Meet the Speakers

Jovina Concepcion Bachynski has been in various clinical roles in nephrology nursing since 1996 including as staff/charge nurse, unit transplant coordinator, and vascular access coordinator prior to obtaining her Master of Nursing, Nurse Practitioner Field degree at University of Toronto’s Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing in 2012. After many years working as a nurse practitioner in hemodialysis at Halton Healthcare in Oakville, Ontario, she has returned to University Health Network, Toronto General Hospital as the inpatient nephrology nurse practitioner. Jovina is currently completing her PhD Nursing degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario with a research focus on nephrology nurse engagement in kidney supportive care.

Majeedah Belding received her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from Acadia University, has obtained the International Olympic Committee diploma in sports nutrition and received a Masters of Science in Sports Nutrition from University of Stirling.  She has received several awards including the 2018 Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism Undergraduate Research Excellence Award. In her career as a dietitian, she has had many roles including working in mental health, long-term care, teaching, inpatients, outpatients, and currently working in Dialysis at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre with a focus on Hemodialysis.

Janett has been a nurse for over 30 years in many hospitals across the greater Toronto Region and has gained a wide range of experiences across multiple nursing specialties. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Masters in Health Studies degree and has over 14 years’ experience in the field of Nephrology. Janett has vast experiences as a renal Nurse Educator and Patient Care Manager in many renal units in the Toronto area. Janett has taught the Nephrology certification courses at a local Toronto college since 2013 and currently works as the Patient Care Manager on a medical/renal unit in a local Toronto hospital. She is certified in the specialty of Nephrology (CNephC) and Gerontology (GNCC) since through the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA). One of Janett’s greatest passions is teaching; especially as it relates to Renal Nursing. She is the Founder & CEO of Elevate Nursing Academy; an on-line educational institution whose mission is to prepare and support nurses who are seeking specialty certification through the Canadian Nurses’ Association in the field of nephrology.

Christine Bruno is a social worker at The Ottawa Hospital in the First Episode Psychosis Program and with the Champlain Regional MAID Network.  Christine has been with the MAID program since 2017. She has been a health care social worker for 21 years.  She holds an undergraduate degree in Social Work from Carleton University and a Masters Degree in Social Work from McGill University.

Christine has worked with inpatients and outpatients who have chosen to have a MAID provision.  Christine provides emotional and practical support to patients and families going through the MAID journey.  Her goal is to provide compassionate support and psychoeducation about the MAID journey to patients and their families.

Cathy Burger is a Clinical Pharmacist in Renal Transplant and Residency Coordinator at St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton ON.

Cathy graduated from the University of Toronto and went on to complete a Residency in Hospital Pharmacy at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto. She started her career at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver before returning to Mt. Sinai. She then moved to St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton where she has been caring for renal transplant recipients for over 17 years, first on the inpatient unit and now in the outpatient clinic and is also the pharmacy residency coordinator.

Dr. C. Arianne Buchan completed her medical degree at Queen’s University in 2010 and both her Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases training at the University of Ottawa.  She pursued a Transplant and Immunocompromised Host Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital followed by a Science Masters in Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health.  She currently practices Infectious Diseases at The Ottawa Hospital where she was recently appointed the Medical Director of Transplant Infectious Diseases.  She is an Assistant Professor and the Program Director for Adult Infectious Diseases Training Program at the University of Ottawa.  As a clinician investigator with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), her main area of research interest is in the prevention and prediction of infection in immunocompromised hosts, including research surrounding immunizations in this vulnerable population.  She is one of the original members of the CST Infectious Diseases Group and in 2024 joined the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) as a voting member and member of multiple working groups.

I started my nursing career in Nephrology  21 years ago working in several areas of the dialysis unit.

These include Hemo dialysis nurse, Independent Dialysis nurse , CRN,  and Vascular Access Coordinator.

