Leadership in Action - Vernissage Health Alumni from the 2019 Cohort

As we reflect on five years of the Vernissage Health Leaders Dialogue Series, we’re featuring updates from some of the emerging leaders in each cohort and asking alumni how the Health Leaders Dialogue Series impacted their leadership careers after graduation. Let’s continue with the 2019 cohort and check in on Janson Chan and Nida Shahid! As emerging leaders, both are making valuable contributions to our health systems!

York Region Strategic Operations Improvement Specialist - Janson Chan, BScN, B Med Sci, MHSc.

Janson is a Masters of Health Administration graduate and nurse by training. Previously to starting the MHSc program he held strategic and operational nursing positions at York Region Public Health. In addition, he is the Founder and Executive Director of Autism Teenage Partnership, a service-based non-profit supporting teens and families living with Autism Spectrum Disorder throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Upon graduation, he has held various positions in York Region within COVID-19 public health response. He has supported the management of institutional outbreaks, policy development and practice and quality improvement in both leadership and operational positions. In his role at Autism Teenage Partnership, he has continued to lead in shifting programming online and virtually through COVID-19.

Throughout his time with Vernissage Health he was able to gain leadership insights and build meaningful mentorship relationships with senior leaders within the health sector.

Janson reflects, “As an emerging leader in the 2019 cohort of Vernissage Health, being part of a dedicated group of peers and established leaders, focused on leadership and self-development, was immensely important to my professional growth, resiliency, and understanding on what leadership truly means. The opportunity to foster and develop meaningful relationships allowed me to build my confidence and find my authentic leadership style as I continued my career after graduate studies.”

To learn more about Janson's leadership career, please visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/jansonchan/?originalSubdomain=ca.

PhD Candidate, IHPME Health Services Research and Project Officer, CIHR-IHSPR - Nida Shahid, Bsc, PhD (Candidate)

Currently, a PhD candidate at IHPME, U.of T. Nida has led studies from concept to completion and teams of graduate students, research and health professionals for over ten years. Her doctoral thesis takes a closer look at the why, what, and how of implementing ehealth to better self-manage chronic conditions. By deciphering the contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes attributable to implementation behaviour, Nida aims to develop a mathematical model that can simulate and predict implementation that would be useful to patients, providers, and decision-makers alike when considering self-management tools.

In her professional capacity, Nida contributes to the strategic direction and development of research initiatives led by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (CIHR IHSPR), by distilling and synthesizing technical and contextual information. Nida loves collaborating with others throughout the research process – from setting priorities, designing funding opportunities, going through the review processes and learning ways to mobilize evidence into practice.

Nida reflects, “My experience at Vernissage Health helped ground me and understand the complexities experienced by reflective and engaged leaders. I loved seeing the ‘human’ side of leadership when making difficult decisions. I learned from my peers as emerging leaders as much as I did from those well-established in our industry. Based on this, I started thinking differently about what to look for in my career development and professional growth. My biggest takeaway from Vernissage Health was that being resilient also meant having strong relationships and that nurturing these relationships, as vulnerable as it can feel at times, was a strength.”

To read more about Nida, please visit: www.linkedin.com/in/shahidnida

Other emerging leaders in the 2019 IHPME cohort included Matthew Goulbourne (MHSc), Arlinda Ruco (HSR), Jasmin Soobrian (MHSc), Shawna Cronin (HSR), Harendri Perera (MHI), Peggy Chi (HSR) Farbod Abolhassani (MHI) and Kelvin Yam (MHI). Stay tuned for updates from alumni in the 2020 cohort next month!