Mindfulness Research Symposium 2026

Dr. Ronald Cohn has served as President and CEO of the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada since May 1st, 2019. Dr. Cohn joined SickKids in September 2012 as the Chief of the Division of Clinical and Metabolic Genetics, Co-Director of the Centre for Genetic Medicine, and Senior Scientist at the SickKids Research Institute. He became the Inaugural Women’s Auxiliary Chair in Clinical and Metabolic Genetics in April of 2013, and joined the department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. In 2016 he was appointed to the position of Chief of Paediatrics at SickKids, and Chair of Paediatrics at The University of Toronto.

TBA

Norman Farb, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga, where he directs the Regulatory and Affective Dynamics laboratory. He studies the cognitive neuroscience of well-being, focusing on mental habits, such as how we think about ourselves and interpret our emotions. Together with Prof. Zindel Segal, he wrote Better in Every Sense, a book that describes the surprising role of sensation in mental health. His current research explores online interventions to support wellbeing, and neuroimaging of interoception, our sense of the body’s internal state.

David R. Vago is a contemplative neuroscientist and a widely recognized leader in contemplative science, digital health, and well-being. Dr. Vago has dedicated his research and scholarly work to clarifying the neurobiological and psychosocial mechanisms underlying mind body practices, including meditation, yoga, breathwork, and psychedelics.

Dr. Swelen Andari is the Director of Strategy, Climate Resilience & Youth Mental Health at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She leads a research and systems change initiative to address climate distress, climate action, and active hope for youth. Swelen also leads the CAMH Mental Health & Climate Response Initiative, an organization-wide effort addressing climate-related mental health impacts. Trained as a Creative Arts Therapist and with a background in systems thinking, and implementation science, she has over a decade of experience in system-level initiatives focused on improving access, service design, prevention, and youth leadership in Ontario’s child and youth mental health system. For several years, Swelen was involved in local and national climate justice organizing, including collaborating with Climate Justice Toronto, supporting the 350’s Our Time Campaign, and co-designing a social movement organization committed to advancing equitable climate solution, good work and dignity for all.

Life Promotion Ambassador & Traditional Knowledge Practitioner. Anishinaabe, PhD MEd, BEd

Dzung X. Vo, MD (pronouns: he/him) is a pediatrician specializing in Adolescent Medicine, founding Co-Director of the BC Children’s Hospital Centre for Mindfulness, and a Clinical Associate Professor and Division Head for the Division of Adolescent Health and Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, at BC Children’s Hospital and the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In partnership with Dr. Jake Locke, Dr. Vo co-developed MARS-A (Mindful Awareness and Resilience Skills for Adolescents), an eight-week mindfulness training program for adolescents with depressive symptoms, with or without other co-occurring chronic illness or chronic pain. Dr. Vo also developed a Mindful Healing course for health care providers, adapted from Mindful Practice (Ron Epstein and Michael Krasner) and other sources. Dr. Vo is a student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, and continues to practice applied mindfulness with the local and international Plum Village community.

Eric B. Loucks, PhD, is a professor, researcher, and innovator in the study of mindfulness and health. As Director of the Mindfulness Center at Brown University, he leads efforts to advance the science and application of mindfulness-based practices to improve well-being and address public health challenges. Dr. Loucks developed the Mindfulness-Based College for Young Adults (MB-College) program and the Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction (MB-BP) program, both of which have been evaluated through NIH-funded randomized controlled trials. His research encompasses mindfulness epidemiology, evidence synthesis, and implementation science, with a focus on translating mindfulness research into practical tools that support health and well-being. During his career, Dr. Loucks has held teaching positions at Harvard, McGill, and Brown Universities. His work has been featured in prominent media outlets, such as The New York Times, TIME Magazine, and the BBC. Dr. Loucks is author of the book The Mindful College Student: How to Success, Boost Well-Being and Build the Life you Want at University and Beyond. He has provided presentations to national and state governmental bodies. Committed to bridging rigorous science with real-world impact, Dr. Loucks empowers individuals and communities by advancing evidence-based mindfulness practices that support health and resilience.

Mark Miller is a philosopher, cognitive scientist and happiness aficionado working on what recent advances in neuroscience can tell us about human flourishing, and what it means to live well in our increasingly technologically-mediated world. Mark is currently a researcher at Monash University’s Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, and is cross-affiliated with both the University of Toronto and Hokkaido University.