Jacqueline Crandall has been working as a nurse practitioner in the Renal Care Program at the London Health Sciences Centre since 2016. Prior to that, she worked in fields of palliative care, wound care, and geriatrics. Her areas of interest are quality improvement and end-of-life care. She earned her Masters of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Windsor, her Nurse Practitioner Diploma from the University of Toronto, and her PhD in nursing from the University of Alberta. Jacqueline also teaches in the Thanatology program at King’s University College. Jacqueline gains her research inspiration from her well written colleagues, Lori Harwood and Barb Wilson and is forever thankful to their mentorship and friendship and her passion for the topic of nursing education from the excellent staff in the LHSC Renal Care Program.

Misty Fortier is the Director of Credentialing Centre and Nursing Policy at the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA). With a robust background in nursing and healthcare management, Misty plays a pivotal role in advancing the standards of nursing development and professional practice across Canada.

Misty’s dedication to lifelong learning and professional development is evident in her efforts to provide nurses with access to high-quality educational opportunities. Her leadership in nursing policy and credentialing helps maintain the significant value that good continuing education programs offer to the profession, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement within the nursing community.

Vanessa Godfrey’s extensive expertise in nephrology, particularly in incenter hemodialysis, spans over two decades.  With a decade and a half dedicated to nursing education, she is currently the Renal Program Educator and an RNAO Best Practice Champion at William Osler Health System.  Her impactful contributions extend globally through presentations of nursing quality projects, by mentoring fellowships and initiatives for nurses at various career stages and by facilitating RRT training for Critical Care nurses. Vanessa’s dedication to advancing renal care practices underscores her pivotal role in shaping the future of nephrology nursing.

Shauna Grant is a nurse educator who works with the Nova Scotia Health Learning Institute for Healthcare Providers. Her present role is focused on coordination and delivery of the clinical component of the Foundations of Nephrology Nursing program, which is a partnership between the Michener Institute and Nova Scotia Health. Her clinical background includes community and emergency nursing in northern Canada, and emergency and hemodialysis nursing in Nova Scotia. Shauna’s love of simulation-enhanced teaching and learning began in 2014; she is passionate about facilitating health care providers and teams to optimize their performance and improve patient outcomes.

Keiji Hayashi is a dedicated Registered Nurse with 11 years of experience specializing in hemodialysis. With a wealth of expertise in both inpatient and outpatient dialysis settings, including nocturnal dialysis and transitional care, he is committed to enhancing patient care through education and collaboration. His passion for improving patient outcomes is evident in his proactive approach to fostering knowledge and teamwork among healthcare professionals. He consistently strives to stay abreast of the latest advancements in hemodialysis treatment and is deeply invested in ensuring the highest standards of care for all patients under his care.

Sean Hastings RN, BScN, CDE is a registered nurse and certified diabetes educator at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton in the Nephrology and Hemodialysis Program. He has graduated from University of Ottawa’s Nursing Program (BScN) in 2019. He started his career working as an inpatient Nephrology registered nurse from 2019-2022 and is also trained in peritoneal dialysis. He started his career working with renal patients with diabetes in 2022 and has been a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) since 2023. Sean also has type 1 diabetes since the age of 6 years old and uses his personal experience to provide compassionate diabetes education.

I have been a Registered Nurse in Ontario since graduating with my diploma in 1970. My early nursing career included work in various settings, primarily acute adult hospital units, with some time in long-term care and research. My nephrology career began in 1999 when I joined the hemodialysis nursing staff of a large urban regional nephrology program. After returning to school to earn a BScN followed by an MHSC in Bioethics, and earning CNeph(C), I became the Clinical Educator, and held that position until retirement in 2018 at the age of 69. My certification has been maintained since 2003, and I have participated in several sessions of examination preparation. I have been a member of CANNT for several years and enjoyed my term as Vice-President for Ontario. As a member of the inaugural class of PhD in Nursing at York University, I successfully defended my dissertation “Patient-Centred Hemodialysis Nursing Care” on May 6, 2024, the first day of National Nursing Week.

