Howard Bergman, MD, FCFP, FRCPC, FCAHS C.Q., is Professor of Family Medicine and Medicine (Geriatrics) with associate appointments in Oncology and the School of Population and Global Health.

Dr. Bergman is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS), a Fellow of the College of Family Physicians and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

In 2023, Dr. Bergman was named Chevalier de Ordre National du Québec,

He was Chair of the McGill Department of Family Medicine (2012-2019) and Assistant Dean, International Affairs from (2019-2023); the inaugural Joseph Kaufmann Chair in Geriatric Medicine (2001-2015); Director of Geriatric Medicine, Jewish General Hospital (JGH) and McGill University (1993-2009). Acting Physician-in-Chief and Chief of Medicine, JGH (2001-2002); Vice-President, Scientific Affairs of the Fonds de la recherche en Santé du Québec (FRSQ) (2009- 2011).

He is recognized for research influencing policy change in primary care, aging, Alzheimer’s Disease and frailty, with more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and in 2024, as one the 50 most cited (first author) Canadian primary care researchers.

In 2000, as a member of the Quebec Healthcare Reform Commission, he authored the recommendation creating the Family Medicine Groups (GMF).

In 2009, he authored the Quebec Alzheimer Plan. In 2019, he chaired the CAHS Panel assessing Evidence and Best Practices for the development of a Canadian Dementia Strategy, at the request of Public Health Agency of Canada.

In November 2023, the Seniors Minister mandated Dr. Bergman to draft the inaugural Quebec Ministerial Policy on Alzheimer's disease.

Professor Gustavo Duque, MD, Ph.D., FRACP, is a geriatrician and biomedical scientist with a research interest in the mechanisms, potential therapies, and biomarkers for age-related bone loss, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, osteosarcopenia, and frailty in older persons. He is also looking at the effect of vitamin D, exercise, and proteins on bone and muscle mass.
His initial training included Internal Medicine at Javeriana University (Colombia) and Geriatric Medicine, which he completed at McGill University in Montreal (Canada). Subsequently, he obtained his Ph.D. at McGill University in 2003 with a thesis entitled ‘Molecular Changes of the Aging Osteoblast’ under the supervision of Dr. Richard Kremer. Between 2003 and November 2007, he joined the McGill University Medical School faculty as a member of the Division of Geriatric Medicine and as a Researcher at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research. In November 2007, he moved to Australia to join the Faculty as Associate Professor and Head of the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Director of the Musculoskeletal Ageing Research Program at Sydney Medical School Nepean -University of Sydney. In 2012, he was promoted to Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney. Between 2015 and 2022, Professor Duque held the positions of Chair of Medicine and Director of the Australian Institute for Musculoskeletal Science at the University of Melbourne.
In 2022, Prof. Duque assumed the roles of Full Professor, Dr. Joseph Kaufmann Chair in Geriatric Medicine, Director - RUISSS McGill Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Health of Seniors/ Simone & Edouard Shouela (CEDurable), and Principal Investigator at the Bone, Muscle & Geroscience Group of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, one of the official journals of the Gerontological Society of America.
As a Geriatrician and Clinician-Investigator, Prof. Duque has implemented several Falls and Fractures clinics (the most recent ones at the MUHC and the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal) where patients are comprehensively assessed for falls and fracture risk. His clinical trials unit conducts several trials testing the effect of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for age-related musculoskeletal diseases. He is the author of more than 280 peer-reviewed articles and multiple book chapters and has edited five books in the aging and musculoskeletal fields (two on osteosarcopenia).

Martine Puts, RN, PhD, FAAN, is a professor at the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto. She holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in the Care for Frail older adults. Her research focuses on improving care for frail older adults and older adults living with frailty.

Dr. Clarfield received his MD from the University of Toronto in 1975. He specialized first in Family Medicine, next in Community Medicine and finally in Geriatrics. Together with his wife, Dr. Ora Paltiel, he moved to Montreal. He was with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University from 1978-1992 where chief of Geriatrics at the JGH as well as head of the McGill Division of Geriatric Medicine. Clarfield was the Assistant Dean of Students in the Faculty of Medicine, reaching the rank of Professor. He maintains an adjunct status at McGill University.

In 1992, he moved to Israel and from 1994-2001 was Head of the Division of Geriatrics at the Ministry of Health, after which he was appointed Head of Geriatrics at the Soroka Hospital and Professor of Geriatrics at Ben-Gurion University (BGU) in Beer-sheva where he now enjoys Emeritus status. From 2009-18, he was the Director of BGU's Medical School for International Health and now head the Faculty's Centre for Global Health. He is also chairman of the National Council for Geriatrics of Israel's Ministry of Health.

He has a long-standing interest and experience in Global Health and in particular the situation of older persons in low and middle income countries. He recently spent a sabbatical in Ethiopia and is consultant to their Ministry of Health relating to the National Plan on Healthy Ageing.

Dr Clarfield has travelled and published widely and is an eclectic writer. Research interests the dementias, the organization of health care services, aging in Low Income countries, medical history and ethics.

Dr Clarfield has been blessed with 3 children and 3 grandchildren. He enjoys several hobbies, including performing folk music (in both official languages) with his band, "The Unstrung Heroes".

