Mentors

• Clinical Therapeutics
• Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• Scientist & Associate Director, Centre for Evaluation of Medicines, St Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton
• Ambulatory Care Pharmacotherapy Specialist, Pharmacy Department, St Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton
• Associate Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto
• Director and Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine Research, McMaster University

Dr. Lisa Dolovich obtained her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto.  She completed a Canadian Society of Clinical Pharmacology Fellowship at the Centre for Evaluation of Medicines and completed her Master of Science degree in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University.

Dr. Dolovich leads the Drug Safety and Effectiveness Cross- Disciplinary Training (DSECT; www.safeandeffectiverx.com) Program.  DSECT is a CIHR training program in bridging scientific domains for drug safety and effectiveness.  The goal of the DSECT Program is to provide a training environment for future scientists in Canada to produce new knowledge related to the generation and use of safe and effective medications.  She co-leads the Cardiovascular Health Awareness Program (CHAP; www.chapprogram.ca) with Dr. Larry Chambers (University of Ottawa) and Dr. Janusz Kaczorowski (University of British Columbia).  She leads the myBP and myMeds projects studying the use of a patient controlled health record to improve hypertension and medication management.  She also recently co-led a large demonstration project examining pharmacist integration into family practice, IMPACT (www.impactteam.info) and has been central in the Quality in Family Practice program (www.qualityinfamilypractice.com).  Lisa serves as the Chair of CADTH’s  Canadian Optimal Medication Prescribing & Utilization Service (COMPUS) Expert Review Committee and she was recognized with the Piafsky Young Investigator Award from the Canadian Society of Clinical Pharmacology in 2001 and was the first-ever Canadian Pharmacist of the Year (2003).  She was recently honoured as a Canadian Pharmacists Association Centennial pharmacist (2007).

Her research interests include the patient perspective about using or deciding to use medications, pharmacist integration into primary care practice, continuity of healthcare, pharmacy and health services practice research, and evaluating the clinical and policy relevance of interventions that can improve prescribing and patient medication taking behaviour.  She holds research grants mainly from government and academic sources, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadian Health Services Research Foundation and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.

SELECTED CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS:

1. Price D, Hilts L, Dolovich L.  An Overview of International Evidence in Quality Improvement in Primary Healthcare. Quality Improvement and Innovation Partnership (QIIP). January – March 2010. $25,000
2. Holbrook A, Bernstein R, Birtwhistle R, Chan D, Dolovich L, Godwin M, Green M, Kaczorowski J, Keshavjee K, Levine M, Manca D.  Developing a National Electronic Network in Primary Care to Advance Drug Safety and Effectiveness (eDSEN). Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). $95,291 March 2010 – February 2011
3. Holbrook A, Birtwhistle R, Dolovich L, Chan D, Bernstein B, Green M, Kaczorowski J, Godwin M, Manca D, Levine M, Pullenayegum E, Maclure M. A National Electronic Network for Rapid Assessment of Drug Safety and Effectiveness.  Canadian Institutes of Health Research. ($99,025) March 2010 – February 2011
4. Emberley P (Co-PI), Farrell B (Co-PI), Dolovich L, Jorgenson D, Lyder C, Woloschuk D, Johnson S, McAuliffe A, Mohr H. Access to quality Drug therapy – Applying Pharmacists knowledge To the Primary care System (ADAPTS). Health Canada, Health Care Policy Contribution Program December 2009 – March 2011. $500,000 
5. Dolovich L, McDonough, Chambers L, Agarwal G, Liddy C. How does the organization of community based networks foster screening, prevention and management of blood pressure? Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Nov 2009 – Oct 2012. $553,919
6. Kaasalainen S, Donald F, Martin-Misener R, Dicenso A, Dolovich L, Brazil K, Hajistavropoulos T, Marshall D.  Evaluation of a Nurse Practitioner-Led, Interprofessional Pain Management Team in Long-Term. Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. 2009-2012. $205,978
7. Guirguis LM (PI), Cooney D, Dolovich L, Eberhart G, Hughes CA, Makowsky MJ, Sadowski CA, Schindel TJ, Yuksel N.  Pharmacists’ Adoption of Prescribing. Canadian Foundation for Pharmacy Innovation Fund. 2009-2011. $50,000
8. McKibbon A (PI), Chan D, Holbrook A, Dolovich L, Tamblyn R, Handler S, Archer N, O’Reilly D. Enabling Medication Management through Health IT. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) June 2009 – September 2010. $415,975
9. Dolovich L, Lalonde L, Tsuyuki R. Interdisciplinary pharmacist led interventions to improve medication prescribing, use and outcomes. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). 2009-2010. $18,738
10. Dolovich L (PI), Raina P, Holbrook A, Levine M, Thabane L, Kaczorowski J, Papaioannou A, Goeree R, Tarride JE, Kaasalainen S, Pullenayegum E, Oremus M, Agarwal G, Rangachari PK, Brown E, Singh G, Willison D, Beyenne J, MacKinnon N. Choosing, using and losing medications in older adults: A research training program bridging biosciences, clinical, population health, and health policy research. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (STIHR Grant). April 2009-March 2015. $1,781,943
11. Dolovich L, Shea B, Leslie W, Holbrook A, Levine M, Thabane L.  Canadian-Based Interventions to Optimize Drug Therapy in Chronic Disease. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) ($98,277)  Nov 2008 – Oct 2009

