Patient Partners

Mike Alexander, an Anishinaabe artist and athlete who has struggled with depression and addiction. He is a Sixties Scoop survivor and recently became a member of Diabetes Action Canada’s Indigenous Patient Circle.

Virtue is a social worker from Toronto, who has been living with diabetes for over 22 years. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work, as well as a BFA in film and video production from York University. She has combined this background with social media to connect with others living with diabetes. She completed her graduate research and has done several presentations about diabetes, peer support, and online communities. She worked for over three years with the Canadian charitable organization, Connected in Motion, which provides experiential and peer support opportunities for adults living with Type 1 diabetes. There, she provided online and social media content, while further providing supportive counselling to individuals and groups of people dealing with Type 1 diabetes. She currently has a private practice in Toronto where she provides therapy and counselling for people going through a variety of mental health difficulties, including those related to living with a chronic illness like diabetes

Tamara and Kenya are mother and daughter from northern Manitoba Tataskweyak First Nation. Kenya was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 9 in 2010. During this time Tamara says she felt alone, with no resources in the north for supports for families dealing with this illness. They decided to relocate to Winnipeg to be closer to health team, to get educated together. Tamara and Kenya’s goal is to take what they’ve learnt, to support our communities and families to share their story and experience to bring awareness in any way they can, and help educate children about diabetes.

Ron is an active advocate for dementia, caregiving, aging, and research communities. As a caregiver to his father who lived with Alzheimer’s for 10+ years to age in place at home until January 2018, Ron utilized technology, community, creative strategies and access to research to support his family’s life to live well and as best as possible. In recent years, Ron has been invited to do presentations locally and internationally for Alzheimer’s Societies, communities, police, educators, innovators and corporations. He shares his knowledge on caregiving as we age, ways to use technology for caring, and living safely with dementia, especially for those at risk of wandering and going missing. He is an active member, advisor, and mentor to numerous organizations and educational institutions such as AGE-WELL NCE, Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI) at Baycrest, City of Toronto’s Seniors Strategy, SE Health (formerly known as Saint Elizabeth Health Care) and the Translational Research Program (TRP) at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine. Further in his past, Ron has a background in Computer Sciences, Space and Communication Sciences, Marine Aquaculture, Life Coaching and Culinary Arts. He was the Founder and Executive Director of a Youth Career and Employment Centre that served over 30,000 young people, immigrants and career changers in the Toronto area during its’ operation.

In October 2022, Dr. Cindy Bell became the new Chair of the Diabetes Action Canada Steering Council. Dr. Bell is an accomplished scientist and the parent of two now adult daughters with type 1 diabetes. She has been an advocate and ally for the diabetes community for more than thirty years. Dr. Bell was the Canadian lead on the establishment of the first Medical Research Council of Canada – JDRF partnership in the mid-1990s. This partnership funded two cycles of projects in Canada, including work on the Edmonton Protocol. In addition, she and her husband have organized multiple golf tournaments in partnership with JDRF to raise research funds. As a scientist, Dr. Bell also brings a research lens to her role with Diabetes Action Canada. She retired from her role as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development with Genome Canada in 2021, after more than twenty years in leadership roles with the organization. There, she was responsible for establishing partnership and providing policy and strategic advice on scientific and other aspects of Genome Canada’s programs, including overseeing and managing the peer review process used to establish research programs. Her interest in the work of Diabetes Action Canada stems from her own passion for trying to change health systems to better align with the needs of patients and caregivers. In her role of Chair for the Steering Council she hopes to ensure the Diabetes Action Canada team has the support they need and the input they require to make strong decisions around strategy and programming. She also hopes to see the organization’s work result in better outcomes for those living with diabetes.

Denis is recently retired and has been living with type-1 diabetes for 35 years. In 2015, he had his first contact with the world of health research. First as a participant in a research project on diabetes and then as a committee member aiming at promoting and involving patients as research partners. Denis is particularly interested and passionate about all measures / ideas / projects leading to participatory and dynamic integration of patients in research. Denis is currently Chair of the Comité stratégique patient-partenaire du Centre de recherche du centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CRCHUS), a member of the Communauté de pratique des patients et citoyens partenaires de la recherche en santé au Québec (CPPCP-RSQ) de l’Unité de soutien SRAP du Québec, and a participant in two research projects with Diabetes Action Canada.

Jean-Marc has been officially retired since 2011 from the health network. In 1971, at the age of 19 years, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and has lived with this reality for 50 years this year. This change in health led Jean-Marc to change his professional orientation since he was in the armed forces at the time. He resumed his full-time studies and became a specialized educator in 1975. He worked in the health network for a few years and in 1979 became involved in visual impairment rehabilitation services for a new clientele. While working full time, he continued his training in the USA by becoming a visual impairment rehabilitation worker. In 1985, he made the leap into management by obtaining a position of administrator with the teams of specialists. While working full-time, he engaged part-time in management training and obtained his bachelor’s degree from the Université de Montréal in 1995. In 2000, he obtained his 2nd Cycle diploma in Management and Development from the Université Laval. In the 1980s Jean-Marc became involved with the Quebec local diabetes chapter as a member initially and later as President. He became a member of the provincial board of directors of the Diabetes Association and served as Vice-President for a time. The development of local sections was one of its priority objectives in order to support all people with diabetes in Quebec. Throughout these 50 years of life as a person living with diabetes, Jean-Marc has participated in various research projects with researchers from the hospital environment where he is followed in endocrinology. For the past five years, he has been a citizen representative on an ethics committee for population health research and front-line services. He is also a patient partner with Diabetes Action Canada and has been a member of the collective patient circle since the beginning and is also involved in research projects. Jean-Marc remains active by maintaining a good rhythm of daily physical activities while aiming for the best possible control of his condition. Now it is easier with the use of the insulin pump as a new technology. For him, research is essential and, as a patient partner, we must share our knowledge and our experience among ourselves and with research teams. For Jean-Marc, living healthy with diabetes is a daily challenge that must be met continuously because he wants to live as long as possible.

