CNIS has a nine-member board from across Canada which includes health professionals, a health administrator, an accountant and a nurse. The board functions through 4 committees: Executive, Program, Public Engagement, and Finance.
Tarek Razek
Dr. Tarek Razek Director, Trauma Program McGill University Health Centre Montreal, Québec
Board Chair Member, Program & Public Engagement Committees
trazek@cnis.ca
Dr. Tarek Razek is the Director of the Trauma Program at McGill University Health Centre. He has volunteered with CNIS for many years on various projects in Ethiopia and Tanzania, teaching Essential Surgical Skills (ESS™) courses, working on the infrastructure of Injury Control Centers and database projects. Tarek was instrumental in developing the Trauma Team Training (TTT™) course, which he has taught on several occasions. He is the Chair of CNIS Board of Directors. Besides CNIS, he has volunteered for the International Red Cross, working as a war surgeon with the RCIC in Sudan with the Federation of the Red Cross and Crescent.
Khwezi Mbolekwa
Khwezi Mbolekwa Health Administrator Director Organizational Development Northern Health Authority Prince George, British Columbia
Vice-Chair. Member, Finance Committee
kmbolekwa@cnis.ca
Khwezi Mbolekwa is Director of Organizational Development at the Northern Health Authority in Prince George, BC. He is professionally certified as a Health Care Excecutive and Human Resources Professional. In addition to assisting CNIS, he has previously served as a Board Member at the Canadian College of Health Services Executives (Lower Mainland Chapter), the Chown Memorial & Chinese United Church in Vancouver, the Vancouver Food Bank, and the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (Canada). Khwezi’s fund-raising work with the Nelson Mandela Children’s fund and interest in advocacy for orphaned children led to a board colleague approaching him to assist the CNIS in its Public Awareness committee. Khwezi has since moved to serve on the Finance committee.
Douglas Wallis
Douglas Wallis Chartered Accountant Smythe Ratcliffe Vancouver, British Columbia
Chair, Finance Committee
dwallis@cnis.ca
Doug Wallis, CA, is a partner with the Vancouver office of Smythe Ratcliffe. Doug has extensive experience with issues involving setting up and administrating of a public practice firm. Prior to joining Smythe Ratcliffe, he was the Director of Professional Advisory Services at the ICABC. When Doug first joined CNIS as chair of the Finance Committee in 2002, it was to help the CNIS with its financial reporting. He had no idea he would later be invited to Africa to offer the same services to one of the CNIS’ sponsored organizations. But in 2004, Doug, the Institute’s director of professional advisory services, spent two weeks working with the Injury Control Centre at Makerere Medical School in Kampala, Uganda (ICC-U). Doug is a Past Board chair of CNIS.
Andrew Howard
Dr. Andrew Howard Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon Director, Office of International Surgery University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario
Chair, Program Committee
ahoward@cnis.ca
Dr. Howard is an Paediatric Orthopaedic surgeon and injury prevention researcher. He is trained in mathematics, Medicine (MD, Queen’s), Orthopaedic Surgery (FRCSC), Paediatric Orthopaedics (Hospital for Sick Children) and Clinical Epidemiology (MSc, Ottawa). He has held 14 peer reviewed grants in injury prevention, in addition to publishing 29 papers, 10 book chapters and over 35 media appearances. He is Associate Director of the Office of International Surgery at the University of Toronto and carries out injury research in Africa. He has jointly organized five annual Bethune Round Table on International Surgery meetings in Toronto. He is co-director of the Ptolemy project, providing electronic health information to low income countries. He directs the trauma program and the orthopaedic residency program at the Hospital for Sick Children.
Jan Christilaw
Dr. Jan Christilaw Obstetrician and Gynaecologist Clinical Professor, Obstetrics & Gynaecology BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre Vancouver, British Columbia
Member, Program Committee
jchristilaw@cnis.ca
Dr. Jan Christilaw is the President of the BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre in Vancouver. She chairs the Ethics committee of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada and serves as member of the Expert Advisory Panel to Canadian Institute for Health Information. She is Chair of the Reproductive Health Advisory Network for Planned Parenthood and founding member of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and Physicians for Social Responsibility. Jan is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Obstetrics-Gynecology at University of British Columbia. Jan co-developed the CNIS Structured Operative Obstetrics (SOO) course, which she has taught in Canada and Africa. She is a spokesperson for women’s health, addressing the global burden of maternal mortality.
Paul Moroz
Dr. Paul Moroz Paediatric Orthopaedic & Spinal Surgeon Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Ottawa, Ontario
Chair, Public Engagement Committee
pmoroz@cnis.ca
Paul Moroz is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at the University of Ottawa where his area of academic interest is pediatric spine problems. Prior to this he worked for several years in rural Ontario doing general orthopedics. His travels overseas have been mostly to Asia, where he has worked as a surgeon in Nepal and Bhutan. He returns to Bhutan almost on a yearly basis to work there for one month. Paul has taught Essential Surgical Skills (ESS®) for CNIS in Moshi, Tanzania on several occasions. At the University of Ottawa he works to make international health and international surgery higher profile at this institution.
Gwen Hollaar
Dr. Gwen Hollaar General Surgeon Calgary, Alberta
Member, Program Committee
ois@ucalgary.ca
Dr. Gwen Hollaar graduated from medical school at the University of Alberta and then completed her general surgery residency at the University of Calgary. She then obtained a Masters in Public Health focusing on international health at Johns Hopkins University. She returned to the University Calgary and has been on faculty here since 1999. She has a broad base general surgical practice dealing with breast, thyroid, and bowel disease. Gwen has an active interest in international health development. She is currently working in the area of medical education in Lao PDR with the University of Calgary and in various countries in Africa with the Canadian Network for International Surgery. Gwen was instrumental in developing CNIS’ Structured Hernia Repair Course, which she has taught in Africa on several occasions. Gwen is a Past Board chair of CNIS.
Linda Akagi
Linda Akagi Clinical Pharmacist BC Centre for Excellence in HIV / AIDS Vancouver, British Columbia
Member, Public Engagement Committee
lakagi@cnis.ca
Linda is the Coordinator of Outreach Pharmacy Programs for the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Drug Treatment Program (DTP). The DTP is a centralized system that provides free HIV treatment to affected BC residents. Key interests for Linda are to reduce barriers for those who need access to HIV therapy and to ensure that therapy delivered is safe and appropriate. Linda participated as a guest CNIS instructor, before becoming a board member. She is currently assisting CNIS with the HIV/AIDS chapter in the course manual for Surviving and Succeeding at Surgery in Africa. (SSS)
Genelle Leifso
Genelle Leifso Perioperative Nurse BCIT Perioperative Specialty Nursing Facility Vancouver, British Columbia
Member, Program Committee
gleifso@cnis.ca
Genelle has been a perioperative nurse in a variety of facilities across Canada for more than 25 years, in teaching, trauma, community and paediatric hospitals. She earned her nursing diploma in 1971 and completed her Master of Science in Nursing at University of British Columbia in 2005. After working as a clinical education in an OR of a teaching hospital, she joined the BCIT Perioperative Speciality Nursing Faculty 2004. She holds the CNA Certification in Perioperative Nursing and is member of Perioperative Registered Nurses Association of BC (PRNABC) and Sigma Theta Tau, an international Nursing Honor Society. She maintains clinical credibility by continuing to work as a casual staff nurse in the OR of a Lower Mainland tertiary teaching hospital. Genelle facilitated the Safe Surgery Saves Lives (SSSL) Nursing course pilot in Addis Ababa in early 2009 and is presently writing the nurse manual that will accompany the course.