• Clinical Therapeutics
• Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University
• Family Physician, McMaster Family Practice

Trained as a GP in England, Dr. Gina Agarwal is an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine, coordinator of the Chart Audit/Quality Assurance program within the residency program and she works as a family physician at McMaster Family Practice and trains residents. She has a research background and is in the final stages of the Health Research Methodology PhD program at McMaster University. She has been involved with TIPPS since June 2002.

Gina's main areas of research interest are epidemiology, diabetes, and primary care health services (especially chronic disease management). She has been involved with developing a program of screening for Diabetes in community pharmacies (CHAD) as well as other methods of risk assessment for diabetes. Her other areas of interest are physicians’ attitudes towards prescribing insulin for elderly patients, the functioning of interdisciplinary teams within primary care and the doctor patient relationship and its continuity (including informational continuity and electronic medical records).

• Polulation Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics

• Associate Professor, Dept of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, McMaster University
• Chairholder, John D. Cameron Endowed Chair in Genetic Epidemiology
• Member, Population Genomics Program, McMaster University
• Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
• Adjunct Scientist, Research Institute of the Hospital for Sick Children

Dr. Joseph Beyene is an Associate Professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University. He was recently a Senior Scientist in the Research Institute of the Hospital for Sick Children where he established and headed the Biostatistics Methodology Unit (BMU). He also currently holds an appointment as Associate Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Toronto in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. 

Joseph is an investigator member of the Genetic Statistics Group at the University of Toronto, a group holding a National Centers of Excellence award for developing new statistical methods for human genetics research. His research is also funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Joseph’s interests are in the areas of genetics, systematic reviews/meta-analyses, predictive modeling; health technology assessment, and clinical research. He has a broad interest in exploring genetic and environmental factors relevant to illness and behaviour. His current work focuses on developing and applying novel data integration statistical methods using heterogeneous sources of data. His scientific and clinical application areas span a wide range of disciplines including infectious diseases, rheumatology, oncology, and cardiovascular diseases.  

• Biosciences

• Professor and Chair, Dept of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University
• Canada Research Chair in Chemical Biology

Dr. Eric Brown holds a Canada Research Chair in Chemical Biology at McMaster University.  In addition to overseeing an independent research program in studies of essential physiology in bacteria, Eric is currently the Chair of the Dept of Biochemistry and Medical Sciences and the Director of the McMaster High Throughput Screening Laboratory. 

Eric obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1992 under the supervision of Professor Janet Wood at the University of Guelph where he studied the PutA protein of E. coli, a bifunctional enzyme and repressor protein.  As an MRC Postdoctoral Fellow with Professor Christopher Walsh at Harvard Medical School, Eric trained in enzymology and bacterial genetics to characterize enzymes in bacterial cell wall biosynthesis.  After completing Postdoctoral studies in 1995 Eric spent three years working in antibacterial drug discovery in Boston, with experience in both small biotech (Myco Pharmaceuticals) and big pharma (Astra Research Center Boston) where he participated in bacterial genomics, molecular biology and biochemistry research.

Since returning to academe in 1998, Eric has established a sizeable research group.  In this time, he has been the recipient of a variety of investigator awards including a Canada Research Chair in Chemical Biology and the Merck Frosst Prize.  He has consulted and served on the advisory boards of a variety of biotech companies as well as national and international societies and associations. He has a keen interest in Chemical Biology and is a founding member of the Canadian Chemical Biology Network.  Outside the lab, Eric is an enthusiastic, but very average, golfer and ice-hockey player.

Eric is a self-described quantitative biochemist with research interests in phenotypic and physical studies of core conserved processes of bacteria.  These include studies aimed at understanding the cell surface of Gram-positive bacteria as well as efforts on conserved but uncharacterized bacterial proteins with vital roles in cell physiology.  In conjunction with the McMaster High Throughput Screening Lab, Eric’s research is also directed at the discovery and development of small molecules as probes of physiology.

For further information, please visit: http://brownlab.ca/home.html.

Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Health Services and Policy Research

Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, McMaster University

Director, Program for Assessment of Technology in Health, McMaster University

Member, Centre for Evaluation of Medicines (CEM), St Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Ron Goeree teaches in the Health Research Methodology Program and has recently developed a new course in Advanced Decision Analytic Modeling. Additionally, he is developing a stream for the HRM program with a specific focus on health technology assessment (HTA). HTA is a rapidly growing field internationally with many interesting and challenging career opportunities. The goal of this field specialization is to educate and train individuals who, upon graduation, will have acquired sufficient skills to be actively involved in independent and collaborative research in the field of HTA. Graduates will be expected to acquire a strong foundation not only in the basic principles of HTA, but also in advanced decision analysis, health economics, biostatistics, health services research and health policy analysis.

Ron’s primary research interests are in the methods of economic appraisal and health technology assessment. He is particularly interested in applied decision analysis, in modeling the long term costs and benefits of alternative health care interventions and in methods of costing health care programs and services.

• Clinical Therapeutics
• Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• Professor, Department of Medicine, McMaster University
• Director, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, McMaster University
• Associate Member, Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, McMaster University
• Associate Member, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toronto
• Senior Scientist, Centre for Evaluation of Medicines
• Active Medical Staff, McMaster University Medical Centre and St Joseph's Hospital

Dr. Anne Holbrook is the Director of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, McMaster University; Professor, Department of Medicine, McMaster University and Senior Scientist, Centre for Evaluation of Medicines, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. She trained in clinical pharmacy, medicine, clinical pharmacology and clinical epidemiology at the University of Toronto, Philadelphia College, McGill University and McMaster University.

She is an Active Medical Staff member of Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation and St Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton leading a teaching clinical service specializing in the management of complex, hospitalized adults with multiple diagnoses and multiple medications. She heads a clinical pharmacology rotation for medical and PharmD trainees and supervises multiple graduate students.

Anne is a senior drug policy advisor, with the longest record of service to combined national, provincial and regional public drug plans. Her combined clinical, research and drug policy expertise is unique internationally.

Anne is a national leader in evidence-based therapeutics, including population-based studies of drug benefit and harm, randomized trials of complex interventions to improve prescribing and chronic disease management, the study of factors affecting the use and accuracy of decision support, studies on patient decision-making regarding drug therapies, potential conflicts of interest, and drug policy impact. She leads COMPETE, Canada’s original research program on electronic medical records and health outcomes. She is a recipient of a Career Investigator award from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research for innovation in decision-making for patients, practitioners, and policy makers.

• Clinical Therapeutics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, McMaster University

Dr. Sharon Kaasalainen began with the School of Nursing in 1997 as a Teaching Assistant; in 2002 she joined the School full-time as an Assistant Professor. She is also an Associate member of the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster. She teaches in both the undergraduate and graduate nursing programs and is a member of the Graduate Program Curriculum Innovation Committee.

Sharon has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from McMaster University, a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Toronto and a Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Health Sciences from McMaster University.

Sharon’s research activities have focused on different aspects of gerontology, including program evaluations, caregiver support initiatives, loneliness and social isolation, improving adherence in patients with cognitive impairment, and more recently, pain management. She began her research in the area of pain management in Saskatoon, SK, over a decade ago, working with a multidisciplinary team to develop a behavioral observation tool to assess for pain in noncommunicative elderly. Her PhD work was a continuation of this research which examined the psychometric properties of this behavioral observation tool as well as three verbal report scales for use in an elderly population. Sharon is currently a CHSRF Postdoctoral Fellow with a focus on the role of the NP around pain management in long-term care.

• Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Services and Policy Research
• socio-demographic correlates of health, health services research, knowledge translation, primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and stroke, optimal therapeutics and medical education

• Professor & Research Director, /Director Primary Care & Community Research, Department of Family Practice, Child & Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia
• Associate member, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia
• Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE), University of British Columbia
• Professor & Research Director, Universite de Montreal

Janusz Kaczorowski MA, PhD—Professor and Research Director, Department of Family Medicine, Université de Montréal is medical sociologist and a co-developer of the CHAP program.  He plays leadership roles within the Canadian Hypertension Education Program (CHEP), Hypertension Canada and the Canadian Stroke Strategy.  He has held a number of large grants both as principal investigator and co-investigator and has co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed articles.  Current research interests include socio-demographic correlates of health, health services research, knowledge translation, primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and stroke, optimal therapeutics and medical education. Prisoners and ex-prisoners should not be punished twice, once in doing the time they are sentenced to, and again by facing stigmas and barriers when accessing health care services and, especially, preventive care.  Dr. Kaczorowski believes that involving people directly in the research that affects them can act as a reality check rather than “ivory tower” perspective.

• Clinical Therapeutics
• Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University
• Active Staff, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton
• Director, Centre for Evaluation of Medicines, Father Sean O'Sullivan Research Centre, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Dr. Mitchell Levine received his medical degree from the University of Calgary in 1979, which was followed by postgraduate training in Internal Medicine (FRCPC) and Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Toronto (1981-87). He received an MSc degree in Clinical Epidemiology from McMaster University in 1988.

