The Canadian Centre has been created by a team of researchers, practitioners, service providers, and survivors who came together to forge a unified path forward in the effort to address IPV-BI.

Dr. Angela Colantonio holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Traumatic Brain Injury in Underserved Populations at the University of Toronto. She served as the Director of the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute and is a Professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. She is also Senior Scientist at the KITE Research Institute at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute - University Health Network (UHN) where she held the Saunderson Family Chair in Acquired Brain Injury Research. 

Dr. Colantonio leads the internationally recognized Acquired Brain Injury Research Lab, which investigates the intersection of brain injury with factors such as sex, gender, violence, work, and social marginalization. Her team’s collaborative research has been instrumental in highlighting the prevalence and impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among women affected by the violence, individuals involved in the justice system, and those experiencing housing instability. She has authored over 300 publications and has presented to more than 500 research, clinical, and public audiences. She has received numerous national and international awards recognizing contributions to brain injury research and significant achievements in the field of rehabilitation. She is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, American College of Epidemiology and the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. 

Dr. Michael Ellis is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Surgery and Pediatrics, Section of Neurosurgery at University of Manitoba and the Medical Director of the Pan Am Concussion Program, a clinical program devoted to the multi-disciplinary management of concussion and traumatic brain injury. 

As a neurosurgeon, Michael has developed unique clinical pathways that provide care to patients with IPV-BI living in Manitoba and Nunavut. He has previously worked to develop standardized IPV-BI resources and collaborated on the development of a medical provider resource that outlines the initial and follow-up medical care of patients with acute IPV-BI. He worked with Pauktuutit to develop an IPV-BI resource for Inuit women. Michael co-developed the ENIGMA IPV-BI Global Knowledge Exchange Network, and was also the co-chair of the expert advisory committee on concussion that worked with Parachute to develop the Canadian Guideline on Concussion in Sport funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Dr. Haag is a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellow and Contract Faculty member with the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her research program is focused on the barriers and facilitating factors influencing mental health, return to work, and social integration encountered by women survivors of intimate partner violence-related brain injury (IPV-BI).

Lin is committed to improving outcomes through direct practice, innovative research, and professional education, believing that increased knowledge and understanding in the community is key. Her work has focused on developing educational and practice resources for key sectors supporting women experiencing IPV-BI such as healthcare, social support services, and the criminal justice system. She was one of the architects of the Abused & Brain Injured Toolkit and the K2P Network and is a co-founder of the Pink Concussions Partner Inflicted Brain Injury Task Force. She brings extensive IPV-BI research experience resulting in the first peer-reviewed publications in a Canadian context. In 2021 she was honoured to receive the Neurological Health Charities of Canada’s Changemaker Award for her work in IPV-BI. As someone with lived experience of brain injury, she has been a guest speaker addressing issues of disability, brain injury, and marginalization for a variety of international academic, professional, and community-based organizations. 

Karen Mason is co-founder and executive director for Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research (SOAR), a registered charity with a singular focus on IPV-BI, and former executive director of Kelowna Women’s Shelter in Kelowna, British Columbia. 

A seasoned non-profit leader, communicator, and community collaborator, Karen brings 35+ years of career experience in the private, public, and non-profit sectors to her work advocating for survivors of IPV, conducting knowledge translation and mobilization activities, and supporting research, development, and dissemination of promising practices.  Karen has training in trauma-informed practice and advanced strangulation prevention, and is a member of the Pink Concussions Partner-Inflicted Brain Injury Task Force, the ENIGMA International Consortium Working Group on Brain Injury in Intimate Partner Violence, the Women’s Health Research Cluster, and the Canadian Concussion Network’s Advisory Council.

Dr. Paul van Donkelaar is a Professor in the School of Health and Exercise Sciences at UBC – Okanagan. He has more than 30 years of research experience investigating the sensorimotor, neurocognitive, and pathophysiological effects of brain injury. Over the last 9 years he has focused his efforts on better understanding brain injury (BI) in intimate partner violence (IPV). He is the co-founder and scientific advisor for Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research (SOAR), a registered charity and the only organization in Canada with a singular focus on IPV-BI. Together with colleagues in Canada and internationally, SOAR has helped raise awareness of the links between IPV and BI with the goal of better supporting survivors to thrive.