Maryann Croft Maloney has lived with Type 1 diabetes for over 44 years. A strong advocate within both the community and the local health networks for mental health services for diabetics off all ages commencing at diagnosis and onward.

Her involvement with DAC.2 has provided her the opportunity to both participate and work with researchers interested in improving the lives of our diabetic community.

“DAC has given me the opportunity to have a voice that represents my needs and interests as a Type1 diabetic. I’ve also benefited from meeting some amazing like-minded people. Every meeting that I attend offers opportunities for improvement and a true sense of belonging”.

A native of Cuba –and a Canadian citizen since 1973– Pascual Delgado has been active as a community development organizer and cross-cultural trainer for various companies and public institutions since his arrival in Quebec.

From 1975 till 1981, Delgado was the Director of Spanish-language programming at Radio Centre-Ville Saint-Louis, CINQ-FM –Quebec’s first community radio station.

From 1981 till 1985, Delgado worked as a community development organizer for the International YMCA in charge of creating committees to advocate for the rights of ethnic minorities as well as raising funds for international development projects. In 1985, he was promoted to the head office of the Montreal YMCA as Director of the Ethnic Minorities Rights Department. In total, he worked as an employee of the Montreal YMCA for 14½ years.

In 1984, Delgado was one of the founders of ACCÉSSS (Alliance des communautés culturelles pour l’égalité dans la santé et les services sociaux) –a province-wide federation created to advocate for equality in the delivery of public healthcare and social services for the ethnocultural communities of Quebec.

Since 2004, Delgado has been working on-and-off at ACCÉSSS as a community development organizer and fundraiser, creating training tools and programs to sensitize institutions and groups for the prevention of family violence, as well as regarding the problematic of ageing in a multicultural society.

From 1991 to 1994, Delgado acted as a member of the Committee on Inter-ethnic and Inter-racial Relations of the Quebec Human Rights Commission.

In 1992, Delgado was awarded the Medal of the 125th Anniversary of Confederation by the Government of Canada.

From 1992 till 1994, he was appointed to the Advisory Committee on Employment Equity Programs for Ethnocultural Communities of the Treasury Board of the Government of Quebec.

From 1993 to 1997, Delgado was elected to the Board of Directors of The Metropolitan Montreal Regional Healthcare and Social Services Planning Board, overseeing an annual of budget of appx. $ 3.5 billion.

From1997 till 2001, and again from 2003 till 2006, Delgado was appointed and served in municipal advisory committees on cross-cultural relations attached to Metropolitan Montreal City administration.

From 2004 till 2010, Delgado served as a member of the Committee for the Delivery of Healthcare Services and Social Services to Persons Issuing from the Cultural Communities, advising the Minister of Health and Social Services of the Government of Quebec.

From 2008 to 2012, Delgado was a member of the Family Caregivers Advisory Committee of the Mental Health Commission of Canada.

From 2011 to 2014, Delgado was president of the Provincial Government’s Strategic Implementation Committee to Counteract Mistreatment of Cultural Communities’ Elderly.

From 2013 to 2016, he was appointed to the National Committee on the Ethics of Ageing by the Minister of Health and Social Services of the Provincial government.

Between 2016 and 2020, Delgado acted as a member of an advisory committee to Montreal’s Regional Public Health Directorate’s Regional Action Plan for the Promotion of Heath and the Social Participation of Seniors.

Since May of 2016, Delgado has been a DAC-SPOR active partner in both the Collective Patients’ Circle and the Francophone and Immigrant Patients Circle; and continues his engagement in the DAC 2.0. In 2022, he was appointed to the Executive Council of Diabetes Action Canada; and on January 11th 2023, he was named Chair of Diabetes Action Canada’s EDI (Equality Diversity and Inclusion) Committee.

Sasha is a wife and mother of four who is passionate about Type 1 Diabetes advocacy because of her son, Brayson (age 9), who has been living with the condition since the age of 2. She became a patient partner with Diabetes Action Canada in September 2017 and serves as a member of Diabetes Action Canada’s Collective Patient Circle, Indigenous Patient Circle, and Steering Council. She also advocates through Diabetes Canada and JDRF, as well as social media platforms, sharing her family’s Type 1 journey. She has presented at numerous conferences, including the Annual Diabetes Canada Conference in 2019, Society for Medical Decision Making Annual Symposium speaking on “Medical Decision Making Across the Lifespan”, and a Live Well with Diabetes Event. Her family plans support group meetings, parade floats to spread awareness for the Type 1 Community in her city, and other fundraising events. She hopes to help bridge the gap between the research world and lived-experience by sharing her story and first hand knowledge of the condition.