Board of Directors

Practicing primarily as a tax (including tax litigation) and corporate lawyer, his practice has included anti-dumping trade enquiries and NAFTA disputes as well as financings of all types of enterprises from pulp and paper mills to satellites, major technology acquisitions, and corporate acquisitions and divestitures. Mr. LaBarge concentrates his practice in taxation, mergers and acquisitions, and trade law. Mr. LaBarge has been and continues to be heavily involved in the community. He serves on a number of charitable boards. A strong supporter of lifelong learning, he completed an LLM in 2009 and has recently co-authored a book on personal financial management.

Previously he was the Senior Medical Advisor at Health Canada as well as the Director General, Biologics & Genetic Therapies from 2012 to 2015.He was the Chief Executive Officer of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network from 2005 to January 2011. In that role, he focused on reducing surgical and diagnostic wait times, funding and promoting ‘aging at home’ projects, expanding addiction treatment programs, and completing groundwork for a regional hospital laboratory system. Earlier Dr. Cushman was the Medical Officer of Health for the City of Ottawa, where he was instrumental in bringing in smoke-free legislation. Dr. Cushman has worked as a primary care physician in a variety of healthcare settings, including the emergency room of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, the Somerset West Community Health Centre in Ottawa, and along the James and Hudson Bay coasts serving Cree and Inuit populations. Early on in his career, he worked at a large African mission hospital for three years. Dr. Cushman received his undergraduate degree in economics at Harvard University before studying medicine at McMaster University. He also earned an MSc in epidemiology from McMaster and an executive MBA from the University of Ottawa.

James is an investment professional with a 16-year track record providing comprehensive portfolio management to high net worth individuals, families and businesses in Canada.

After the sudden loss of his youngest son at just 20 months due to heart disease, James was motivated to give back to the community in the most meaningful way he could. James is currently Treasurer of the Board at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute as well as Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee and co-Chair of the Joint Investment Advisor Committee.

Ken is a principal and co-founder of Jennings Real Estate, a real estate owner, manager and developer. Ken is also a licensed lawyer, having previously practised corporate law with Norton Rose Fulbright LLP.

Ken has a civil engineering degree from McGill University and a graduate degree in Law from Dalhousie University.

Krista Kealey joined the Ottawa International Airport Authority in 2002 and is their Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs. Among her responsibilities are media, government and community relations, issues management, special events, and all digital and social media.

Professionally, Krista is Past Chair of Airport Council International-North America’s Marketing and Communications Steering Committee, and a member of several business organizations. She is also very involved in her community, presently serving on the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation’s Board of Directors. Professional and community involvement earned her the distinction of being named to Ottawa’s Top Forty Under 40.

Krista is a graduate of Carleton University where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree.

Deneen is currently the Senior Program Manager, Policy & Stakeholder Relations at the Royal Canadian Mint. Previously, Perrin held various positions in communications for the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, where she built an impressive 25 career with the Fairmont brand. Prior to her departure from the hospitality industry, Perrin occupied the role of Director, Media, Marketing, and Partnerships at Ottawa’s premier hotel.

Recognized as a resilient and adaptable communications executive, with proven specialty in crisis communication and a strong business acumen spanning leadership, decision-making, guest relations, change management, and more; Perrin is adaptable to all industries.

As an integral part of our community, Perrin has held various Board of Directors positions, including the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, the Algonquin College Foundation and the Rideau BIA, and Make-A-Wish Foundation of Eastern Ontario. Winner of the 2011 Tourism Volunteer of the Year Award.

Erin Zipes is currently Vice President, Assistant General Counsel at Shopify. Erin has over 15 years of experience as a corporate/securities lawyer. She was previously Assistant General Counsel of Nordion, and started her legal career at Stikeman Elliott after obtaining her law degree at McGill University and Bachelor of Commerce from Queen's University. She is also a cofounder of Backbone Angels, a collective of angel investors focused on women and non-binary founders.

A proud Ottawa native, Erin returned to Ottawa in 2010 with her husband and two children.

Born and raised in Ottawa, Leslie has actively served his community for the past three decades.  He began his fundraising efforts with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in 2017 after being diagnosed with two aortic aneurysms and having been in the care of Dr. Paul Hendry and the team at the Aortic Clinic. His firsthand experience as a patient ignited his desire to get involved and refocus his energy on giving back to a place that had done so much for him. He first joined as a committee member for the Fuller Keon Golf Classic and in 2018, he became Chair. Prior to this, he served for three years with the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation and co-chaired the “Do It For Dad” Father’s Day event for two years. In his spare time, Leslie enjoys alpine skiing, golfing, and enjoying time with his family.

