Mona Gupta is full professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Addictions at the Université de Montral with an active practice in consultation-liaison psychiatry. Her academic focus is in ethics and philosophy of psychiatry. She has been actively involved in the debate about medical assistance in dying (MAID) for persons with mental disorders acting as chair of the  federal government's Expert Panel on MAID and Mental Illness and Health Canada's Task Group on MAID Practice Standards. 

Dr. Thorpe is a geriatric psychiatrist at the Saskatchewan Health Authority and is a professor of community health and epidemiology as well as of psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan.

Dr. Thorpe is actively involved in research, teaching and supervision related to medical assistance in dying (MAID) and has been involved with MAID assessment and provision throughout Saskatchewan since 2016.

She was a member of the Health Canada MAID Practice Standards Task Group, which prepared the model practice standard for MAID as well as the guidance document, Advice to the Profession. In addition to her membership on the Saskatoon Health Region committee that developed regional MAID policy, she has contributed to the development of guidelines by the Canadian Association of MAID Assessors and Providers as well as the Canadian MAID Curriculum.

In 2022, Dr. Thorpe appeared before the Canadian parliamentary Special Joint Committee on MAID as an invited witness on advanced consent to MAID during its statutory review of the provisions of the Criminal Code relating to MAID and their application.

Dr. David Gratzer is a Toronto-based psychiatrist and physician. He works at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, where he is an attending psychiatrist, and serves as the co-chief of the General Adult Psychiatry and Health Systems Division, overseeing the clinical and academic work of 100+ psychiatrists. He is also the CPPD site coordinator. Previously, he worked at the Scarborough and Rouge Hospital, where he was the physician-in-charge of mental health inpatient services, and was the physician co-lead for consultation-liaison services.

He is active in education and recently won the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine’s Ivan Silver Innovation Award. He has been nominated 10 times for University of Toronto teaching awards. He is a founding member of the national editorial board of CAMH’s Portico and served on the OMA’s Section on Psychiatry Executive. He peer reviews for several journals, including CMAJ, and he sits on the editorial board of JMIR Mental Health and The British Journal of Psychiatry; he is an associate editor of The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.

Dr. Gratzer writes widely. His articles have been published in The Globe and Mail and Maclean’s. He is the author of two books and the editor of a third. His first book was awarded the Donner Prize in 2000.

His research interests include psychiatry and technology; he does CIHR-funded work on e-therapies.

Dr. Vijay Seethapathy is the Chief Medical Officer at BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services, where he provides strategic and operational oversight for specialized programs, including the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, Red Fish Healing Centre and Correctional Health Services. His passion for improving access to mental health care and treating patients with complex disorders has driven his career across multiple countries.

Beyond his clinical work, Dr. Seethapathy is passionate about leadership and education. He holds an executive MBA and has spearheaded initiatives aimed at addressing system gaps in mental health care, such as Vancouver’s 24/7 access and assessment centre, which breaks down barriers to timely psychiatric care. Dr. Seethapathy has been instrumental in implementing a triage model designed to streamline access to mental health services, ensuring that individuals in crisis receive the appropriate level of care swiftly. This model integrates various health professionals, enabling quick assessment and referrals to the right services based on patient needs. His leadership style is grounded in collaboration, whether it’s building new models of care or supporting colleagues through renewed governance structures.