Jamie Burr is an Associate Professor and the director of the Human Performance and Health Research lab at the University of Guelph. Outside of the lab, he works with elite athletes as a sport scientist and NHL high-performance director. His work considers integrated systems-level exercise physiology, with a focus on both human performance and health.

Jessica Fraser-Thomas (PhD) is an Associate Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University, and a member of the LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research. Her research focuses on children and youths’ development through sport, with particular interest in positive youth development, psychosocial influences, and sport trajectories. Currently she is working on projects exploring preschoolers' introductions to organized sport, and characteristics of programs that may facilitate optimal development within diverse communities. She is a recipient of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology Young Scientist Award, the Province of Ontario Volunteer Service Award, and YMCA Canada’s Program Innovation Award.

Mark Ideson is a three-time Paralympic medalist and World Champion in the sport of wheelchair curling. Before his successful career in curling, Mark was a professional helicopter pilot. In 2007, at the age of 30, he was involved in a helicopter accident resulting in a spinal cord injury that left him living life with quadriplegia. Forced to reestablish his outlook on life, Mark found inspiration from watching the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 and, more specifically, learning about Jon Montgomery's journey to Olympic success. After deciding to pursue parasport, Mark tried a couple of sports before finding his fit with wheelchair curling. Since then, he has represented Canada at nine World Wheelchair Curling Championships and three Paralympic Winter Games, including most recently in Beijing, China, where he helped Team Canada capture the bronze medal. Mark lives in London, Ontario, and is a married father of two children. His life has been one of triumph over tragedy, and he loves to share his story of inspiration, perseverance, and the pursuit of excellence.

Mick Lizmore is the Head Coach of the National Wheelchair Curling Program. A two-time National Champion curler (2012 Canadian University Curling Championships and 2016 Canadian Mixed Curling Championships), Mick joined the National Program in 2019 as an Assistant Coach and performance analytics consultant. He was named Head Coach in 2020 following his contributions to back-to-back World Championship medals (gold at the 2019 B Event and silver at the 2020 A Event). Since becoming Head Coach, Mick has coached Team Canada to two additional World Championship silver medals (2023 and 2024) and a Paralympic bronze medal (2022). Mick completed a Doctoral Degree in Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation with a specialization in sport psychology at the University of Alberta, where he also spent eight years as a Lecturer. During that time, he also led one of Canada's first high school curling academies.

Dr. Tara-Leigh McHugh's program of research is focused on understanding and enhancing the psychosocial physical activity experiences of women and girls, and Indigenous youth. As a former athlete, she is committed to understanding and addressing the various factors that shape women's and girls' equitable participation in sport. Over the 20 years of her research career, Dr. McHugh's program of research has been driven by her vision for the equitable participation of women and girls in all roles and across all levels of sport. Dr. McHugh has demonstrated local, national, and international leadership in advancing research, practices, and policies focused on addressing the psychosocial factors that are necessary for ensuring the equitable participation of women, girls, and Indigenous youth in sport.

Dr. McHugh is committed to engaging in qualitative, collaborative, and community-based participatory research approaches. Her program of research is currently funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Olympic Studies Centre.

Daniel Moore is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto (UoT) and a member of the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology and American College of Sports Medicine. His research explores the interplay between exercise and nutrition, with a focus on dietary protein and amino acids, and how the two can be used to optimize the quantity and quality of muscle across a range of different populations including youth, athletes, and older adults. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed papers and was recognized for his research in protein metabolism by the American Society for Nutrition as the 2012 recipient of the Peter J. Reeds Young Investigator Award.

Kyle Paquette is the National Wheelchair Curling Program Director for Curling Canada. Throughout the last 18 years, Kyle has supported athletes and coaches from 10 National Sport Federations and four professional sport organizations as a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC). Through his work with these organizations, Kyle has supported Canadian athletes at six Olympic and Paralympic Games, including numerous Olympic/Paralympic and World Champions and medalists. Kyle also holds a Doctoral Degree in Human Kinetics with a specialization in sport psychology and coach education. He spent four year working as a Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa coordinating the graduate program in mental performance. Recently, Kyle led a nationwide project on developing cultures of excellence within the Canadian amateur sport system.

