What Brought us Here, Won't Take us There

Explore the future of health care with Dr. Alika Lafontaine, former President of the Canadian Medical Association. In this lecture, Dr. Lafontaine will discuss the role of interdisciplinary collaborative approaches in shaping the future healthcare landscape. Following the lecture, Dr. Verna Yiu, Interim Provost and Vice-President (Academic), will moderate a Q&A.

This lecture is hosted by the College of Health Sciences and is associated with the Interprofessional Launch, which brings together over 1,000 health sciences students, patients and regulatory bodies to build relationships, collaboration and understanding across disciplines.

No registration required. Seating at the live event is on a first-come, first-served basis. Or watch live via Zoom.

About Alika Lafontaine

Dr. Alika Lafontaine is an award-winning physician, social innovator, and the first Indigenous physician listed by the Medical Post as one of Canada’s 50 Most Powerful Doctors. Grounded in a mixed Indigenous ancestry of Metis, Oji-Cree and Pacific Islander, Dr. Lafontaine has served in provincial and national medical leadership positions for almost two decades.

From 2013-2017 he co-led the Indigenous Health Alliance, one of the most ambitious Indigenous health transformation projects in Canadian history. At its peak, it represented more than 150 First Nations and successfully advocated for $68 million in funding for health transformation across their traditional territories.

In the summer of 2022, Dr. Lafontaine became the first Indigenous doctor and the youngest physician to lead the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) in its 156-year history. In his presidency year (summer 2022-2023), the CMA successfully advocated for the largest Federal investment in healthcare since 2004 as well as achieving breakthroughs in decades-old issues like pan-Canadian licensure, health data sharing and health human resource planning.

Dr. Lafontaine is a Canada top 40 under 40 recipient, Maclean’s Top Health Care Innovator, and the youngest recipient of an Indspire award. He continues to write and speak frequently on the politics of healthcare, implementing and scaling equity, redesigning health systems, and effective advocacy.