Meet Cena Life
CENA is where science meets nature (scienCENAture) – literally the two words coming together. Mental health has lacked innovation for many years because treatment for mental health wellness has relied on synthetic and pharmacological interventions. We believe looking to Nature and traditional approaches to healing are essential when leveraging the learnings from science.
Our Team
The Cena team holds significant business, clinical and operational expertise in health and wellness care. We believe that creating an engaged and inspired community will bring increased access to mental wellness and increase community connections. We focus on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature and the rigor of Science in concentrating our communities energy to support, engage and bring alternatives to our members.The healthier our minds and bodies can be the healthier our communities will be.
Our Leadership
Reverdi Darda
President & CEO
Reverdi is the President and CEO for Cena Life Inc. With over 30 years of experience as a Registered Nurse her experience and expertise in the areas of community engagement, planning, project and change management have significantly impacted outcomes of numerous projects that she has been involved in. She understands the challenges that healthcare systems and their structures have in offering consistent, reliable, client focused services and she is passionate about bringing evidence-based innovation forward to those in need.
Reverdi is Metis and a direct descendant of Damase Carriere who fought against Canadian Colonialism beside Louis Riel in the heroic Metis North-West Resistance of 1885. Her passion to engage communities and work together for the equity and inclusion of all is reflective in her family’s legacy.
Her professional career includes Executive leadership roles in the public, government, and non-profit sectors. She currently sits on the board of MAPS Canada, has a passion for life long learning and easily unites individuals to achieve common objectives, goals, and outcomes.
Dr. Sheehan Chowdhury
Medical Director & Chief Psychiatrist
Dr. Chowdhury is a board-certified psychiatrist and is the Medical Director and Chief Psychiatrist at Cena Life Inc. Dr. Chowdhury completed his medical degree from the University of Calgary and then completed his psychiatry residency program at the University of British Columbia before completing a geriatric psychiatry fellowship at the University of Alberta. He has a keen interest in psychedelic assisted therapy and expertise in neurostimulation which led him to his roles as Medical Director of the rTMS clinic at the Mood Disorders Association in Vancouver and helping run the Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) program at a tertiary hospital in the Vancouver metropolitan area.
Jacque Lovely
Director
Jacque is a registered nurse with over 20 years experience as a clinician, academic educator, operations manager, program developer, strategic planner, and large scale health system transformer. He has served patients across the life span and supported system change across the continuum of care. He has earned two master degrees, a Masters of Science in Nursing focused in knowledge utilization and research uptake in the healthcare context and a Master of Business Administration focused in executive management and system redesign. He describes himself as a mission driven professional aiming to bring the best possible care, supported by the latest and emerging evidence, to the individuals, families and care givers who need it.
Dr. Raiyan Chowdhury
Medical Advisor
Dr. Raiyan Chowdhury is a board certified otolaryngologist and critical care medicine specialist. He graduated from the University of Alberta residency programs in ENT surgery and critical care medicine. Thereafter, he completed a masters in health quality and patient safety from Northwestern University / Kellogg School of Management in Chicago.
He has held a variety of leadership positions in the medical field including completing his role as associate director of the Royal Alexandra Intensive Care Unit in 2022 and Quality lead for the department of critical care medicine at the University of Alberta in 2022. He’s one of the founding partners of Alberta Ent Consultants and Canadian Cancer Care. Both clinics excel at ambulatory high quality specialized care. He is a partner at Advanced Facial Surgery in Edmonton. He is also the medical lead for Melody hearing and Aria sleep MD.
His interests are in bringing high quality care to Canadians regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds and, in particular, in the area of mental health for patients and family members following a critical illness.
