Why Wellocities

Wellocities was founded in 2007 to improve the lives of Canadians living with diabetes. It is a virtual Web presence designed by patients and health professionals to enable patients and caregivers to find health information and services, monitor their health and learn from others who face similar challenges.

Wellocities is a privately-held company consisting of a team of dedicated healthcare providers, patients, entrepreneurs and Web developers. By combining forces it is our belief that we can make a positive contribution to the health of Canadians living with diabetes, and the health system as a whole. Wellocities is a free service supported by online revenues from the presentation to users of information about people, places and services (e.g., medications, devices, consumer goods), and other products relevant to their health and well-being needs.

Today, nearly 2 million known Canadians are affected by diabetes and at least 20% more remain undiagnosed. According to a recent study, diabetes is rapidly becoming a pandemic with one-third of individuals born after 2000 expected to be diagnosed with the disease at some point in their lives. Diabetes and other chronic diseases now affect nearly 40 per cent of the Canadian population and consume up to 70% of the country’s annual health care budget.

Despite tremendous efforts by the scientific community, a cure for diabetes has not been found. In fact, it is now known that the disease is so complex that it may take years before it could be eradicated. Most health services, on the other hand, are designed to address acute conditions, such as infections or heart attacks. As a result, people living with diabetes face a life-long challenge that requires good self-management skills and support if they are to lead long and happy lives.

To achieve this goal, Wellocities aims to bring together, in a timely, personalized and contextualized fashion:

Most importantly, Wellocities can be accessed conveniently through other social networking sites such as Facebook, which is now one of Canada’s leading Web destination and part of many Canadians’ daily routines. There are at least 57 groups related to Canadian diabetes among 6 million active Facebook users in Canada today.

Wellocities will continue to be developed, refined, and enhanced and improved constantly by its community, guided by the needs of its members.

The People behind Wellocities

The Company has assembled a renowned team of leaders of patient-led communities, experts in chronic disease management and software engineering, and top Canadian business leaders, who share a strong passion for patient empowerment.

Board of Directors

Dr. Alex Jadad, Chairman and Director
Dr. Jadad is a physician, scientist and public advocate who has been identified as one of the world’s leading thinkers and innovators in how to optimize people’s health and well-being through the innovative use of information and communication technologies. Among his many awards, he has been recognized as “One of the Best of the Best” by the “Top 40 Under 40” Alumni in Canada, his adoptive country, and as one of the new Canadians who will have great influence in the world in the 21st century.

Dennis Bennie, Director
Dennis Bennie has more than 25 years experience as an operator and innovator in the software, Internet and venture capital fields. Bennie's endeavours have a reputation for leadership, growth, creativity and profitability. Bennie is the founder of XDL Capital, a venture capital firm focused on information technology. XDL was Canada’s first VC to focus exclusively on early stage investments and among the first to address Internet opportunities. Prior to XDL, Bennie co-founded Delrina, an independent software developer and publisher which was sold to Symantec in 1995 for approximately $560 million.

Bert Amato, Director and Technical Advisor
Bert Amato brings more than 25 years experience in the high technology industry. As co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of Delrina he was responsible for all product research and development activities. When Delrina was sold to Symantec he served as Vice President with Symantec. Prior to Delrina, Amato held a technical development position at the IBM Canada Research Laboratory and was co-founder and executive officer of Schematix Computer Systems. Amato is currently an investor, advisor and director to multiple software companies and technology investment funds.

Executive Team

Jonah Sigel, Interim President
Jonah Sigel has over 10 years experience as a deal maker and corporate counsel with significant exposure in the technology sector, specifically, subscription and business to business based services, sports, entertainment and online media. He has worked as Director International Business Development and Corporate Counsel at AOL Canada where he played an integral role in the planning and launch of numerous web services as well as the company’s transition from an ISP model to a media sales/content driven business. Prior, Sigel served as attorney with several US law firms, corporate counsel with DoveBid, the world’s largest online and offline corporate auctioneer, and consultant to the Miami Heat Basketball Team and the Florida Panthers Hockey Team. A self-professed gadget geek, information sponge and sports fanatic, Sigel received his law degree from the University of Miami School of Law.

Margaret Vaillancourt, VP Product Development
Margaret Vaillancourt contributes nearly 20 years experience in high technology development and business management expertise. Prior to joining Wellocities, Ms. Vaillancourt was Entrepreneur in Residence at Brightspark, a Toronto based Venture Capital fund, where she held the position of President for innovative companies including Tira Wireless, Delos (acquired by Siperian) and Think Dynamics (acquired by IBM and awarded Brightspark the Canadian Venture Capital Association “Deal of the Year” award). As President, Vaillancourt managed operations, while guiding these companies through financings and acquisitions. Prior, Ms. Vaillancourt was responsible for worldwide services at BackWeb Technologies, a San Jose based Web communications company. She was also a software development manager at Symantec where she was responsible for communication services and Internet products. Prior to that, she was product manager at Delrina responsible for OEM communication products and ISV channels. Vaillancourt holds a Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo.

Dr. Amol Deshpande, Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Deshpande has been responsible for initiating and fostering collaborative relationships between academic and industry partners for information technology projects at the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation. His work has included researching the needs of primary care physicians for information and communication technology including electronic prescribing and remote patient monitoring; implementing an application to access laboratory results across hospitals; and assessing the receptiveness and feasibility of asynchronous telemedicine. Before joining Wellocities Dr. Deshpande has held a number of clinical positions including family medicine, emergency medicine and surgical assistant.

Dr. Deshpande is currently a Clinical Consultant in chronic non-cancer pain at University Health Network in Toronto. He obtained his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1992 and his Masters of Business Administration from the Rotman School of Management in 2002.