Our Team
We are a collaborative network of investigators, visiting scholars, post doctoral fellows, graduate students and research staff working with health system leaders, and policy-makers to improve the management and performance of our health system
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Agnes Grudniewicz
PhD
University of Ottawa
Research Interests: integrated care, coordination and collaboration with care providers, goal-oriented care.
Dr. Agnes Grudniewicz is an Assistant Professor at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa. Her research is focused on improving the integration of health care systems for complex patients. Using qualitative and mixed-methods research designs, Dr. Grudniewicz studies and evaluates the implementation of integrated care initiatives. Most recently her work involves studying community-based primary health care, care coordination, and treatment goal setting.
Dr. Grudniewicz received her Ph.D. in Health Services Research from the Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation at the University of Toronto (2015) and completed a Health Systems Performance Research Network post-doctoral fellowship at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System. She is actively engaged with the scientific community, in particular in efforts to modernize and improve training for health services researchers in Canada.
Researchgate Profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Agnes_Grudniewicz
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Amy Hsu
PhD
Bruyère Research Institute
Research Interests: Economic and social implications of the aging population, impact on the use and provision of long-term health care services
Dr. Amy Hsu, PhD, is an Investigator at the Bruyère Research Institute and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa. She currently holds a Tier 2 Research Chair in Primary Health Care for Dementia at BRI and the University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute. Her research interests include the use of health administrative data to understand and predict outcomes for people needing home care, long-term care and palliative care. Dr. Hsu is also an Economist at Statistics Canada, where she contributes to research on dementia, end-of-life care (informing Health Canada’s development of a Framework on Palliative Care in Canada), long-term care, and Veterans’ health at the national level.
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Andrea Gruneir
PhD, MSc
Women's College Research Institute
Research Interests: Health services needs of older adults; Health care transitions; Multimorbodity
Dr. Andrea Gruneir is a scientist at Women's College Research Institute. She uses large population-based administrative databases to understand the health services use patterns of older adults and identify opportunities to improve their care. The ultimate goal of her research is to understand weak links in transitional care, and to propose solutions that improve patient outcomes, thereby reducing rates of rehospitalization and subsequent health-care costs. Dr. Gruneir has recently been awarded the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Investigator Award to study emergency department visits among long-term care residents in Ontario.
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Anna Kone Pefoyo
PhD, MSc
Lakehead University
Research Interests: socio-cultural factors in health disparities, chronic diseases, multimorbidity, health challenges in northern and remote areas
Anna Kone is an Assistant Professor and MHSc coordinator for Lakehead University. Her role includes providing methodological support and collaborating in research on current and emerging subjects related to cancer screening. After completing her postdoctoral fellowship in the Health System Performance Research Network (HSPRN) at the University of Toronto, Anna first joined CCO as a Senior Research Associate in the OCRC, where she was leading studies on the surveillance of exposure in workplaces and occupational cancers. She has conducted research on performance measurement, determinants of health outcomes and public health surveillance using administrative databases. She holds an Engineer degree in Statistics, a Master's degree in Public Health, and a PhD in Epidemiology and Evaluation of health interventions. Anna is now involved in the network as an investigator and she currently studies the epidemiology and clustering of multimorbidity in Ontario.
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Astrid Guttmann
MDCM, MSc, FRCPC
The Hospital for Sick Children
Research Interests: health systems and policy evaluation, population-based research that evaluates health system programs, mental health and addictions; immigrant and refugee populations
Astrid Guttmann is a Clinician Scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children in the Division of Paediatric Medicine and a Senior Scientist and Program Leader of the Health System, Planning and Evaluation Program at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. Dr. Guttmann received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a second BA from Oxford University where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She earned a medical degree from McGill University and an MSc in Epidemiology from McMaster University. Dr. Guttmann is funded by a CIHR Applied Research Chair in Child Health Services and Policy Research and she holds multiple research grants for research in the area of child health services and policy research. Her research interests include the development and implementation of quality of care measures for children, and the relationship of policies to integrate care across sectors and transition points with child and youth outcomes. She is co-PI of a large evaluation of Ontario's Mental Health Strategy for Children and Youth which involves the development of a cross-sectoral data repository for the province of Ontario.
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Carolyn Steele Gray
PhD, MA
Bridgepoint Collaboratory
Research Interests: eHealth, integrated care, complex chronic disease, primary and community care, goal-oriented care, case studies, implementation, change management, organizational behaviour, health policy
Dr. Carolyn Steele Gray is a scientist at the Bridgepoint Collaboratory at the Lunenfed-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Sinai Health Systems. Carolyn is currently developing and evaluating patient-centered e-Health technologies to support patients with complex care needs and exploring integrated community-based primary care models. Her research interests are in e-Health technologies that support complex patients and health system integration and whole systems approaches to e-Health design and implementation. She has experience researching in primary care as well as home and community care sectors.
Carolyn leads the HSPRN ePRO study and currently holds a Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) eHIPP operating grant to evaluate the ePRO technology through a cluster randomized pragmatic trial of 22 Family Health Team sites across Ontario. Carolyn is also currently a co-investigator on an international study of integrated models of care. Dr. Steele Gray has published work in the areas of health policy, patient-centered care, and e-Health technologies for patients with complex needs. Carolyn has taught Health Policy at York University and delivered invited lectures on organizational change, research methods, and program evaluation at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University.
