Panelists

Dr. Jane Barrat, PhD, Secretary General, International Federation on Ageing (IFA)

Dr. Jane Barratt is the Secretary General, International Federation on Ageing (IFA) an international NGO with general consultative status at the United Nations and its agencies including the World Health Organization (WHO). Her leadership drives the agenda for the world’s population ageing, with IFA strategy and portfolios being viewed through the lens of the action areas of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing. Among her many current positions Jane is a Member, Vision Academy, Director, Baycrest Health Sciences and Chair, Education Advisory Committee, Associate Scientist, Sinai Health System, Member, Global Committee, DR Barometer Program, Member, International Council for Adult Immunisation and Task, and CSO Representative, WHO COVAX Pillar “vaccine strategy” and Member of the European Interdisciplinary Council on Ageing Assembly.

Dr. Alex Mihailidis, Scientific Director & CEO, AGE-WELL

Dr. Mihailidis is the Scientific Director & CEO of AGE-WELL. He is also the Associate Vice-President for International Partnerships at the University of Toronto and a Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and in the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, with a cross appointment in the Department of Computer Science.

Dr. Mihailidis has been conducting research in the field of technology and environments to support older adults for the past 17 years, having published over 200 journal papers, conference papers, and abstracts in this field. Dr. Mihailidis is also very active in the rehabilitation engineering profession, currently as the Immediate Past-President for RESNA.

Joseph Wei, Managing Director, Technology Ventures Group, LLC

Joseph Wei is the Managing Director at Technology Ventures Group (TVG) which advises startups and corporations on strategy and product innovations. Previously, he led enterprise businesses at Inventec Corp., NEC, Silicon Graphics Inc., and DEC (acquired by HP). He is an IEEE Senior Member, a HKN member, an advisor/past-chair for the  Santa Clara Valley Section, the past-chair for Central Area and SFBA Consumer Technology Society. He is a planning committee member of the Vision Innovation Challenge Summit and Award Ceremony, served as the past-sponsorship chair for GHTC and past-advisor to WIE-ILC. Most recently, he focuses on partnerships with startups, VCs, corporations, non-profit and NGOs in developing innovative solutions for the older adults market. Joseph graduated from Tufts University with a BS in Electrical Engineering and completed professional courses in startup entrepreneurship from Stanford University.

Moderator

Imene Romdhane, Coordinator of Partnerships, IEEE SIGHT Montreal

Imene Romdhane serves as Coordinator of Partnerships at IEEE SIGHT Montreal. She is a Ph.D. Candidate at École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS), Montreal, and the Secretary of the IEEE ÉTS Student Branch.