Personal History

Dr Milton Packer was born to Polish immigrants in 1951 and raised in Philadelphia, US. Prior to studying medicine, he was politically active in the 1960s. In his words: “The focus of my upbringing was education, but the major guiding principle in my childhood years (and throughout my entire life) was an uncompromising sense of justice. I was always imbued with the need to strive for and defend the truth.” He began his career in cardiology during a pivotal time for the field, just as interventional cardiology and

Dr Harriette Van Spall is an internationally known cardiologist, research methodologist, and senior scientist. She serves as an Associate Professor of Medicine at McMaster University, a Senior Scientist at the Population Health Research Institute, and Director of Implementation Science at the Baim Institute for Clinical Research in Boston.​

Academic history

Dr Van Spall completed her BSc and MD at the University of Toronto, followed by residency and fellowship training in internal medicine and…