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Colleen Maxwell
PhD, MA
University of Waterloo
Research Interests: Geriatrics and aging, Health care quality, Neurological disorders, Medication adherence
Dr. Maxwell's primary research interests are in the areas of Pharmacoepidemiology and Aging with a particular focus on Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, depression and health services and outcomes research. She is also involved in national and international research examining the health and quality of care needs of older residents within Assisted Living and Long Term Care settings. Dr. Maxwell is a Professor with the School of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo. She holds a cross-appointment in the School of Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo and is an Adjunct Scientist with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Toronto.
Her most recent appointment was as a Professor in the Departments of Community Health Sciences and Medicine, University of Calgary where she continues to hold an Adjunct position. She received her PhD in Health Studies from the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo. Her post-doctoral training included a fellowship with the Clinical Epidemiology Unit (Élisabeth-Bruyère Health Centre & University of Ottawa) and a clinical research position with the Drugs Directorate of Health Canada. She has held salary awards from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). She is a Past President of the Canadian Association for Population Therapeutics and a past board member of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology.
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Eyal Cohen
MD, MSc, FRCPC
The Hospital for Sick Children
Research Interests: children with medical complexity, inpatient pediatric medicine, evidence-based child health, health services research, health policy, health research methods
Dr. Eyal Cohen completed his medical training at the University of Toronto in 2000. He trained in pediatrics at the Hospital for Sick Children and Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney, Australia and completed an MSc in health research methodology at McMaster University in 2007. Dr. Cohen is the co-founder of the Complex Care Program in the Division of Pediatric Medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children where he is the Program Head of Child Health Evaluative Sciences in the Research Institute. Eyal is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto with cross-appointments in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and the Faculty of Nursing. He is also a Scientist with the CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster University.
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G. Ross Baker
PhD
IHPME, University of Toronto
Research Interests: quality improvement and patient safety, organizational and system strategies, development of effective integrated systems of care, leadership and organizational issues
G. Ross Baker is a professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto where he teaches and carries out research on patient safety, quality improvement strategies and leadership and organizational change. He is also Director of the MSc. Program in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety.
Among his recent research projects are an assessment of governance in Ontario Primary Care Organizations, an exploratory study of contributing causes for medication and fall incidents in home care and a synthesis of literature on physician engagement in healthcare organizations.
Ross led a study of effective governance practices in improving quality and patient safety in 2009. Results from this study have been published in Healthcare Quarterly and this report served as the basis for the Governance Toolkit (Effective Governance in Quality and Patient Safety) and a course for trustees developed by the Canadian Patient Safety Institute and Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, offered across Canada.
Ross Baker, together with Dr. Peter Norton of the University of Calgary led the Canadian Adverse Events study which was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2004. Baker and Norton were awarded the Health Services Research Advancement Award for their work on patient safety and quality improvement by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation.
Ross has been a member of the Health Quality Council board in Saskatchewan since 2005. He chaired an Advisory Panel on Avoidable Hospitalizations for the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care whose report was released by the Ministry in November 2011. He also served as a member of the King's Fund (London, UK) Commission on Leadership and Management in the NHS in 2010-2011 and is a member of the Improvement Science Development Group of the Health Foundation in London since 2011.
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Geoff Anderson
MD, PhD, MSc
IHPME, University of Toronto
Research Interests: clinical effectiveness, health services outcome and evaluation, health services organization and management, knowledge transfer, acute, pre-hospital and emergency care, community/home care, health care system
Geoff Anderson is a professor at University of Toronto`s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, where he holds the Chair in Health Management Strategies and serves as the Director of the Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program for medical students. He is also an adjunct scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.
Dr. Anderson did his undergraduate training at Carleton University and pursued his medical studies at the University of Ottawa. He interned at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. Dr. Anderson was then awarded a National Health Fellowship and completed an MSc in Community Medicine (Health Administration) at the University of Toronto. Thereafter, he was awarded an Ontario Postgraduate Fellowship and a Pew Foundation Health Policy Fellowship and completed a PhD in Health Policy Analysis at RAND in 1988. Dr. Anderson held academic appointments at the University of Ottawa and the University of British Columbia, before he moved to Toronto.
Dr. Anderson did his undergraduate training at Carleton University and pursued his medical studies at the University of Ottawa. He interned at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. Dr. Anderson was then awarded a National Health Fellowship and completed an MSc in Community Medicine (Health Administration) at the University of Toronto. Thereafter, he was awarded an Ontario Postgraduate Fellowship and a Pew Foundation Health Policy Fellowship and completed a PhD in Health Policy Analysis at RAND in 1988. Dr. Anderson held academic appointments at the University of Ottawa and the University of British Columbia, before he moved to Toronto.
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Ian McKillop
PhD, MASc
University of Waterloo
Research Interests: mission-critical systems in the health sector, IT management strategies, areas in the context of critical incident response and emergency management
Ian McKillop, PhD, FRSPH, is a professor with the School of Public Health & Health Systems at the University of Waterloo. Professor McKillop began his academic career in the University of Waterloo's School of Accountancy where his teaching responsibilities focused on computerized financial systems. His interest in how these systems could be used to drive innovation in healthcare brought him to the burgeoning field of health informatics.
