Building an Inclusive Life Sciences Future
Life Sciences Ontario (LSO) and Shift Health are pleased to present ‘Building an Inclusive Life Sciences Future’, a series of workshops aimed at developing a vision and action plan for inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA) within Canada’s life sciences ecosystem.
Stakeholders across the life sciences sector have publicly committed to embedding IDEA within their organizations. While progress has been made, initiatives are often fragmented, limited in scope and inconsistently applied across the sector. There is a need for coordinated, sector-wide, action-oriented strategies and approaches critical to embedding IDEA within organizational practices, cultures, and research and innovation systems. A commitment to embedding IDEA within the ecosystem today will enable a stronger and more competitive Canada in the future.
Click here to view the summary report for “Workshop 1: Uncovering Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Challenges to Drive Action in Ontario’s Life Sciences Sector”
LSO and Shift Health hosted the first BILSF workshop on December 2nd, 2021, bringing the life sciences community together to align on key IDEA challenges within the sector. The outputs of this workshop will be built upon through ongoing engagement with the life sciences community, with the ultimate goal of developing a plan that defines actions that stakeholders in the sector can undertake to address the sector’s most pressing IDEA challenges.
Workshop 2: Exploring How to Address Inconsistent Views about the Importance of IDEA in Canada’s Life Sciences Sector
Inspired by the outputs of the inaugural BILSF workshop in late 2021, Life Sciences Ontario (LSO) and Shift Health hosted their 2nd virtual workshop through Building an Inclusive Life Sciences Future.
This workshop convened diverse stakeholders across the sector to share knowledge, tools and approaches that can be deployed to support Canadian life sciences organizations—especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)—in making greater progress toward IDEA.
Workshop participants were provided with the opportunity to:
Gather perspectives from IDEA experts on the importance of IDEA to Canada’s life sciences sector
Hear from senior leaders from large and small life sciences organizations about actions that can be taken to accelerate meaningful impact in IDEA
Learn how public and private funders/investors consider IDEA when making and monitoring investment decisions.
The workshop ignited powerful discussions focused on the progress the sector has made in IDEA, while acknowledging that collective action is required to drive durable change.
Click here to view the summary report for “Workshop 2: Exploring How to Address Inconsistent Views about the Importance of IDEA in Canada’s Life Sciences Sector”
Meet the Steering Committee
Dr. Mahadeo Sukhai
Director of Research and Chief Inclusion and Accessibility Officer, Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB); Assistant Professor (Adjunct), Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen’s University
Past BILSF Committee Members
Partner Organizations
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Life Sciences Ontario (LSO) is a not-for-profit organization that represents and promotes Ontario’s vibrant and diverse life sciences sector. Members of LSO include life sciences companies, entrepreneurs, members of academia, and service providers from many different areas of the life sciences ecosystem, including biopharmaceuticals, agriculture, agri-food, the bioeconomy, medical devices, animal health, environmental technologies, and more. Ultimately, LSO’s mission is to encourage commercial success throughout this diverse sector by collaborating with governments, academia, industry and other life sciences organizations in Ontario and across Canada. For more information, visit lifesciencesontario.ca.
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Shift Health brings a science mindset to strategy consulting for the health research and innovation ecosystem. Working with governments, academia, industry, not-for-profits, healthcare providers and patient partners across Canada and around the world, Shift Health is helping to create the future of healthcare. For more information, visit: shifthealth.com.
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As part of the world’s largest and most broadly-based healthcare company (comprised of Consumer Health, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices), we are committed to using our reach and size for good every day. For more information, visit: jnjcanada.com
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Co-sponsored by LSO and Shift Health, Building an Inclusive Life Sciences Future has also received generous support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.