WHO IS DR. SIVANANTHAN

Dr. Sivananthan is a leading dementia healthcare leader and passionate advocate, who has worked with multiple health systems and organizations nationally and internationally to build strategies and solutions for older adults. 

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She co-founded and is CEO of the Brainwell Institute, a dementia focused think tank dedicated to elevating evidence to create system-level changes in dementia care. In this and her roles as both Affiliate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University, and former Chief Research & Knowledge Translation Officer at the Alzheimer Society of Canada, she has been instrumental in raising the profile of the needs of people living with dementia in Canada.

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In 2020, she was appointed by the federal Minister of Health to the Ministerial Advisory Board on Dementia. Previously, Dr. Sivananthan served as a senior strategy and policy advisor consulting for the World Health Organization (WHO) on its global dementia strategy.

 

She has served as the WHO representative at the OECD, European Commission, EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) and Alzheimer Disease International, working to coordinate global relationships and advocacy activities on dementia.

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WHAT HAS SHE ACCOMPLISHED

While at the Alzheimer Society she oversaw a tripling of funding for dementia research,  and created multiple platforms for people living with dementia to engage in research, advocate and co-design programming for their needs. She also led the groundbreaking Landmark study series which established the projected prevalence of dementia in Canada and the populations who will be impacted by them.  These reports are quoted extensively in public discourse.

 

She is co-lead for the inaugural non-pharmacological interventions working group of the Canadian Consensus Guidelines on Dementia which developed the first national recommendations on psycho-social interventions for the management and treatment of dementia.  She also spearheaded the CLEAR guideline development, the first guidelines on culturally sensitive approaches to disclosing a diagnosis of dementia in primary care.

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While at the WHO, she co-drafted the WHO's Global Action Plan on the Public Health Response to Dementia which received unanimous consensus at the World Health Assembly.  This plan served as the template for Canada's National Dementia Strategy.  She also co-developed the Global Dementia Observatory to assist countries in collecting and managing data related to their dementia strategies and policies.

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At the Brainwell Institute Dr. Sivananthan initiated a national conversation on dementia from awareness to system transformation. She has convened leaders across sectors, produced influential policy research, and advanced new models for coordinating dementia care across Canada’s health systems. Her work is helping governments and organizations rethink how dementia care should be organized, funded, and delivered. 

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Her doctoral thesis work on transitions experienced by people living with dementia through the health system was used to inform the BC Dementia Strategy and Alberta Dementia Strategy.

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WHAT SHE CAN SPEAK TO

She is a neuroscientist and health data scientist who has contributed to numerous national and international publications, and been interviewed extensively by national media. 

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She specializes in translating complex dementia and brain health research and policy for a public audience across a broad range of topics including:

• Dementia care coordination and health system reform

• Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and treatment

• Caregiver policy and family caregiving

• Aging populations and health system sustainability

• Brain health and dementia prevention

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Dr. Sivananthan earned her PhD from the University of British Columbia.  She lives in Toronto with her husband and son.