Faculty of Health Sciences

An influential philanthropist, food safety advocate and champion for global health, Mary Heersink is a longtime resident of Dothan, Alabama who established her initial connection to McMaster University during a family crisis. In 1992, her son Damion was 11 years old when he went on an organized group outing where he ate meat contaminated with E. coli0157. After weeks in intensive care, Damion recovered, in part due to insights provided by McMaster’s Dr. John Kelton. In the wake of this near tragedy, Mrs. Heersink began a personal mission to enhance the food safety systems that protect us. She authored the acclaimed book E. coli 0157: The True Story of A Mother’s Battle With A Killer Microbe and founded STOP Foodborne Illness, a grassroots organization that helped drive the Pathogen Reduction Act of 1996 and the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011. STOP has developed training programs, food safety policies and a food safety kit that has been applied in more than 80 different countries. Mrs. Heersink has also presented at the World Congress on Food Hygiene in The Hague in 1997, served on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and testified before the U.S. Congress on food-safety issues.

Beyond her advocacy in food safety, Mrs. Heersink is an active volunteer in her local community, having served on the boards of directors for Boys and Girls Clubs of Dothan, the Wiregrass Museum of Art, Houston Academy and Landmark Park. She is a long-time member of the board of visitors for the Heersink School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and a member of the advisory board for UAB’s Master of Science in Global Health program, a joint initiative with McMaster and universities in six nations outside of North America. With her husband Dr. Marnix Heersink, she is the keystone donor to UAB’s Mary Heersink Institute for Global Health.

Mrs. Heersink and her husband are also transformative philanthropists here at McMaster where their 2022 gift established the Mary Heersink School of Global Health and Social Medicine, which is dedicated to addressing threats to global health, as well as the Marnix E. Heersink School of Biomedical Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Professor Sarrah Lal is an innovation and leadership professional whose work focuses on healthcare innovation, entrepreneurship, commercialization, and systems leadership. Drawing on an interdisciplinary background including law, chemistry, engineering, business and coaching, she currently works across academic, entrepreneurial, and policy environments to help build innovators and innovation pathways in Canada.

At McMaster University, Ms. Lal is an Associate Professor leading the development and delivery of interdisciplinary programs that bridge healthcare, innovation, leadership, and entrepreneurship. Some of these include Health Ventures, Innovators in Scrubs, and the Emerging Leaders Accelerator. Her teaching approach emphasizes experiential and inquiry-based learning, encouraging students to apply entrepreneurial thinking and systems-level problem-solving to real-world challenges they see around them.

Beyond the classroom, Ms. Lal works with entrepreneurs, clinicians, policymakers, industry leaders, and community partners to strengthen innovation and commercialization ecosystems and support the development of emerging ventures and leaders. Her work focuses on interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation strategy, systems thinking, and the practical realities of navigating complex organizations and political landscapes to drive meaningful change.

Through mentorship, stakeholder engagement, simulations, and applied innovation training, she supports students and professionals in developing the confidence, judgment, and leadership capabilities needed to create meaningful impact. Learners from her programs have gone on to launch startups, work in health technology and investment sectors, and assume leadership roles across health and entrepreneurship ecosystems.

Dr. Michael Wong is an educator and scholar whose teaching philosophy is grounded in partnership, belonging, and transformative learning. Guided by critical reflection, educational scholarship, and lived experience, Dr. Wong creates learning environments where students are empowered to step outside of their comfort zones, learn through failure, and participate as partners in the learning process. He places particular emphasis on fostering spaces of belonging where all students feel heard, respected, and valued.

As an evidence-informed educator, Dr. Wong evaluates and refines his teaching through student feedback, pedagogical scholarship, and engagement with emerging educational technologies. Internationally, he has received recognition for his innovative contributions to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning by being the first Canadian recipient of the Nancy Chick Article of the Year Award from the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL). Nationally, he served on the External Advisory Committee for the Federal Tri-Agencies, where he advocated for increased funding amounts for federal scholarships for trainees and a more equitable selection process. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE), the leading higher education society in Canada, where he advocates for student voice and student partnership in higher education.

Students consistently describe Dr. Wong as a mentor whose encouragement, empathy, and commitment to authentic learning have had lasting impacts on their academic journeys and personal growth.

Dr. Thabane is deeply committed to public service. He chairs the Board of Directors of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame and serves on several other boards, including Baycrest Academy, Homewood Research Institute, and SolidarMed Lesotho. He also chairs the Methodology Committee for PCORI, a U.S.-based nonprofit established through the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

He has held visiting professorships at leading universities worldwide, including institutions in South Africa, Brazil, Korea, Australia, Ireland, and China. With over 1,300 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Thabane is a globally recognized educator, mentor, and one of the most highly cited scientists in the world.