Shusmita Rashid is an implementation science and health systems leader with over 15 years of experience spanning research translation, policy implementation, and real-world health system transformation across Canada and global contexts.

Her work sits at the intersection of implementation science, knowledge mobilization, and systems change, with a focus on how evidence-based interventions move from efficacy into sustained adoption at scale under real-world constraints.

She currently leads Change the Conversation at Diabetes Canada, a national systems initiative applying implementation science to address stigma as a structural barrier to chronic disease prevention and care. The initiative focuses on shifting not only programs and practices, but the underlying norms, incentives, and social conditions that determine whether interventions are adopted, experienced, and sustained.

Previously, she held senior leadership roles at the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (Baycrest) and St. Michael’s Hospital Knowledge Translation Program, where she led knowledge mobilization strategy and supported the design and implementation of national and international innovation portfolios.

Through her various roles Shusmita has secured over $55M in funding and supported implementation and scale-up efforts across 50+ health and social care organizations, with a consistent focus on identifying why interventions fail or succeed during transition-to-scale rather than controlled environments.

She is also an Affiliate Consultant at the Center for Implementation (TCI) and serves as an implementation science expert reviewer for Gates Foundation–funded global health projects. Her governance experience includes serving as a Director on the boards of Quinte Health and the International Federation on Ageing.

Her global experience spans Canada, East Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, providing comparative insight into implementation across diverse health system structures, resource environments, and policy contexts.