Tuan Nguyen’s mission is to positively touch people’s lives every single day. He is a dude, dad, tech entrepreneur, investor, and three-time TEDx Speaker. He survived two heart attacks as an infant.

He sprinkles bodaciously cool brand culture, community building wizardry, digital marketing swordsmanship and grammatical errors in all his endeavours. Currently, he is the founder and chief genie at HealthGenie, a firm providing private health organizations in Canada and U.S. with business advisory, marketing, leadership development services. He founded and runs a ‘bizdad’ tribe called DudeBuddha, an anonymous community that supports over 3000 fathers in growing businesses while gaining the tools and resources to deepen connections with themselves and their families. He recently launched a non-profit Youtube channel, Million Idea Club, where 100% of Youtube revenue is donated towards youth entrepreneurship. He co-founded CASCO, a student-run organization that has engaged over 4000 business students in Ottawa and Montreal to raise funds and awareness for local children’s charities. Previously, he was a partner at a software company offering online directory solutions (Canadiankiosks.ca, HealthGenie.ca, CanadaConventions.ca) where he scaled these directories across Canada. Priorly, he worked at Welch LLP with a focus on audit, assurance, and tax. Tuan’s recognitions include being inducted into Order of the Good Bear (CHEO Foundation), Dean’s Philo Award (Telfer School of Management), Community Builder Award (United Way), and OBJ’s Top Forty Under 40 Award.

Gail Kaneb is a catalyst for change, using a powerful combination of coaching, mentoring and facilitation. She developed her leadership and change management expertise while doubling the size of the family business in a shrinking market. Gail has been on the founding board of numerous non-profits in Eastern Ontario. She and her husband Tom chaired the $12 million campaign for the Cornwall Community Hospital. She chaired the board of Tostan, recognized as one of the most effective NGO’s in the world, a West-African non-profit that creates systemic change for women and girls, ending child marriage, female genital cutting and moving women into leadership positions.

Grant is a corporate director, consultant and retired lawyer. Grant practiced corporate and commercial law in Ottawa until his retirement as a Senior Partner from Norton Rose Fulbright where he was Ottawa Managing Partner and member of the Management Committee. Following his retirement, Grant was appointed Fairness Commissioner of Ontario for a two-year term from 2017 to 2019. Grant provides corporate governance consulting services through his company, Beattie House Associates. He is currently a member of the board of directors of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation, the Ottawa Community Foundation and is President of the Audette Foundation.

Natalie Tommy is VP Marketing and Branding for Nautical Lands Group of Companies, accountable for the overall branding for our Retirement Communities, Wellings Communities and construction wing, NLGC. In her primary role, she is responsible for overall brand strategy, media placement, budgeting, content and results on a National scale. As a resident centric company, NLG continues to strive to be the best in the Country within the seniors community sector. She has a reputation for being a creative problem solver who pays attention to the details. Natalie is looking forward to learning more about the goals of the Foundation and how she can best serve with passion and respect for our world class Heart Institute. Natalie holds a Bachelors of Commerce, Honors from University of Ottawa.

After a two-year sabbatical from a 30 year career in Ottawa’s technology sector, it was my hope to get involved with an organization of passionate and diverse people that are committed to giving back to the great city we live in. Like many in Ottawa, our family has been a beneficiary of the spectacular care provided by the UOHI, which made my decision to put my experience and energy to work on the Patient Alumni Association Board of Directors an easy one.

My career gave me the chance to work in interesting places like the UK, Dubai, and the US which helped me better understand the cultural diversity that makes up our world. This gave me the opportunity to develop the broad set of skills that I was able to deploy as leader or member of senior leadership teams. My passion has ranged from taking on the challenges of building new companies from the spark of an idea to helping larger organizations align their strategic goals and executing on their vision.

I joined the Alumni Board in January of 2020, just prior to the explosion of the COVID-19 pandemic. I look forward to working with the other members of the Board and the entire Alumni community to seek new and innovative ways to provide meaningful and valuable programs and resources to patients and their families, friends, and caregivers.

Aruna is currently a Manager at the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. Previously, Aruna spent time at Natural Resources Canada and the Privy Council Office in progressively senior roles.  She has considerable experience providing analysis and recommendations on complex, high-profile policy issues, working closely with stakeholders, leading teams, and mediating competing interests.

Aruna holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta and a Masters in International Affairs from Carleton University.

Aruna has organized a number of charity events in the Ottawa area to benefit local and international non-profit organizations, which have raised more than $50,000. She lives in Ottawa with her husband and two young kids. Aruna is looking forward to supporting the vision of the Ottawa Heart Institute - putting patients first while advancing cardiovascular care and saving lives in our community.