Who We Are
Board of Directors – GI Society
Our voluntary Board of Directors’ are made up of individuals from diverse backgrounds including business, health, and financial sectors. They dedicate their time and expertise towards developing strategic goals and collaborating with staff for furthering our mission.
Ron Goetz
Chair
He has sat on numerous boards including being the President of the Saskatchewan Motion Picture Industry, a board member of the Lieutenant Governor’s Celebration of the Arts, and of the Yorkton Short Film Festival. He is also the President of Ronlin Holdings, a private investment company, and sits on the board of Gloo Studios in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Andrew Gray
LLB
Secretary
Andrew plays the bass trombone and has an undergraduate degree in Classics (Ancient Greek and Latin). He speaks French. In his youth, Andrew was an office volunteer for the Canadian Society of Intestinal Research.
Alain Madgin
Treasurer
Alain has nearly 30 years of experience in government relations and public affairs in Quebec and Eastern Canada. He has been representing the interests of various companies and associations for several years in the fields of life sciences and health technologies, environmental issues and on behalf of major industrial groups.
He has practiced as a corporate and association lobbyist within the pharmaceutical industry and as President and General Manager of the Brewers Association of Quebec as well as with the large pharmaceutical distributor McKesson. In particular, he has developed an expertise in drug reimbursement with the Government of Quebec.
Alain holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Laval University and has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 1991.
Rohan D’Souza
Director
Rohan is a chef by training who began his career working in the Vancouver food scene. He subsequently returned to school to finish his operations and business management degree. He has worked for Purdy’s, a Vancouver-based chocolatier, leading the chocolate operations in their central manufacturing facility.
Inspired by sustainable food production, he moved on to a local start-up, Cubic Farms, which specializes in vertical farming and produces machines with small physical footprints, consistent year-round production, reduced freshwater consumption, and that do not use pesticides.
Rohan believes that food is an important aspect of everyone’s culture and that the knowledge and traditions are important to the health of Canada. He is a strong proponent of local, sustainable, and minimally-processed foods. Canadians are increasingly understanding the connection between the foods we eat and the health of our environment, our communities, and ourselves.
Laurene Redding
BSc, MBA
Director
Laurene Redding is currently working as a consultant to the healthcare industry, at large. Just prior to consulting, Laurene was a senior executive in the insurance industry and before that, Laurene spent more than two decades working in increasing levels of management, within the pharmaceutical industry. In her various roles, Laurene has worked with patient groups, government, payers, patients, and physicians to work towards creating a supportive ecosystem in terms of access to innovative and life changing medicines. Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Laurene worked for a decade in the hospital sector. Laurene received both her undergraduate degree in biology and pharmacology and her master’s degree in business administration from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Karishma Shelat
BScN, RN
Director
Throughout her life, Karishma has been involved in various charities, non-profit organizations and events, such as, Western Psychology Association, UBC School of Medicine Health Mentor Program, UBC Nursing Undergraduate Society, and Children’s Mental Health Ontario. She has been a keynote speaker on several occasions for the Children’s Mental Health Ontario talking about the stigma of mental illness. Karishma is a keen learner and strongly believes in public education and sharing of evidenced-based information. She is eager to commence her new role as a Board Member for the GI Society where she aspires to bring her creative ideas, out-of-the-box style of thinking, and networking skills.
Robert Tam
BSc, MHA
Director
Bob Tam is a health economist by training who began his career with Health Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada as an economist and policy analyst in Ottawa. He subsequently has held senior roles in the biopharmaceutical industry focusing on government relations and patient access. He has worked for large pharmaceutical companies as well as start-up biotech companies in Canada.
He has chaired industry committees focusing on patient access issues and has also spoken extensively on health technology assessment issues at various conferences and symposia. Bob has strong relationships with all levels of government across Canada and has effectively lobbied for access to many therapies across several therapeutic areas. He strongly believes that patient access to medicines in Canada is paramount and governments and industry need to develop new paradigms to improve the availability and affordability of drugs for Canadians.
Originally from Montreal, Bob holds a Master of Health Administration from the University of Ottawa and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree from Queen’s University at Kingston, Ontario. Bob and his wife Susan have two children who are competitive tennis and figure skating enthusiasts.
Board of Directors – CSIR
Our voluntary Board of Directors’ are made up of individuals from diverse backgrounds including business, health, and financial sectors. They dedicate their time and expertise towards developing strategic goals and collaborating with staff for furthering our mission.
Gail Attara
President
With the dynamic support of the Board of Directors, a dedicated group determined to fully realize the GI Society as Canada’s gastrointestinal disease and disorder information source, Gail continues to lead the Societies into a bright future.
Dr. James R. Gray, Gastroenterologist
CCFP, ABIM, FRCP(C)
Vice-President
Dr. James Gray is a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, and performed his internship at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. After operating a successful family practice, he completed his residency in internal medicine and gastroenterology at UBC and was subsequently awarded a research fellowship at the University of Edinburgh. He is currently Clinical Professor of gastroenterology at the University of British Columbia and is the former president of the BC Society of Gastroenterology.
Dr. Gray is the author of numerous published medical studies in the field of gastroenterology. He is a frequently invited speaker and is an active participant in many of GI Society’s and CSIR’s public education initiatives.
