Dr. Saumik Biswas – Keynote Speaker
Dr. Saumik Biswas is currently the CEO, President and founder of Tenomix, a medical technology company that focuses on developing novel medical technologies that improve inefficiencies in the pathology workflow, optimize cancer care, and reduce healthcare costs. He was named as a young trailblazer and one of London’s Top 20 in their 20s by Business London, and he was recently featured on the front cover of Schulich’s School of Medicine and Dentistry Alumni Rapport Magazine. In a short period of time, he helped secure >$1M in funding for all the projects he has been involved with, published 16 manuscripts (including 2 book chapters), has 2 active patent-pending applications, presented at international conferences, and won several prestigious awards.
He is a former Brock Badger (graduating class of 2015), where he completed a BSc in Medical Sciences (with Honours), participated in the I-EQUIP program, and was awarded the ’Spirit of Brock’ Medal at convocation for his leadership contributions. Saumik holds a Ph.D. degree from the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Western University (London, ON, Canada), where he focused on using RNA molecules as new diagnostic and therapeutic targets. After his PhD, he participated in the Medical Innovation Fellowship program, where he worked with an interdisciplinary team of engineers, physicians, and clinical scientists to develop innovative medical technologies for unique healthcare problems, which is where his company Tenomix originated from. Based on his personal experiences with medical innovation, Dr. Biswas plans to be actively involved in translational research, where he can improve the quality of lives of others through medical innovation. In his presentation, Dr. Biswas will give an overview of his personal journey, discuss the importance of quality improvement in healthcare and demonstrate how his experience with medical innovation has helped shape his career trajectory.
Lidia Mateus – Panelist
Lidia Mateus is a Brock University graduate, having completed her BSc in Medical Sciences (‘20) and MSc in Applied Health Sciences (‘22). Her graduate studies focused on the use of telemedicine for pediatric resuscitation in the emergency department. Lidia currently works in the field of health sciences with an emphasis on program re-design and implementation. Lidia was a student in Cycle 7.0 of IEQUP (2018-2020).
Taylor Incze – Panelist
Taylor completed her undergraduate degree in Public Health at Brock University and was an I-EQUIP student (Cycle 6.0). She went on to complete her Master’s of Science in Health Services Research at the University of Toronto’s Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. Taylor’s thesis focused on teamwork skills and how they relate to adverse events in the operating room. Currently, she is in the MD/Phd program at McMaster University pursuing her PhD in Health Research Methodology with Dr. Laura Anderson. Her research focuses on population and public health and chronic disease prevention.
Dr. Karl Stobbe – Panelist
Dr Karl Stobbe is the medical director of REACH Niagara (Regional Essential Access to Connected Healthcare), providing healthcare for people who are marginalized, including people who are unhoused, migrant agricultural workers, indigenous people, immigrants and refugees.Dr. Stobbe’s current role at McMaster is Niagara Postgraduate Family Medicine Site Director. In the past, he practiced as a family doctor in Beamsville, and later served as dean of the Niagara Regional Campus of McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. In his capacity as Regional Assistant Dean Dr. Stobbe encouraged collaboration between Brock and McMaster Universities; these early collaborations led to the formation of I-EQUIP. Internationally, Dr. Stobbe has worked in the Philippines, Laos, Iraq and Nepal.
Lucas Reid – Panelist
Lucas graduated from Brock University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Public Health and was a part of the second cycle of I-EQUIP; his project was to decrease inpatient fall rates at the St. Catharines Site Hospital. In 2019, he graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor Science in Nursing. Currently he works in infectious disease at Niagara Region Public Health in case & outbreak management.
