Dr. Janice Palaganas PhD RN NP ANEF FSSH FAAN
Global Interprofessional SIM Leader
Changing our interprofessional dance: How simulation can bridge gaps

Dr. Palaganas is currently the Director of Educational Innovation and Development for the Center for Medical Simulation (CMS) in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Lecturer for Harvard Medical School, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Pain Management. Dr. Palaganas has developed a passion in teamwork from her background as an emergency nurse, trauma nurse practitioner, director of emergency and critical care services, and faculty for schools of medicine, nursing, allied health, management, physician assistant program, and emergency medicine. As a behavioral scientist and former clinical nurse and hospital administrator, Dr. Palaganas’ passion is in using healthcare simulation as a platform for interprofessional education (IPE). She served as a committee member of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) recent report on measuring the impact of IPE on practice. Dr. Palaganas’ primary role is to develop health profession educators in an IPE setting. She previously led CMS’s Instructor Course educating educators in simulation globally and is now developing the world’s first interprofessional virtual campus as the principal investigator of a board grant awarded by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. Dr. Palaganas has shaped the field of simulation, leading the development of the Society for Simulation’s (SSH) Accreditation and Certification Program, authored SSH’s first textbook, “Defining Excellence in Simulation Programs” as editor-in-chief, urged the development of the recently released SSH dictionary, authored seminal articles, and co-authored field-changing research including the National League for Nursing (NLN) study for high-stakes assessment using simulation.

Dr. Adam Cheng MD FRCPC FAAP
International Debriefing Guru
Taming the Debriefing: Harnessing the Power of Learning Conversations

Dr. Cheng is Director of Research and Development, KidSIM Simulation Program at Alberta Children’s Hospital; Full Scientist, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, and Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at the University of Calgary in Calgary, Canada. He is chair and co-founder of the INSPIRE network, an international research simulation collaborative with over 200 institutions, focused on improving outcomes of critically ill children. He has served on the Board of Directors of both the Society for Simulation in Healthcare and the International Pediatric Simulation Society. He has provided leadership for various international simulation conferences and delivered lectures and workshops at conferences around the world. Dr. Cheng conducts research with interests in cardiac arrest, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and debriefing, and has led numerous multicenter simulation-based research trials. He is editor and co-founder of Debrief2Learn, and online, open access resource for simulation and medical educators. He has edited several textbooks and authored various American Heart Association Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation guidelines and scientific statements.

Dr. Alyshah Kaba PhD
IPE/C & Simulation Researcher Extraordinaire
Are we at risk of groupthink behaviours in our approach to teamwork training in simulation? The unintended consequences of Interprofessional Education and Collaboration

Alyshah Kaba is currently the Lead Research Scientist for eSIM Provincial Simulation Program and Process Improvement in the department of Quality Health Improvement within Alberta Health Services. Dr. Kaba completed her PhD in Medical Education at the University of Calgary, where she worked with the Health Human Factors Team at the W21C Innovation and Research Centre. For her dissertation work she received the prestigious CIHR Vanier Canadian Scholarship. Alyshah was awarded the Gold Medal of Excellence from the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR), recognizing her as one of the top 5% of doctoral students in the country, and the 2015 Emerging Young Investigators Award in Simulation Research from Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Dr. Kaba has had a breadth of international experience as a medical educator in curricular design, instructional methods, measurement, assessment, psychometrics, and simulation-based education. As a mixed-method researcher, she has co-authored a number of abstracts and peer reviewed publications. Alyshah is actively involved as an Adjunct Assistant Professor and holds a number of committee and leadership roles in the Cumming School of Medicine. Alyshah’s research interests are focused in simulation, interprofessional education and collaboration (IPE/C), social and behavioural factors impacting clinical decision making, competency based education, patient safety, and implementation science.