Join us online for an Open Access Week panel event hosted by TMU Libraries Chief Librarian, Mark Robertson. Featuring academic leaders Sean Kheraj, Dr. Teresa Chan and Michael Kolios, we will discuss open access to research and its value. Open Access Week’s theme this year is “Community over Commercialization.” This year’s theme encourages a candid conversation about which approaches to open scholarship prioritize the best interests of the public and the academic community. 

Speakers Biographies:

Sean Kheraj is an associate professor of Canadian and environmental history in the Department of History at Toronto Metropolitan University. He is also the Vice-Provost, Academic. In 2020, he published an open textbook in Canadian history co-authored with Tom Peace from Huron College at Western University. That textbook is available at openhistoryseminar.com. 

Dr. Teresa M. Chan is the Founding Dean of the Toronto Metropolitan University School of Medicine as well as TMU’s Vice-President, Medical Affairs. She joined TMU via McMaster University, where she was Associate Dean, Continuing Professional Development and an Associate Professor, Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Medicine in the Faculty of Health Sciences; she was also a Clinician Scientist with McMaster Education, Research, Innovation and Theory (MERIT). In addition, Dr. Chan has been a practicing emergency physician with Hamilton Health Sciences since 2013. 

Michael C. Kolios completed a B.Sc. Hons degree in Physics, with a Computer Science minor, at the University of Waterloo in 1991. He subsequently completed his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto in 1994 and 1998, respectively. In 1997, he joined the Department of Physics at Toronto Metropolitan University, where he is currently a professor and Associate Dean of Research, Innovation and External Partnerships. He held a Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Applications of Ultrasound and has been the recipient of numerous awards for his research and teaching. His research interests include ultrasound /optical imaging and characterization of tissues and cells, high-frequency ultrasound imaging and spectroscopy, acoustic microscopy, ultrasound- and laser-based therapy, optical coherence tomography, and photoacoustic imaging.prioritize the best interests of the public and the academic community.

Chief Librarian Mark Robertson has more than 24 years of experience working in academic libraries. Mark joined TMU Libraries in August 2023 from Brock University where he was university librarian since 2016. As a member of Brock’s senior administrative council, Mark developed a new strategic plan and master space plan for the library, saw the opening of a new makerspace and provided leadership for the establishment of an open access policy. Further, his work to strengthen the library acquisitions budget resulted in a significant rise in the library's performance in the Maclean’s Magazine rankings of  comprehensive universities in Canada.