Ethan Holtzer provides leadership as the Director at Dialysis Management Clinics (DMC), an organization that works to the model the future of healthcare for its 200 patients, 80 staff and three community dialysis sites. Ethan’s background is in coaching and healthcare leadership. He is a certified development coach with the Coaching Association of Canada and has a Masters of Health Science / Health Administration from the UofT’s Institute of Health Management Policy and Evaluation. As a Certified Health Executive with the Canadian College of Health Leaders, Ethan regularly works to contribute to system level healthcare improvement, including most recently the launch of Canada’s first ever Sustainable Kidney Care Playbook. Outside of work, Ethan has helped co-found the Kidney Care Pharmacy Team, serves as a Director at Large for the Ontario Branch Board of the Kidney Foundation, is the Vice President for the Renal Administrative Leaders’ Network of Ontario (RALNO). He also recently served as the Director of Communications for the Canadian Association of Nephrology Nurses and Technologists (CANNT).

Outside of work, Ethan put a pause on two decades of high level competitive sailing to transition into changing diapers non-stop for nearly 8 years with his three young kids, two girls and one boy. A sport of its own, at home they live under the motto “embrace the chaos.”

Darlene Jagusic is a program manager for Canadian Blood Services and leads the Kidney Paired Donation Program and the Highly Sensitized Patient Program. She is a critical care trained registered nurse with many years of experience in intensive care units. Her work with organs and tissues began with the Saskatchewan provincial transplant program as a living and deceased organ coordinator prior to her current role.

Andrea is the Resource Nurse for the Home Hemodialysis Program at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener Ontario.   She has twelve years of in renal care and has worked throughout the renal program.  Andrea has a passion for working with people and showing them their true potential.  Andrea is a great teacher and a true advocate for her patients.

Emma  is a Nephrology Nurse Educator at the Ottawa Hospital (TOH), where she has gained experience across various departments including Hemodialysis unit to which she brings a great passion. Her professional journey extends internationally, encompassing roles in cancer surgery and chemotherapy. Additionally, she has made significant contributions as a Nursing Supervisor and Instructor at Algonquin College and universities abroad. Emma actively participates in research endeavors, presenting her findings at both national and international conferences. Furthermore, she is the author of the book “Abuse in the Family: Toward Kids, Women, and the Elderly.

Natacha Kenfelja is a program manager at Canadian Blood Services, where she plays a pivotal role in advancing initiatives within the Living Kidney Donation Program. With more than 14 years of experience in organ and tissue donation and transplantation, Natacha’s experience began in biopharmaceuticals, developing and optimizing processes to make musculoskeletal grafts for transplant, and later pivoted to a health-care role advancing tissue donation.

Theresa Krepelka is a nurse educator in the Nephrology Program at  The Ottawa Hospital.  Theresa has worked in Nephrology since 2010 and now covers in-centre hemodialysis and the home dialysis unit.  She has an interest in teaching nurses and striving for best practices within renal care.

Roxanne Krystia is a seasoned Clinical Manager and Consultant with over 30 years of experience in healthcare and nephrology. As the Marketing Manager for Clinical Operations and Services at Baxter Corporation, she leads initiatives to enhance renal therapy adoption and improve patient care across Canada.

Roxanne has recently been appointed to represent Canada on the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD) Nursing and Allied Health Professional Committee for the 2024 to 2026 term.

With a strong background in program management, team leadership, and quality improvement, she has led numerous initiatives to improve clinical education and service delivery for both acute and chronic dialysis patients.

A Certified Nephrology Nurse with a Bachelor’s in Nursing from the University of Victoria, Roxanne has a proven history of leading multidisciplinary teams, developing educational resources, and contributing to continuous quality improvement projects that have positively impacted patient outcomes.

Her leadership and expertise are frequently showcased at regional and national conferences, where she shares insights on best practices in renal care and the latest advancements in home therapies.

Roxanne’s passion of enhancing patient experiences and her commitment to driving operational excellence continue to help shape the future of renal care.

Ali is a Regional Ethicist at the Champlain Centre for Health Care Ethics, where he provides ethics support, education, and consultation services to many healthcare institutions across the Champlain region. He is a graduate from the University of Toronto with a Masters of Health Science in Bioethics. Throughout Ali’s academic and professional career he has focused on various topics of healthcare ethics including reproductive health and end of life care. Ali has an extensive track record of ethics advocacy in community and non-profit settings where he has helped to create strategic organizational direction to maintain and implement high standards of ethical practice.

