The 2026 Annual Convening will spotlight Africa’s greatest strength—its young people, bringing together young innovators, health leaders, universities, governments, and ecosystem catalysts to explore practical solutions to Africa’s PHC challenges.
People Directory
Our team is the heartbeat of our collaborative efforts, comprising diverse experts from various fields. Each member brings unique skills and perspectives, uniting to drive innovation and impact in the health sector. Together, we are more than just a team; we are a community committed to transforming healthcare across Africa.
Katherine Rouleau is a family physician and global health expert. She has practiced and taught team-based family medicine at St-Michael’s Hospital in the St-Jamestown neighborhood of Toronto for over 25 years. At the University of Toronto, she is director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Family Medicine and Primary Care, and Global (Primary Health Care -PHC) lead in the Office of Health System Partnerships with the Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM).
Her academic, clinical and leadership interests center on collaboration to improve health equity and address the complex health needs of individuals and communities impacted by adverse determinants of health through high-quality comprehensive primary care at the core of PHC-oriented health systems.
Her past leadership and administrative roles include founding director of the Besrour Centre for Global Family Medicine at the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CCFP), vice-chair Global Health and Social Accountability at the DFCM and technical officer for PHC at the World Health Organization headquarters.
Professor J. Paul Santerre has published >220 peer reviewed publications and is a listed inventor on >70 patents in the area of medical polymers.
He is co-founder and current director of the Health Innovation Hub at the University of Toronto (a student focused entrepreneur training co-curricular program that has trained > 650 client health science companies which have generated > $430M CAD). He was the 2022 – 2023 Chair of the Health Entrepreneurship Pillar for the Africa Health Collaborative supported by the Mastercard Foundation. He is a co-founder of Interface Biologics, along with having spun-out five other start-up companies from his lab, and has won multiple national awards for his achievements in enabling entrepreneurship, including Canada’s Governor General award for Innovation, and the Professional Engineers of Ontario Entrepreneurship Award in 2017. He has received multiple awards for his community activity including the 2016 Community award from the Canadian Biomaterials, the 2018 President’s Impact Award from the University of Toronto.
JesusMiracle Chiadika is a communications and higher education professional, scholar, and strategic storyteller whose work sits at the intersection of international engagement, health, culture, and institutional impact. She serves as Senior Regional Lead, Communications Lead within the Office of the Vice-President International at the University of Toronto, supporting the University’s engagement within the Africa Health Collaborative. In this role, she leads communications strategy, strengthens institutional visibility, and works with divisional and institutional partners to translate complex research, partnerships, and programmatic work into compelling stories that demonstrate impact across the University, Africa Health Collaborative, and broader global ecosystem.
JesusMiracle is also completing a PhD in Higher Education, with research focused on culture and student mental health in postsecondary institutions. Her scholarly work has been supported by the Ontario Graduate Scholarship and Inlight Fellowship. Across her academic and professional work, she is committed to building meaningful connections, amplifying diverse perspectives, and communicating the people, partnerships, and ideas driving transformative change.
