With the exponential adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), worsening climate disruptions, and new One Health challenges, research organizations face new questions that merit open discussion. AI offers powerful capabilities for clinical care, public health surveillance, precision medicine, drug discovery, climate modeling, and ecosystem monitoring. Yet its deployment raises operational concerns related to high energy demand, hardware that depends on scarce resources, data governance, ethics and equity. There is further risk that technological solutions may distract from essential ecological and social action.
This moderated panel will invite discussion on how data intensive research organizations can balance innovation with stewardship, reimagining their responsibilities not only as the producers of knowledge but as institutions whose everyday operations shape a sustainable and ethical future.
Moderator
Magda Nunes de Melo, MSc
Magda Nunes de Melo is Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships at ICES, where she supports data-driven research and fosters collaboration across academic and health system settings. Trained in epidemiology, with experience in population health and observational research, she brings strong analytical and interdisciplinary expertise. She has additional training in sustainability leadership, privacy law, and data science, and her current interest focuses on the intersection of data, policy, and climate health.
Panelists
Muhammad Mamdani, PharmD, MPH
Muhammad Mamdani is Clinical Lead, Artificial Intelligence at Ontario Health and is a Professor cross-appointed to the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. He is also Founding Director of the Temerty Centre for AI Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM), Affiliate Scientist at ICES, and Faculty Affiliate at the Vector Institute. An internationally recognized researcher, his work focuses on applying AI, analytics, and health policy research to improve healthcare delivery and patient outcomes.
Danica Pawlick-Potts, PhD, MLIS
Danica Pawlick-Potts is the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Data Sovereignty and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at York University. Her research examines Indigenous Data Sovereignty, data governance, and the sociotechnical design of research data infrastructures and emerging technologies. Her work focuses on how information systems can better recognize Indigenous authority, jurisdiction, consent, and community-defined protocols across the data lifecycle. She is currently developing community-led approaches to AI and digital health governance that support Indigenous communities in making informed decisions about emerging technologies. She also contributes to Indigenous governance and advisory work, including as Co-Chair of the Connected Minds Indigenous Advisory Circle and as a member of the Indigenous Advisory Circle the Respectful Terminology Platform Project.
Remziye Zaim, PhD, MBA, MSc, MS
Remziye Zaim is an interdisciplinary researcher at the University of Toronto and a Research Fellow with the Collaborative Centre for Climate, Health and Sustainable Care. She is a Research Affiliate at Sydney Health Ethics, University of Sydney; a member of T-CAIREM; a 2026–2027 JAMA Editorial Fellow; and an inaugural JAMA Peer Review Academy Scholar. Across health systems in North America, Europe, and Australia, her work connects responsible AI governance, health technology assessment, regulatory science, public policy, and planetary health ethics. Her research examines how data-intensive health innovation is shaped by computational and environmental infrastructures and by regulatory and valuation dynamics.
Charles Victor, MSc
Charles Victor, MSc, is the Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships and Digital Services at ICES. With over 26 years of experience in epidemiology and biostatistics, he contributes to advancing data-driven decision-making in healthcare. At ICES, he focuses on fostering strategic collaborations and leveraging data analysis to support impactful research and external services. His expertise lies in epidemiology, biostatistics, and research, which he uses to empower organizations in addressing complex healthcare challenges. Dedicated to creating value through data insights, he aims to align with ICES’s mission of improving health outcomes and supporting evidence-based policy.