Program Coordinator, Diagnostic Cardiac Sonography, Mohawk College

Jennifer Burton is a dedicated researcher and teacher who is committed to improving healthcare in Canada and abroad.

A 2002 graduate of Mohawk College’s Diagnostic Cardiac Sonography program, she is now a professor and coordinator in the same program within the Medical Imaging department and is registered with both Sonography Canada and the College of Medical Radiation and Imaging Technologists of Ontario.

For ten years, Jennifer has travelled to Guyana to participate in an intensive training project, and in 2020 became the co-director of the formal Post-Graduate Ecocardiography diploma program led by the University of Calgary, training physicians and technologists to perform and interpret cardiac sonography tests. Her commitment to improving echocardiography in Guyana led to Mohawk College being awarded the prestigious 2025 Canadian Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship (QES) by the Rideau Hall Foundation in 2024—the first year colleges were eligible for the program.

Mohawk’s QES project aims to build healthcare capacity in the critically under-resourced field of pediatric echocardiography in Guyana, where currently there are no cardiac sonographers trained in pediatric sonography. Under Jennifer’s leadership, Mohawk’s Institute of Applied Health Sciences faculty members will lead the academic programming, supported by the college’s International Department in providing students access to leadership activities such as mentorship programs, simulation-based training, community engagement and networking.

Thanks to Jennifer’s work, Mohawk is also a leader in simulation-based healthcare training through a BabyWorks simulator, a high-fidelity ultrasound simulation infant mannequin that employs 3D models of vital organs such as the heart and brain, allowing students to practice ultrasound transducer placement and maneuvers to examine pediatric organs in a risk-free environment—a first of its kind in a college environment.

Jennifer along with a team of researchers had an abstract published in the July 2024 issue of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography through an IDEAWORKS-funded project focused on validating the use of the BabyWorks platform in training professionals to detect congenital heart disease in infants and babies. For this work, Jennifer and colleagues Babitha Thampinathan and Jacqueline Wheatley were presented with the 2024 Brian Haluska Sonographer Research Award by the American Society of Echocardiography Foundation.

Prior to becoming a professor at Mohawk, Jennifer worked as a sonographer in a cardiologist clinic and as a clinical supervisor at Brantford General Hospital. She combined teaching with her clinical career until she became the program coordinator in 2011.

Jennifer is actively involved in her profession. She is an active member of the Canadian Society of Echocardiography and the National Educational Advisory Committee for Sonography Canada. Jennifer is a past member of the Canadian Medical Association accreditation survey team, served on the national competency profile re-validation committee for Sonography Canada, and is a current surveyor for EQUAL Accreditation Canada. She has also been a member of the pediatric echocardiography planning committee of the Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health and served as an executive member of the medical imaging advisory committee at Mohawk College.

In 2022, Jennifer was the recipient of the inaugural Distinguished Sonographer of the Year Award by the Canadian Society of Echocardiography. She received the Mohawk College Award of Excellence in 2012, a Rutgers University Scholar Athlete Award in 1996, and the Vito Racine Memorial Award, given to an athlete who has demonstrated the highest quality of leadership, loyalty, ability, and sportsmanship.