NSHEN Conference

Afolake Awoyiga is a NICU Social Worker with almost seven years of experience. She provides emotional and practical support to families navigating the complexities of having an infant in the NICU.  Afolake is dedicated to advocating for the needs of both parents and their babies, offering counseling, resources, and guidance during this challenging time. Her work emphasizes culturally sensitive practices, helping families from diverse backgrounds access the care and support they need.  Afolake is passionate about promoting maternal mental health and fostering resilience in families as they face the challenges of preterm birth and medical complexities. 

Al-Noor Nenshi Nathoo is currently the Executive Director of the Alberta Health Service Clinical Ethics Service, a role he has held for 12 years. Prior to this, he was the Executive Director of the Provincial Health Ethics Network of Alberta for 16 years. In his current capacity, he leads a team of 15 clinical ethicists across Alberta that provide support for front-line care providers as well as managers and senior leaders on clinical and organizational ethics issues. He is the past President of the Canadian Bioethics Society.  

Amanda Porter is an Assistant Professor and Health Care Ethicist in the Department of Bioethics. She is part of the Ethics Collaborations Team that provides ethics support to Nova Scotia Health and the IWK.  Amanda earned her PhD in moral and political philosophy from Western University.   

Andrea Frolic is the Director of the Program for Ethics and Care Ecologies (PEaCE) at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) and Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University. She has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Rice University in Houston, Texas. Andrea completed a two-year fellowship in Clinical Ethics at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, before joining HHS in 2004. Andrea has directed the HHS Clinical & Organizational Ethics Program, created a Regional Ethics Network for the Hamilton region (www.regionalethicsnetwork.ca ), designed a multidisciplinary Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) team, managed the Psycho-spiritual Care program, and developed a Resilience Integration team to address the occupational stress of healthcare workers.

Christy Simpson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioethics, Dalhousie University. She is the Faculty Lead for the Ethics Collaborations with Nova Scotia Health, IWK Health, and the Nova Scotia Health Ethics Network. Christy is involved in providing all forms of ethics support, and her research interests include rural health ethics and the role of hope in health care.

Kate Mercer is the Senior Director, Interprofessional Practice and Learning – Practice, Provincial Skin and Wound Care Program, Library Services. Kate is a Registered Nurse with over two decades of experience at NS Health, with the majority in education and leadership roles supporting optimized practice, collaborative team-based care, internationally educated health care professionals and transition to practice. Kate is currently leading provincial initiatives that foster team based collaborative care and theory to practice knowledge translation related to policy, evidence-informed practice, learning and content management. She is passionate about establishing collaborations that promote person-centered care, professional practice and building capacity to manage evolving trends in health care.   

Stephen Leadlay is an Advanced Care Paramedic and completed a Master’s in Education from Mount Saint Vincent’s University. Stephen is currently a member of the Nova Scotia Health Quality Improvement and Safety Department with a primary focus on Patient Safety for the Northern Zone. In this role, Stephen’s area of interest is with the management of patient safety events with a focus on reducing further harm, improving care, and promoting safety for patients and providers within the organization.