Advocacy. Education. Knowledge Mobilization. Thought Leadership.
Advocacy. Education. Knowledge Mobilization. Thought Leadership.
About Me
Shelita Dattani, PharmD, RPh
My work sits at the intersection of advocacy, education, knowledge mobilization, and thought leadership in health care.
I'm a pharmacist by training and a policy advocate by practice — twenty-five years spent at the front lines of care, in national association leadership, and in international pharmacy policy. Along the way I kept seeing the same gap: good evidence and good policy, sitting too far apart from the people and institutions who need to act on both.
That's the work now. I give organizations, non-profits, and government relations teams the "so what" behind their advocacy — and I know how to speak to government in the language it actually responds to. My approach is consistent: find the problem that's keeping a client up at night, build the case for the solution, and help enable it.
Rx Rethink is where that same instinct meets a public audience — evidence-based answers to the health questions people are actually asking, and the bigger policy conversations behind them.
Advocacy & Policy Consulting
I work with patient groups, non-profits, government relations teams, and pharmacy chains and banners that need a credible, evidence-based advocacy voice in health prevention — particularly in vaccines and pharmacy's expanding role in primary care. Engage me as a consultant, a strategist, an educator, a conference moderator, or a keynote speaker. I know how to translate advocacy into language government responds to, and how to move a policy problem toward an enabled solution.
Speaking & Facilitation
Keynote talks, panel moderation, and conference emcee work on health policy, prevention, and the future of pharmacy practice. I'm known as a moderator who keeps a panel sharp and a storyteller who can make complex policy land with any audience — from clinicians to government.
I also deliver ongoing CME and continuing education programming for primary care providers on the clinical topics shaping practice today — presented everywhere from local grand rounds to national conferences to the global stage.
Media & Thought Leadership
Long-running advocacy column, Rx Rethink, in the Canadian Pharmacists Journal — plus the Rx Rethink podcast and Instagram channel, extending the same evidence-based, policy-literate voice to a wider audience.
Selected Work
Chair & Advocacy Lead, Adult Vaccine Alliance (AVA) — a pan-Canadian adult immunization coalition
Board Director, Hypertension Canada and the Canadian Foundation for Pharmacy
Adjunct appointment, University of Ottawa
25+ years across hospital, community, national association leadership, and international pharmacy policy (FIP, World Pharmacy Congress, The Hague)
Rx Rethink, advocacy column for the Canadian Pharmacists Journal — including a co-presented video series with CPJ editor-in-chief Dr. Ross Tsuyuki
Keynote & invited speaking: Pharmacy U (flu vaccination as cardiovascular medicine), New Brunswick Pharmacists Association (respiratory vaccines), BC Pharmacy Association (hypertension guidelines), Amgen/Shoppers Drug Mart CE program (lipid management), HPV CE session for Ottawa nurse practitioners
Ongoing CME programming for primary care providers on key clinical topics — delivered locally, nationally, and internationally
Abstract accepted, Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2026 — adult vaccination as a cardiovascular disease prevention pillar