Advisory Board

Education Activist & Youth Ambassador for Right to Learn
Gulafroz Akbari holds a degree in Economics and Management, as well as a diploma in Computer System Technology with a focus on Software Development. She is a dedicated education activist and human rights advocate. As a Youth Ambassador for the Rights to Learn initiative and a member of the Global Shapers community, she is committed to empowering women and promoting youth leadership on a global scale.
With over seven years of experience, she has facilitated workshops and seminars focused on peace, women’s rights, and youth empowerment in Afghanistan. Her previous roles include serving as an Ambassador for the Afghan Youth Peace Council, a leadership board member of the Contact Group for Peace and the White Assembly in Herat, Afghanistan, a delegate at the Pamir International Model United Nations, Chair of the International Student Community, and Deputy Country Coordinator for the International Youth Summit WSDA in New Zealand. Gulli also acts as a patient partner with PERC, providing expertise and advice to ensure primary health care is accessible and patient-centred, and that research in this area reflects patient priorities.

Additionally, she has completed various training programs in mental health, disability rights, and child protection. In recognition of her achievements, she received the Indian Speech as a Foreign Language award from the Indian Embassy in Herat in 2019.

Aref Alshaikhahmed worked as a Project Coordinator for UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and served as a Field Social Services Program Manager for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Near East in Syria.

Aref completed the Leadership in Community Engagement in McMaster’s Continuing Education program. The coursework included a module about “A Primer on Evaluation, Community-based Research, and Persuasive Asks: Data Driven Community Work”. This course prepared co-learners to engage in community-based research and evaluation (R&E) projects, by introducing prevalent research and evaluation methodologies, and engaging learners in exploring the practical, political, cultural, ethical, and interpersonal dimensions of doing research and evaluation within diverse urban communities.

Aref is a member of the Hamilton City Senior Advisory Committee, as well as two of its subcommittees: the Elder Abuse Working Group and the Communication Working Group. In addition, Aref is also a member of the McMaster Discovery Program Advisory Committee.

Ms. Barker is currently senior advisor and clinical support to the provincial Emergency Measures Assistance Team (EMAT) and Aboriginal Mental Health Consultant to the Cree Nations of James Bay. As well, Ms. Barker provides clinical support for Feathers of Hope, an Aboriginal Youth Initiative through the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth.

Ms. Barker started her career at Michigan State University where she worked with other practitioners to establish the St. Lawrence Hospital Geriatric Assessment Center.  The Center was one of the first in the US to focus on Geriatrics with a multi-disciplinary approach to senior’s health care.  As part of the Family Medicine department at MSU, Ms. Barker focused her research on caregiver stress and elder abuse. After moving to Canada in the late 1980’s, Ms. Barker focused her attention on Elder Abuse, Alzheimer’s and caregiver support.

Ms. Barker played a lead role is establishing the first provincial Elder Abuse Advocacy group and was instrumental in opening the first Abbeyfield House in Guelph.  She specialized in counselling caregivers to the elderly or persons with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. After moving to the Canadian Arctic, Ms. Barker moved her focus to Aboriginal and Indigenous Issues.  For five years, she provided mental health counselling and support to Inuit in Nunavut.  She then moved south to James Bay in Ontario where she provided clinical and mental health support to the residents of First Nations Communities along the James Bay Coast for over twenty years. Ms. Barker was also a member of the clinical support team for the Truth and Reconciliation commission.

Ron is an experienced family caregiver to his late father that lived well with Alzheimer’s for over 10+ years while partnering with his senior mother during their journey. He is an advocate in the dementia and aging communities with expertise in technology, aging in place, caregiving, and patient engagement. Ron is the co-chair for AGE-WELL NCE’s Older Adults and Caregiver Advisory Committee, which is Canada’s aging and technology network where he received their honorary fellows award for 2020. He is an advisor and presenter for groups such as the Alzheimer and Dementia Societies locally and internationally, the Centre for Aging &Brain Health Innovation at Baycrest, SE Health, and a member of City of Toronto’s Senior Strategy Accountability Table.