Mitchell is the Director of the Centre for Evaluation of Medicines, Father Sean O’Sullivan Research Centre, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario and holds the position of Professor at McMaster University in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics and the Department of Medicine. He is a consultant physician in Internal Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology at St. Joseph’s Healthcare and the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation in Hamilton.

Mitchell currently serves as a pharmacoeconomic consultant to the Drug Quality and Therapeutics Committee (DQTC) of the Ministry of Health of Ontario and is a former member and chair of the DQTC. He is a member of the Advisory Committee on Management for the Therapeutics Product Directorate at Health Canada and the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board's Human Drug Advisory Panel. He is the Editor-in-Chief for the Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and is an Associate Editor for the ACP Journal Club and Evidence-Based Medicine.

Assessing prescription drug use in the community and developing methods for promoting cost-effective use of drug therapy are Mitchell’s principal research interests. This involves collecting data on how drugs are actually used in the community, and the impact they have on health care resource use and on patient quality of life. Research is also conducted to help determine how both patient and healthcare provider value systems influence the use of drug therapies in clinical practice.

• Clinical Therapeutics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• Associate Director of Research & Professor, College of Pharmacy, and Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University

Dr. Neil MacKinnon is the Associate Director for Research and a Professor. Neil is also cross-appointed to the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, and to the School of Health Services Administration, Faculty of Health Professions. Neil is the coordinator of Pharmacy 2060 (Medication Use Management) and Pharmacy 4060 (Advanced Patient Health Management).

Neil is a native of Bridgewater, NS. He received his BSc (Pharm) degree from Dalhousie in 1993. Then he traveled to Madison, Wisconsin where he completed a M.Sc. in Hospital Pharmacy degree and an Advanced Administrative Residency at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics during 1993 to 1995. Following that, he completed a Ph.D. in Pharmacy Health Care Administration at the University of Florida and a Research Fellowship at the DuBow Family Center for Research in Pharmaceutical Care with Dr. Charles D. Hepler. He has also worked in an independent community pharmacy and as a consultant pharmacist and trainer for Simkin, Inc., a healthcare technology company.

Neil edited a book published in 2003 by the Canadian Pharmacists Association called “Seamless Care: A Pharmacist’s Guide to Continuous Care Programs” and he edited a second book published in 2007 called “Safe and Effective” (www.pharmacists.ca/se). Neil has authored or co-authored over 70 papers in the peer-reviewed literature and has given over 130 presentations at scientific meetings, speaking frequently on medication safety issues. Neil is a two-time recipient of the Jessie I. MacKnight Award for Teaching Excellence, as selected by the senior year pharmacy students at Dalhousie University.

Neil’s primary research interests include studying adverse consequences of medication use such as preventable drug-related morbidity and medication errors and implementing and evaluating pharmacy programs and services and drug policy. He is currently the PI or co-investigator on several research grants studying these issues.

• Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• McLaughlin Foundation Professor of Population and Public Health & Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, McMaster University
• Co-Associate Director, McMaster Evidence-based Practice Centre

Dr. Mark Oremus joined the McMaster University Evidence-based Practice Centre (MU-EPC) in July 2005, serving as co-associate director of the MU-EPC since 2007 and associate scientific director of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging since 2009.  His primary research interest includes aging and Alzheimer’s disease.  Mark has conducted numerous research projects in this field, including a study to examine patients’, caregivers’, and the general public’s willingness-to-pay for unrestricted access to an Alzheimer’s disease medication.  He has also conducted systematic reviews on the use of contingent valuation in Alzheimer’s disease, the efficacy of Alzheimer’s disease drug treatments, and the use of outcome measurement instruments in Alzheimer's disease drug trials.  At McMaster, Mark teaches population health and epidemiology at the graduate and undergraduate levels.  He holds a Career Scientist Award from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and he held the inaugural Bernie O’Brien Postdoctoral Fellowship at McMaster University.

Mark’s research interests include: population and public health, aging, dementia, caregiving, knowledge transfer, questionnaire design and administration, systematic reviews, measuring drug efficacy, health economics, and health policy.

• Clinical Therapeutics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• Professor, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, McMaster University
• Chairholder, Eli Lilly Canada Chair in Osteoporosis
• Associate Member, Centre for Evaluation of Medicines, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton

Dr. Alexandra Papaioannou is a Professor in the Department of Medicine and past Director, Division of Geriatric Medicine at McMaster University with joint appointment in the Division of Rheumatology. She has received a CIHR – Eli Lilly Osteoporosis and Fracture Prevention Chair.  She is an Associate Member in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and has completed Masters of Science (MSc), Health Research Methods at McMaster University.  Alexandra is past Chair of the Scientific Advisory Council of Osteoporosis Canada (OC) and past Chair of the Board.  She is Co-Director of the Hamilton Canadian Multi-Centre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos) and is leading the Fracture Think Osteoporosis project, a chronic disease management program in Hamilton, Ontario.  Alexandra is a member of the Scientific Advisors of the International Osteoporosis Foundation.

