About Xspect
Xspect provides Mammography Accreditation inspections for the Ontario Breast Screening Program. We provide inspections for Bone Mineral Densitometry machines, CT scanner as well as providing the required measurements for the bi-annual HARP Act.
The founder of Xspect, Alan Cottrell has recently retired and has left in place a team of experts to support Xspect’s growing client base.
The Team
Joseph E. Hayward, PhD, MCCPM
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Hayward obtained his Ph.D. in Lasers and Electro-Optics from the Department of Engineering Physics at McMaster University in 1993. He subsequently joined the Biomedical Optics Group at the Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre as a Research Associate to assist in the development of optical methods and instrumentation for the diagnosis, staging and treatment of cancer. Although recently retired, Dr. Hayward was a Senior Medical Physicist at the Juravinski Cancer Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. He is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Radiology and the School of Interdisciplinary Sciences at McMaster University. He is also an Associate Member of the Department of Engineering Physics at McMaster University and the President of the Ontario Association of Medical Physicists. In his spare time, Dr. Hayward enjoys collecting books, cooking and caring for 5 cats, 2 dogs, 3 Colombian tree frogs and a bearded dragon.
Kim Emde, BSc
President and Chief Medical Physicist
Kim Emde obtained her Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics at the University of Waterloo in 1995. She then joined the Digital Mammography Research Group at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, where she developed and manufactured phantoms and breast equivalent phantom materials. In this role she also performed evaluations of mammography equipment for the Ontario Breast Screening Program and the Canadian Association of Radiologists. In 2011, Kim began her own company, Kimberley Emde Consulting, as an independent mammography physicist. In 2016, she began consulting for the Canadian Bone Mineral Densitometry Accreditation program. Kim lives in a rural area just west of Ottawa, with her partner, two dogs and a cat. She enjoys snowshoeing and skiing in winter, and kayaking and windsurfing in summer.
Laura Lautens, PhD
Chief Inspection Officer
Dr. Lautens received her PhD from The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and has held postdoctoral research fellowships at The National Institutes of Health and Harvard Medical School. She acquired experience with high-end equipment and imaging software through her scientific research and has been an inspector of mammography equipment with Xspect since the spring of 2019.
Leah I. Hayward, MSc
Executive Assistant
Leah Hayward attended McMaster University and graduated from the Integrated Science Program in 2016. She then obtained her Master of Science degree at Western University where she studied the metabolic physiology of hibernators. Her love for research coupled with her interest in evidence-based medicine led her to her current job as a Senior Research Coordinator at Hamilton Health Sciences. Leah’s research focus is primarily in the world of cardiac surgery, where she manages several clinical trials that aim to improve post-operative outcomes. Leah joined Xspect Inc. after realizing she wasn’t putting enough of her managerial skills to good use. When she is not working, Leah enjoys hiking with her dog Winnie, drinking coffee, reading, antiquing, cooking, and rock climbing.