Jason Maahs is an accomplished professional in the kidney dialysis field and graduated as an electronic and biomedical electronic technologist. Jason holds two diplomas, one in Electronic Technology from Durham College and another in Biomedical Electronic Technology from Fanshawe College. Jason has held job positions a Biolab Equipment Canada where he became involved in water purification technology, and at Sunnybrook Hospital as a Dialysis Technologist.

Jason is currently an employee at Baxter and has been for the past 25 years. Jason has held many different positions within Baxter including: Dialysis Technologist, Technical Trainer, Service Manager, Operation Manager, Sales and Marketing Manager. He is a results-driven professional who has a proven track record of delivering over 200 water purification system installation projects throughout Canada over his career.

Throughout his career, Jason has demonstrated a strong commitment to the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and has held different rolls for both the technical and sub committees on Kidney Dialysis including being the chair and sub chair rolls.  Jason was involved with many different projects at CSA including:

• Z364.5 Safe installation and operation of hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis
• Z364.6 Quality management for kidney dialysis providers
• Z23500 Series on Fluid quality for water and dialysate

With his extensive knowledge and experience in the water industry, combined with his exceptional leadership and strategic planning skills, Jason is a valued member of the Baxter team and a respected thought leader in the industry.

In Nursing since 1979, worked in all areas of Nephrology since 1983. Clinical research coordinator since 1998 in the areas of Nephrology, Interventional Radiology,Cardiology and ICU.  Research interest: vascular access for hemodialysis, complications related to types of needle devices and use of imaging to improve cannulation.

Currently Working as a Manager for Clinical Research at William Osler Health System in clinical trials in all therapeutic areas except Oncology.

Brendan McCormick is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa. He is the medical director of the Home Dialysis Program at The Ottawa Hospital.   His major clinical interests include peritoneal dialysis, kidney stone prevention and electrolyte disorders.

Jessica serves as the Clinical Manager of the Nephrology, Multi Care Kidney, Hypertension, Renal Transplant clinics, and the Non-Malignant Medical Day Care Units. With a career in Transplant spanning 18 years, Jessica has been deeply committed to working with kidney transplant patients and kidney donors. A passionate advocate for increasing access to transplant and living donation, Jessica completed a Masters in Nursing in 2020. Her thesis, titled “Educational Interventions to Improve Access to Living Kidney Donation,” is a testament to her passion and commitment to the field. Beyond this, Jessica’s passions extend to behavior change and the continuous enhancement of nursing education.

Primrose Mharapara is a PhD nursing student at University of Alberta. Her research interests include mental illness in patients with chronic kidney disease with a focus on improving their quality of life. She was a nurse practitioner, in the nephrology program for nine years and recently transitioned to the endocrinology program working in the Transitional Diabetes clinic at University Health Network (UHN), Toronto general hospital.

Primrose is involved in various leadership activities and initiatives at UHN including mentoring, curriculum development and competency development. She is a graduate of York University in the MScN-PHCNP, as well as, a graduate of the Michener Institute in the Diabetes educator certificate program. She attained the University of Toronto collaborative change leadership certificate which equips and fosters building of relationships and partnerships to collaboratively co-create change.

After graduating from York University, she began her nursing career at North York General in ICU. On her nursing career path, she has assumed numerous educational and leadership roles. She served as a Membership Liaison for the Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses (CACCN) during her time in critical care. She occasionally evaluates internationally educated nurses as an OSCE examiner and writes entry to nursing profession examinations and is an Adjunct Lecturer, at the University of Toronto Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing

Dr Danielle Moorman is a community nephrologist in Ottawa providing outpatient care across the region and inpatient care at the Queensway Carleton Hospital. She completed medical school, returned to Ottawa for her Internal Medicine training and attended Queen’s University for her Nephrology training. She completed an additional fellowship in Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease and Conservative Kidney Care at The Ottawa Hospital. She has been providing MAiD services with both The Ottawa Hospital and The Queensway Carleton Hospital Since 2023.

