We’re bringing together inspiring voices to energize patient, public and community engagement in health research.
You’ll hear from leaders at the forefront of national health research strategy, and thinkers deepening our learning around equity, diversity and inclusion. We’re also grateful to bring Indigenous health researchers and knowledge keepers to support engagement and collaboration with Indigenous communities.
This provincial event advances the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research in BC.
Registration for the conference is now closed.
Learn more about the exciting day ahead for Putting Patients First 2023:
This year’s theme is “Changing landscapes and learning together for sustainable patient-oriented research.”
24 October 2023
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront, Vancouver
Hybrid event. See below for hybrid sessions.
Conference sessions
Registration: 8 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.
Time |
Session information |
Format & location |
8:00 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. |
Registration
|
Ballroom |
Opening session: 8:50 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Time |
Session information |
Format & location |
8:50 a.m. – 8:55 a.m. |
Initial welcome
|
Ballroom,Hybrid |
8:55 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. |
Opening prayer
|
Ballroom,Hybrid |
9:15 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. |
Welcoming remarks
Speakers:
|
Ballroom,Hybrid |
Keynote session: 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Time |
Session information |
Format & location |
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. |
Keynote: Strategy for patient-oriented research: Vision and priorities for the future
This exciting Keynote will feature Amy Lang, the executive director of patient oriented research from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Together with other attendees, you’ll learn about priorities for patient engagement and envision the future of patient-oriented research.
Speaker:
Facilitator:
|
Ballroom,Hybrid |
Break: 10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Time |
Session information |
Format & location |
10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. |
Break |
Breakout sessions 1: 10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Please choose one breakout session to attend from 10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Time |
Session information |
Format & location |
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. |
Breakout session #1a – Learning together: Building trainee capacity in patient-oriented research
Are you a trainee interested in patient-oriented research (POR)? Want to learn and discuss ways to improve the training experience in POR?
In this session, you’ll learn about challenges, opportunities and best practices for training the next generation of researchers in POR, drawing from real-world experiences and diverse perspectives. The speakers will also highlight collaborative strategies for capacity building in POR trainees.
Panel Chair:
Panel members:
Organized by: Canadian Primary Care Research Network (CPCRN) |
Ballroom,Hybrid |
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. |
Breakout session #1b – Healthcare research planning: Transforming the dialogue through the inclusion of diverse community voices
This session will highlight the importance of expanding our approach to patient engagement in health care research and planning to include consideration of resident collectives through community engagement.
It will consider the importance of the inclusion of communities as a point of contact for research and policy, review engagement strategies through a diversity lens, and consider two applications in health service delivery in BC: Community Health Centres and Emergency Health Services.
Speakers:
Organized by: BC Rural Health Network |
Port of San Francisco / New York,Hybrid |
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. |
Breakout session #1c – Health data for all: How public engagement drives the work of Health Data Research Network Canada (HDRN Canada)
This session will highlight the different ways in which HDRN Canada engages with the public on issues related to health data. You will also have the opportunity to share your perspectives on the benefits and risks of health data collection, sharing and use.
Speakers:
Organized by: Health Data Research Network Canada (HDRN Canada) |
Port of Singapore,Hybrid |
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. |
Breakout session #1d – Building knowledge together: Cultivating kinship with Indigenous Knowledge Keepers to engage in research and embody Indigenous measures of success at a kidney research network
This session will cover how Can-SOLVE CKD is working together with Indigenous Elders to respectfully engage Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers in research and embody Indigenous measures of success.
The speakers will share learnings from working with Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and Elders in the Wabishki Bizhiko Skaanj learning pathway, and discuss the 6R’s of culturally relevant engagement as well as Indigenous measures of success.
Speakers:
Organized by: Canadians Seeking Solutions and Innovations to Overcome Chronic Kidney Disease Network (Can-SOLVE CKD) |
Harbour III,Hybrid |
Lunch: 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.
Time |
Session information |
Format & location |
11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. |
Lunch |
Plenary session: 12:45 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Time |
Session information |
Format & location |
12:45 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. |
Plenary: POR and EDI, challenges, and opportunities to shape a more equitable health care system
Join an inspiring plenary and envision how we can shape a more equitable health care system together. Harlan Pruden, Erin Michalak and Lydia-Joi Marshall will join in conversation to discuss patient-oriented research and equity, diversity and inclusion, and challenges and opportunities for the future.
