Meet our podcast hosts

Avis Favaro

Avis Favaro

Avis Favaro, veteran broadcast journalist with CTV News, joined the CHIP in Season 3 as the host of the English podcast. Avis has been one of the longest-serving health journalists in Canada, having started the beat at Global Television News in the 1980s. Over the past 3 decades, she has reported on emerging diseases and new therapies. She has deep knowledge of Canada’s health care systems, and her network of connections across the country and passion for telling important stories make her a perfect fit for our show. We’re thrilled to have her join us!

Alya Niang

Alya Niang

Alya Niang, CIHI Communications Specialist, joined the CHIP in Season 3 as the host of the French podcast. She has a wealth of experience and expertise working in health care and as a broadcaster, including co-hosting a show called Nightline Africa for Voice of America (VOA). Prior to joining CIHI, she worked as a project manager in Communications for Quebec Life Sciences and Health Tech (LSHT), where she developed and implemented communication strategies, tools and actions with an outlook of promoting the Quebec LSHT ecosystem and attracting foreign investment. Based in Montréal, Alya is perfectly positioned to help CIHI grow our relationship with Quebecers and French-speaking Canadians across the country and we’re very excited to see her taking on this new role.

Alexandra Maheux

Alex Maheux

Alex Maheux was our bilingual host for the first 2 seasons of the CHIP. With nearly a decade of experience working in health communications, including at the Heart and Stroke Foundation and Toronto Public Health, Alex helped expand CIHI’s media relations program. In her time at CIHI she was dedicated to making health data more accessible and understandable to various audiences. Her passion for helping improve Canada’s health systems and making sure the patient experience was heard made her a great asset in the podcast’s early days. In January 2022, she accepted a position as press secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. Although she is no longer a direct contributor to the CHIP, she remains an avid listener and fan. 

If you have a disability and would like CIHI information in a different format, visit our Accessibility page.