Alexandra was awarded an Ontario Career Scientist Award and has served on a number of Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOH LTC) Committees including serving as the Co-Chair of the MOHLTC Osteoporosis Strategy for Ontario, a public health initiative to prevent and reduce the impact of osteoporosis, fractures and falls.  She is lead investigator for the Long-term Care Ontario Osteoporosis Strategy.

She has served on CIHR committees including Scientific Officer of the Mobility in Aging – Pilot Project Committee.  Alexandra has received a number of CIHR grants including “Improving Prescribing of Medications and Patient Safety in Long-Term Care” and has been a co-investigator of a number of team CIHR grants: “Helping seniors and primary care professionals optimize the use of drugs to improve health (TIPPS)”, and “Training program in skeletal health research”. She is an Associate Member of the Centre for Evaluation of Medicines, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, and a Geriatrician at Hamilton Health Sciences.

Alexandra’s areas of special interest in Geriatric Medicine include clinical epidemiology, osteoporosis and fractures, quality of life in the older population, pharmacotherapy in primary care and long-term care for seniors and falls in the elderly.

• Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, McMaster University
• Biostatistician, Biostatistics Unit, Centre for Evaluation of Medicine, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton

Dr. Eleanor Pullenayegum is Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University and a Biostatistician in the Biostatistics Unit at the Father Sean O'Sullivan Research Centre, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton – a Division of St. Joseph's Health System. She received a PhD in Biostatistics from the University of Toronto, then spent a year as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Sciences at the University of Waterloo.

Before coming to Canada she did a BA in Mathematics at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, followed by the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Mathematics, also at Cambridge. She then worked as a Research Assistant and consulting statistician for the Centre for Applied Medical Statistics at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge.

Eleanor is interested in developing statistical methodology for healthcare research. A particular area of interest is in semi-parametric regression models in the presence of incomplete data. An example where this methodology is used is in estimating cost-effectiveness, where we often need to fit a linear regression model for mean cost, without making additional distributional assumptions. In this example, incompleteness arises from right-censoring. A more surprising example occurs when fitting marginal structural models, in which the counterfactual outcomes are, by definition, unobserved. She is interested in comparing estimation techniques in terms of their bias, efficiency and practicality.

• Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• Professor, Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, McMaster University
• Raymond and Margaret Labarge Chair in Research and Knowledge Application for Optimal Aging
• Adjunct Faculty, Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, University of British Columbia
• Director, McMaster University Evidence-based Practice Center
• Co-Director, R. Samuel McLaughlin Centre for Research and Education in Aging and Health
• Lead Principal Investigator, Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

Dr. Parminder Raina is a Professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University. He specializes in the epidemiology of aging with emphasis on developing the interdisciplinary field of geroscience to understand the processes of aging from cell to society. Parminder also holds the inaugural Raymond and Margaret Labarge Chair in Optimal Aging and holds a CIHR Investigator award. Parminder is the lead principal investigator of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. He received the Ontario Premier’s Research Excellence award on research in aging in 2004 to train and mentor new researchers. He is the Director of the internationally recognized McMaster Evidenced-based Practice Center which is funded by the U.S based Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Parminder holds several national and international grants and has published many peer-review reports and articles for national and international agencies, and in leading scientific journals.

Parminder specializes in epidemiology of aging including aging brain, disability, injuries, population health, epidemiology, health services research, meta-analysis/ dissemination, surveillance, methodology, knowledge Transfer.

• Biosciences
• Clinical Therapeutics

• Professor (Emeritus) Department of Medicine, McMaster University
• Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) Program

Dr. Patangi Rangachari (Chari) received his medical degree (M.B.B.S.) from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India and a Ph.D (Pharmacology) from the U. of Alberta (1965). He joined the Department of Medicine at McMaster University in 1983 as one of the initial recruits to the Intestinal Diseases Research Unit (IDRU) which later morphed to the IDRP (Programme).  Prior to that, Chari worked in diverse places (U. California, San Francisco, Hopital Necker des Enfants Malades and Hopital Bichat, Paris, France, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Hospital in Boston). Much of his research in the IDRP focused on the mechanisms underlying the transport of ions across epithelial cells, in particular their regulation by nerves and autacoids.

Before coming to McMaster University, Chari had never heard of problem-based learning. His initial reaction was one of amusement and profound skepticism. All that evaporated when Chari began to see tutorial groups in action and recognized that the Founding Fathers of the Medical Programme had been remarkable in their prescience. Chari became more and more involved with medical students, an involvement that rapidly transformed his professional life.

