2026 Alberta Innovative Trials and Health Research Methods Symposium
October 6, 2026 | Red & White Club
Symposium sessions to be held in person at the Red & White Club with a poster competition and cocktail reception following the formal program. The cocktail reception is a cash bar with snacks provided.
About the Symposium
The Alberta Innovative Trials and Health Research Methods Symposium brings together the health research community to share experiences and strategies for designing, conducting, and analyzing innovative trials that improve health and health systems in Canada and beyond.
This year's theme, Exploring Person-Centered Decision Support: Where Clinical Intelligence Meets Compassionate Care, will showcase leading-edge research, foster collaboration, and highlight how innovative methods can support better decisions and more meaningful patient outcomes.
Following the symposium, please join us for a cocktail reception to connect with colleagues and continue the conversation. A cash bar will be available.
Featured Speakers
- Dr. Jeanette Finderup, PhD, MHR, RN - Clinical Nurse Specialist, Department of Renal Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital & Professor, Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University
- Dr. Robyn Sabourin (Rowe), PhD, MIR - Assistant Scientific Director, CIHR's Institute of Indigenous Peoples' Health
- Dr. Derek Chew, MD, MSc, FRCPC, FHRS - Assistant Professor, Department of Cardiac Sciences, University of Calgary
- Dr. Glen Hazlewood, MD, PhD, FRCPC - Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Calgary
- Dr. Todd Wilson, PhD - Epidemiologist, Statistical Associate and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary
- Dr. Joon Lee, PhD - Professor, Department of Cardiac Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine
Agenda
| Time | Description |
|---|---|
| 8:15–9:00 am | Registration & Breakfast |
| 9:00–9:10 am | Welcome and Land Acknowledgement |
| 9:10–9:20 am | Elder Bromley Opening Prayer |
| 9:20–10:20 am | Dr. Jeanette Finderup (Aarhus University Hospital) Subject: Decision aids to support shared decision making in chronic kidney disease |
| 10:20-10:40 am | Dr. Derek Chew (UCalgary) Subject: Imaging data and personalized medicine to guide placement of pacemaker leads |
| 10:40-11 am | Break |
| 11-11:20 am | Dr. Henry Michael, Postdoctoral Associate (Dr. Tolulope Sajobi Lab, UCalgary) Subject: Machine learning-based algorithm for implementing adaptive Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) |
| 11:20-11:40 am | Dr. Ping Liu Subject: TBA |
| 11:40 am – 12:00 pm | Dr. Joon Lee (UCalgary) Subject: Subject: Artificial intelligence-enabled coronary artery disease research: from APPROACH to real-world clinical decision support |
| 12:00–1:30 pm | Lunch & Poster Session |
| 1:30–2:30 pm | Keynote: Dr. Robyn Sabourin, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Subject: Leading Conversations on Indigenous Data Sovereignty, Governance, Health Research & Artificial Intelligence |
| 2:30–2:50 pm | Dr. Glen Hazlewood (UCalgary) Subject: Methods for evaluation like discrete choice experiment, and how values and preferences Inform GRADE recommendations for COE, and shared decision making at the individual level |
| 2:50–3:10 pm | Dr. Todd Wilson, Statistician, APPROACH Subject: Acute coronary disease and chronic kidney disease, illustrating how he used a discrete choice experiment and then incorporated values & preferences into models / decision support tools. |
| 3:10– 3:30 pm | Wrap up and Poster Award Announcement |
| 3:30– 3:40 pm | Elder Bromley Closing Prayer |
| 3:40–5:30 pm | Cocktail Reception - cash bar |
Speakers
Dr. Robyn Sabourin
Dr. Robyn K. Sabourin is an Anishinaabe-kwe scholar, health researcher, and consultant based in N’Swakamok, also known as Greater Sudbury. Her maternal family is from n’Daki Menan, and she is a member of Teme Augama Anishinabek, formerly Temagami First Nation. She is the Associate Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health (IIPH), the founder of ISAGE, an Indigenous-led consulting firm specializing in Indigenous data sovereignty and governance, research ethics, community engagement, evaluation, and health research, and a co-author of the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance.
Dr. Derek Chew
Dr. Derek Chew is a Cardiac Electrophysiologist at the Foothills Medical Centre and an Associate Professor in the Departments of Cardiac Sciences and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary. He completed his MSc in Health Economics at the London School of Economics and a CIHR Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Duke Clinical Research Institute. His research, supported by a Heart and Stroke Foundation New Investigator Award, examines the economic evaluation of cardiac technologies and care delivery, including implantable devices, remote monitoring, and atrial fibrillation, and he has led economic analyses for international trials including CABANA, STICH, and VICTORIA.
Dr. Henry Michael
Dr. Henry Michael is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary and a health outcomes scientist dedicated to advancing equitable, low-burden, person-centered health measurement. His research integrates modern psychometrics, adaptive measurement, and natural language processing to improve how patient-reported outcomes are designed, evaluated, and delivered. He develops innovative methods that reduce assessment burden, identify and address measurement inequities across diverse populations, and leverage intelligent conversational approaches to capture health outcomes more naturally.
Dr. Joon Lee
Dr. Joon Lee is the Director of the Data Intelligence for Health Lab and Professor in the Departments of Cardiac Sciences & Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. He holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Medical Data Science at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. His research applies data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to a variety of problems in medicine and public health, with a focus on translating AI innovations to real-world settings.
Dr. Glen Hazlewood
Glen Hazlewood is a rheumatologist and Professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary. His research focuses on medication effectiveness and safety, patient preferences, clinical trials and clinical practice guidelines in rheumatoid arthritis and other rheumatic diseases. He is the current Chair of the Guidelines Committee through the Canadian Rheumatology Association (CRA) and leads living Canadian rheumatoid arthritis guidelines.
Dr. Todd Wilson
Dr. Todd Wilson is a statistician with a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Calgary. His current research focuses on statistical risk prediction tools for adverse chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular outcomes, in addition to research methods for understanding patient preferences and values towards invasive versus conservative management of heart disease and providing statistical support to various research teams.
Dr. Jeanette Finderup
Jeanette Finderup, PhD, MHR, RN, is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Department of Renal Medicine at Aarhus University Hospital and Professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University, Denmark. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing, a master’s degree in adult learning, and a PhD in medicine. Her clinical and academic work focuses on patient involvement in healthcare, particularly shared decision making and supporting patients to participate actively in decisions about their treatment and health. Her research includes the development and implementation of patient decision aids and shared decision-making interventions in chronic kidney disease.
Dr. Ping Liu
Dr. Ping Liu is an Epidemiologist in the Department of Medicine and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary. She has a clinical background in nursing, a PhD in Epidemiology, and completed a CIHR-funded postdoctoral fellowship in kidney health data science. She is a recipient of the KRESCENT New Investigator Award. Her research focuses on developing and implementing clinical decision support tools for people with kidney disease. Her work seeks to incorporate end-user perspectives into tool design, support shared decision-making, and bridge the gap between prediction research and meaningful implementation in clinical practice.
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