For more than a decade, Dr. Gladstone was a consultant neurologist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute in the WSIB Neurology Specialty Program and he led the neurological assessments for the Complex Injury Outpatient Rehabilitation Program (assessing and guiding the multidisciplinary rehabilitation and medical management of individuals who had sustained, or had been queried to have sustained, traumatic brain injuries in workplace or motor vehicle accidents).

Dr. Gladstone is also a Headache Specialist at The Hospital for Sick Children and Cleveland Clinic Canada. Dr. Gladstone is the Consultant Neurologist for the Toronto Raptors, Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto Raptors 905.

Dr. Gladstone has authored more than 100 refereed publications, invited reviews, abstracts and textbook chapters. Dr. Gladstone’s has delivered more than 200 invited lectures nationally and internationally. He has been chair of the Headache Therapy course at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting and the Headache course at the annual Canadian Congress of Neurological Sciences meeting.

Dr. Gladstone is a past-President of the Canadian Headache Society. He has been involved in the guideline creation for the Canadian Headache Society (acute, prophylactic and Emergency Department Management), the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation (approach to persisting symptoms following cerebral concussion/mild traumatic brain injury), the Ontario Ministry of Health (expert panel on neuroimaging for chronic headaches), and for the United States Department of Defense (guidelines for the management of persisting headaches following concussion/traumatic brain injury).

Dr. Gladstone has particular interest in persisting headaches (and other symptoms) following concussion/traumatic brain injury and he regularly performs IMEs in these areas for a wide range of referral sources. Dr. Gladstone also has particular interest in headache-related and head-injury related disability assessments.

Professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

Director, Sports Concussion Program, MassGeneral Hospital for Children

Associate Director, Traumatic Brain Injury Program, Home Base, A Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program

Dr. Grant Iverson is a specialist in neuropsychology and a clinician scientist in the area of mild traumatic brain injury and mental health. He has an internationally-recognized research program in outcome from mild traumatic brain injury in athletes, civilians, military service members, and veterans. He served as the Chair for the Canadian Psychological Association Section on Clinical Neuropsychology from 2003-2010. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the International Brain Injury Association (2012-2020). He served as a consensus panel member for the 3rd and 4th International Conferences on Concussion in Sport in Zurich, Switzerland in 2008 and 2012, and the 5th International Conference in Berlin in 2016. He served as an Advisor to the Neurocognitive Disorders Workgroup (Traumatic Brain Injury) for the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-V). He also served as a founding member of the Traumatic Brain Injury Subcommittee of the Defense Health Board, a civilian advisory board to the United States Secretary of Defense. He is a past President of the National Academy of Neuropsychology.