After spending a number of years at a leading business school, Ian returned to Waterloo in 2004 as the JW Graham Chair in Health Information Systems. He now leads the management and systems practice within Canada's only School of Public Health and Health Systems. Among his interests are finding ways to foster effective IT management strategies, creating high performance organizations empowered by information, and addressing technical issues related to information systems assurance (audit and control). He has a growing interest in these areas in the context of critical incident response and emergency management. Dr McKillop was one of the original six investigators who launched the Ontario Hospital Report series in 1998 - the initiative from which HSPRN grew. Together with partners at the University of Toronto, Ian remains active today in exploring the science of health system performance measurement.
Professor McKillop's work on funding and financial reporting in healthcare has contributed to a variety of commissions and reports including Romanow and Clair (Quebec). He has lived and consulted internationally and has served as a governor of a public hospital.
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Jenna Evans
PhD
Cancer Care Ontario
Research Interests: how characteristics of healthcare organizations, their leaders, and staff contribute to their ability to work collaboratively to implement change and improve the quality and integration of care
Dr. Jenna M. Evans is a Staff Scientist in the Enhanced Program Evaluation Unit at Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) and a Certified Health Executive with the Canadian College of Health Leaders. She is interested in how characteristics of healthcare organizations, their leaders, and staff contribute to their ability to work collaboratively to implement change and improve the quality and integration of care. In particular, she enjoys exploring social and psychological factors influencing performance using qualitative, survey and mixed methods research.
Dr. Evans holds a Bachelor of Health Studies with Honours in Health Management from York University (2008) and a PhD in Health Services Research from the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto (2014). Her doctoral work, entitled 'Health Systems Integration: Competing or Shared Mental Models?' was funded by a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and the Health System Performance Research Network, and received an Outstanding Doctoral Research Award in 2015 from the European Foundation for Management Development and Emerald Group Publishing.
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Kednapa Thavorn
PhD
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Research Interests: health economics, resource allocation in health care, pharmaco-epidemiology, health equity, pharmaceutical care for people with complex needs, and population health
Dr. Kednapa Thavorn is a Scientist and a Health Economist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. She is also an Assistant Professor with the School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa and an Adjunct Scientist with the Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences. Her research focuses on topics surrounding health economics, resource allocation in health care, pharmacoepidemiology, health equity, care for people with complex needs, and population health.
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Kerry Kuluski
PhD, MSW
Trillium Health Partners
Research Interests: Health Services Research, Health Policy, Complex Chronic Disease, Multi-Morbidity, Patient Experience
Kerry Kuluski is a Research Scientist at the Bridgepoint Collaboratory for Research and Innovation and an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto. Prior to joining the Bridgepoint Collaboratory for Research and Innovation as a Scientist, she completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Bridgepoint Health which included a 6 month Visiting Fellowship at the University of Oxford with the Health Experiences Research Group. In 2010 she completed her PhD at the University of Toronto in Health Services Research, with a focus on aging and health policy.
Kerry's program of research examines the needs and experiences of individuals with complex chronic conditions (i.e., individuals with one or more chronic health problems that become difficult to manage). Some of the challenges faced by this population include the management of multiple co-occurring conditions, functional impairments, depression, anxiety, fluctuating health, and ongoing heavy care needs. Despite generating a significant cost to the health care system, little is known about the experiences and care needs of these patients.
Kerry is working with care managers from across jurisdictions and settings to examine how to tailor care to meet the needs of different types of individuals with complex chronic conditions (i.e., young and mid-life adults who have had their life interrupted by illness compared to older persons who are experiencing illness as an expected part of the aging process).
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Laura Rosella
PhD, MHSc
IHPME, University of Toronto
Research Interests: Epidemiologic methods, applied biostatistics, Population and public health, Population-based risk tools to support public health planning, Social determinants of health, Premature mortality, Diabetes and obesity, Public health policy
Laura Rosella, PhD, MHSc, is the Principal Investigator and Scientific Director of the Population Health Analytics Lab. She is an Associate Professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, Faculty Member in the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and holds scientific appointments at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and Public Health Ontario (PHO). She also holds a Canada Research Chair in Population Health Analytics. Her research interests include population health, population based risk tools to support public health planning, and public health policy. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of public health, public health policy, and health services research. She has been awarded several national grants and was recently awarded a CIHR Foundation scheme grant in support of her population health analytics research program. Notably, Dr. Rosella was recently awarded the Brian MacMahon Early Career Epidemiology Award by the Society for Epidemiologic Research and was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40. Her research has been featured by Forbes, Newsweek, Reuters, CBC, CTV, The Globe and Mail, and The Toronto Star.
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Peter Tanuseputro
MHSc, MD, CCFP, FRCPC
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Research Interests: Geriatrics and aging, Performance measurement, Primary care/Clinical practice, Health services research, Palliative care/End-of-life care
Peter completed training in 2012 as a Public Health and Preventive Medicine physician, and as a Family Physician at the University of Toronto. His current research includes using linked big data at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) to develop population perspectives on aging and end of life in Ontario. Peter is currently leading several grants that aim to improve care for palliative and end of life populations, including: 1. Care for those with long-term care needs; 2. Characterizing and improving transitional care for people with dementia, and; 3. Building risk-prognostication tools for end-of-life, to improve identification of those who would benefit from palliative and end-of-life care. He also leads the Bruyère Big Data Research Program. Peter is involved in several provincial and national expert panels aimed at improving care for the aging. Peter also practices family medicine in the community.
