About Us

President
Edmonton, Alberta

Dr. Ross Tsuyuki is Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta. He is also a Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) and Director of EPICORE Centre (a health research coordinating centre) and the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Pharmacists Journal. His clinical practice is in the Heart Function Clinic at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute. Having previously served on Hypertension Canada’s Board of Directors, Dr. Tsuyuki was elected in 2019 and appointed Vice-President. He also serves as a Co-Chair of the Education & Implementation Committee and is a member of the Hypertension Canada Guidelines Committee. 

Dr. Tsuyuki’s interests are in clinical trials design and execution, hypertension, heart failure, community practice-based research, cardiovascular risk factors, and in the provision of support for clinical researchers through the EPICORE Centre. Dr. Tsuyuki has received several awards for teaching, as well as an appointment as a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists, the American College of Cardiology and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.  In 2005, he was recognized as the Canadian Pharmacist of the Year by the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

Dr. Shelita Dattani is the Vice President of Pharmacy Affairs at the Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada and in this role she leads a team advocating for pharmacy’s evidence based role in delivering accessible, high-quality healthcare and building capacity in public health and primary care.

Sheli received her bachelor of science in pharmacy from Northeastern University and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sheli is a pharmacist with over 20 years’ experience in many sectors of the profession, including community, hospital, academia, industry, group purchasing organizations and professional and pharmacy associations.

Sheli maintains a part-time practice in primary care team based practice, community pharmacy, and remote hospital telepharmacy. Sheli also serves as a lecturer at The Memorial University of Newfoundland and as a guest lecturer at The University of Waterloo in their Doctor of Pharmacy Programs. She is passionate about her continued engagement as a preceptor, teacher and educator and is draws inspiration from her roles supporting students and pharmacists in their professional development. Sheli is committed to contributing to pharmacy’s growing role as an integral health care partner.

Halifax, Nova Scotia

David currently works both as part-time General Counsel to Acadian Seaplants Limited and part- time Counsel to Irving Shipbuilding providing support for key legal issues. Previously, he was the Vice President and General Counsel at Irving Shipbuilding from 2015 to 2019. From 2001 to 2015, he was a partner in the Halifax office of Stewart McKelvey where he had a broad commercially oriented practice in maritime, construction, energy and natural resources, and environmental law. Before law, David had a career in the army as an artillery officer. He continued to serve in the Army Reserve while practicing law and after returning from a tour in Afghanistan in 2010 was invested as a member of the Order of Military Merit by the Governor-General. He retired from the Army in 2015 as a Brigadier-General after 30 years of full and part-time service. His last position was Deputy Commander for the 5th Canadian Division, essentially the Army in Atlantic Canada. He has written, presented and published papers and contributed to books on various marine and environment subjects. David is an associate of the Marine Environmental Law Institute and was a member of the part-time faculty at the Schulich School of Law where he taught Fisheries Law from 2004 to 2015. He was a member of the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada from 2010 to 2017. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2017.

Edmonton, Alberta

Laurie is currently the Corporate Director, Quality, Patient Safety & Experience at Covenant Health, which provides acute and continuing care programs and services across the province of Alberta. Her educational background includes completion of a BSc (Eng), an MBA and a PhD (Business). Following a number of years as an engineer in the oil and gas sector, her MBA led her to a position in healthcare administration. Following completion of my doctoral program at the University of Alberta, Laurie went on to a post-doctoral fellowship at McGill University, focusing on physician practice patterns during both programs. She was subsequently awarded a Harkness Fellowship in Health Policy with The Commonwealth Fund. She has experience in academia, research and healthcare administration.

I am currently an Assistant Professor and Nurse Practitioner (NP) Coordinator for the Master of Science in Nursing Program, NP Option at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador. I am a PhD-prepared nurse practitioner with experience caring for cardiac patients over the past 20 years, and educating NP students for over 12 years. My dissertation work was focused on cardiovascular health promotion and the development and testing of an intervention for the early detection of cardiac risk factors and management of patients by health care providers using evidenced-based guidelines. I have attained numerous scholarships and research grants for my dissertation work and current research initiatives. I am currently working on my program of research in the areas of knowledge translation, cardiovascular health promotion, management of risk factors, and timely access of vulnerable groups to appropriate health care services.

In 2018-2019, I participated in the Hypertension Canada Task Force Committee with other leaders within the HC community. In 2013, I was the recipient of the Hypertension Canada, Certificate of Excellence Award, nominated by Lynn Cloutier PhD RN, for my extension work in educating students, both undergraduate and graduate students through guest lectures about hypertension management and prevention. I have also participated in various public engagement events promoting effective hypertension management and distributing the excellent materials published by HC. I was involved in publishing an article in The Canadian Nurse about the importance of bringing focus to hypertension and another publication for the Canadian Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing about the WHO celebrating world health day April 7, 2013, focusing on hypertension. I have been a Hypertension Canada member with regular attendance at the annual HTN Congress for about a decade and, in recent years; have attended through a virtual platform.

I am interested in being a director with Hypertension Canada beginning in the fall of 2022 and there are several reasons why I believe that I am a strong candidate for this position. I have a strong network in the health care sector that could benefit Hypertension Canada. Following review of the Strategic Plan for 2022-2025, there are several areas that I would be interested in being involved with over the coming year. In particular, collaborating with other board members in creating a baseline data on blood pressure health and development of a tracking system, providing advice on educational resources for health professionals, and the public. Finally, I would be interested in promoting research activities related to cardiovascular risk and hypertension management and prevention consistent with my own program of research

Paul is a retired financial professional, with decades of accounting and project management skills.

After spending 10 years with Ernst & Young, with his later years as a Senior Audit Manager and Computer Audit Specialist, he spent the next ten years as controller and chief financial officer in several organizations where he continued to hone his financial skills and project management skills.

In 2000 Paul co-founded a clinical contract research organization (CRO) that assisted pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies carry out human clinical trials, ranging from small Phase I studies with a dozen patients to large Phase III studies with upwards of 2,000 patients.

In 2012, after having divested the operations of the CRO, Paul joined TEC Edmonton as an Executive-In-Residence.  TEC Edmonton was a joint venture between The University of Alberta and the City of Edmonton, created to assist in the commercialization of technologies invented at the University of Alberta and at the City of Edmonton.  He spent two years assisting various constituencies in these organizations streamline their operations and commercializing their technologies.

Having retired in 2014, Paul and his spouse travel and volunteer in various capacities and Paul continues to advise former clients and colleagues on various financial and technology issues in a volunteer capacity.

Kerri Eady is currently the General Manager and Director of Sales for Gemini, Inc., a custom branding and signage solutions manufacturer throughout North America. Kerri holds a Hons Degree in Managerial Economics from the University of Guelph and her Business Coaching Certification.  She is currently pursuing further education in Leadership Coaching and Group Dynamics as well as her Project Management Certification through PMI.  Prior to Gemini, Kerri was the VP of Sales and Marketing for an aftermarket automotive company with international reach facilitating business development, product development, sales and marketing strategy execution. With nearly 25 years of leadership experience in consumer industries, she has a practiced skill set in marketing and operations strategy, branding and communications as well as training and policy creation being accountable to divisional oversight in multinational organizations. Kerri currently prioritizes her professional time with industry and community volunteer positions, earning her the 2021 Volunteer of the Year and 2022 Mentor of the Year with the Sign Association of Canada.