Prof dr. Johan Pion is internationally recognised as an expert on talent identification and development. He leads the expert team’s research on the early identification and development of talented children and athletes at HAN in the Netherlands and is also a visiting professor of talent identification and development at Ghent University in Belgium. He has years of experience as a sports scientist. He developed the SportKompas with his colleagues at Ghent University and made his mark in ‘train the trainer programmes’; education and research. The impact of the tools and applied predictive methods developed in his research were guiding policies in Flanders (SportKompas) and the Netherlands (Sportief Groot Worden), the National Youth Sport Institute (Singapore); the National Sport Institute in Malaysia (MyTID at ISN) and the organisation of sports professionals in Indonesia (Sekora).

Professor Yannis Pitsiladis has an established history of research into the importance of lifestyle and genetics for human health and performance. His current research interest is in exploring human enhancement technologies applicable to health and disease with particular focus on responsible paradigms. His most recent research is funded by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and involves the application of “omics” (i.e. genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and proteomics) and artificial intelligence to the detection of drugs in sport with particular reference to blood doping and testosterone. Yannis is a member of the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission, a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Scientific Commission of the International Sports Medicine Federation (FIMS), a member of the Scientific and Education Commission of the European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA), a member of WADA’s Health Medical Research Committee (HMRC), and is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). He has published over 250 scientific papers, written and edited a number of books and has featured in numerous documentaries (e.g. “Kipchoge: The Last Milestone” is a 2021 documentary film directed by Jake Scott and executive produced by Ridley Scott; “Enhanced” – Documentary Film, 2018. Produced by award winning director Alex Gibney) and popular books (e.g. The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance; Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice).

Devin is the Senior Director of Research and Development for Team Operations at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, with leadership roles in both the Sport Performance Lab and SportsX programs. These groups are tasked with executing strategic research initiatives to develop competitive advantage for MLSE teams on the court, field, and ice.

Before joining MLSE, Devin worked for Opta Sports, Major League Soccer, and as a soccer coach. Devin has a technical background in both Computer Science and Goalkeeping and is a regular contributor to the sports analytics community.

Alex Roberts is the Talent Identification and Development Lead at the Queensland Academy of Sport, where she leads the team responsible for finding and developing Australia’s next generation of Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Alex is an accredited sport scientist and trainer of coach developers, and is passionate about identifying and supporting future elite athletes, coaches and sport scientists. She is a leading researcher in talent identification, and has a background in coach development and skill acquisition. Alex is also an honorary (adjunct) lecturer at La Trobe University and a consultant for the Australian Institute of Sport.

Sam Robertson is a researcher and consultant focusing on developing methods and systems to optimise integrations between humans and technology. He specialises in collaborative projects that connect sporting teams, technology companies, governing bodies and universities to generate mutual and broad benefit for a range of stakeholders. Sam has worked with a range of sporting organisations including FIFA, The Australian Football League, San Antonio Spurs, Tennis Australia, Barça Innovation Hub, Kansas City Royals and the Western Bulldogs amongst others. He is also the host of the popular future of sport podcast, One Track Mind.

Fieke is a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology, within the School of Science and Technology, at Nottingham Trent University. Fieke’s research predominantly focuses on whether and how involvement with (intensified) youth sport contexts can be healthy. She has a particular interest in understanding how the sporting environment and specifically program staff may facilitate the holistic, whole-person development of their athletes alongside pursuing performance outcomes. She has undertaken funded research for Uefa, the FA, UK Sport, UK Coaching, Premier League Charitable Fund and Active Communities Network. Fieke is also a TASS lifestyle advisor, supporting student-athletes in balancing the multiple demands placed upon them.
Twitter:@FiekeRongen
ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6367-8255

Dr. Jason Vescovi has over 20 years of experience as an applied sports scientist and performance researcher. He spent the first decade of his career conducting laboratory-based human physiology research focused on women’s performance and health. Then Dr. Vescovi worked for several Canadian national sport organizations (NSOs) – including Skate Canada, Tennis Canada, Field Hockey Canada and Archery Canada – where he implemented innovative applied sports science strategies and provided direct support to athletes across three Olympic quadrennials. After 18 years living in Toronto, he returned to the U.S. to join USA Lacrosse as the Director, Center for Sports Science & Safety and was recently promoted to the VP, High Performance.

