The Issue Speed Lunch is being held on Thursday, December 17 from 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Pan Pacific Hotel the Global Civic Policy Society will host its second Issue Speed Lunch. Academics, researchers and community leaders will give their insights into how to address the problems of addiction and mental illness which plague our city.
The following list of speakers, and their bios are listed below.
Dr. Max Cynader
Dr. Max Cynader is the Founding Director of the Brain Research Center which has over 200 faculty members across British Columbia. Last year he received a $20 million grant from the federal government. He has made important contributions to the understanding of mechanisms by which early use or misuse of the brain affects it’s functioning for the rest of the organism’s life. He often speaks to the general public about the importance of understanding the brain processes. Dr. Cynader also helped found two biotechnology companies contributing to the successful commercialization of technology development and research results. More information can be obtained through www.brain.ubc.ca
Dr. Gabor Maté
Dr. Mate is an award-winning author. His recent book In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction is a number one Canadian bestseller, winner of the Hubert Evans prize for literary nonfiction, nominated finalist for the Vancouver Book Award and is about to be published in the US. Dr. Gabor Maté is the staff physician at a clinic at Vancouver's Downtown Eastside where many of his patients suffer from mental illness, drug addiction and HIV, or all three. Dr. Maté has had regular medical columns in The Vancouver Sun and the National Globe and Mail. More information can be obtained on www.drgabormate.com.
Dr. Martin Andresen
Dr. Martin Andresen is an economic geographer who is a professor in the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University. His research involves understanding crime through the lens of geography including spatial crime analysis, geography of crime, environmental criminology, applied spatial statistics and geographical information analysis, (critical) quantitative methods. Dr. Andresen is the co-author of Classics in Environmental Criminology. He has conducted highly regarded studies on the economic evaluation of North America's only supervised injection site. More information can be obtained on http://www.sfu.ca/~andresen/
Dr. Bill MacEwan
Dr. Bill MacEwan is a psychiatrist who is directorof the University of B.C.'s schizophrenia program and the psychosis program at St. Paul's Hospital. He also runs the Fraser South Early Psychosis Intervention Program at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock, He is an expert on the impact of methamphetamine on the brain. Dr. MacEwan visits the hotels in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside each week where many of his clients live. He reaches out to those who for various reasons are unable to access the traditional health system. More information can be obtained on http://www.vanmag.com/News_and_Features/City_Life/The_Doctor_is_Out
Judge Thomas Gove
Judge Thomas Gove is Vancouver's Downtown Community Court presiding judge. Judge Gove was instrumental in the design and establishment of the court and is dedicated to reforming how crime is addressed in the community. Vancouver's Downtown Community Court hears cases involving most offences committed in downtown Vancouver. For example, theft from auto, shoplifting, mischief, assault and drug possession. Judge Gove is the recipient of the Tony Pantages Medal from the Justice Institute of British Columbia. The award recognizes "a person in the justice system who has made a significant contribution to improving the system for the benefit of British Columbians. More information can be obtained on http://www.criminaljusticereform.gov.bc.ca./en/justice_reform_projects/community_co urt/team/index.html
Dr. Michael Krausz
Dr. Krausz is a research scientist in the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHEOS) at St. Paul's Hospital. He is also a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Inner Change Society. He was responsible for major studies about mental illness among intravenous drug users and was a leader in the German Heroin trial which was the biggest randomized clinical trial in Addiction Research in Europe. After over 20 years in research positions in Germany he was selected as the first Providence Health Care BC Leadership Chair in Addiction Research in 2005. He is currently developing a Center for Concurrent Disorders at UBC and is taking a leadership role in the SALOME Project and the $22 million federal mental illness initiative. More information can be obtained on http://www.innerchangefoundation.org/