Chari has received numerous awards, including President's Award for Excellence in Teaching (Educational Leadership), McMaster University (1997), Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations Teaching Award (1997), and MSU (McMaster Students Union) Teaching Award (2002), 3M National Teaching Fellowship (2008).

Chari’s research interests include transport mechanisms, inflammatory mediators, and receptors.

• Biosciences

• Professor, Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University
• Associate Member, Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University
• Senior Scientist, Juravinski Cancer Centre at Hamilton Health Sciences

Dr. Gurmit Singh is a Professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton.  His research interests include experimental therapeutics in breast and prostate cancer, with an emphasis in bone metastasis.  He serves on a number of national and international scientific review panels that include CIHR, NCIC, CFI, and the U.S. Army and Navel panels.  In addition, he is an external grant reviewer for several research foundations and belongs to many associations including the American Association for Cancer Research, American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Metastasis Research Society.  He also serves on the editorial board of several scientific journals. Gurmit currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance, National Board of Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and the Ontario region of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. 

Gurmit is currently working on a number of research projects including “Cancer Induced Bone Pain” with funding received from the Canadian breast Cancer Research Alliance, “Reactive oxygen species: A link between hyperglycemia and cancer” with funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health (CIHR) ; “Role of Glutamate in bone Metastasis” with Funding from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR); “Mitochondria as a target for Cancer Therapy” with funding from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and other projects with an emphasis on experimental therapeutics.

Gurmit has edited three books and published over 170 research articles in various Medical journals.

Gurmit’s research interests include: Experimental cancer therapy. His laboratory is focused on research involving invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. Novel concepts and therapeutic agents that intercept various cell signaling pathways specific to tumour cell invasion and metastasis are being explored. Specific areas of active investigation in the laboratory include: 1) Investigation of aberrant properties of tumour mitochondria to target for cancer therapy; 2) modulation of cancer metastasis to bone; and 3) understanding the mechanisms(s) of PDT-induced and inherent resistance. The strategy to achieve our goal is to exploit differences between primary and metastatic cells. We have unique pairs of cell lines with mitochondrial abnormalities and metastatic cell lines to understand genetic and signaling pathways in the tumour cells. We have state-of-the-art equipment with strong linkages with practicing medical and radiation oncologists. Our goal is to translate basic research into the clinical area. The facilities at the Hamilton Regional Cancer Center are ideal for fostering collaborative research.

• Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, McMaster University
• Associate Member, Department of Economics, McMaster University
• Investigator, Program for Assessment of Technology in Health

Dr. Jean-Eric Tarride teaches in courses related to health technology assessment in both the Health Research Methodology Program, and the MA/PhD programs of the Department of Economics.

Before coming to McMaster University, he was a consultant and manager of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research for ten years. During this time, Jean-Eric acquired a vast experience in designing and conducting pharmacoeconomic (e.g., cost-effectiveness and cost-utility studies), budget impact analyses and outcomes research studies (e.g., Phase IV observational studies, burden of illness studies, development and validation of Quality of Life instruments) in a variety of therapeutic areas and health care settings.

Jean-Eric’s primary research interests are in methods for the economic evaluation of health technologies and the treatment of uncertainty in health technology assessments (HTAs) and decision-making process. Other areas of research include the longitudinal analysis of healthcare utilization data and the valuation of indirect costs in HTAs.

• Clinical Therapeutics
• Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• Associate Professor & Associate Chair, Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, McMaster University
• Director, Biostatistics Unit, Centre for Evaluation of Medicine

Dr. Lehana Thabane is Associate Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Biostatistician and Director of the Biostatistics Unit at the Father Sean O'Sullivan Research Centre (FSORC), St Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton. Lehana did his PhD studies in Statistics (1994 -1998) in the Department of Statistical and Actuarial Sciences at the University of Western Ontario, Canada and MSc in Statistics (1992-1993) in the Department of Probability and Statistics at Sheffield University, England. He obtained his BSc (1986-1990) from the National University of Lesotho.

Lehana is an Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute (ISI) and also a member of the Statistical Society of Canada, the International Biometric Society, the American Statistical Association, the International Society for Bayesian Analysis and the Society for Clinical Trials. He is also a Scientific Officer of the Randomized Clinical Trials Committee for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Lehana is a member of the PhD Comprehensive Examinations Chairs Committee in the Health Research Methodology (HRM) programme, and coordinator of HRM-733 Statistical and Methodological Issues in Randomized Clinical Trials and HRM-739 Biostatistical Collaboration.