Speakers:
Facilitator:
|
Ballroom,Hybrid |
Transition to breakout sessions 2: 1:45 p.m. – 1:55 p.m.
Time |
Session information |
Format & location |
1:45 p.m. – 1:55 p.m. |
Transition to breakout sessions 2 |
Breakout sessions 2: 1:55 p.m. – 2:55 p.m.
Please choose one breakout session to attend.
* Please note that breakout session #2a takes place from 2:10 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. All other breakout sessions in this time slot take place from 1:55 p.m. – 2:55 p.m.
Time |
Session information |
Format & location |
2:10 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. * |
Breakout session #2a – From vision to reality: Envisioning the future of patient and public engagement in research
Ever wonder what the future of engagement will look like in research? Want to transform the system by bringing your vision to reality?
It all starts here. Come unlock the future of patient and public engagement in this hands-on, interactive workshop, where we will flex our future thinking mindsets and challenge the current state of engagement to inspire new opportunities.
We will build an understanding of change as we reflect on our systems and the how the drivers of transformation are interconnected. Lastly, we will co-build possible scenarios of what we want the future of patient and public engagement to look like.
Speakers:
Organized by: PASSERELLE – SPOR National Training Entity
* Please note that this breakout session takes place from 2:10 – 3:40. |
Port of Singapore,Hybrid |
1:55 p.m. – 2:55 p.m. |
Breakout session #2b – Learning Health Systems in BC: An introduction and overview
This session will introduce the concepts and structure of Learning Health Systems (LHS) and two of the models currently used in Canada. Two case studies will be presented in the context of these models, which will be followed by questions and answers to invite a fulsome discussion on LHS practices and their future in BC’s health system.
Speakers:
Facilitator:
Organized by: BC SUPPORT Unit Vancouver Centre |
Ballroom,Hybrid |
1:55 p.m. – 2:55 p.m. |
Breakout session #2c – Co-creating knowledge translation products related to pregnancy loss and bereavement
This session will include presentations on two projects: one on co-creating a podcast to support parents who have experienced stillbirth and another on improving access, understanding and dignity during miscarriage recovery.
After the presentations, you’ll be able to participate in an interactive discussion about lessons learned from co-creating knowledge translation products and the essential partnerships with people with lived experience.
This session will be of particular value to those interested in conducting and participating in patient-oriented research related to sensitive and difficult topics such as pregnancy loss and bereavement.
Presentation 1 – Co-producing a podcast to support parents who experience stillbirth
Speakers:
Moderator:
Presentation 2 – Improving access, understanding, and dignity during miscarriage recovery in British Columbia
Speaker:
Organized by: BC SUPPORT Unit Island Centre |
Port of San Francisco / New York,Hybrid |
1:55 p.m. – 2:55 p.m. |
Breakout session #2d – Putting residents first: The power of engagement
In this session, the speakers will share first-hand experiences of the power of engagement and factors contributing to sustainable, partnered approaches to research in long-term care and assisted living.
You’ll also learn about a co-created research priority setting process to identify timely, impactful and relevant topics for research in long-term care and assisted living.
Speakers:
Organized by: BC SUPPORT Unit Fraser Centre (Long-Term Care Research Partners group) |
Harbour III,Hybrid |
Break: 2:55 p.m. – 3:10 p.m.
Time |
Session information |
Format & location |
2:55 p.m. – 3:10 p.m. |
Break |
Breakout sessions 3: 3:10 p.m. – 4:10 p.m.
Please choose one breakout session to attend from 3:10 p.m. – 4:10 p.m.
Time |
Session information |
Format & location |
3:10 p.m. – 4:10 p.m. |
Breakout session #3a – Applications of Indigenous cultural safety frameworks in patient-oriented research
This session will define cultural safety and humility, situate Indigenous history in “research”, explain why principles of JEDI (justice, equity, diversity and inclusion) are not sufficient for Indigenous peoples, and highlight relevant topics and frameworks to consider when integrating Indigenous cultural safety into patient-oriented research.
Following the presentation, you will also participate interactive group work and a fulsome group discussion.
