James Downar is a Critical Care and Palliative Care physician in Ottawa, and has a Master’s degree in Bioethics. He is currently Professor and Head of the Division of Palliative Care at the University of Ottawa, where he holds a Clinical Research Chair in Palliative and End of Life Care. He is an adjunct professor at the Australian Centre for Health Law Research at the Queensland University of Technology. He is the past President of the Canadian Critical Care Society and co-chair of the Pan-Canadian Palliative Care Research Collaborative.  He has authored nearly 200 peer-reviewed publications and was the principal investigator on more than 30 peer-reviewed grants. In 2025, he received the King Charles III Coronation medal for contributions to Palliative Care in Canada, and in 2021 he received the Award of Excellence from the Ontario Medical Association’s Section on Palliative Medicine.

Louise Hanvey is the volunteer lead for the Conversations & Advance Care Planning program at Compassionate Ottawa. She is a retired registered nurse who has worked with many national palliative care initiatives. Most recently she was the Project Director for the Advance Care Planning in Canada Project with the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association. As part of her responsibilities she launched the campaign: Speak Up: Start the conversation about end-of-life care. Louise has nursing experience in public health, hospitals and nursing education.