In broad terms, Lehana is a research methodologist with research interests in the development and application of statistical methods health research. His specific areas of statistics research interests include regression models, multivariate analysis, clinical trials, Bayesian and non-Bayesian inference, decision analysis, meta-analysis, data-mining techniques and statistical consulting. He collaborates with researchers in cardiology, internal medicine, nephrology, HIV-AIDS, palliative care services, evidence-based medicine and health technology assessment. He provides statistical leadership in studies in various areas of population health research, clinical research and health services and outcomes research. His Bayesian research involves development of Bayesian methods to better estimate the Number Needed to Treat (NNT). He also has research interests in design and analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) designs based on multiple outcomes, inspired by the need for efficient use of available resources. As research methodologist, his research interests cover a wide spectrum of research areas including research ethics, conjoint analysis of patient preferences for colorectal cancer screening, the applications of Bayesian hierarchical methods to model medical data, systematic reviews and meta-analysis of RCTs using both Bayesian and classical approaches, and applications of data-mining techniques in pharmacosurveillance using the electronic medical records/ databases to explore patterns, associations, or dissimilarities within the patient records, diagnoses and treatments.

• Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• Senior Scientist, Surveillance and Epidemiology Division, Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion
• Associate Professor (Part-time), Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics
• Associate Professor (Part-time), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Dr. Don Willison holds an undergraduate degree in pharmacy, a master’s in clinical epidemiology & biostatistics, and a doctorate in Health Policy & Management.  He has a part-time faculty position in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University and at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. 

A key focus of Don’s research is in the area of governance over the use of personal health information (PHI) and biological samples for health research.  He has conducted research into research ethics board policies over use of PHI for research, the notification practices of academic health care facilities regarding use of PHI for research, and public attitudes regarding alternatives to traditional project-specific consent for use of their PHI for health research. 

Biosciences

Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Waterloo, School of Pharmacy

Shopper’s Drug Mart Professor of Business and Entrepreneurship Chair

Dr. Roderick Slavcev completed an Honours Bachelor of Science, Human Biology (1995) at the University of Toronto and a Doctor of Microbial Genetics (2002) at the University of Saskatchewan. He also completed a Master of Business Administration, Biotechnology Management and Commercialization (2006) from Edwards School of Business, University of Saskatchewan.

Dr. Slavcev's lab specializes in microbial genetics, biochemistry of nucleic acids and biotechnology management, with experience in both academic and industrial settings. Roderick founded and currently heads MediPhage Bioceuticals.

Biosciences

Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Waterloo

Dr. Shawn Wettig joined the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy after completing a post-doctoral fellowship at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition at the University of Saskatchewan, where he was involved in Dr. Marianna Foldvari’s initiatives in bio-nanotechnology specifically relating to self-assembling delivery systems for gene therapy applications. His work has focused on the rational design, synthesis and characterization of novel surface-active compounds (surfactants) for use in non-viral gene therapy vectors.  He obtained his Ph.D. studying the physical chemistry of novel mixed surfactant/polymer systems with Dr. Ron Verrall in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Saskatchewan.  Dr. Wettig’s research at the University of Waterloo will focus on the design of novel self-assembling systems for drug delivery applications and physicochemical studies of the interactions of these systems with macromolecules such as proteins and DNA.  For more details on his research program see Dr. Wettig’s research website at: http://www.pharmacy.uwaterloo.ca/research/wettig/index.html

• Clinical Therapeutics
• Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Services and Policy

• Professor of Paediatrics and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia
• Director, Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy Innovations Programme, Children's and Women's Health Centre of BC
• Senior Clinician Scientist, Child & Family Research Institute

Dr. Bruce Carleton earned his Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences from Washington State University and his Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Utah. In addition, Dr. Carleton completed his Residency in Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Utah followed by two Research Fellowships at the University of Minnesota. The first being in Experimental Pharmacotherapy, followed by another in Immunopharmacology (American College of Clinical Pharmacy / Sandoz Immunology Research Fellowship).

The central theme of Dr. Carleton’s research program, Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy Innovations (POPi), is the study of drug therapy with the goal of improving human health and quality of life. He is particularly interested in developing models for evaluating drug effectiveness, medication use models designed to improve patient health, and effective surveillance systems to improve the safe use of medication. He has a particular clinical interest in paediatric medicine, with specific emphases on asthma and the epidemiology and clinical management of adverse drug reactions. Another area of interest is the translation of knowledge to aid evidence-based drug policy development. POPi contributes to solving the international drug policy crisis on two levels: the public policy level (federal and provincial), and the clinical policy level. In this way the needs of government are served to manage drug budgets, the needs of clinicians to improve patient care, and the public need to understand and improve the effectiveness, safety and cost effectiveness of drugs.