Terry Gardiner is committed to care and compassion as core values and brings experience in education and community social work to his role as the Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education. He leads collaborative equity awareness building and implementation efforts across the wide ranging physical activity, sport and wellness spaces at the University and engages human centred inclusion and belonging within and across many communities. He has provided direct support and guidance to students, faculty, and staff on accessibility, anti-racism, and mental health and wellness. His work focuses on equity and inclusion as practice and human capacity building and he aims to offer mindful attention with intention to the full range of human experiences

Mikayla Redden, (she/her) is an Instruction and Information Services Librarian at the New College Library at the University of Toronto. Mikayla is Anishinaabekwe and Anglo settler. Though she is a member of Curve Lake First Nation, she was raised in Nogojiwanong (Peterborough). Her great-grandparents, Jack Jacobs and Edith Marsden, and their minor children were enfranchised under section 214 of the Indian Act, meaning they relinquished their Indian identities and assimilated into white settler society. The family was legally enfranchised until Bill C-31 amended the Indian Act in 1985. Mikayla’s grandmother made community in Hiawatha First Nation, a place she would come to spend summers with her children and later, her grandchildren. Mikayla credits her raising on the Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg homelands and the voices of Indigenous kin perspectives she takes to her career, where questioning, rethinking, and dismantling are the tools of transformation for library systems and practices. She is passionate about storytelling, anti-racist pedagogies, and amplifying marginalised Knowledges.

Niya Bajaj, (NEW ’08) best selling author, Champion of Mental Health, award winning mentor, and philanthropist is an internationally certified holistic yoga therapist, and narrative medicine facilitator. She has coached over 1500 people-leaders through the Mindfulness for Leaders program. When she’s not coaching she delivers bespoke wellness-centred leadership learning experiences that support organizational culture change for improved employee well-being, engagement, and performance at organizations including Accenture, Brookfield Investments, Royal Bank of Canada, and the University of Toronto. Her ideas have been featured in the Toronto Star, New York Times, Forbes, Yoga Therapy Today, and the book “Are We Friends or Coworkers?” Outside of her corporate wellbeing work she supports women through challenges with body image, burnout, boundaries and the big life shift (menopause) in her private practice at Holistic Yoga Therapy.

Brother Troi Pham Hanh (Holy Life of Heaven), born Bart Johan Christiaan Bannink in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1981. His birth card read: “So he may live as a priestly thinking human being.” He comes from a line of ministers and teachers within the Apostolic Society. This tradition planted the first seeds, which, in the right conditions of Plum Village, grew, leading him to be ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh as a Buddhist monk in 2012. In 2022, he received his Dharma Lamp becoming a qualified Dharma Teacher in the tradition of Plum VIllage. As a storyteller and inventor, Brother Pham Hanh mixes personal experiences and stories into his teachings, giving simple but deep insights that connect and inspire. His work often looks into the fields of trauma and healing, helping others toward transformation and resilience. His curiosity leads him to adjust everyday things for the community. His creative coffee roaster — made of non-coffee roaster elements — found its way into a Dharma talk, while his method for tempeh production has nourished thousands. In Brother Pham Hanh’s presence, kindness and creativity grow, encouraging others to experience the Plum Village Dharma in new and surprising ways.

Brother Niệm Thuần, born and raised in Iximulew/Guatemala, in 1992. He has been a monk for 5 years in Plum Village France and worked in music and in customer service. He still makes music, and practices to serve. Brother Niệm Thuần enjoys learning new things, being with friends and family, trying to understand life, and practicing to heal my/our wounds.

Sister Trăng Hiếu Đức from Hong Kong is ordained in Plum Village in October, 2020. She studied in the Chinese University of Hong Kong, majoring in Anthropology. She has been regularly participating in Plum Village retreats since the age of 4 with her mother, also a member of Order of Interbeing in the Plum Village tradition. She was a facilitator of the teen program during the Summer Family retreat in Plum Village for several years. She was also active in the Wake Up movement for young people, an initiative started by Thich Nhat Hanh to empower young voices to foster a compassionate and healthy society,  as a core Sangha member in Hong Kong since 2014. She is inspired to share mindfulness practice with music, through writing songs of mindfulness, and composing songs with lyrics based on Zen Master Thích Nhất Hành poetry. .

Elli Weisbaum (she/her), BFA, MES, PhD, is an endlessly curious human, which has led to her love of teaching and research. She has worked internationally facilitating applied mindfulness workshops and retreats across the sectors of education, healthcare and business. She is based at the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor (teaching stream) in the Buddhism, Psychology and Mental Health Program (BPMH), at New College, with a joint appointment to the Department of Psychiatry, in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. She is cross-appointed to the Dalla Lana School of Public Health in their Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME). She attended her first retreat with Zen Master and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh just after her tenth birthday, and has continued to train with his international Plum Village community. In March 2025, Elli received the designation of Dharma Teacher in the Plum Village Tradition.Her teaching and research focus on the intersection of contemplative practice, mental health, and organizational culture, with a commitment to creating conditions where individuals and institutions can truly flourish.

Sara Ahola Kohut, PhD, CPsych is a clinical and health psychologist, researcher, teacher, and endlessly curious human. She is staff at the Hospital for Sick Children, project investigator at the SickKids Research Institute, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Her clinical, research, and teaching interests are focused on mindfulness, meaningful social connection, values based living, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for people of all ages living with chronic disease. This work has led to both traditional and creative knowledge dissemination as well as training health care professionals, graduate students, clinical trainees, and peer mentors locally and internationally.