Dr. Joe Baker is the Tanenbaum Research Chair in Sport Science, Data Modelling and Sport Analytics at the University of Toronto, Canada. His research considers the varying influences on optimal human development, ranging from issues affecting athlete development and skill acquisition to barriers and facilitators of successful aging. Joe is Past President of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology and the author/editor of 13 books and over 300 scientific publications. www.bakerlab.kpe.utoronto.ca

Dr. Jacobs is the inaugural Director of the Tanenbaum Institute for Science in Sport. A tenured professor, he recently completed 11 years as the Dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto. He previously served as the Chair of the School of Kinesiology & Health Science at York University in Toronto.

Dr. Jacobs has over 25 years of experience as a federal government scientist, having held progressively increasing scientific and executive level appointments within Defence Research & Development Canada (DRDC). He received his doctorate from the Department of Clinical Physiology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, where he specialized in skeletal muscle metabolism. For the next 25 years he carried out extensive applied human physiology research and was appointed to roles with increasing leadership responsibilities at the Canadian federal government’s human sciences research centre operated by the Department of National Defence, where he attained the position of centre Chief Scientist. During that period, he received scientific research awards for his initiation and leadership of a unique international research group of physiologists and physicians who provided physiological support and advice about physiological, nutritional and pharmacological strategies to sustain and enhance the performance of military personnel. He has published over 200 scientific articles, reports and book chapters about his research interests, which include: performance enhancement through physiological, pharmacological and nutritional manipulation of metabolism, the physiological responses to physical exertion in environmental extremes, and energy metabolism.

He is a past President of the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, and was awarded its highest award for his career research achievements. He is an inducted Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the US National Academy of Kinesiology. He received the Canadian Peacekeeping Service medal from the Government of Canada for his work as a United Nations biological weapons inspector 1995-1998.

His senior leadership roles have been in the government, academic and business/industrial sectors and have included managerial, administrative, and fiduciary responsibilities and accountabilities for large numbers of scientific, technical, administrative, and academic staff. He has also applied his expertise and knowledge in human physiology as a consultant to private, Canadian, and international government agencies.

From the period 1996-2006, Dr. Andy Van Neutegem worked in the UK in a number of sport leadership roles including Athletic Director at Bournemouth University and Head of the National Anti-Doping Program for the United Kingdom. He returned to Canada in 2008 to work for Canadian Sport Institute-Pacific as a High Performance Director, undertaking the Lead role in the Performance Readiness Division (Psychology, Research and Medical Services) of the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific.

Andy served as the High Performance Director of the National Wheelchair Rugby Team which he has held since 2008. Andy led the team to a bronze medal in Beijing 2008 and a silver medal in the London 2012 Paralympic Games, a silver medal at the World Championships in August 2014, and a fourth place finish in Rio 2016. In 2014-15, Andy also served in the role of General Manager with Hockey Canada responsible for the National Sledge Hockey Program, winning a silver medal at the Para-Ice Hockey World Championships.

Currently Andy is the Vice President of Performances Sciences, Research & Innovation with Own the Podium. His responsibilities include overseeing research and innovation for Canadian high performance sport as well as contributing national leadership in the areas of data analytics, return to performance (injury surveillance), athlete and coach well-being, mental health, and culture of excellence.

Dr. Van Neutegem academic background includes faculty member and Department Chair in the Centre for Sport and Exercise Education at Camosun College. He currently is an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia in the Master’s degree, High Performance Coaching & Technical Leadership. Andy received his Doctorate (2007) in athlete career transitions and athlete maladaptive behaviours from the University of Southampton, England and was the lead consultant in the development of the national athlete career transition program in Canada, entitled Game Plan. In 2016, Andy was the recipient of the Coach Association of Canada Investors Group National NCCP Coach Developer Award.