Manuel Montero-Odasso, MD, PhD, FRCPC, AGSF, FGSA, is an internist, geriatrician,
and clinician-scientist who is currently Professor at the Departments of Medicine (Geriatric Medicine) and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, at the University of Western Ontario, and Director of the Gait & Brain Lab at Parkwood Institute, London, Ontario.

He has extensive clinical, teaching and research expertise in the care of older adults that are vulnerable to falls and cognitive impairment. His research focuses on how cognitive and motor decline interact with aging and neurodegeneration and predict dementia, falls and frailty. As team leader of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) he leads clinical trials (SYNERGIC Trials), to delay dementia and falls in individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment by using personalized medicine with multidomain lifestyle interventions. He is the Chair of the World Fall Guidelines, an initiative that include 100 international experts across 40 countries that developed and validated clinical practice guidelines for fall prevention and management.
Dr Montero-Odasso has published over 250 articles in peer-reviewed journals, which have been very impactful as he was listed among the top 2% of scientists in the world for 2023, as identified by Stanford University. The list includes scientists who have published multiple highly cited papers across various fields, using metrics such as citation impact and h-index.

He is Editor and author of over 30 books and book chapters, and has obtained over $9.5 Million in peer-reviewed funding from CIHR, CCNA, and the Weston Brain Institute, among others agencies.

He has received several national and international accolades including the American Geriatrics Society New Investigator Award, the Schulich Clinician Scientist Award, the Premier of Ontario Excellence Research Award, and the CIHR New Investigator Award. He has provided over 100 international presentations as a key note speaker. Dr Montero-Odasso serves as President of the Canadian Geriatrics Society, and was inducted as one of the 2019 Top 10 most influential Hispanic Canadians for his contribution in Medicine and Science.

Dr. Rubin Becker is a specialist in Geriatric Medicine and Internal Medicine. He was the Founding Director of the Geriatric Assessment Unit in 1981 and the Division of Geriatrics in 1982. Dr. Becker served as the Chief of Internal Medicine at the Jewish General Hospital (JGH) from 1994 to 2024.

Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Becker has held several key positions. He was the Chief of Medicine at the Jewish Rehabilitation Hospital and the Director of Professional Services at Mount Sinai Hospital. Additionally, he served as the Program Director for the Core Internal Medicine and Fellowship Program and was the Interim Chief of the Department of Medicine at JGH.

Dr. Joyce Lee is a physician specialized in the comprehensive assessment and treatment of older adults with complex medical problems, especially Parkinson disease and related disorders, and dementia. Joyce is the founder and was the physician lead of the Geriatric Clinic for Parkinson's at North York General Hospital from 2007 to 2021.
Joyce is one of the co-founders of the Five Weekend Care of the Elderly Certificate Course at University of Toronto, an annual course which has educated many family physicians in Canada since its inception.
Her research interests include dementia, medication use and the management of Parkinson disease in older adults.
Joyce has relocated to Edmonton, Alberta in 2021 and is currently the physician lead of the Geriatric Parkinson's Assessment Program at the Movement Disorders Program of University of Alberta. She hopes to bring this novel model of care to more Albertans and Canadians with Parkinson disease.

Sathya Karunananthan holds a PhD in epidemiology from McGill University. She is Assistant Professor in the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Her research focuses on identifying and reducing inequities in access to healthcare for older adults living with dementia, with a specific focus on linguistic minority populations. Sathya also has expertise in the development of guidance to improve research practices and reduce research waste.

Dr. Chertkow is a practicing cognitive neurologist at Toronto’s Baycrest Health Sciences Centre, where he Is also Senior Scientist and Chair in Cognitive Neurology and Innovation at Baycrest’s Rotman Research Institute. Prior to 2018 he was a Professor at McGill University in Montreal Canada. He is now a Professor in the Dept. of Medicine (Neurology) at University of Toronto. At Baycrest he is also director of the new Bank Family Clinical Trials Unit and the Kimel Family Central for Brain Health. Dr. Chertkow is an active researcher in the area of dementia. His major areas of research interest include early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease and prediction of deterioration in individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment, and therapy of cognitive disorders in Alzheimer Disease and Frontotemporal dementia using neuromodulation approaches such as transcranial direct current stimulation. Dr. Chertkow’s lab is now focused on developing transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as ancillary therapy in elderly individuals with neurodegenerative disease. Thirty-two of his publications have over 100 citations, and three of the publications have been cited over 2000 times. He is senior author of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), which has become an international standard for diagnosis of MCI, has been cited over 21,000 times and is the most cited paper in the field of neurology in the world in the 21^st century. Dr. Chertkow is on Stanford University’s 2020 list of “Top 2% Cited Scientists”. In 2014 Dr. Chertkow became the Scientific Director for the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA), a national organization established by the Canadian government via CIHR and partners. CCNA, now approved for a five year Phase 3 beginning in April 2024, is the largest grant every awarded in dementia research in Canada, and brings together 320 leading Canadian dementia researchers to establish national teams and platforms to produce breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of the dementing illnesses.