Department of Ophthalmology Keynote Speakers

Dr. François Codère

Dr. François Codère is a oculoplastic and orbital specialist who was born and raised in Quebec, trained at University of Sherbrooke in ophthalmology, following which he pursued further fellowship training in ocular pathology at McGill with Dr Seymour Brownstein and oculoplastics at University of Iowa with Dr Richard L Anderson.

For the last 35 years Dr. Codère has contributed significantly to the field of oculoplastics in his multiple roles as director of oculoplastics and associate professor of ophthalmology at McGill University and University de Montreal. Dr. Codère is past Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at The Université de Montreal Eye Center, a division of University de Montreal. Dr. Codère has trained more than 40 fellows and authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications in addition to many book chapters and numerous presentations throughout the world to fellow ophthalmologists. He directed the very popular endoscopic DCR course at the AAO which has been on the program for more than 20 years, He gave keynote lectures at the American and European Oculoplastic societies and was the guest speaker at numerous national ophthalmological societies.

Dr. Codère has also been very active in the AAO as a contributor to the BSCS, the ASOPRS and has travelled to destinations as far as Tunisia and China on humanitarian missions. He is especially renowned for his collaboration with several neurogenetic researchers on oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy and for his work and dedication to endoscopic lacrimal surgery. He has lectured on all continents about his work. He is a founding member and past president of the Canadian Oculoplastic Society and has served on the Board of the COS (Canadian Ophthalmological Society) as secretary and as President. He was also the president of the COS Foundation. He was Treasurer and President of the Quebec Association of Ophthalmologists. He is an active member of the International Orbital Society.

Aside from ophthalmology Dr. Codère like outdoor life doing, skiing, cross-country skiing, cycling, hiking and golf.

Dr. Muhammad Mamdani

Dr. Mamdani is Vice President of Data Science and Advanced Analytics at Unity Health Toronto and Director of the University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine Centre for Artificial Intelligence Education and Research in Medicine (T-CAIREM). Dr. Mamdani’s team bridges advanced analytics including machine learning with clinical and management decision making to improve patient outcomes and hospital efficiency. Dr. Mamdani is also Professor in the Department of Medicine of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation of the Dalla Lana Faculty of Public Health. He is also adjunct Senior Scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and a Faculty Affiliate of the Vector Institute, which is a leading institution for artificial intelligence research in Canada.

Dr. Mamdani holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Michigan, a fellowship in pharmacoeconomics from the Detroit Medical Centre, a Master of Arts degree in econometric theory from Wayne State University, and a Master of Public Health from Harvard University with a focus on statistics and epidemiology. He has previously been named among Canada’s Top 40 under 40. Dr. Mamdani’s research interests include pharmacoepidemiology, pharmacoeconomics, drug policy, and the application of advanced analytics approaches to clinical problems and health policy decision-making. He has published over 500 studies in peer-reviewed healthcare journals.