Ron is a guest lecturer for universities and colleges in programs such as nursing, social work, occupational therapy, and aging. He is also a mentor in residence representing the caregiver and patient voice with University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine’s Translational Research Program and is on the Executive Board with the Ontario SPOR Support Unit (SPOR – Strategy in Patient Oriented Research). Further in his past, Ron was the Founder and Executive Director of a Youth Career and Employment Centre that served over 30,000 young people, immigrants and career seekers in the Toronto area.

Ron can be found at www.rb33.com/ron and on Twitter @rb33canada.

Jennifer Boyle is an active patient partner in research and education. She is the Co-Chair of the Patient Advisory Committee for the Centre for Interprofessional Education at the University of Toronto. She became part of PERC because she sought to advocate for patient engagement in both education and research initiatives. Primary health care addresses the health needs at the individual patient and community levels. It integrates care, prevention, promotion and education. Ideally, primary health care is delivered by an interprofessional team with the patient being central. Likewise, individuals and the community should be engaged in primary health care research in meaningful ways with the aim to improve health care outcomes. By being an active member of PERC, Jennifer hopes to facilitate patient engagement in primary health care research.

Clare has been an active volunteer in community agencies for almost 20 years. Over that time, she has a garnered a wealth of experience and knowledge leading or being a member of committees related to disability, mental health, and sexual assault. In 2020, her focus shifted to improving the quality of life of people living with chronic health issues, and she became a patient advisor with Ontario Health-Cancer Care Ontario and the Canadian Cancer Society.

Mary Huang graduated from University of Waterloo for Systems Design Engineering and has MBA from INSEAD in France.  Mary lived the first 10 years of her life in Taiwan and has also lived and worked in Europe for 10 years with 2 years in London, 1 year in Paris, 1 year in Fontainebleau in France and 6 years in Prague in addition to short periods in Auckland, NZ and Malaysia.

Mary is a consultant specializing in big data, data warehouses and building planning and forecasting systems for clients such as eBay, Apple, J&J, Sandoz, OfficeMax, Fountarra (NZ Dairy) among others and have spoken at conferences in her field.   Having worked often in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams, Mary is a strategic and out of the box thinker focused on solutions. With her father being diagnosed with MCI then dementia in 2014 which was refined to mixed Alzheimer and Vascular Dementia in 2015 and her mother diagnosed with Vascular Dementia in 2017, Mary have been increasingly involved in advocacy.  There should be more person-centric care and more options for patients and families including creative ones  that involved out the box thinking.  In addition to some research projects, Mary has participated in the National Dementia Conference and has been involved with AGE-WELL and CABHI more recently since she believe strongly in research and technology.

Caron Leid, author of Alzheimer’s: What they forget to tell you. Caron is a dedicated mother and passionate student. Born in Swindon, England to George and Marlene Leid, immigrated to Canada in 1971 and then spent her formative years in Trinidad W.I. attending Holy Name Convent in Port of Spain. Her parents then moved back to Canada, to Brampton, Ontario where she currently resides. Caron pursues her passion for education by pursuing her Doctorate in Education. Her book has been featured on Chapters, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and international book stores. Caron received her undergraduate degree from University of Windsor, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Sociology. Her career and passion surrounded educating others and believes in the pay it forward principle. As the primary caregiver to her mother for the last 18 years and counting, Caron hopes that her story can inspire people that struggle with Alzheimer’s disease and the various aspects surrounding the disease.

JoAnn joined the PERC Advisory Board as a research partner to support the well-being of patients and their families. She has experience participating in a Pain Management research project, which led her to become involved with PERC. She experienced the benefits of a group of patients to learn, share experiences, research and giving back. JoAnn has the knowledge and experience with Mental Health and the issues that surround it. She worked for many years as a nursing assistant, providing care for all ages in health care with physical and intellectual limitations. She also worked as a supervisor and auditor in the printed plastic industry. JoAnn is passionate about reading, learning, resourcing and assisting others to find the answers they are looking for. She is still actively involved with helping others.