Vanessa Gruben is a professor in the Common Law Section of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, and Director of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics. A recognized expert in Canadian health law and policy, her scholarship probes some of the most difficult legal and ethical issues related to health care, including assisted reproduction, harm reduction, organ donation and transplantation, and health care professional self-regulation. Professor Gruben is the co-editor of the 5th edition of Canada’s leading health law text, Canadian Health Law and Policy (LexisNexis, 2017). She clerked for Chief Justice Richard of the Federal Court of Appeal and then Justice Bastarache of the Supreme Court of Canada. She was called to the bar in Ontario in 2003, after which she practiced as an associate in the litigation group of a national law firm.

Jennifer A. Chandler is a professor and Vice Dean at the Faculty of Law with cross-appointment to the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa. She studies the legal and ethical aspects of biomedical science and technology, with focuses on the intersection of the brain sciences, law and ethics. She also studies legal policy related to organ donation and transplantation. In her research she collaborates with a diverse international group of academics and clinicians. She led the recent publication of the first international comparative study of the laws of psychosurgery, with the contributions of leading functional neurosurgeons from Europe, Asia and the Americas. She coordinates a new tri-national project – Hybrid Minds – bringing together researchers from Switzerland, Germany and Canada to examine the implications of embedding AI within neuroprosthetics. She holds degrees in Law from Harvard University and Queen’s University, and clerked for Justice John Sopinka of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Sam Boyle is a senior lecturer in the School of Law at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. He teaches and researches in the areas of medical law and mental health law. Sam is particularly interested in several research areas: (i) how the law determines legal capacity, (ii) involuntary treatment for mental illness, and (iii) consent for medical treatment. His Ph.D. was on capacity to refuse medical treatment in the case of anorexia nervosa. Sam has previously lectured at the University of Queensland as well as the University of Kent, Canterbury U.K. He is admitted as a solicitor in Queensland, and previously worked at LawRight (formerly QPILCH), a community legal centre.

Barbara von Tigerstrom is a Professor at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law, where she has been a member of faculty since 2005. She holds a law degree from the University of Toronto and Ph.D. in law from the University of Cambridge. She has received several awards for excellence in teaching and research, and has held research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Stem Cell Network, and others. Dr. von Tigerstrom’s main areas of teaching and research are information and privacy law, health law and policy, and tort law. She is the author of Information and Privacy Law in Canada (Irwin Law, 2020) and numerous articles and book chapters on privacy law, health information, and public health law and policy.

Lorian Hardcastle is an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law with a joint appointment in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Cumming School of Medicine. Her research focuses on health law and policy, healthcare system regulation, liability of health institutions and governments, and public health law. She is a member of the One Health Consortium, the O’Brien Institute for Public Health, and the Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board. Her current work includes research on antimicrobial resistance, AI in health, long-term care regulation, and legal issues arising from COVID-19. Lorian holds a JD with a specialization in Health Law and Policy from Dalhousie University, an LLM and SJD from the University of Toronto, and completed a fellowship at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, Washington DC.

Sonia Ouellet is a part-time professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, where she teaches Health Law and Dispute Resolution. She has extensive experience in adjudication and legal practice, having served as Vice-Chair of the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board and the Health Services Appeal and Review Board for a decade, and as a member of the Social Benefits Tribunal. She also practiced litigation at Gowling WLG from 1998 to 2003. She is currently a Bencher at the Law Society of Ontario and a member of the Centre de traduction et de documentation juridiques. She holds a Bachelor of Science, a Bachelor of Education, and an LL.B., all from the University of Ottawa.

Tess Sheldon is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor. She specializes in mental health law, disability rights, and access to justice, with a strong focus on the intersection of law and human rights. Her research critically examines how legal frameworks both protect and perpetuate social and economic exclusion for persons with disabilities and psychiatric system survivors. She explores the human rights implications of coercive medication administration in psychiatric settings and the broader systemic barriers that hinder disability justice. Before joining academia, she practiced exclusively within Ontario’s legal clinic system, including at ARCH Disability Law Centre and Justice for Children and Youth, advocating for the rights of marginalized communities. She has written, presented, and taught extensively on disability, human rights, and social justice. She holds a PhD and LLB from the University of Toronto, where her doctoral research investigated the legal and ethical dimensions of covert medication administration in psychiatric institutions.

