Dr. Philip Eappen is an accomplished healthcare executive, academic, and researcher currently serving as Assistant Professor in the Department of Professional Studies, School of Nursing; Adjunct Faculty in Healthcare Management, Shannon School of Business at Cape Breton University; and Associate Scientist with the Maritime SPOR SUPPORT Unit. With over a decade of experience spanning hospital operations, healthcare education, and strategic leadership, he has consistently advanced innovation and excellence across diverse healthcare systems in Canada, the United States, and internationally.
Dr. Eappen's clinical leadership experience includes progressive roles at the Breton Ability Centre in Sydney, Nova Scotia, where he advanced to Director of Clinical Services and Transition to Community, leading person-centered care initiatives and community transition services. His academic career encompasses appointments at the University of Toronto, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, and Fanshawe College. Internationally, he served as Director of Health Services and Chief Administrator of Healthcare Operations at the American University of Nigeria, where he spearheaded clinical transformation, emergency preparedness, and inclusive health initiatives, including programs supporting survivors of Boko Haram abductions.
Dr. Eappen holds a Doctorate in Healthcare Administration and Post-Graduate Certificate in International Health from Central Michigan University, complemented by an MBA in Healthcare Management and Bachelor of Nursing. He has developed and taught curricula across undergraduate and graduate levels in healthcare leadership, innovation, and health systems analytics, while leading the program development of Cape Breton University's Master of Healthcare Innovation and Leadership program.
An active contributor to national and global health dialogues, Dr. Eappen serves on the boards of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Myeloma Canada, Aplastic Anemia and Myelodysplasia Canada, and the Network of Rare Blood Disorder Organizations (NRBDO). He chairs research and ethics committees, reflecting his commitment to governance, evidence-based practice, and health equity.
Dr. Eappen has published extensively on artificial intelligence in healthcare, digital health transformation, and health workforce development. His recent editorial work includes Healthcare Informatics Innovation Post COVID-19 Pandemic (Taylor & Francis). He has presented at major international conferences including ICN 2025, ICIMTH, and INTED. As a Certified Health Executive (CHE) through the Canadian College of Health Leaders and Fellow candidate of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), Dr. Eappen continues pursuing the highest standards of professional excellence in healthcare leadership. His research agenda focuses on digital innovation, rare diseases, and global workforce integration, continuing to shape policy, practice, and pedagogy in healthcare management.
Dr. Virginia Gunn
Dr. Virginia Gunn is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at Cape Breton University and an Affiliate Researcher at the Unit of Occupational Medicine, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Sweden. As a public health researcher with interdisciplinary training in health and social sciences, Dr. Gunn earned her doctoral and master's degrees from the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and completed a Collaborative Doctoral Specialization in Global Health from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.
Dr. Gunn combines her academic background with extensive professional experience as a health practitioner, with expertise spanning public health, acute care, and long-term care settings. She has assumed various leadership roles—including project lead, committee chair, board director, finance officer, and co-founder of interest groups—through which she has spearheaded initiatives to improve health systems and promote evidence-informed decision-making.
As a dedicated researcher, Dr. Gunn maintains an active record of engagement in international, national, and regional projects and collaborations. Her established research program examines the intersection of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, with social determinants of health—particularly employment, migration, and gender—and their role in shaping health inequities. Through this work, she contributes to understanding how technological advancement can address or exacerbate existing health disparities in diverse populations.
Dr. Dimitrios Zikos
Dr. Dimitrios Zikos is an Associate Professor in the Department of Healthcare Management and Leadership at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC). He is a core faculty member in the Master of Science in Healthcare Administration (MSHA) program, where he teaches graduate-level courses in health informatics, research methods, and statistics. Dr. Zikos brings extensive academic and leadership experience, having previously served as Director of the Health Administration Division and Interim Program Director of the Master of Health Administration at Central Michigan University. During his tenure there, he led the program’s successful accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME).
Dr. Zikos holds a Ph.D. in Health Informatics from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece and a Bachelor's degree in Nursing. His professional background spans both Europe and the United States, with applied research and academic contributions focused on the intersection of health data, workforce management, and patient safety.
His research is centered on leveraging data analytics to improve clinical and administrative decision-making in healthcare. He specializes in the secondary analysis of medical claims data, comorbidity modeling, and the evaluation of inpatient outcomes such as mortality and length of stay. Dr. Zikos is particularly interested in the use of digital tools to enhance healthcare access for underserved populations, and the development of data-driven systems to support evidence-based care and decision-making. He is also active in the field of medical education technology, working on simulation-based tools that enhance the accessibility and usability of health information for both clinicians and patients.
A dedicated mentor, Dr. Zikos has chaired over twenty doctoral dissertations, supporting students who aim to apply informatics and analytics to solve complex, real-world healthcare challenges. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and conference presentations in health informatics, healthcare management, and digital health systems.
Dr. Narasimha Rao Vajjhala
Dr. Narasimha Rao Vajjhala is a distinguished academic and researcher currently serving as Professor and Chair of the Department of Computer Science at the American University in Bulgaria (AUBG). With over two decades of experience in higher education, Dr. Vajjhala has held senior academic leadership positions, including Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at the University of New York Tirana (UNYT), Albania, and Chair of Computer Science and Software Engineering programs at the American University of Nigeria (AUN).
Throughout his career, Dr. Vajjhala has taught a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate courses in computer science, database systems, and programming across institutions in Europe and Africa. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Risk and Contingency Management (IJRCM) and maintains active membership as a Senior Member of both the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), as well as membership in the Project Management Institute (PMI).
Beyond academia, Dr. Vajjhala has provided technology consulting services for various European firms and participated in numerous EU-funded research and innovation projects. He holds a Doctorate in Information Systems and Technology from the United States, an M.Sc. in Computer Science and Applications from India, and an MBA with specialization in Information Systems from Switzerland. His interdisciplinary expertise spans computer science, information systems, and project management, with significant contributions to research, education, and industry practice across international contexts.