Sophie Dubé
BBA, CPA, CGA
Treasurer
Ganive Bhinder
BSc, PhD
Director
Dr. Ganive Bhinder holds a PhD in Experimental Medicine from the University of British Columbia where her research focused on the roles of the immune system, gut bacteria, and nutrition in driving inflammation and healing in diseases such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and necrotizing colitis. She has co-authored 15 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts and a book chapter and has also been the recipient of several awards from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, University of British Columbia, and BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute.
Ganive has extensive experience in patient and stakeholder outreach, knowledge translation, and mobilizing research findings to impact decision making through previous roles at non-profit organizations, including as past Executive Director of the Better Pharmacare Coalition (whose membership included 30 chronic disease specific non-profit organizations and national health charities). In her current position in public health policy, Ganive continues to have a focus on the development of evidence-based policies to benefit those living with chronic diseases.
Gwen Ellert
BScN, MEd, RN
Director
The president and CEO of Trelle Enterprises, Gwen Ellert, has been an educator in the healthcare industry for more than 15 years. A registered nurse, she also holds a Master of Education degree and a BSc in Nursing, both from the University of British Columbia. Gwen shares her knowledge and experience within numerous profit and non-profit settings, and is a regular lecturer for the CSIR and GI Society’s joint BadGut® Lecture Series focusing on the Aging Digestive Tract.
She has contributed to published medical research and innovation, is a founding member of the BC Men’s Health Foundation, and is co-author of The Osteoporosis Book: Bone Health as well as other books and educational materials endorsed by Canadian and American experts in Arthritis and Osteoporosis.
Gwen has a long history of volunteering with numerous charities and non-profit groups, including the Arthritis Society, Osteoporosis Canada, and the BC Women’s Hospital & Health Center Society. She looks forward to serving in this new role within the CSIR Board of Directors.
Kevin Harrington
B.Sc.
Director
Kevin retired from AbbVie Corp in early 2024 after a 36-year career in the pharmaceutical industry where he gained broad experience in British Columbia and nationally in Government Affairs and Market Access.
Through collaborative projects with provincial governments, private insurers, patient associations, clinicians and academia, Kevin has a good working knowledge of the Canadian healthcare system. He understands the importance of a broad network and listening to a wide range of stakeholder perspectives to advance standards of patient care. A longtime supporter of CSIR, his first collaboration with the Society was in 2003. Prior to his retirement, Kevin was the AbbVie National Lead Oncology Government Affairs and also a BC Innovative Canada Medicines co-Lead for the Patient Access Working Group.
Kevin enjoys mountain biking, community volunteering, and fixing stuff. He holds a B.Sc., Biochemistry from the University of British Columbia.
Andy Sham
PhD
Director
Dr. Andy Sham holds a PhD in Experimental Medicine at the University of British Columbia and a professional designation of Project Management Professional. His PhD research focused on bacterial pathogens and the interplay between bacteria and host at the gut lining to maintain intestinal health during Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. He continued his research training as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital where he studied how small lipid molecules resolve inflammation in the lungs. After returning to Vancouver from Boston, he worked as a research scientist with a local biotech company where he led their research team in developing new drugs for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer. He has co-authored 26 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts and two patents. He has also been the recipient of several awards from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and University of British Columbia. In his current role as the project manager of the Gut4Health Microbiome Core facility and BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Andy continues to contribute to improving gastrointestinal health through leading and supporting studies on intestinal microbiome.
Perryn Thiessen
Director
Perryn is currently pursuing a business administration degree with a concentration in human resources and accounting at Capilano University. She currently works in administration and supports various departments with completing projects at Hunter Dickinson Inc. Prior to this, she has worked as an assistant in television and broadcast, coordination support real estate, and as a manager of a spa.
Perryn has a passion for working with people and travelling. She has lived in Zurich, Mexico City, Chile, and South Africa. During this period, Perryn became a global ambassador for Protecting African Lions, known as the P.A.L foundation. During her travels she assisted in various administration duties. In 2021, Perryn became a new volunteer with Kidstart where she mentors children younger than 12.
Staff
Our small but dynamic team works closely with the Board of Directors and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the GI Society, including publication of patient resources and major fundraising.
Gail Attara
Chief Executive Officer
With the dynamic support of the Board of Directors, a dedicated group determined to fully realize the GI Society as Canada’s gastrointestinal disease and disorder information source, Gail continues to lead the Societies into a bright future.
Kwynn Vodnak
Associate Director
Morgan Amber
Communications Director
Jaymee Maaghop
Health Policy and Outreach Manager
Brittany Moretti
Program Coordinator
Alicia Seidel
Outreach Coordinator
Board Advisors
Our advisory committee is comprised of professionals who donate their time for special projects, contribute to our activities and are accessible to assist staff with patient requests.
Medical Advisory Council
The Medical Advisory Council consists of medical professionals including gastroenterologists, surgeons, and pharmacists, with recognized standing in their field. This body ensures the accuracy and quality of our patient resources, reviews applications for our research grant, and consults with staff on special projects.
Dr. J. R. Gray, Chairperson
Dr. G. Aumais
Dr. D. M. Israel
Dr. H-M. Jung
Dr. W. C. Kwan
Dr. R. Panaccione
Dr. D. C. Pearson
Dr. D. M. Petrunia
Dr. T. D. Picton
Dr. J. Siffledeen
Dr. T. Steiner
Dr. E. Tam
Dr. J. S. Whittaker
Dr. E. M. Yoshida