Stephanie Warner is the Manager, Knowledge Engagement in Research Services at the University of Calgary. The portfolio’s initiatives include community-engaged research, knowledge mobilization, research assessment and open science. She has held a variety of roles at UCalgary since 2014, from postdoctoral researcher to career development specialist, sessional instructor, and research officer. Stephanie has a PhD in Experimental Medicine from UBC, and loves that she now dedicates her time to supporting the research ecosystem. In her spare time, Stephanie embraces the Calgary weather by cross-country skiing, running, and cycling.

Sarah Passmore is a Senior Advisor on the Research Excellence team at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Sarah has held a variety of roles at CIHR since 2019, and in her current role has a focus on inclusive research excellence, responsible research assessment and the implementation of DORA in CIHR programs. Sarah has a Graduate Diploma in Health: Science, Technology and Policy from Carleton University and a B.A. in Psychology.


Tony Michel is the Senior Policy Advisor to the Vice-President of Research, at the Social Sciences and Humanities and Research Council of Canada. He has worked in strategic policy in the federal public service for 17 years, including at Global Affairs Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage, with a special focus on inclusive public policy. He has a PhD in the History of Post-Confederation Canada, an MA in history, a B.Ed and B.A. Honours in Political Science.

Valerie Harbour is a Deputy Director in the Research Grants and Scholarships directorate at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). Over the last 12 years, she has held multiple program delivery and policy positions, where she has worked extensively on advancing equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives. In her current role, Valerie is leading the implementation of DORA at NSERC, which aims to align agency procedures and policies with best practices in responsible research assessment. Before joining NSERC, Valerie completed her Master’s and PhD at the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec.

Dr. Kelly Cobey is a scientist at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute where she leads the Metaresearch and Open Science Program. She is also an associate professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Cobey holds a number of national and international leadership positions in the meta-research community. Since 2015 she has been a member of EQUATOR Canada which provides educational outreach and support for the use of reporting guidelines. She also presently sits on the Advisory Board of DORA (Declaration On Research Assessment) which aims to drive the use of more responsible metrics to evaluate research and researchers, and serves on the Science Policy Committee for Research Data Canada.

Dr. Cobey completed her PhD in social psychology at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Following her PhD, she worked as a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Stirling in Scotland. In her capacity as a consultant, Dr. Cobey has provided educational outreach and strategic planning to a number of organizations including the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH).

Erica Conte obtained her PhD in Physiology from Western University, following which she completed a CIHR-funded postdoctoral fellowship in Turin, Italy. She has diverse work experience in academics, industry and research administration. Within these roles she has developed expertise in research assessment, strategic planning, communication, institutional leadership, as well as both traditional and philanthropic research funding. At Unity Health Toronto, she is currently the Director of Funding Strategy and Stewardship, where she supports the full breath of health research spanning fundamental science through to translational research, health services/policy and knowledge translation. She also works closely with the hospital Foundations and major donors to incorporate research in major fundraising campaigns and events, and working as part the team developing a new responsible research evaluation framework at Unity Health Toronto. She has been an active member of the Canadian Association of Research Administrators (CARA) since 2014, and is a member of the International Network of Research Management Societies (INORMS) Research Evaluation Group, where she helps to develop tools to support responsible research assessment and improve our use of global and national rankings in research.