Robin Whitehead is a professor at the Lakehead University Faculty of Law specializing in human rights and mental health disability discrimination, with her work informed by Critical Disability Theory and Mad Studies. Her research examines police-involved deaths of individuals with mental health disabilities in Canada, focusing on the opportunities and limitations of accountability under human rights and constitutional law. Prior to academia Robin practiced civil litigation, criminal defence, environmental, and administrative law in British Columbia, and was a legal and policy analyst for the Library of Parliament where she assisted the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. She is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia.

Emmanuelle Bernheim is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Law – Civil Law Section at the University of Ottawa. She specializes in the intersections of law, justice, and social inequalities, with a focus on access to justice for marginalized populations. Her research examines how legal systems impact mental health, youth protection, and self-representation in court. As the Canada Research Chair in Mental Health and Access to Justice, she collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to address systemic barriers in legal and healthcare frameworks. She is affiliated with the Centre Interdisciplinaire pour la Santé des Noir.e.s, the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics, and the Clinique interdisciplinaire en droit social de l’Outaouais.

Eva Ottawa is an Atikamekw Nehirowisiw researcher from Manawan and former Grand Chief (2006–2013), and Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa. She played a key role in negotiating territorial claims and self-governance for her nation, earning the Médaille Premiers Peuples in 2019. She entered academia in 2012, contributing to research on Indigenous legal traditions, and her award-winning doctoral thesis on opikihawasowin was published in 2023. Since 2020 she has been a professor at the University of Ottawa’s Civil Law Section, leading the Indigenous Law Certificate program and engaging in research-action projects with First Nations. Her work focuses on legal pluralism, Indigenous governance, and community-driven health initiatives.

Meaghan McMahon is a partner at Davies McMahon LLP, practicing exclusively in criminal law since 2015. She represents clients facing various charges, including assault, fraud, and drug-related offences, and has been appointed as amicus curiae by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. She has extensive experience in mental health law, representing clients in Mental Health Court, before the Ontario Review Board, and the Consent and Capacity Board on matters of detention, treatment capacity, and property rights. A graduate of the University of Ottawa (JD, magna cum laude), Meaghan has worked with the Ottawa Crown Attorney’s office and the University of Ottawa Community Legal Clinic. She has served on the Executive Defence Counsel Association of Ottawa and the Board of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association. A recipient of the 2024 County of Carleton Law Association’s Regional Senior Justice Award, she is also a co-author of A Guide to Mental Disorder Law in Canadian Criminal Justice. Meaghan has represented interveners before the Supreme Court of Canada.

Sophie Nunnelley is Assistant Professor at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law. Her research examines issues of health and mental health law, legal capacity and decision-making, human rights, and the regulation of health AI. Sophie received her SJD from the University of Toronto, where her work was supported by numerous awards including a Vanier Canada Scholarship. She completed her LLM at Yale Law School as a Fulbright Scholar. Sophie has also practiced law, including with the Constitutional Law Branch of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, where she argued cases before every level of court including the Supreme Court of Canada, and at the law firm Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. She also clerked for the Hon. Mr. Justice Gonthier at the Supreme Court. Recently Sophie was a 2023–2024 AMS Fellow in Compassion and Artificial Intelligence.

Dr. Marta Maslej is a staff scientist at the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics (KCNI) at CAMH, leading innovative research at the intersection of AI and mental health care. Her work focuses on using computational methods to analyze clinical data, predict depression outcomes, and enhance psychiatric assessment and treatment decisions. She co-leads the Predictive Care team, which explores how AI can complement human cognition and improve clinical decision-making while ensuring compassionate and equitable care. Her research also examines bias in AI applications, access to sociodemographic data, and functional trajectories in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Dr. Maslej’s work has been supported by CIHR, SSHRC, Google Research, and AMS Healthcare.