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Ruth Hall
Ministry Lead
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (IC/ES)
Research Interests: Health care program evaluation, Health care quality, Health services research, Outcomes research
Ruth Hall is the Co-Lead for the HSPN central evaluation of the MOHLTC Ontario Health Team initiative, an ICES scientist and an Assistant Professor in the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Prior to joining the HSPN, Ruth was the Lead for the Ontario Stroke Network Evaluation program for 10 years. She received her PhD from the Institute for Health Management, Policy and Evaluation at the University of Toronto in 2001. Areas of expertise include: evaluating provider and health system performance, administrative databases, clinical registries, and case-mix/risk-adjustment.
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Sara Guilcher
PT PhD
IHPME, University of Toronto
Research Interests: social epidemiology, health equity, disability and complex chronic conditions
Dr. Sara Guilcher (PT, PhD) is an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and has cross-appointments to the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Guilcher also has scientific appointments at ICES (ICES@UofT), the Centre for Urban Health Solutions, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, and West Park Healthcare Centre. As a clinician scientist with a background in physical therapy, Dr. Guilcher is a Canadian Institutes for Health Research-funded Embedded Clinician Researcher working with Health Quality Ontario (Ontario, Canada).
Dr. Guilcher’s goals are to create science, work and inform policy that optimizes integration of care for whole-person activation among individuals with complex health and social needs (e.g., multimorbidity, disability). Specifically, Dr. Guilcher’s research aims to understand longitudinal care trajectories/journeys, and how we can optimize integration of care for whole-person activation, and design/evaluate interventions to address critical system and care gaps. Improving activation through prevention and rehabilitation services within integration of care models has impact at the patient/caregiver, clinical and system levels. Leveraging the intersection of rehabilitation sciences, implementation sciences with learning health systems,
Dr. Guilcher has expertise in transitions in care, system integration, evaluation, multimorbidity, disability, equity, and mixed-methods. Current projects co-led with Dr. Kerry Kuluski include understanding and evaluating trajectories of care for persons with hip fracture and delay in discharge.
Dr. Guilcher has a MSc in Physical Therapy from the University of Toronto, MSc in Psychology (Clinical) from Western University and PhD in Clinical Epidemiology- Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation from the University of Toronto. During her doctoral training, Dr. Guilcher completed two collaborative programs: (1) Ontario Training Collaborative Program in Health Services and Policy Research and (2) Collaborative Program in Women’s Health. Dr.Guilcher also completed two post-doctoral fellowships: Canadian Institutes for Health Research Strategic Training Initiative in Health Research Training Action For Health Equity Interventions (ACHIEVE) program at the Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Ontario; and Health System Performance Network.
www.Guilcherlab.com
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Shannon Sibbald
PhD
Western University
Research Interests: Interdisciplinary Health and Health Systems Research, Implementation Science, Interprofessional Teams
Shannon L. Sibbald is an Assistant Professor at Western University with appointments in Family Medicine, School of Health Studies (Faculty of Health Sciences) and the Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health. As a health systems researcher, her interests span the health care continuum. Her current research focuses on process, outcomes and evaluation of integrated care teams for chronic disease management. Dr Sibbald’s program of research includes implementation science: the study of knowledge processes (capturing, sharing, using, storing) in health systems. Shannon uses primarily qualitative research methods including multiple-case comparison, narrative approach, grounded theory, content and discourse analysis. Dr Sibbald teaches across the university at both undergraduate and graduate level.
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Susan Bronskill
PhD, MSc
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (IC/ES)
Research Interests: Health services research, clinical effectiveness, older adults, women’s health, community & long-term care, drug utilization, quality of care
Susan Bronskill is a health services researcher whose interests include: measuring the quality of care, access and health outcomes in older adults in community and long-term care settings. She is cross-appointed as an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto`s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and as an Associate Scientist in Evaluative Clinical Sciences at the Sunnybrook Research Institute.
Dr. Bronskill has a MSc in Health Administration from the University of Toronto and a PhD in Health Policy from Harvard University.
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Walter Wodchis
Principal Investigator
IHPME, University of Toronto
Research Interests: health economics, health financing, performance measurement / program evaluation, health services delivery, chronic and long-term care, elderly
Walter Wodchis, PhD, is Principal Investigator of the HSPN. He is also Associate Professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, a Research Scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and an Adjunct Scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. His main research interests are health economics and financing, health care policy evaluation, and long-term care. Dr. Wodchis is the Principal Investigator for the Health System Performance Network.
155 College St
Rm 425
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Amanda Everall
Research Officer
Amanda Everall (Day) obtained an honours Bachelor of Science degree in Cellular & Molecular Biology and Health & Disease and a Masters in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Toronto. Her Masters thesis defined and made recommendations on achieving best practices for a publicly funded medication review service delivered in a community pharmacy setting. Using a multi-case study approach, she compared the work systems, workflows, and implementation strategies of two pharmacies selected for their high quality medication review services.
Amanda’s current research focuses on improving healthcare services for patients and their unpaid caregivers who experience complex health and social needs. With a focus on qualitative data collection, Amanda incorporates the perspectives of different stakeholders to better understand local contextual factors in order to address questions about which strategies/processes work well, in what circumstances, and why. She has experience working with patients, unpaid caregivers, healthcare providers, and decision-makers across both primary and tertiary care.
