Wednesday, April 22nd 9:30 A.M. - 10:30 A.M. UCT Pavillion

Michael Landsberg

A veteran broadcaster and former host of TSN’s Off The Record, MICHAEL LANDSBERG is as brash, witty, and smart as you’d expect—but that’s not all. He’s also one of the country’s most staunch and vocal mental health advocates. After publicly talking about his own struggle with depression for decades, Landsberg founded First Step, a powerful and personal mental health program for businesses of all sizes, and #SickNotWeak, a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating stigma and building community. In talks, he shows us that the road to healing begins with non-judgemental conversation.

The phrase “off the record” connotes a hushed conversation, but TSN’s popular talk show of the same name was anything but secretive. Hosted by Michael Landsberg, the 18-season series was full of personality, humor, debate, sports commentary, pop culture, and big name personalities. On stage, Landsberg was a candid and funny host who didn’t shy away from taboos. He spoke openly about his personal battle with depression, and considered breaking the stigma around mental illness his most important calling. Today, Landsberg is an ambassador for Bell Let’s Talk, an initiative raising awareness about mental health, and the founder of #SickNotWeak, a nonprofit that reframes mental illness as a health issue, rather than a character flaw. The organization serves as both a resource and community for people living with mental illness, and those who wish to support their loved ones.  “I want people who suffer from depression to feel motivated to share and to get help. And I want people who don’t suffer, but who will be touched by depression, to look at this as an illness and not a weakness and to create an environment where more people can share and not feel like they are being judged,” Landsberg explains. Landsberg has also extended his efforts with #SickNotWeak to create Isolation Nation: a digital program dedicated to mitigating the dangerous effects of social isolation on mental health.

Landsberg has also created First Step, a mental health program for employers and employees at businesses of any size. Through 16 chapters of video-based programming, he uses personal stories of lived experience to educate and empower employees to seek help, leading to greater engagement, lower absenteeism, lower turnover, and increased ROI for businesses.

In his documentary Darkness and Hope: Depression, Sports, and Me, Landsberg opened up about his own struggles with depression, as well as interviewing famous guests about their own battles. Olympian Clara Hughes, two-time Stanley Cup champion Stéphane Richer, and four-time World Series winner Darryl Strawberry all appeared in the film. Darkness and Hope was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award, and Landsberg was personally honored with the organization’s Humanitarian Award. The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health also named Landsberg one of its Champions of Mental Health.

One of the best-known personalities in Canadian broadcasting, Landsberg has been with TSN since the network’s inception. He hosted Off the Record from its debut in 1997 to its finale in 2015 and is currently the co-host of TSN’s First Up. Twice nominated for the Gemini Award for Best Host or Interviewer in a Sports Program or Sportscast, Landsberg was the Whistler Host for Olympic Daytime on CTV during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. During the London 2012 Olympic Games, he anchored TSN’s Olympic Daytime.

Dr. Shawna Pandya is passionate about the two ‘extremes’ of humanity – surviving and thriving. She’s interested in furthering technological innovation and human knowledge, and tackling humanity’s grandest challenges to affect positive social change. 

After leaving her career in neurosurgery she went from repeatedly telling herself “I am an absolute disgrace,” to gaining a new sense of being.  She’s now become an aquanaut and future commercial astronaut! 

In her talks, Dr. Pandya talks passionately about resilience and the lifelong learning she came to embrace from her time with sociopaths, Navy SEALs, martial artists, medicine, astronauts, and from her father.

In 2024, Shawna Pandya became Canada’s next named astronaut & the first named Canadian female commercial astronaut! She’ll be flying with Virgin Galactic to further space-based biomedical and physiological research. 

She successfully completed Scientist‐Astronaut Candidate training with Project PoSSUM (Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere) and was part of the first crew to test a commercial spacesuit in zero‐gravity. 

Dr. Pandya was named as prime crew for Project Poseidon, which aims to further ocean and space exploration. 

Her extreme medicine work has taken her to Poland and Ukraine to work with refugees and internally displaced persons. 

Shawna served as Commander during a 2020 tour at the Mars Desert Research Station. She was also part of the first crew to test a commercial spacesuit in zero-gravity, and she has flown 12 parabolic flight campaigns.  

Her corporate experience includes that as VP Immersive Medicine with Luxsonic Technologies. 

After completing her undergraduate degree, and before she began her studies to become a doctor, Pandya moved to France to earn her master’s in space sciences from the International Space University.

Preparing for space requires more than just knowledge — it involves an incredible amount of mental and physical agility. Outside of her work, Dr. Pandya continues to further develop these skills through martial arts. She holds a black belt in taekwondo, a sport she’s been practicing for over 15 years and she’s travelled to Thailand regularly for more than 10 years to train in muay thai.  Dr. Pandya is fluent in English, French, Gujarati, and speaks introductory Spanish and Russian.

She’s earned a number of accolades including the Global Women of Vision award and Women’s Executive Network’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada. 

Shawna is a true pioneer in pushing human limits—whether in space, medicine, or extreme environments. 

Drawing from these experiences and with Silicon Valley startups, Dr. Pandya helps audiences rethink what’s possible in times of change and challenge.