Speakers:
Facilitator:
Organized by: British Columbia Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research (BC NEIHR)
|
Ballroom,Hybrid |
3:10 p.m. – 4:10 p.m. |
Breakout session #3b – “There is strength in numbers!” How an action group of people living with dementia developed a guide for taking collective action
The Flipping Stigma on its Ear Toolkit (flippingstigma.com) was developed by an Action Group of people living with dementia to educate others about the stigma and discrimination that many with dementia experience on a regular basis.
Following the toolkit’s completion and its success in reaching people around the world, the Action Group, in partnership with the research team, developed a “How to Guide” to share how people, especially those living with dementia, can work together to create change.
In this presentation, research team and Action Group members will present the how-to guide, and share insights about the guide’s development and what we learned about taking collective action together.
Speakers:
Organized by: BC SUPPORT Unit Island Centre |
Port of San Francisco / New York,Hybrid |
3:10 p.m. – 4:10 p.m. |
Breakout session #3c – Building bridges, breaking silos: Fostering a knowledge mobilization network
Speaker:
Moderator:
Organized by: CHILD-BRIGHT Network |
ONLINE ONLY,Viewing in Port of Hong Kong |
3:10 p.m. – 4:10 p.m. |
Breakout session #3d – British Columbia – Patient-Oriented, Practice-based Research Collaboration (BC-POPRC) and the accompanying Patient Engagement Research Collaborative (PERC)
Join this panel discussion to learn how patient partners are helping guide practice-based research programs in BC.
The members of two practice-based research collaborations — BC POPRC and PERC — will discuss different ways that patients have been engaged with various competitions, some lessons learned, and how this engagement with patients could continue. The speakers will highlight the advantages of partnering with patients to build research capacity in practice settings and how this would enhance learning health system work.
Speakers:
Facilitators:
Organized by: BC SUPPORT Unit Vancouver Centre |
Harbour III,Hybrid |
Transition to closing session: 4:10 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.
Time |
Session information |
Format & location |
4:10 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. |
Transition to closing session |
Closing Session: 4:20 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Time |
Session information |
Format & location |
4:20 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. |
Closing remarks
Speakers:
|
Ballroom,Hybrid |
4:45 p.m. – 5 p.m. |
Closing Prayer
|
Ballroom,Hybrid |

Elder Roberta Price
For over 30 years, Elder Roberta Price has actively shared her leadership, wisdom and teachings at UBC and throughout the Lower Mainland to assist both Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members to achieve improved outcomes in health care. A member of the Coast Salish Snuneymuxw and Cowichan Nations, she has been instrumental in helping to create shared spaces for both Indigenous and Western approaches to healing and health. Her ongoing involvement and leadership in research projects have been key to the continued work of decolonizing health care and creating cultural safety and equity for Indigenous patients.

Keynote Speaker: Amy Lang
Executive Director of Patient Oriented Research, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Amy Lang is the Executive Director of Patient Oriented Research at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canada’s federal health research funding agency. As Executive Director, Amy provides leadership and expertise for Canada’s Strategy for Patient Oriented Research and other patient-oriented research initiatives across CIHR.
Amy has spent her career in government working to embed people’s priorities and lived experiences into public policies and services. She founded Health Quality Ontario’s patient and public engagement program, in four years shifting a highly technical organization to one where patient engagement was ‘the way to do business’. More recently Amy led the development of Ontario Health’s first patient and caregiver and stakeholder engagement strategies and its French Language Services framework, with significant emphasis on equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism. A settler based in Toronto, Amy is grateful to live, work and raise her family in the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Annishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples.
Amy has a BA and MA in Sociology from McGill University and a Ph.D. in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Plenary Speaker: Lydia-Joi Marshall
President of the Board of Directors, Black Health Alliance
Lydia-Joi Marshall is a proud Caribbean-Canadian woman who champions issues in health equity. Lydia-Joi currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors at the Black Health Alliance, a not-for-profit organization that works tirelessly to advocate for those who have been marginalized by anti-Black racism.
She lends her expertise from her BSc in Biology from Western University and MSc in Human Genetics from Howard University.
Lydia-Joi consistently strives to challenge diverse groups to examine systemic disparities, with a focus on tissue and organ donation equity. This work has been elevated through many platforms, including multi-disciplinary published research, leading dynamic international workshops, and most recently as a TEDxToronto speaker.
Whether in the lab or travelling the globe, Lydia-Joi embodies the spirit of unity and growth. She brings this energy to all she pursues, with the intention of bringing a call to action to our collective call for equity.