Working for Dr. Sara Guilcher, Amanda is involved in the execution and coordination of multiple projects including (1) Understanding Transitions of Care Across the Care Journey for Older Adults: A Qualitative Multi-Case Study; (2) Optimization of Medication Management for Community-Dwelling Persons with Spinal Cord Injury; (3) Exploring Perceptions of Integrating Community Pharmacy with Health Links in Ontario; (4) Optimizing Support and Service Delivery for Problem Gambling Among People with Complex Needs.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8270-6925
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Chris Bai
Senior Research Associate
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (IC/ES)
Chris Bai is a senior research associate working with the HSPRN and an appointed analyst at ICES U of T. Chris holds a Masters of Science in Statistics/Biostatistics and a Masters of Applied Science in Engineering from McMaster University. His duties at IHPME involve health care data management and statistical analyses, and analytical methodology support to HSPRN investigators, students and other research staff. Before joining IHPME, Chris worked as a Biostatistician at Nursing Health Services Research Unit (NHSRU), Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto.
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Gayathri Embuldeniya
PhD
IHPME, University of Toronto
Gayathri Embuldeniya is an anthropologist who conducts qualitative research at the HSPN. She worked on the qualitative evaluation of the Integrated Funding Models (IFMs), and is currently working on the evaluation of the Ontario Health Teams. While her interests include integrated health care models and patient engagement in healthcare and research, she is broadly interested in understanding how ideas and structures emerge and change, and how and why people and systems work the way they do. She received her PhD (Cultural Anthropology) from the University of California Santa Barbara, her MA (English Language and Literature) from the University of Oxford, and was an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago.
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Kevin Walker
Research Associate
IHPME, University of Toronto
Kevin Walker is a Senior Research Associate at the HSPN within the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. He received his MSc in Health Services Research from the University of Toronto and BScH in Biology from Queen's University. He was the study coordinator for Dr. Walter Wodchis' CIHR PHSI grant titled Determinants of Quality in Ontario LTC Homes, led the Integrated Funding Models Central Evaluation and is currently working on the evaluations of Hip and Knee Bundled Care and Ontario Health Teams.
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Luke Mondor
Epidemiologist
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (IC/ES)
Luke Mondor is a senior epidemiologist with HSPN and contributes to study design, statistical analysis and reporting of research based on linked health administrative data, survey data and/or clinical assessment data held at ICES. He has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed publications in areas of multimorbidity, frailty and health inequalities, and has been integral to the quantitative evaluation of the Health Links approach to care in Ontario. Luke received his MSc in epidemiology from McGill University in 2011.
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Nusrat Nessa
Research Assistant
IHPME, University of Toronto
Nusrat Shabnam Nessa is a Research Assistant at HSPRN, assisting on various projects undertaken at the network. She has received her MPH from Queen’s University in Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Health Economics, and an HBSc in Global Health, Chemistry, and French from the University of Toronto. She is dedicated to the amelioration of health care in Canada and across the globe, having previously worked with vulnerable populations in slums in Bangladesh, through evidence-based, pragmatic solutions and policies.
(416) 978-7557
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Ruth Hall
Ministry Lead
Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (IC/ES)
Research Interests: Health care program evaluation, Health care quality, Health services research, Outcomes research
Ruth Hall is the Co-Lead for the HSPN central evaluation of the MOHLTC Ontario Health Team initiative, an ICES scientist and an Assistant Professor in the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Prior to joining the HSPN, Ruth was the Lead for the Ontario Stroke Network Evaluation program for 10 years. She received her PhD from the Institute for Health Management, Policy and Evaluation at the University of Toronto in 2001. Areas of expertise include: evaluating provider and health system performance, administrative databases, clinical registries, and case-mix/risk-adjustment.
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Daniala Weir
Post-Doctoral Fellow
IHPME and Institute for Better Health
PhD (McGill University)
MSc (University of Alberta)
BSc (University of Alberta)
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniala_Weir
Google scholar:https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=gg0OUEAAAAAJ&hl=en
Research Interests
I am an epidemiologist with a focus on drug utilization and health services research in complex patients with multiple chronic conditions.
I completed my MSc in Epidemiology in the School of Public Health, University of Alberta under the supervision of Dr. Dean Eurich within the Alliance for Canadian Health Outcomes Research in Diabetes (ACHORD). During my masters, I conducted research related to the comparative safety and effectiveness of antidiabetic agents in patients with diabetes and heart failure, evaluation of the common drug review in Canada, cardiovascular medication adherence in rural and urban settings, the role of multimorbidity in hospitalized patients with community acquired pneumonia and the impact of continuity of care in patients with type 2 diabetes.
I recently completed my PhD in Epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Robyn Tamblyn within the McGill Clinical and Health Informatics Research Group. During this time, I contributed to research related to population level utilization of benzodiazepines in Alberta, the utilization and accuracy of Quebec’s Electronic Health Record, the impact of electronically enabled medication reconciliation on post-discharge adverse health outcomes in hospitalized patients, developing and piloting a patient centred application to enhance medication management following hospital discharge, and the burden and cost associated with cost-related medication non-adherence in Canada. My doctoral dissertation was focused around preventable sources of medication related morbidity and mortality at transitions in care for hospitalized patients. More specially, I evaluated the incidence and impact of failure to follow hospital medication changes in the post-discharge period as well as evaluated the prevalence of and risk associated with potentially inappropriate medications prescribed at hospital discharge.
I will focus on two areas of research during my CIHR funded post-doctoral training under the supervision of Dr. Walter Wodchis. The first will be related to optimizing medication prescribing for those living with multiple chronic conditions using machine learning. The second project will focus on improving the quality of care transitions between hospital and home for complex patients.
