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Emerging Leaders Speak About Their Experience
Student Health Leaders Dialogue Series
Concept:
Dialogue is a powerful catalyst for learning, personal development and deepening one's leadership practice. This is the central ideal behind the Health Leaders Dialogue Series, a forum for contemporary leadership development. Guided by the Vernissage Health Dialogue Touchstones, we create trust, mentoring relationships, and a safe space for authentic sharing about health leadership.
The series bring together emerging and established leaders, in a small group environment, for dialogue about leadership. Emerging leaders are embarking on their leadership careers while established leaders are mid to late-career leaders with successful careers across broad sectors in health. Established leaders bring deep experience working in government, the community, health institutions, public health and the private sector.
Dialogue sessions provide a unique opportunity for leaders to listen, self-reflect, and share personal stories about leadership. Ultimately, this unique experience shapes and develops emerging or early career leaders with the mindsets and confidence to provide leadership to create positive change in Canadian health system.
The dialogue sessions are designed to provide a positive learning environment that fosters insights and authentic dialogue about leadership and provides the opportunity to examine diverse experiences, thoughts, and insights about the challenges and opportunities facing today’s health leaders.

Student Health Leaders Dialogue Series - IHPME/Rotman
Applications for the 2026 Winter/Spring Series is Open
This series will be offered once in 2026 in the winter/spring (January to May). Applications to the 2026 series are NOW open to Rotman, IHPME and DLSPH graduate students in the following programs
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Health Services Research (Masters and Ph.D. program, in advanced stages of study),
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Clinical Epidemiology and Epidemiology
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System Innovation and Leadership
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Health Administration
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Health Informatics
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Quality Improvement and Safety
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Bioethics/Other DLSPH Graduate Programs
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Doctor of Public Health
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Occupational and Environmental Health
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Students in all MBA (Health) programs at the Rotman School of Management.
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Each series consists of a sequence of six dialogue sessions over five months. Sessions are scheduled on Mondays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Two sessions are in person and other sessions held online (using Zoom). Given that dialogue and relationships build over time, selected participants are expected to make a commitment to attend all sessions.
How To Apply:
The application deadline for students is Friday, November 7, 2025. Applications forms are available here. Completed applications should be directed to Vernissage@utoronto.ca. For more information on the Student Health Leaders Dialogue Series, please contact wendy.nelson@utoronto.ca.
Established Leaders
Here are some of the student alumni and mid to late career health leaders who have participated as established leaders in Vernissage Health since its inception in 2017.

Mark Fam
President and CEO, Oak Valley Health
Established Leader, IHPME/Rotman Dialogue Series

Dr. Jocelyn Charles
Chief, Veterans Programs
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, U of T

Shiran Isaacz
Vice President, Altum Health and Connected Care, University Health Network
Established Leaders, IHPME/Rotman Dialogue Series

Simone Atungo
Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development
Established Leader, IHPME/Rotman Student Dialogue Series

Mishka White
MBA, The Rotman School of Management
Manager of Cardiovascular Programs at the Scarborough Health Network

Farbod Abolhassani
Masters in Health Informatics (IHPME)
Director of Innovation and Technology, TeleVU Innovation

Dr. Jennifer Gutberg
Embedded Scientist, Research Officer
CIUSS du Centre-Ouest-de-I'lle-de-Montreal
PhD. Health Services Research, IHPME

Dr. Hala Muaddi
General Surgeon, University of Toronto
PhD, Clinical Epidemiology, IHPME