Our Team
CoRE is proud to have a team that is passionate about improving outcomes for Albertans with mental illness or addiction. Our team brings a deep understanding of recovery-oriented systems of care.
Leadership
Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Kaufmann is the CEO of the Canadian Centre of Recovery Excellence (CoRE) in Alberta, guiding leaders toward effective recovery-focused mental health and addiction systems. Most recently, she served as Deputy Minister of Mental Health and Community Wellness in Manitoba. Prior to that, she was the CEO of Eden Health Care Services and an executive at SMHC. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology/Sociology, a Master of Occupational Therapy, and certificates in Public Sector and Quality Management. Ms. Kaufmann has served on the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) Mental Health Indicator Reporting Board; L’Avenir Community Living Board of Directors; the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction Board of Directors; various Federal, Provincial and Territorial government committees; and is currently a reviewer with the Occupational Now Editorial Board and a Board member of the Minister of Health’s Integration Council.
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Nathaniel Day is the Chief Scientific Officer at the Canadian Centre of Recovery Excellence, providing expert guidance on program evaluation and development. Dr. Day is an addiction medicine specialist with a medical degree from the University of Alberta, serving as the Provincial Medical Director of Addiction with Alberta Health Services. He also served as the medical director for the Centennial Centre for Mental Health and Brain Injury, and Alberta’s Virtual Opioid Dependency Program (VOPD). With his team at Alberta Health Services, he conceptualized and developed the innovative Virtual Opioid Dependency Program. Dr. Day also served on the Minister’s Opioid Emergency Response Commission and co-chaired the Recovery Expert Advisory Panel. His work has been recognized by provincial and national bodies.
Chief Information Officer
As Chief Information Officer at CoRE, Mahmoud Azimaee provides strategic leadership in information management, data, and analytics to support evidence-based decision-making in addiction and recovery services. Mahmoud is an expert in population health data and brings extensive experience from multiple Canadian jurisdictions. Before joining CoRE, he spent 13 years at Ontario’s Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), holding various leadership roles in data and analytics. In 2024, Mahmoud led the modernization of ICES’ record linkage system, an achievement that earned the organization national recognition. He holds the Professional Statistician (P.Stat.) designation from the Statistical Society of Canada and has served as an Adjunct Faculty member in health informatics at the University of Toronto.
Chief Privacy Officer and General Counsel
Jane Steblecki Corns is a lawyer and registered nurse with a professional career focused on health and privacy law. Before being appointed to the Mental Health Review Panel, Jane served other adjudicative roles, including as a Presiding Justice of the Peace. For over a decade, Jane held various positions with the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta in executive, complaints director, and general counsel roles. Jane has been a partner with regional law firm, worked for the Health Law Institute, served on research ethics boards, taught clinical skills within the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Nursing, and delivered various health law guest lectures. Over 24 years of maintaining active status in two professions, Jane’s career highlights include a landmark telehealth project in Iqaluit and studying in Krakow Poland at Jagiellonian University.
Executive Director of Applied Research and Evidence
Dr. Shelly Vik is a dedicated leader in health care organizations and data-driven policy with over 18 years of experience in federal and provincial health organizations, regulatory bodies, and academia. Dr. Vik’s career includes key roles at Health Canada, Alberta Health Services and Recovery Alberta, where she implemented initiatives in federal programs, and in Alberta for Planning and Performance, Primary Health Care, and Provincial Mental Health and Addiction (PMHA). Most recently, she served as Recovery Alberta’s Director of Knowledge, Evidence, and Innovation, focusing on applied research, performance measurement, and initiatives to enhance service delivery. Dr. Vik also holds an Adjunct Assistant Professor position at the University of Calgary and is the Principal Investigator on a project evaluating the Virtual Opioid Dependency Program’s expansion in Indigenous communities. She holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Calgary and has completed executive training at the University of Alberta School of Business.
Executive Director of Finance & Corporate Services
Naren Makwana brings over 25 years of senior leadership experience in financial planning, reporting, and corporate governance. He has held executive roles across the private and public sector, including serving as Director of Finance at De Havilland Canada and Interim CFO and Director of Finance at the Alberta Energy Regulator. A strategic advisor and systems thinker, Naren has led and contributed to corporate services functions, funding model transformations, and large-scale organizational restructures and projects. Naren is a Chartered Professional Accountant and a board leader, committed to building strong teams and fostering financial transparency and resilience in multi-faceted environments.