416-946-5410
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Walter Wodchis
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Jennifer Gutberg
PhD Candidate
IHPME, University of Toronto
Jennifer Gutberg is a PhD Candidate at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. She holds a Master of Science in Administration from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from McGill University. Her research interests are in the organization and management of healthcare, with particular interests in change management, culture, and leadership. Jennifer’s dissertation, supervised by Dr. Ross Baker, will explore the role of middle managers and front-line providers in strategic patient safety culture change efforts. Her research is supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé, as well as the Health System Performance Research Network.
Jennifer’s research with HSPRN has focused on exploring models of integrated care from an organizational lens, particularly through the use of qualitative methods. This has included work evaluating the implementation of provincial integrated care efforts, including Health Links and Integrated Funding Models. Jennifer is currently working on the evaluation of bundled care in Ontario, as well as collaborating on an international research project examining spread of community based integrated care innovations to improve care for individuals with complex needs.
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Ross Baker
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Jeremiah Hwee
Post-Doctoral Fellow
IHPME and Institute for Better Health
Jeremiah Hwee, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Better Health at Trillium Health Partners. Dr. Hwee completed his PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Toronto and was a Fellow in the Public Health Policy Collaborative Program. He held a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Doctoral Scholarship and was 1 of 10 scholars in Canada to be awarded the Doctoral Scholarship to Honour Nelson Mandela Champion of Child Health. Dr. Hwee's previous work includes knowledge synthesis methodology, etiologic and epidemiologic studies, program evaluation on theeffectiveness of diabetes education centres, and health services research using electronic medical records. He has 22 publications and has worked on projects with organizations such as the World Health Organization, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and Cancer Care Ontario.
Dr. Hwee is currently evaluating the future of bundle care programs in Ontario.
Publications: (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=hwee+jeremiah&cmd=DetailsSearch) and report (https://www.who.int/alliance-hpsr/resources/publications/rapid-review-guide/en/).
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Walter Wodchis and Dr. Stephanie Joyce
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Julia Ho
PhD Candidate
IHPME, University of Toronto
Julia is a PhD student at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Health Administration from Ryerson University, and is a Registered Practical Nurse. Julia has worked in the home and community care sector for over ten years in various roles, including personal support worker supervisor and community case manager. She has been inspired by her experience working with patients and families to pursue research in aging, chronic disease management and health policy. Julia is supervised by Dr. Kerry Kuluski and Dr. Fiona Miller. Her dissertation topic is: “The coordination of community services for older adults with complex needs”.
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Kerry Kuluski and Dr. Fiona Miller
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Kadesha (Kay) James
MSc. Student
Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto
Kay James is a Master's student in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto. Under the supervision of Dr. Sara Guilcher in the Clinical, Social and Administrative Pharmacy research stream, Kay's thesis project seeks to better conceptualize and understand medication self-management in community-dwelling persons with multimorbidity. More broadly, she is interested in exploring the health care system experiences of those with complex needs.
Kay also completed her Honours BSc. at the University of Toronto where she majored in Physiology and Psychology.
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Kristina Kokorelias
PhD Candidate
Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto
Kristina Kokorelias is a PhD Candidate in the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto. Her primary research interest is to understand how family caregivers use services to support their caregiving role across the disease trajectory. Kristina’s PhD research includes a study of family caregivers to individuals with Alzheimer ’s disease to understand caregiving phases and caregivers’ corresponding needs for support across the disease trajectory. Kristina’s other interests include issues around home care, palliative care, dementia and caregivers’ experiences of care transitions.
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Lauren Tessier
PhD Candidate
IHPME, University of Toronto
Lauren Tessier is a PhD student in health services research in the outcomes and evaluation stream at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. For her thesis, Lauren, under the supervision of Dr. Walter Wodchis, is seeking to understand how multiple chronic conditions are related to the incidence of dementia.
Lauren received her Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto with a double major in neuroscience and bioethics.
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Walter Wodchis
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Leslie Cheng
Work Study Student
IHPME, University of Toronto
Leslie Cheng is a Master of Public Health student in the Social and Behavioural Health Sciences (Health Promotion) stream at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She completed her Bachelor of Medical Sciences with a specialization in Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences at the University of Western Ontario. Leslie’s research interests include health equity, barriers to healthcare access, and chronic disease management among older populations.
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Walter Wodchis
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Lief Pagalan
PhD Student
Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Lief Pagalan is a PhD student in Epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Under the supervision of Dr. Laura Rosella, Lief’s doctoral research focuses on developing a tool that integrates individual and environmental data to predict premature mortality in Canadian cities. This prediction tool will be used to model the effects of policies and interventions and to quantify their impacts on premature mortality rates in Canada. His research interests include predictive modelling, machine learning applications in public health, and the impacts of the built environment on population health. He holds a BSc in Geography and an MSc in Health Sciences from Simon Fraser University.
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Mudi Kadu
PhD Candidate
IHPME, University of Toronto
Mudi Kadu is a PhD student at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, and is under the supervision of Dr Walter Wodchis. She holds an M.Sc. in Public Health and Health Systems from the University of Waterloo. Previously, she worked as a Junior Researcher at the International Foundation for Integrated Care in Oxford and as a Decision Support Consultant at Trillium Health Partners.
Mudi is interested in exploring how different integrated care models can cost-effectively meet the needs of populations living with comorbidities and complex health needs. Her current projects include studying the (cost) effectiveness of financial incentives that promote health system integration and investigating the links between funding policy and patient health outcomes.
