The Steering Committee

Faculty of Health Sciences

Annie Robitaille is an Assistant Professor in the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa and holds a Research Chair at the Centre of Excellence in Frailty-Informed Care at the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre. Annie’s current research focuses on better understanding the biopsychosocial factors related to the aging process with much of her research focusing specifically on those living with frailty in the community and in long-term care homes. Her research also aims to improve the quality of life of older adults living with frailty across the continuum of care and their caregivers.

Vice-Dean, Faculty of Arts, Research Committee Chair

Brian Ray is currently the Vice-Dean Research in the Faculty of Arts. A member of the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, his research generally revolves around the ways in which people organize their everyday lives in multi-ethnic cities. Brian’s research interests include discrimination, racism, and anti-racism in Canada, evolving linguistic landscapes in Ottawa-Gatineau, housing affordability and homeownership among refugees and immigrants, gender inequality, social networks, and the geographic dimensions of employment in large metropolitan areas. Some of Brian’s recently funded research projects include the Toronto Second Generation Project (with York University) and Ottawa-based projects in association with the Migration and Resilience in Urban Canada/Immigration through a SSHRC-funded grant.

Faculty of Education, Learning Committee Chair

Emmanuel Duplàa is a professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa, specialized in information and communication technology (ICT) for learning. After completing a BA in mathematics and a master's degree in cognitive sciences, he did a PhD "Cifre" (partly funded by enterprises) in education on the unconscious dimensions of online relationships in the context of e-Learning. He participated in different projects on ergonomic design and planning (Institut de Recherche en Informatique et Automatique), on e-learning (Télécom-Paristech and Centre d'Études Supérieures Industrielles), on training aspects of e-Health (Téluq), on educational video games about financial literacies (School of Information Technology and Engineering) and about digital literacies for elders (Age Well). His research now focuses on design processes in e-learning and on access to education.

Faculty of Law, Live with Choices and Voice Co-Chair

Louise Bélanger-Hardy, B.A., B. Sc. Soc., J.D.., LL.M., is a full professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa where she has been Vice-Dean (1996–1999, 2013–2014 and 2020). She teaches Tort Law (common law and Québec civil law) and Medical Law. Her research interests include professional responsibility, mental health, consent in the medical and research settings and liability issues in the context of private home care. She is a member of the Life Research Institute and of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics, both at the University of Ottawa. As well, she is a member of the Bar of Ontario. For over ten years, she held cross-appointments to administrative tribunals dealing with health professions and health services in Ontario. She has been a member of the Research Ethics Board at the University of Ottawa, Canadian Blood Services and Health Canada.

Facutly of Arts, Live with Choices and Voice Co-Chair

Martine Lagacé was appointed Associate Vice-President, Research Promotion and Development, in August 2018 for a five-year term. She is a professor at the Department of Communication and is affiliated with the School of Psychology. Professor Lagacé was Vice-Dean, Governance at the Faculty of Arts from 2014 to 2018, and Director of the Department of Communication from 2011 to 2012. In addition to her administrative experience, she has extensive expertise in journalism, having worked at Radio-Canada for more than 10 years.Professor Lagacé has contributed greatly to the advancement of knowledge on the psychosocial aspects of aging, particularly as they relate to discrimination based on age. She has led several field surveys in Canada and abroad, with workers as well as elderly patients to better understand the impact of age-based discrimination. In the francophone community, her academic work on ageism has been groundbreaking. She has edited two books on the topic and regularly publishes articles in academic journals, in both official languages.Professor Lagacé contributes to several organizations, including the National Seniors Council, the Institut du savoir Montfort, the Bruyère Research Institute and the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal. She has also forged several international research collaborations, particularly in France and Italy.

Telfer School of Management, Live-Well Co-Chair

Michael S. Mulvey (Ph.D. Penn State) is an assistant professor at Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa. He is Section Head of Marketing/OB-HR at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management. He is an expert in using qualitative research methods to uncover how customers think, especially the impact that meanings have on decision-making. His academic interests include perceived value, brand positioning strategy, visual rhetoric and reader response theory, customer journey mapping, cross-border shopping, and advice-giving and advice-taking in online forums. Michael has published on these topics in academic journals including Advances in Consumer Research, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Brand Management, Journal of Economic and Public Policy, Journal of Leisure Research, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Travel Research, Psychology & Marketing, and Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal. His current research focuses on developing age-friendly business practices in the retail and travel sectors. On the industry side, Michael consults with companies and law firms, is an active keynote speaker, and is a go-to media expert on the topics of branding, consumer trends, and marketing strategy.

Associate Vice-President, Advancement and Chief Development Officer 

Rob McCulloch has been with the University of Ottawa since spring 2019 as Chief Development Officer (CDO) and most recently as Associate Vice-President, Advancement and CDO (October 2021). Rob is responsible for providing leadership to the Advancement Office (Development and Alumni Relations). He works closely with Deans, the Vice-Presidents, the President as well as other senior stakeholders and volunteers to plan and execute all advancement related activities. Rob is accountable for a comprehensive and leading-edge major gifts program and engagement strategies that will drive the recently relaunched uO Campaign = ReImagine/RePensez. 

Rob brings over 30 years of advancement and development experience at the local, provincial and national levels. He has led many successful campaigns and fundraising activities and events with recognized charities, including United Way Canada, the Ottawa Humane Society, the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association and the Canadian AIDS Society.

Faculty of Engineering

Thomas Uchida is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa. His research interests include developing new methods for modeling and simulating dynamic systems, applying these methods to further our understanding of human movement, and disseminating powerful computational tools to accelerate discovery and improve health. He also helps develop and support OpenSim, open-source software for modeling musculoskeletal systems and generating simulations of human and animal movement.