The Learning Committee

Faculty of Engineering 

Dr. Natalie Baddour received her B.Sc. (Hons) from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Masters from the University of Waterloo and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto.  She subsequently spent some time as a postdoc at both the University of Toronto and also at the University of Bath (UK) as a Chevening Fellow. She has worked in a variety of areas and applications. Professor Baddour is currently the principal investigator for the NSERC-funded CREATE program titled Biomedical Engineering Smartphone Training (BEST) which aims to provide professional training and practical employment-ready skills to engineering graduate students to meet the needs of the growing mHealth marketplace and enable innovation. Her research interests lie at the intersection of mechanical and biomedical engineering.

Telfer School of Management

Dmitri is a Master of Science in Management Candidate with the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa. With a specialization in marketing and consumer behaviour, he is invested in digging deeper into how consumers think, interact and enact behaviours. His interests reside in the realms of human cognition, interaction and behaviour and their implications for business processes and overarching strategy. His recent research domain has focused on the travel and tourism industries, at the intersection of aging and well-being, and technology diffusion and adoption.

Dmitri holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts with a specialization in Psychology and Media Communications studies, as well as a Bachelor of Education, both granted by the University of Ottawa.

Faculty of Health Sciences

Raywat Deonandan is an associate professor in the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Professor Raywat Deonandan is an epidemiologist and science communicator specializing in global health. His current research involves the creative analysis of administrative data, the exploration of novel avenues of medical education, methods of public education and policy engagement, and various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Deonandan partners with the private sector to produce and evaluate online educational content for a global audience. He advises policymakers, media, private enterprise, and law firms on research design, data interpretation, and other aspects of epidemiology, especially concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chocolate Moose Media

Having been inspired by doing simple jobs at age 8 for Mother Teresa in his native Calcutta, Firdaus Kharas, FRSA, D.Hum (hc), LL.D. (hc) has had a desire to have a social impact throughout his life. Using mass communications as his tool through Chocolate Moose Media, he has been a pioneer in social entrepreneurship for the last 25 years. Working alone out of his house, he has created 4,000 animated shorts in 50 series on a wide variety of health and human rights topics, versioned into 385 languages versions, used in 198 countries and seen by over a billion people. As well, he has produced several documentaries and TV series seen around the world. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Peabody Award. Firdaus was named one of the world’s 50 Most Talented Social Innovators and the Best Global Informative Short Film Producer for his ability to cross the barriers to human communications like language, religion and culture.

Faculty of Social Sciences

Elizabeth Kristjansson is a Full Professor with the School of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and researcher with the Centre for Research on Community and Educational services and the Life Institute. She is a measurement expert whose research focuses on food insecurity and health inequalities. She leads the Ottawa Neighbourhood study. Another primary research interest is in systematic reviews on interventions to reduce socio-economic inequalities in nutrition. Since 2021, she has also been the University Advisor on Mental Health and Wellness.

Professional Development Institute

Anne-Chantal Soucie joined the University of Ottawa in 2018 as Director, French Immersion Stream. In 2020, she became Administrator, Office of Undergraduate Studies at the Faculty of Education and, as of June 2021, she is the Associate Executive Director, Professional Development Institute. Her professional background includes several management positions in the field of education including Assistant Principal of Béatrice-Desloges High School (CÉCCE) and Director of the La Cité collégiale Centre for Educational Support.  She holds a Master of Education, a Bachelor of Education and a Bachelor of Arts, specializing in French literature from the University of Ottawa.   A member of the Ontario College of Teachers since 1997, she has also worked as a teacher at the high school and the college levels for many years.

Faculty of Arts

Anne Vallely (Ph.D.) is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa since 2004. She is an Anthropologist of South Asian Religion whose interests explore issues germane to the study of religion, including devotion, mysticism, death, grief, aging, and healing, as well as ethical and spiritual interactions with the nonhuman. She is interested in body-mind awareness disciplines, and in the use of mindfulness practises in teaching. She is co-founder of the Academy of Mindfulness & Contemplative Studies at uOttawa.

Faculty of Health Sciences, Director of the LRI, Steering Committee Chair

Linda Garcia is a Professor in the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences and Founding Director of the LIFE Research Institute (LRI). Her personal research interests focus on the impact of physical, social, technological and clinical environments on the quality of life of individuals with neurological disorders, especially dementia. She is interested in developing interventions that include approaches based on human interactions, especially in long-term care living environments. Prior to joining the University of Ottawa in 1993, she worked for over 10 years in a large teaching hospital as a Speech-Language Pathologist. After completing her PhD with Dr. Yves Joanette, and helping found the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Program, she created the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences and became its first Director in 2010, prior to becoming Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences from 2014 to 2017.