Dr. Rinu Powell completed her nephrology training at Western University, where she completed a fellowship in Transplant Nephrology. She works as an Associate Professor at The Ottawa Hospital providing transplant care. She continues to work in increasing access to transplant for patients living with kidney failure, and recently started a program for local A2 to B kidney transplantation.

Meghan has been a Registered Nurse with London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) for 18 years.  Cumulatively, Meghan has 14 years of transplant and nephrology experience.  Meghan has held several nursing roles within the transplant and nephrology program, including the Multi-Organ Transplant Unit (MOTU), the outpatient multi-organ transplant clinic, in-center dialysis unit, and currently as LHSCs first pre-kidney transplant coordinator.

Meghan has had an interest in continuous improvement throughout her career.  Meghan has participated in QI initiatives that are aimed at improving patient safety such as implementing bedside nursing handoff reporting, multi-hospital implementation of an electronic ordering and medication record system, hand hygiene education, and implementation of a Continuous Improvement of Care model in dialysis.

Currently Meghan is using her knowledge and experience in change management, as well as process metrics to develop and implement a strategy in the Multi Care Kidney Clinic (MCKC) that ultimately aims to improve the number of living donor transplants.

Aakash, an RPN with 3 years of hemodialysis nursing expertise, is currently pursuing a Clinical Informatics program while aiming for RN designation. His dedication to professional development is evident through completion of Nephrology Certification courses, RNAO Best Practice Champion certification and participation in numerous wound care workshops. With his high level of dedication and commitment to nursing quality initiatives, Aakash represents a promising future leader poised to integrate clinical informatics with his nursing background.

Carrie Thibodeau is National Director of Programs and Public Policy with The Kidney Foundation of Canada. Her educational background is in the fields of applied health sciences and communications, and her family’s history with kidney disease inspired her to make kidney health the focus of her professional career. Carrie has had the privilege of working closely with patients, clinicians and researchers in this space for over 16 years. She is passionate about supporting people on their kidney journey with educational resources and events and advocating for equitable access to quality kidney care for all those affected by kidney disease.

Alison Thomas is a hemodialysis nurse practitioner at Unity Health Toronto – St. Michael’s Hospital. A nephrology nurse with more than 30 years’ experience, her clinical work involves the longitudinal care of chronic hemodialysis patients in collaboration with interdisciplinary colleagues. She is appointed as a Practice-Based Researcher (Status-Only) with the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, with research interests in clinical hemodialysis care, patient safety, and Quality Improvement. Alison also has an academic appointment as adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto – Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, and is a member of the CORR Board of Directors, and Past President of the Canadian Association of Nephrology Nurses and Technologists (CANNT).

Jessica has been a nurse since 2004.  Worked in various departments in the health care field until landing a position in nephrology and the rest is history.  Since then she has started off on the floor in hemodialysis, to the home dialysis program at Halton Healthcare and now currently a Body access coordinator in the nephrology program.

After graduating nursing school in 2008, I began my career navigating and exploring various areas such as Medical-Surgical Floor, Emerge, ICU, and NICU. I consider my experience in NICU as my core where I grew and honed my skills, learning from the most resourceful group of people. This experience motivated me to pursue post-graduate education focusing on phenomenological research, and eventually obtained my Master’s Degree in Nursing in 2013. It paved way for new opportunities and led me home, to hemodialysis; where I thrived for almost 10 years as Staff Nurse, Resource Nurse, Vascular Access Coordinator, and Clinical Nurse Educator. My passion for people centred care, compassion, teamwork, and continuous education, directed me to the Regional Renal Program that lives the same values to the depth in which I live by.

Dr. Grace Warmels is a Palliative Care physician and researcher at The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario. She studied foods and nutrition at Western University, before completing her undergraduate medical degree, family medicine residency and palliative care training at the University of Ottawa.

Dr. Warmels co-founded and co-leads the Pal-SAIL clinic (Palliative Support in Advanced ILness) which provides early outpatient palliative care to patients with non-malignant illnesses, including end-stage renal disease. Her research interests include non-malignant palliative care, bereavement and medical education. Dr. Warmels is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. She also serves as the director for the palliative care residency program in Ottawa.