IWH Updates - Fall 2021

Published: September 15, 2021

IWH welcomes new Board officers, members

Kate Lamb, a lawyer and head of client and people services at the Law Society of Ontario, was elected chair of the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) Board of Directors at the Board’s September 2021 meeting. Before joining the Law Society, Lamb was the chief corporate services officer at Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and the director of employment and labour policy and program development at the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development.

Lamb takes over the position held for over six years by Kevin Wilson, a former assistant deputy minister in the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development. Wilson will remain a member of the Board for another year. The Institute extends its gratitude to Wilson for his devoted service as Board chair.

Health and safety has never been more important in the lives of Canadians. I am honoured to have been selected as the Chair of the IWH Board and look forward to working with the Board of Directors as we govern the evolution of this important national institution.
— Kate Lamb, Chair, IWH Board of Directors

At the September meeting, Dr. Louise Lemieux-Charles, a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, was elected vice-chair of the Board. Three new members also joined the Board: Dr. Maurice Bitran, a faculty member at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and former CEO and chief science officer of the Ontario Science Centre; Dr. Deborah Parachin, chief physician at Hydro One; and (as of December) George Gritziotis, CEO at the Ontario College of Trades.

The September meeting was the last for Mark Dreschel, director of talent and culture at Coldbox Builders, who stepped off the Board after nine years of service. The June 2021 meeting was the last for the previous Board vice-chair Melody Kratsios, a senior program manager at the engineering firm AECOM who sat on the Board for nine years. The Institute thanks these members for their many years of valued service.

For more information on current IWH Board members, go to: www.iwh.on.ca/board-of-directors

IWH research associate promoted to associate scientist

Congratulations to Kathleen Dobson, who has been promoted to associate scientist at the Institute. Dobson joined IWH in 2016 as research associate and a Syme fellow in work and health. She recently completed her PhD in epidemiology at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. For more about Dobson’s research interests, go to: www.iwh.on.ca/people/kathleen-dobson