Dr. Brenda Hemmelgarn is Dean and Vice-Provost, College of Health Sciences, and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta. Dr Hemmelgarn has a PhD in epidemiology and subspecialty training in nephrology. She continues to practise clinically to maintain front-line experience in health care and an in-depth perspective on health-care issues. For more than 35 years, Dr. Hemmelgarn has served in a variety of roles across health care, academics and administration. She is a strong advocate for patient engagement, patient-oriented research and integrated knowledge translation as well as social accountability. Among her many awards and honours, Dr. Hemmelgarn received the Alberta Science and Technology Leadership (ASTech) Foundation Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Innovation and is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.