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Walter Wodchis
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Reham Abdelhalim
PhD Candidate
IHPME, University of Toronto
Reham Abdelhalim is an HSPRN trainee. Her research concentration is in health services outcomes and evaluation, with a personal interest in patient experience, patient-centeredness, integrated care, quality improvement, program evaluation, and performance measurement.
Reham holds a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery and a Master’s Degree in Medical Toxicology. She worked as a Medical Toxicologist/ Intensive Care Physician for more than five years. During this period, she came to recognize that saving the life of a patient is not the most important end goal. Rather, the end goal should be building healthcare systems that guarantee better health services for all patients
Consequently, Reham shifted gears and started to study healthcare quality. She has a Diploma in Total Quality Management and she has been a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality since 2014. Currently she is pursuing a PhD in Health Services Research at the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) under the supervision of Dr. Walter Wodchis.
Since she joined the HSPRN in 2015, she has worked on various projects that look at evaluation of integrated care for patients living with complex health and social needs and assessing patient and caregiver experience in Ontario. Some results of these projects were published by the HSPRN as reports e.g. Health Links case studies series and the Client and Caregiver Experience Evaluation of Home and Community Care Services: A rapid review and jurisdictional scan of existing survey tools.
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Walter Wodchis
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Ryan Ng
PhD Candidate
IHPME, University of Toronto
Ryan Ng is a PhD candidate in Epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Under the supervision of Dr. Laura Rosella, Ryan’s doctoral work is focused on understanding chronic disease incidence from the risk factor epidemiology paradigm and predictive modelling paradigm. The final objective of Ryan's dissertation is the development and validation of the Chronic Disease Population Risk Tool (CDPoRT), a population-based, health prognostic model that predicts the incidence of chronic disease. Ryan also works at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) as an epidemiologist as part of Data & Analytic Services (DAS).
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Laura Rosella
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Sanjeef Thampinathan
Work Study Student
IHPME, University of Toronto
Sanjeef Thampinathan is currently enrolled in the MPH family and community medicine stream at the UofT DFCM. Prior to this, he finished his bachelors and his clinical training at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine. As a primary care practitioner, Sanjeef is interested in quality improvement for patients and providing best care practices. Other research interest includes Patient advocacy, Quality control initiatives, Global health initiatives and Public policy.
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Walter Wodchis
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Sara Shearkhani
PhD Candidate
IHPME, University of Toronto
Sara Shearkhani is a PhD student in Health Services Outcome and Evaluation at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation under the supervision of Dr. Walter Wodchis focusing on direct costs of informal caregiving in Ontario. Sara holds a master’s degree in Economics and a certificate in Patient and Community Engagement Research. She is currently working with Dr. Wodchis, and Kevin Walker on evaluation of Integrated Funding Models.
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Walter Wodchis
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Sarah Carbone
PhD Candidate
IHPME, University of Toronto
Sarah Carbone is a PhD student in Health Services Research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. She holds a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Health Studies from Queen’s University.
Sarah’s interests include patient and caregiver engagement and healthcare decision-making. Under the supervision of Dr. Kerry Kuluski and Dr. Whitney Berta, her research explores shared decision-making and goal-setting during care transitions for medically complex older adults.
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Kerry Kuluski
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Shawna Cronin
PhD Candidate
IHPME
Shawna is a PhD candidate at Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, and is supervised by Dr. Susan Jaglal. She holds a MSc. in Occupational Therapy from Western University, and a BSc. in Biological Sciences from the University of Guelph.
Shawna’s research interests include availability of primary care and community services for persons with dementia, primary care quality health and rehabilitation services for neurological conditions. Currently she is working on a HSPRN project to examine the representativeness of physician and patients respondents of primary care quality surveys, using linked survey results and health administrative databases.
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Susan Jaglal
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Stacey Fisher
PhD
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Stacey Fisher is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and Public Health Ontario. Her research interests include population health, chronic disease prevention, the development of predictive risk algorithms and data science. Stacey completed her PhD at the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, where she developed, validated and applied a predictive algorithm for risk of dementia in community-dwelling individuals at the population level. The aim of her post-doctoral work is to demonstrate and support public health applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stacey_Fisher
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Suman Budhwani
PhD Candidate
IHPME, University of Toronto
Suman Budhwani recieved her PhD from the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Her area of specialization is in outcomes and evaluations within health services research, focusing on the self-management needs and health service utilization of advanced disease and end-of-life populations. She holds a Master’s degree in public policy and administration from Ryerson University and a graduate certificate in program evaluation from the University of Victoria. Suman has extensive knowledge and interest in evaluation and performance measurement using health administrative datasets which she brings forth to her work at the HSPRN.
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Sydney Jopling
MSc Candidate
IHPME, University of Toronto
Sydney Jopling is a Master’s Student in Health Services Research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Under the supervision of Dr. Walter Wodchis and Dr. David Rudoler, she is investigating the effects of a program designed to improve access to team-based primary care for patients who experience complex health and social needs. Sydney is currently working with Dr. Elina Farmanova, Dr. Ross Baker, and Dr. Deborah Cohen on case studies of integrated systems of care that use a population health-based approach.
Sydney also completed her Honours BSc at the University of Toronto with majors in Human Biology and English. Prior to becoming an HSPRN trainee, Sydney worked with the network as a Research Assistant.
