Beyond Survival Networking Event - Vancouver

Dr. Carlos Nuñez is a US-trained, university-affiliated psychiatrist practicing in Vancouver, BC, since 2012. He is board-certified in the US and Canada, and has additionally completed certification in Occupational Medicine through the Canadian Board of Occupational Medicine. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Science. He has been a clinical staff member at St. Paul’s Hospital since 2012, and has worked in the emergency department, the
inpatient wards, consult-liaison and outpatient psychiatry. His current clinical roles include being the primary psychiatric consultant for a division of the Respiratory Department and the
Physician Representative for the Occupational Health Department’s Violence Prevention Curriculum for physicians.

Dr. Nuñez has maintained an independent consulting practice since 2016 that includes conducting independent medical exams (IMEs), chairing claims review committees, being an independent health provider (IHP) for the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal (WCAT), providing final appeals claims decisions to crown corporations, providing occupational medical consultation directly to industry, and expert testimony.

Over the years,  Dr. Nuñez has provided consulting to various clients, including law firms, insurers, employers across multiple industries, municipalities, departments of federal and provincial governments, and professional regulatory bodies.

Dr. Nuñez has worked with trauma survivors since 2009. This has included clinically treating  undocumented immigrants and human trafficking survivors through community clinic services in Chicago, treating the unhoused and underserved community of Vancouver’s downtown eastside, and independent medical cases involving first responders, police and border services  agents, safety-sensitive workers in the natural resources sector, pilots, decision-critical professionals, and cases involving historical abuse. His professional interests include treating  complex psychiatric cases, trauma disorders, researching the interplay between work and mental health, preventive psychiatry and executive health and wellness.

Dr. Waheed is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine. He is extensively trained in general, child and adolescent, forensic, and addiction psychiatry, holding fellowships and board certifications in multiple subspecialties across Canada and the United States.

He has served as Program Director for both the Forensic Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry subspecialty training programs at the University of Calgary, and as Medical Director of the psychiatry inpatient program at Alberta Children’s Hospital since 2004. He has also overseen undergraduate and postgraduate education in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr. Waheed is licensed to practice in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and New York, and regularly provides expert testimony and medico-legal assessments in civil and criminal matters. He is also an independent medical examiner for the Workers’ Compensation Board of Alberta.

In addition, Dr. Waheed is the Managing Director of Sky Psychiatry, a multidisciplinary clinical and forensic mental health practice in Calgary.

Avita Sharma is the Vocational and Clinical Counselling Services Practice Lead and Senior Vocational Consultant at Progressive Rehab, where she has practiced for over 24 years. She specializes in vocational rehabilitation counselling, psychological counselling, vocational assessments, and expert opinion to the Supreme Court of British Columbia for litigation.

Avita holds a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia, graduate-level training in Chronic Pain Management from McGill University, and is a Doctoral Candidate and Researcher in Rehabilitation and Health Leadership at Queen’s University. She has extensive experience working with individuals with complex injuries and conditions, and she mentors and trains clinicians in vocational and counselling practice.

Avita has a specialty interest in cross-cultural rehabilitation and has presented widely at conferences, workshops, and universities. She is also an instructor and curriculum developer for Simon Fraser University’s Disability and Rehabilitation Management Program.