Dr. R. Christopher Tomlinson, MB ChB, BSc, PhD, is Division Head of Neonatology at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, and Associate Professor in the Departments of Paediatrics and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. He is also the Womens Auxiliary Chair in Neonatology and Academic Lead for Paediatric Nutrition Education at the Lawson Centre.
A staff neonatologist at SickKids since 2007, Dr. Tomlinson has dedicated his career to improving outcomes for critically ill and extremely preterm infants through clinical leadership, research, education, and innovation in neonatal nutrition. His research focuses on the nutritional and metabolic needs of newborn infants, particularly protein and amino acid requirements, human milk feeding, and strategies to optimize growth and neurodevelopment in very preterm infants. He has been a co-investigator on numerous CIHR-funded studies and has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and educational resources.

Diane is a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, with over 35 years of experience in Neonatology and over 10 years in Neonatal Neurology. Her primary role is in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, where she is the Program Lead for Neonatal Neurocritical Care. Diane works closely with the Neonatology and Neurology Teams providing a liaison and point of contact for both. Diane follows patients in the neonatal neurology clinic and combined neurology/developmental follow up clinic with brain injury. She has been an invited speaker at several national and international forums and has made significant contributions to the literature in neonatal brain injury.

Dr. Grace van Leeuwen, MD, MSc, is Medical Director of the ECMO Program and Senior Attending Physician in Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care at Sidra Medicine (Qatar), and Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine � Qatar. She leads neonatal and pediatric ECMO transport services at the region�s national referral center and previously directed the first ECMO program in Brazil to earn the ELSO Award of Excellence. Dr. van Leeuwen serves as the Qatar representative on the SWAAC ELSO Steering Committee and is a member of the EuroELSO Pediatric ECPR Working Group. She holds a Master of Science in Clinical Service Operations from Harvard Medical School, with a focus on implementation science and change management in complex clinical systems. Co-Chair of the Congenital Heart Academy, she has organized 200+ webinars delivered to over 20,000 clinicians worldwide and serves as faculty for international ECMO courses and congresses. Her work bridges clinical excellence, program innovation, and the structured change management required to build safe, high-reliability ECMO programs.

Dr. Karen Choong is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Critical Care, and the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact at McMaster University. She is a graduate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and completed fellowships in Neonatology as well as Pediatric Critical Care at the University of Toronto. Professor Choong�s major research contributions are in the areas of PICU-based rehabilitation, patient-centered outcomes, and post-intensive care sequelae. She is the current Vice Chair and Chair elect of the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group.

Dr. Narvey began his training in Pediatrics at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg where he completed a year of further training in Neonatology. This was followed by two years of Neonatal fellowship at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Afterwards he began his career as a Neonatologist in the same city and over the 6 years he spent there, his career included being both the Fellowship Program Director and the Medical Director for a level II unit. In late 2010 he accepted a position in Winnipeg to become the Section Head of Neonatology and held this role until January 2025. He is past Chair of the Canadian Pediatric Society�s Fetus and Newborn Committee serving on the committee for 9 years. As of May 2026 he became the President Elect of the Canadian Pediatric Society.

Dr. Patricia A. Abboud is the Executive Director of Medical Services at Sidra Medicine in Doha Qatar where she works closely with the Chief Medical Officer and the leadership team to drive clinical administration, medical workforce management, and the delivery of Clinical Key Performance Indicators across the Medical Branch. Her other administrative responsibilities include her role as the Medical Director for the PICU and Lead for pediatric critical care transport medicine. Dr. Abboud joined Sidra Medicine in December 2017 as a Senior Attending physician in Pediatric Critical Care. She is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar. Her practice is to care for children with unstable or life-threatening conditions where she continues to work clinically in addition to her administrative duties. She completed her critical care fellowship training at Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center in Cincinnati Ohio USA and is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in General Pediatrics and Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. She is a Certified Physician Executive through the American Association for Physician Leadership and has her Master’s in Business Administration. She is a member of the editorial board for the American Association for Physician Leadership Journal

Professor of Pediatrics, Chair of the Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine of the Schulich School of Medicine, The University of Western Ontario. Also, the Director of Children’s Health Research Institute, Canada Research Chair in Maternal and Fetal Health and Douglas and Vivian Bocking Chair in Fetal and Newborn Growth. Internationally recognized researcher in molecular mechanisms of fetal and placental growth and his research focuses on mechanisms underlying fetal growth restriction, prematurity and pregnancy associated diseases such as preeclampsia and their impact of fetal growth and health and short- and long-term outcomes in neonatal, child and youth health.