Council Biosketches

Philip B. Berger, MD received his medical degree from the University of Manitoba in 1974. Over his 40-year medical career he has been a leader in physician treatment of victims of torture, for treatment and supports for gays, lesbians and people with HIV/AIDs, in advocacy for health care for refugees, and in advocacy for Medicare. Dr. Berger was Chief of St. Michael’s Department of Family and Community from 1997 to 2013. He is currently Medical Director of the Inner City Health Program at St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Berger’s eminent medical career has been recognized with induction as an Honourary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada; induction as a Fellow in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences; the Ontario Public Service Employees Union’s Stanley H. Knowles Humanitarian Award; the Jean-Pierre Despins Award of the College of Family Physicians of Canada; and the Order of Ontario.

Mark Chamberlain is a prominent business and civic leader. He is co-founder, President and CEO of Hamilton-based Trivaris Inc., a “commercialization company focused on transforming ideas from concept to sustainable companies and social enterprises.” Mr. Chamberlain’s many volunteer contributions have included chairing the Hamilton Community Foundation, chairing the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction and serving on the National Council of Welfare, a former federal advisory body.

“Without basic income we cannot achieve basic health,” says Mr. Chamberlain. “Without basic health we cannot achieve individual and broad community resilience. Without resilience we cannot achieve and sustain prosperity.”

Danielle Martin, MD is Vice-President, Medical Affairs and Health System Solutions at Women’s College Hospital (WCH). She is a family physician in the Family Practice Health Centre at WCH and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine and Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Dr. Martin’s focus is on improving health at the system level as well as the individual level. Her clinical work has involved remote northern medicine as well as a current focus on maternity care, and she is an active medical educator.

Dr. Martin’s policy expertise and passion for equity have made her an emerging leader in the debate over the future of Canada’s health-care system. She holds a Masters of Public Policy from the School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Toronto. In 2006, her first year in practice, she helped launch Canadian Doctors for Medicare (CDM), the voice for Canadian physicians who believe in “a high quality, equitable, sustainable health system built on the best available evidence as the highest expression of Canadians caring for one another”. She chaired the board of CDM until May 2013.

A recipient of the Canadian Medical Association Award for Young Leaders, Dr. Martin sat two terms on the Health Council of Canada from 2005-2011. In 2006 the Ontario College of Family Physicians recognized her as one of three New Family Doctors of the Year. Dr. Martin was also named by the Toronto Star in its list of the “13 People to Watch in 2013.”

Dennis Raphael, PhD is a Professor of Health Policy and Management at York University in Toronto. His many publications focus on the health effects of income inequality and poverty, the quality of life of communities and individuals, and the impact of government decisions on Canadians’ health and well-being. Dr. Raphael is author of Poverty in Canada: Implications for Health and Quality of Life. He is also editor of Social Determinants of Health: Canadian Perspectives and Tackling Health Inequalities: Lessons from International Experiences. With Juha Mikkonen he wrote Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts which is a primer for the Canadian public that has been downloaded over 200,000 times.