Ronald Lett
1995 – 1997
lett@cnis.ca
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Dr. Ronald Lett was the founder of Canadian Network for International Surgery and has filled the roles of Board Chair, President and International Director. He helped to promote International Surgery in Africa during a time when International Surgery received little to no attention, and has continued this goal with tireless work to the present day, turning CNIS into the largest organisation of International Surgery in the world.
Peter McLean
1997
Montreal, Québec, Canada
Retired McGill surgeon Peter McLean was a Founding Director of CNIS, the Board Chair in 1997 and also held the positions of Executive Secretary and Vice President, when he attended CIDA meetings in Ottawa on behalf of CNIS. He worked in Ethiopia as part of the Surgical Amendment to the McGill University Ethiopia Community Health Project, teaching Essential Surgical Skills (ESS©) on several occasions and distributed of a container of surgical books for CNIS in Ethiopia in 2006.
Joan VanDuzer
1997 – 1998
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Joan VanDuzer was one of the three Founding Directors of CNIS, and her untiring efforts in the early years were crucial to its foundation. She served as CNIS Board Chair from 1997 to 1998. She also filled the role of Executive Secretary for CNIS, and has supported CNIS since then through the Harbinger Foundation of Toronto, Ontario.
Phillip Cooper
1998 – 2000
Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
Phillip has been a General Surgeon in Antigonish, Nova Scotia for the past 15 years and previously worked in rural Manitoba after emigrating to Canada in 1984. He studied medicine at University College Hospital Medical School in London and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. In addition to a total of two years in rural Australia early in his career, Phillip has worked for periods of a month to a year in Papua New Guinea, Lebanon, Cambodia, Guyana and Sierra Leone and has taught Essential Surgical Skills courses for CNIS in Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique and at the University of British Columbia.
Phillip Hassen
2000 – 2003
phassen@cnis.ca
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Phil Hassen has volunteered with CNIS for over ten years. Serving initially on the Finance Committee, Phil progressed through the various roles on the Board, eventually becoming Chair for two terms. During his nine years on the board, he guided CNIS through very difficult financial and organizational issues, ultimately seeing CNIS become a stable and successful NGO. Phil has assisted the Injury Control Centre – Uganda with improving their administration and management. With his wife, Jane, he taught a course on leadership and management to senior physicians in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He now volunteers with CNIS as Vice President.
Gwen Hollaar
2003 – 2006
ghollaar@cnis.ca
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Dr. Gwen Hollaar graduated from medical school at the University of Alberta, completed her general surgery residency at the University of Calgary and obtained a Masters in Public Health focusing on international health at Johns Hopkins University. She returned to the University Calgary, where she has been on faculty since 1999. She also has an active interest in international health development and 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.
Douglas Wallis
2006-2008
dwallis@cnis.ca
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Doug Wallis, CA, is a partner with the Vancouver office of Smythe Ratcliffe. Doug has extensive experience with many of the issues involved in the setting up and administration 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 its Finance Committee in 2002, it was to help the CNIS with its own 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).
