Dr. Philip A. Baer, MDCM, FRCPC, FACR,
Chair, Section of Rheumatology,
Ontario Medical Association

Dr. Philip Baer is a graduate of McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine, where he was the class gold medallist. He completed his training in Internal Medicine at the Montreal General Hospital, followed by a rheumatology fellowship at the University of Toronto. Dr. Baer has practised as a clinical rheumatologist in eastern Toronto for over 20 years. He is an active participant in clinical trials and Continuing Medical Education. Dr. Baer is Medical Director of Transamerica Life Canada, Vice President of the Ontario Rheumatology Association, Chair of the Section of Rheumatology of the Ontario Medical Association, and co-Chair of the Therapeutics Committee of the Canadian Rheumatology Association.

Karen A. Burke, Ph.D.
Director, Regulatory Affairs
AMGEN CANADA INC.

Karen Burke is Director of Regulatory Affairs, Drug Safety and Quality Assurance
at Amgen Canada Inc.  After obtaining her Ph.D. in Organometallic Chemistry
from McMaster University, she has worked in the pharmaceutical industry in
several roles over a career of more than 15 years, including progressive roles in
Operations and in Regulatory Affairs at Astra Pharma Inc. (later AstraZeneca
Canada Inc.), culminating in the role of Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, from
2001-2004.  Karen took on the appointment as staff lead of the Regulatory Affairs
Committee for the industry association Rx&D, Canada’s Research Based
Pharmaceutical Companies, during 2005, prior to accepting her current role at
Amgen.  Karen is a member of the Board of Directors for EthicsCentre CA, the
Canadian Centre for Ethics and Corporate Policy, a non-profit organization with
the mission to champion the application of ethical values in the decision-making
process of business and other organizations.  Karen is also an active member of
the Regulatory Affairs Committees of both BIOTECanada and Rx&D, and her
professional affiliations include the Chemical Institute of Canada, the Regulatory
Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) and the Drug Information Association.

Wayne Critchley
Senior Advisor, CADTH;
Partner, GOWLINGS;

Wayne Critchley is a partner in the Life Sciences Industry Group and leads Gowlings’ Drug Pricing & Reimbursement Team. The team provides advice on the full range of policies and processes governing pricing and reimbursement decisions by federal, provincial and intergovernmental bodies in Canada.
Mr. Critchley is recognized as an expert in pharmaceutical pricing policy. Prior to joining Gowlings in January 2007, he worked extensively in the Canadian public sector in the fields of health and economic regulation and served as Executive Director of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) from 1990 to 2005. The PMPRB is the federal agency responsible for pharmaceutical pricing in Canada. During Mr. Critchley’s tenure, the PMPRB also took on increased responsibilities for analyzing prescription drug pricing and utilization in collaboration with federal and provincial health ministries and agencies.
Since leaving the PMPRB, Mr. Critchley has frequently been called upon to provide advice on pharmaceutical policy. In 2005, he was invited by the federal Minister of Health to chair an advisory panel of stakeholders and experts to develop consensus recommendations on future appointments to the PMPRB. He has advised the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health in several key areas related to pharmaceutical policy, including public involvement. He has represented Canada in international meetings of experts on pharmaceutical pricing policies and has given presentations to leading conferences. His international work has included projects advising the Vietnam Ministry of Health on pharmaceutical pricing policies and presentations to health officials in Taiwan.

Prior to joining the PMPRB, Mr. Critchley held a number of senior positions in the Bureau of Competition Policy and was involved in the modernization of Canada’s Competition Act in the late 1980’s and the implementation of the Bureau’s compliance policy.
Mr. Critchley was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and educated at the University of Winnipeg. He is bilingual.

Vic Medland
President, Group Insurance Services
Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan (OTIP)

After eight years in the insurance industry, Vic joined OTIP in March 1997 as Director of Sales & Service.  In 2001, Vic was promoted to the position of Senior Vice President of Marketing, Insurance and Underwriting where he was responsible for managing the group benefits sales, service, underwriting and third party administration services. Vic was then promoted in September 2004 to President of OTIP Member Services, leading the client relations, consulting and member advocacy support services. Vic is now President of Group Insurance Services. His new post puts him in charge of the Group Life & Disability Claims department, the Consulting & Insurance department, Benefits Services and Underwriting.

Barbara Ouellet
Executive Director
Patented Medicine Prices Review Board

Barbara Ouellet became Executive Director of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) on January 31, 2005.

The PMPRB is the federal agency responsible for pharmaceutical pricing and analysis in Canada.  It is an independent quasi-judicial tribunal with a dual mandate - a regulatory mandate, to ensure that the prices charged by manufacturers of patented medicines are not excessive; and a reporting mandate, to analyse and report on pharmaceutical price and cost trends and the innovative pharmaceutical industry=s R&D performance.

As the senior full-time officer of the PMPRB, Ms. Ouellet is responsible for the corporate leadership of the agency, including its strategic direction, voluntary compliance and pricing guidelines, and the management of human and financial resources.  The PMPRB also works in partnership with the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) to implement the National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System (NPDUIS).   Approved and announced by F/P/T Ministers of Health in 2001, NPDUIS aims to provide critical analyses of price, utilization and cost trends so that health system decision-makers have comprehensive and accurate information on the utilization of prescription drugs and the sources of costs changes.

Prior to joining the PMPRB, Ms. Ouellet was the Director of the Quality Care, Technology and Pharmaceuticals Division, in the Health Care Policy Directorate, Health Policy Branch of Health Canada.  During her over twenty-five years at Health Canada, Ms. Ouellet held a number of increasingly challenging positions in the areas of health policy, health promotion and health care.  For the last nearly fifteen years, Ms. Ouellet=s work has focussed on various policy issues fundamental to the development, modernization and sustainability of Canada's health system.  This has involved working closely with provincial and territorial governments and a wide range of national non-government and industry

organizations to develop national policy approaches, strategies and tools to improve the quality of health care, and the appropriate and cost-effective use of the health system and health care resources.  Key areas of involvement in the health care field have included, for example, quality care and patient safety, health care technology, pharmaceuticals management, home and continuing care, palliative and end-of-life care, health human resources, and primary health care. 

Ms. Ouellet was born in London, Ontario and educated at Queen’s University in Kingston.

George Wyatt
Managing Director
Wyatt Health Management

George Wyatt is the Managing Director Wyatt Health Management, which he founded in 2002 after a very successful 20-year career in pharmaceutical industry where he held a number of senior positions, including Director, Market Access and Policy Development for Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada. Prior to being involved in the pharmaceutical sector, Mr. Wyatt was employed with a provincial government and in both bureaucratic and political roles.

He leads a team of seasoned professionals that are dedicated to delivering valuable consultation for its clients in the areas of Research, Reimbursement and Pharmaceutical Value for Money Effectiveness Measurement. He has developed, managed and implemented programs at the national and international level.

Mr. Wyatt holds a B.Sc. from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and an M.B.A. in Marketing and Strategic Management from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto where he won the Graduate business Council Gold Medal for Academic Achievement. He has also studied health policy at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

George Wyatt is a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association for Healthcare Reimbursement and serves as a reviewer for Healthcare Policy-Politiques de Sante, a Longwoods publication.