Jennifer’s professional background is in marketing and strategic planning in higher education. Since a sudden onset of severe abdominal pain, she has been on a journey of learning to live with persistent acute episodes of pain and adapting to the dramatic changes this has brought to her daily life. She has leveraged her skills and experience to advocate, collaborate and share her perspective as a person with lived experience/patient partner/advisor with national and provincial pain research initiatives and projects, including with the Chronic Pain Network, Pain Ontario and the Canadian Pain Society. She advocates for the incorporation of the lived experience perspective into research, broadened awareness of chronic pain, improving understanding about the value of patient engagement in research and for improved access to health care and support for people living with pain.

Therese has lived with pain and arthritis since her mid-teens. She is currently a steering committee member with the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance and is actively involved with CreakyJoints, a support and advocacy organization for people living with arthritis and rheumatic disease. Therese is a patient partner with a number of research projects and initiatives, including the CIHR’s SPOR-funded Chronic Pain Network. She is also a patient partner for Partnership for Engagement of People in Chronic Pain Research (PEPR), a research initiative aimed at improving engagement of people with pain from equity-seeking communities. She is a member of the Canadian Pain Society’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She is passionate about improving access to pain care for those who face additional barriers to care, including people living in poverty, women, and those most impacted by social injustices. Her own history of addiction and mental health challenges have made her all too aware of the stigma, judgment, and barriers faced by those attempting to access appropriate treatment for pain.

Kathleen (Kate) Rice holds the SSHRC-funded Tier II Canada Research Chair in the Medical Anthropology of Primary Care. Her theoretical and methodological expertise are in the areas of social theories of power and inequity, and ethnography. In all her work, Kate aims to expose the underlying discourses, ideologies, and categories that shape healthcare, as well as the relations of power that underpin them. Driven by a commitment to high-quality, equitable care for all, her research program aims to improve the health of marginalized populations in particular, especially those grappling with social and economic change. Kate's specific areas of topical focus include rural and remote health, gender, human rights, chronic pain, pregnancy and birth, and medical education. Her areas of geographic focus are Southern Africa, and urban and rural Canada.

Dr. Joy MacDermid is a clinical epidemiologist, physiotherapist, hand therapist, and Distinguished Professor of Physical Therapy (cross-appointed to Surgery) at Western University. She is an Adjunct Scientist, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) Western Scientist. She holds a Canada Research Chair in Musculoskeletal Outcomes and Knowledge Translation, and The Dr. James Roth Chair in Musculoskeletal Measurement and Knowledge Translation. She is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and The Royal Society of Canada and was awarded the Order of Ontario. She has published over 700 manuscripts (H-index=102). Her research focuses on upper extremity function, musculoskeletal health, design and evaluation of surgical and rehab interventions/programs, public safety personnel health, work injury, implementation science, and the intersectional impact of sex and gender and other personal/social factors on health.

Helene Berman, RN, PhD, is Distinguished University Professor Emerita at Western University and a Fellow in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Her program of research focused on the subtle and explicit forms of violence in the lives of girls and young women. She is a Past President of the Nursing Network on Violence against Women International and was the founding Academic Director of the Centre for Research on Health Equity and Social Inclusion. Helene currently sits on the Board of the London Cross Cultural Learner Centre.