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Walter Wodchis and Dr. David Rudoler
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Xiaomeng Ma
PhD Candidate
IHPME, University of Toronto
Xiaomeng Ma is pursuing a PhD in Health Services Outcome and Evaluation at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Walter Wodchis. Xiaomeng holds a BS degree in Biological Science from Tsinghua University, China and a MS degree in Health Science Informatics from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA. Prior to joining HSPN, she worked as a research associate at the Center for Population Health IT within Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, conducting observational patient health records comparison and health disparity geographical visualization.
Xiaomeng is interested in utilizing big data approach to investigate legacy observational health data to segment population by their risk groups, facilitating evidence-based population management. Her research concentration also includes understanding the spectrum of health outcomes in various socioeconomic communities.
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Anum Irfan Khan
PhD Candidate
IHPME, University of Toronto
Anum Irfan Khan is a PhD candidate in the Health Services Research stream at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation - Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Anum is currently working with Dr. Walter Wodchis to 1) explore the team and organizational features that facilitate integration in multi-disciplinary primary care teams across Ontario, and 2) assess the association between integrated care and patient outcomes (healthcare utilization including emergency department visits, hospitalizations and readmission) with a focus on adults with multi-morbidity. Beyond her PhD, Anum’s recent work includes examining the use of integrated approaches to improve the organization and delivery of cancer care, developing e-health applications to support self-management in patients with multi-morbidity, and identifying best practices in care transitions between hospital and the community involving complex patients. Anum has previously completed a Master’s degree in Health Studies and Gerontology from the University of Waterloo (Canada), and a B.A. with a double major in Public Health and Environmental Studies at Brandeis University (USA).
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Walter Wodchis
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Ashlinder Gill
PhD
IHPME, University of Toronto
Ashlinder investigated emergency department use in home palliative care patients and factors that increase acute care use at the end-of-life. Currently, she is a Research Associate at Bridgepoint Active Healthcare.
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Edward Chau
Masters
IHPME, University of Toronto
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Walter Wodchis
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Heebah Sultan
PhD
IHPME, University of Toronto
Heebah Sultan graduated from the University of Ottawa with an Honours bachelor degree in Health Sciences, and is completing her master's degree in public health in Epidemiology (with a Global Health focus) at the University of Toronto.She was part of the Multi-Organ Transplant Student Research Training Program (MOTSRTP) in May 2012 and her thesis evaluated the burden of mental illness among end-stage renal disease populations in Ontario. Currently, She is the Senior Health Data Analyst at Health Shared Services Ontario (HSSO).
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Jennifer Im
Masters
IHPME, University of Toronto
For her thesis, Jennifer worked with Dr. Kerry Kuluski to understand the goals of care in managing complex conditions for patients and informal caregivers.
Where are they now? Jennifer is the Research Coordinator for the Advancing Access to Team-Based Care (AATBC) evaluation.
Supervisor(s):
Dr. Kerry Kuluski
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Lauren Cadel
Masters
Trillium Health Partners
In 2016, Lauren received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Bowling Green State University. Prior to beginning her Master’s program, she was a part of the Undergraduate Summer Research Program where she worked as a research assistant. Lauren is currently a Master’s student in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.
Her thesis research, supervised by Dr. Sara Guilcher, will explore the thoughts, attitudes and experiences of community-dwelling adults with spinal cord injury pertaining to their medication. The purpose of this study is to optimize medication management for adults with spinal cord injuries. Lauren is also working with Dr. Sara Guilcher and Dr. Kerry Kuluski on understanding transitions of care across the care journey for older adults with complex health and social needs.Supervisor(s):
Sara Guilcher
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Natasha Lane
PhD
IHPME, University of Toronto
Dr. Natasha E. Lane is a trainee in the University of Toronto's combined MD/PhD Program. In 2016 she completed her PhD in Health Services Research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. Her doctoral thesis, entitled 'Determinants of Disability and Disablement in Ontario Long-Term Care Residents' was supervised by Dr. Walter Wodchis and funded by a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. She also holds a Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences and a Master's degree in Health Studies and Gerontology, both from the University of Waterloo.
Dr. Lane is continuing to collaborate with HSPRN trainees and scientists as she completes her medical training at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on determinants of disability, quality of life and survival in both community- and long-term care home-dwelling older adults. She is also the Co-Principal Investigator of an HSPRN project to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and implementation facilitators of hospital-to-home care transition interventions for older adults. Her goal is to improve health and health care for older adults across the continuum of care.ResearchGate Profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Natasha_Lane
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Sarah Sharpe
PhD
IHPME, University of Toronto
Co-Founder & Healthcare Innovation with QoC Health
With a background in mixed methods research and evaluation, Sarah’s focus is on the development and implementation of improvements in healthcare. She has extensive leadership experience in quality improvement, patient engagement and co-design of new healthcare technology solutions. -
Vidhi Thakkar
PhD
IHPME, University of Toronto
Vidhi Thakkar received a PhD in Health Services Research (Health Policy Stream) from the University of Toronto. Prior to her PhD, Vidhi completed her Masters of Science at McGill University and Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) at McMaster University. Her research interests include patient engagement, primary care, e-health literacy, and health policy. She has taught several courses at McMaster University including Epidemiology, Data Analytics in the Department of Continuing Education Studies. At HSPN, Vidhi worked on the integrated funding models project with Professor Walter Wodchis as a part of a MOHLTC HSPRN grant.
Supervisor: Walter Wodchis