Speakers Biographies

Dr. Ryan C.N. D’Arcy is Head and Senior Research Officer of NRC’s Institute for Biodiagnostics (Atlantic) in Halifax. He is also an Associate Professor in the Departments of Radiology, Psychology/Neuroscience, and Anatomy/Neurobiology at Dalhousie University.

Dr. D’Arcy specializes in brain imaging technologies and translational neuroscience. He leads the local effort to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to track neuroplasticity and recovery from brain injury. Hailing from the University of Victoria, he works closely with Captain Trevor Greene and Debbie Greene, alongside Drs. Stephen Lindsay and Catherine Mateer, to pursue the idea of Brain Hope: Medical research empowering brain recovery.

Twenty-one years ago, Lois McElravy was living a life she loved when a utility truck violently crashed into her car and shattered her promising future. Even though her situation felt hopeless, Lois never gave up trying. Twelve years post injury her brain function improved.  Lois delivered her first keynote talk in 2005.

Averaging 20 events a year, Lois motivates, inspires and entertains international audiences with her playful sense of humor and personal stories that impart a heartfelt message of perseverance and hope. She equips people with life changing insight, practical solutions and humor strategies they can use to navigate the complexities of brain injury or everyday life and feel happy in the midst of trying times.

Learn more about Lois at www.lessonsfromlois.com and www.loismcelravy.com (blogs) or by clicking here.

Co-founder of stopconcussions.com and a star European hockey player who at one point acted as a player, coach and general manager of his teams.   Kerry has suffered two documented concussions and knows first-hand the effects of post-concussion syndrome.   He has focused all of his efforts into generating awareness in regards to concussions and neurotrauma through stopconcussions.com.

Kerry is passionate about educating players on the lifelong affect concussions have on the people who have suffered them.

In 2005 David McGuire’s world changed.  The last thing he remembers is the TV exploding (not literally) – his brain was bleeding and the rest of the details are fuzzy at best. He woke up in the hospital after being unconscious for seven days. His family had to fill him in on why he was there, even when he didn’t remember who they were. Part of his skull was removed for almost a month to allow for swelling. David’s road to recovery began without his memory, and so much more.

David spent over two years seeing every discipline of rehabilitation professional available to him. He learned to walk and talk again, and he can do a lot of things many people with a brain injury can’t. David considers himself “one of the lucky ones”. Six years later, David ran across Canada to raise awareness about brain injury and prevention.

Val -- author, trainer, researcher and President of Northern Lights Canada, a large vocational rehabi     litation company -- has been working in rehabilitation for 33 years. 

In 2003, Val almost died in a head-on collision. Her catastrophic injuries included a brain injury. She recorded her recovery in a journal for two years, then used her notes in a grounded qualitative research study into recovery from brain injury.

Val has spoken for such organizations as the Brain Injury Association of Canada, the Faculties of Medicine and Education -- University of Calgary, and the International Vocational Outcomes in Traumatic Brain Injury Conference.

Gabor Maté M.D. is a physician, author and public speaker. His four books are all Canadian bestsellers, published internationally in nearly twenty languages. The most recent, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction,  won the Hubert Evans prize for literary non-fiction.

For twelve years he worked in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside with patients challenged by hard core drug addiction, mental illness and HIV. His other interests encompass childhood developmental issues, adolescent mental health, and parenting issues.

In 2009 Dr. Maté was honoured with an Outstanding Alumnus Award from SFU and in 2011 with an honorary doctorate from the University of Northern British Columbia.

 www.drgabormate.com

Dr. Mateer is a Registered Psychologist and Board Certified Clinical Neuropsychologist. She was appointed as a Professor in the Department of Psychology in 1994.

Dr. Mateer is well known internationally for her work in the neuropsychological assessment and management of cognitive and emotional difficulties following neurological injury.  Her research interests are primarily in the management of difficulties with attention, memory, executive functions, awareness, and emotional adjustment following traumatic brain injury.  She has co-authored three books, most recently and over 100 articles and book chapters. 

Catherine A. Mateer was appointed Associate Vice-President Academic Planning at the University of Victoria in 2006.

A 15-year veteran of the NHL, Keith Primeau, played with the Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes and most notably the Philadelphia Flyers, where he acted as Captain from 2001 to 2006.  Primeau suffered four documented concussions during his playing career.  During his 9th game of the 2005-06 Season with the Flyers, Primeau suffered a concussion after a hit from Montreal’s Alexander Perezhogin which ended his career. As a result of ongoing post-concussion syndrome, he officially announced his retirement on September 14, 2006.   He is now an advocate for prevention of concussion in hockey and a hockey parent. He will offer the NHL player perspective. Primeau is a co-founder of stopconcussions.com.
 

Terry-Lynn has lived many lives: she was a registered nurse, the editor in chief of alive magazine and has been the executive director of the Kamloops Brain injury Association for the past three years. She is the mother of four daughters and grandmother of numerous grandchildren.

Terry-Lynn serves on the board of directors for the University of the Fraser Valley, the BC Association of Charitable Gaming, and the Kamloops Charitable Gaming Association. Terry-Lynn is active in her community and has volunteered for several nonprofit organizations including the Canadian Cancer Society, the Editors’ Association of Canada, the Canadian 4-H, and the United Way. She is a Rotarian and a member of the Stephen Lewis Foundation -- Grandmother to Grandmother group.