Dr. Kimberly Badal is a cancer researcher and advocate. She completed her Bachelor of Science at York University, Toronto, Master of Science and Radboud University, Netherlands and her PhD in Molecular Genetics at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco where her research focuses on applying machine learning techniques to modelling breast cancer onset and patient outcomes. In 2016, she founded the Caribbean Cancer Research Initiative (CCRI), a not-for-profit organization that focuses on evidence-based solutions for cancer prevention and management as well as cancer awareness and advocacy. Through CCRI she has spearheaded the implementation of the first patient navigation program in the Caribbean region and the first annual patient navigation training program designed for the Caribbean context. She sits on several local and international committees and is a York University Bryden “One to Watch” Alumni Award Winner and a Young Leader of the Americas.

Dr. Harvey Skinner is a Professor of Psychology & Global Health and was Founding Dean (2006-2016) of the Faculty of Health, York University. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Dr. Skinner is an internationally recognized educator and scholar on what motivates individuals, organizations and communities to change. He is placed in the Top 2% World Scientists by the Stanford University analysis with respect to citations and impact. His current focus is promoting global mental health drawing on Eastern, Indigenous and Western worldviews and practices. His passion is ‘healing ourselves, healing others, healing our world’.