Plenary Speaker: Harlan Pruden
Co-founder, Two-Spirit Dry Lab
Indigenous Knowledge Translation Lead, Chee Mamuk, BC Centre for Disease Control
Managing Editor, Two-Spirit Journal
Advisory Member, Institute of Gender and Health, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Harlan Pruden (pronouns – anything said mindfully and respectfully) is nehiyô/First Nations Cree who works with and for the Two-Spirit community locally, nationally, and internationally. Harlan is a co-founder of the Two-Spirit Dry Lab and the Indigenous Knowledge Translation Lead at Chee Mamuk, an Indigenous health program at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. Harlan is also the Managing Editor of TwoSpiritJournal.com and an advisory member for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Institute of Gender and Health.

Plenary Speaker: Erin Michalak
Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Champion, BC SUPPORT Unit
Network Lead and Founder, CREST.BD
Erin (she/her/hers) gratefully settled in British Columbia in Canada in 2001. She carries her mother’s surname, Michalak (pronounced mee-hal-ak), and is of Polish heritage on her grandfather’s side. Erin lives in Xwesam (Robert’s Creek) which means “when the water bubbles” according to local shishalh elders of the Coast Salish peoples. She lives there with her husband, Richard, an ever-growing collection of farm animals, and is a keen mushroom forager in the fall.
Erin’s educational background is in psychology, with a PhD from the University of Wales College of Medicine in the UK. Her research expertise lies in lived experience engagement in research, mental health, digital technologies, knowledge translation and quality of life. She has published over 150 scientific articles and several books and been awarded the 2018 CIHR Gold Leaf Prize for Transformation in Patient Engagement.
About Putting Patients First
The best care is delivered by health systems that listen to and act on patients’ voices. That’s why it’s vital for people with lived experience and communities to participate in research and help put this evidence into practice.
Putting Patients First (PPF) is an annual conference that fosters collaboration and learning about patient experiences in the health system. Join us on October 24 in Vancouver, BC, to help build a provincial care system with patients and families at the centre. There is no cost to attend.
This year’s theme is “Changing landscapes and learning together for sustainable patient-oriented research.”
Goals:
- To host the Putting Patients First conference as a provincial event advancing the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR)
- To imagine the future of patient-oriented research in BC, including sustainability and growth.
- To reflect on the work on and impact of SPOR throughout the province and Canada
- To offer an opportunity for collaboration on patient-oriented research in BC and ways to bridge the gap between research evidence and health care practice and policy
FAQ
Who can attend?
Patients, people with lived experience, health researchers, care providers and health system decision makers are welcome to attend.
Where will the conference take place?
Putting Patients First is a hybrid event. It will be hosted in-person in Vancouver, BC at the Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront. Please see below on information on hybrid sessions.
Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront
1133 W Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6E 3T3
https://www.pinnacleharbourfronthotel.com/
Will masks and hand sanitizers be provided at the event?
We are encouraging all attendees and staff to wear masks to protect themselves and others. Masks and hand sanitizers will be available at the check-in desk.
Is this a fragrance-free event?
Yes. Please refrain from wearing cologne, perfume or other scented products.
I registered to attend in-person, but can no longer make the event or want to attend virtually instead. What should I do?
Please send an email to ppf@healthresearchbc.ca with a note that you can no longer attend in-person. We’ll send you information about how you can attend virtually and make space for people who would like to join us in-person.
I registered to attend virtually. How do I watch the sessions?
For virtual attendees, a link to the conference app will be shared a day before the event. The app will provide access to the live stream sessions. Look for an email from Sally Clelford of Face 2 Face Events Management for details.
Will the sessions be recorded?
Session recordings will be available on the conference app within a few days after the event. Recordings will be available for 3 months. Session recordings will also be archived at https://www.youtube.com/@bcsupportunit.
Are you accepting abstracts?
No, we are not accepting abstracts for the 2023 conference.
I have a question. Who do I contact?
Please email your questions to: ppf@healthresearchbc.ca.
Where can I learn about previous years of PPF?
View our past videos and conference guides online.

Organized in partnership with:
- British Columbia Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research (BC NEIHR)
- Canadian Primary Care Research Network
- Can-SOLVE CKD
- CHILD-BRIGHT
- Health Data Research Network Canada
- Passerelle – SPOR National Training Entity