• Population Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
• Health Services and Policy Research

• Assistant Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto
• Associate Member, Graduate Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto
• Adjunct Scientist, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES)
• Investigator, Toronto Health Economics and Technology Assessment (THETA) collaborative

Dr. Suzanne Cadarette is a health services researcher and pharmacoepidemiologist with research efforts currently focused in the area of osteoporosis and fracture prevention. Dr. Cadarette completed her BSc (Honours Health Studies, Pre-Health Profession Option, Co-operative Program, Department of Health Studies and Gerontology) at the University of Waterloo and graduate training (MSc specializing in Epidemiology and PhD specializing in Health Services Research) at the University of Toronto. Before starting her current position as Assistant Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto in 2008, she completed a 2-year Fellowship in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Cadarette holds a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award in the Area of Aging and Osteoporosis (2009-2014) and an Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation Early Researcher Award (2010-2015).

She currently leads a highly productive team of research trainees in health services research and pharmacoepidemiology at the University of Toronto. Please visit her research website for more information: http://phm.utoronto.ca/~cadarette

• Clinical Therapeutics
• Biosciences

• Professor, Departments of Paediatrics, Physiology & Pharmacology and Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario
• Scientist, Division of Children’s Health and Therapeutics, Children’s Health Research Institute
• CIHR-GSK Chair in Paediatric Clinical Pharmacology, Children's Health Research Institute
• Associate Scientist, Robarts Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario
• Research Associate, Cameron Institute
• Scientific Prgram Chair, Canadian Society for Clinical Phamacology

Dr. Michael Rieder obtained his MD at the University of Saskatchewan in 1980 and his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto in 1992. His paediatric resident training was at the Children's Hospital of Michigan and he completed fellowships in Paediatric Clinical Pharmacology and Paediatric Medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.

Dr. Rieder is a Professor with the Department of Paediatrics, Physiology and Pharmacology and Medicine at UWO. He is the Chair of the Section of Paediatric Clinical Pharmacology, Scientist and Program Leader of the Children's Optimal Therapeutics Program at the Children's Health Research Institute; Associate Scientist with the Biotherapeutics Group at Robarts Research Institute and the Scientific Program Chair for the Canadian Society for Clinical Pharmacology. His research interests are in Adverse Drug Reactions with a focused interest in Drug Hypersensivity and Optimal Therapeutics for Children. His research has been supported by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Genome Canada and the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation.

Dr. Rieder has been the recipient of many awards including the 1994 and 1996 Young Investigator of the Year for the Canadian and American Societies of Clinical Pharmacology. Other distinguished awards include the Harvard Macy Scholar Award and the Douglas Bocking Award both in 1996, and the 1999 and 2000 Teacher of the Year Award. He also holds the CIHR-GSK Chair in Paediatric Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Western Ontario, the only endowed Chair in Paediatric Clinical Pharmacology in Canada.

Dr. Rieder's administrative responsibilities include Chair of Clerkship and Electives Committee and Program Director for the Clinical Investigators Program at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.

• Professor and Chair, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, The University of Western Ontario

• Clinical Therapeutics
• Biosciences

Dr. Kim received his medical degree from University of Saskatchewan, Canada in 1987. After completing an internship and residency training at Royal University hospital in Saskatoon Canada in 1991, he went on to carry out postdoctoral fellowship training in Clinical Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University.
In 1994, upon completion of his fellowship training, he remained at Vanderbilt Clinical Pharmacology as a faculty member until 2006. He is currently Professor and Chair of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. His research interest is that of understanding the molecular basis of interindividual differences in drug disposition and the application of such finding to the emerging field of Personalized Medicine.
Research areas under active investigation in his laboratory include that of drug transporters, CYP enzymes, and the pathways involved in the regulated expression of such proteins. He is a member of ASCPT, ISSX, and AAPS. He is an editor for the Medical Letter Handbook of Adverse Drug Interactions, and an associate editor for Molecular Pharmacology. He is a fellow of AAPS, and member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI).

• Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology

• assistant professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy
• member of the Ontario Health Human Resources Research Network

After graduating from the University of Saskatchewan with a Pharmacy Degree in 2000, Dr. Beazely began his research career as a PhD student in the Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Department at Purdue University. After returning to Canada in 2004 Dr. Beazely worked with John F. MacDonald as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine. He is currently an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Beazely lab is focused on intracellular signaling pathways in neurons. Specifically, how are excitatory neurotransmitter receptors regulated by intracellular signaling pathways initiated by growth factor receptors and other neurotransmitter receptors. These findings may lead to novel drug targets in neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease) and mental health conditions including schizophrenia and depression. In addition to his basic research, Dr. Beazely is also involved in teaching and teaching research and coordinates the pharmacology portion of the curriculum.  He is also involved in continuing education, scope of practice, and health profession regulatory issues. He contributed extensively to the HPRAC report that served as the basis of Bill 179 (Ontario Legislature, 2009).  He has worked as an advisor with the College of Chiropodists of Ontario on prescribing competencies, with the Board of Naturopathic Doctors, and is a member of the Ontario Health Human Resources Research Network.