Brian S. Mittman, PhD is a Senior Scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research and Evaluation with additional affiliations at the University of Southern California (USC) and University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), where he co-leads the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Implementation and Improvement Science Initiative. He previously served as a Visiting Professor in the UCLA School of Public Health and Anderson Graduate School of Management.

Dr. Mittman convened the planning committee that launched the journal Implementation Science and served as co-editor in chief from 2005-2012. He was a founding member of the US Institute of Medicine Forum on the Science of Quality Improvement and Implementation and chaired the National Institutes of Health (NIH) peer review panel on Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health in 2007 and 2010. He directed VA’s Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) from 2002-2004. He currently serves on the Methodology Committee for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), where he leads the Methodology Committee initiative to develop and disseminate methods standards for studying complex health interventions. He is a member of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIH) Board of External Experts, the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Advisory Panel on Research, and advisory boards for several additional U.S. and international research programs in implementation science. He is a past member of the AcademyHealth Methods Council and Education Council. He has led or supported numerous implementation and improvement science studies and has taught implementation science throughout the US and abroad.

Dr. Nancy Baxter holds the position of Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgery at University of Toronto and is an Affiliate Scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital. In addition, she is a senior scientist in the Cancer Theme Group, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. She is a clinical epidemiologist and health services researcher interested in the effectiveness of cancer screening, long-term cancer survivorship of cancer, and the quality of surgical care. She has extensive experience in the use of administrative data and cancer registry data to evaluate long-term consequences of cancer care for adults.

Dr. Grunfeld is a physician-scientist and Director of the Knowledge Translation Research Network, Health Services Research Program, at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. At the University of Toronto, Dr. Grunfeld holds the post of Giblon Professor and Vice-Chair (Research) at the Department of Family and Community Medicine; professor at the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation; and professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She also holds the position of Chair of the Institute for Cancer Research, Institute Advisory Board, at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Dr. Grunfeld is a leader in cancer health services and outcomes research. Her research focuses on evaluation and knowledge translation of cancer health services, covering the entire spectrum of cancer control activities. She is internationally recognized for research on cancer survivorship, integration of care, and on cancer outcomes. Dr. Grunfeld uses a mixed-methods approach including randomized controlled trials (RCTs), qualitative research and outcomes research. Knowledge translation is an integral part of all her research activities. She has conducted several multi-centre RCTs on cancer survivorship which have influenced clinical practice guidelines and policies internationally. Dr. Grunfeld holds many peer-review grants as Principal Investigator and has served on many committees to further the goals of cancer control in Canada and internationally. She obtained her medical degree from McMaster University and doctoral degree in cancer epidemiology from Oxford University.

Matthew Page is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University, funded by an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. He leads a programme of research on methods for evidence synthesis, which builds on the research undertaken during his PhD (2011-2015) and NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (2015-2019). Matthew’s research interests span many areas of evidence synthesis, including examination of the transparency and reproducibility of systematic reviews; methods to address reporting biases (e.g. publication bias, selective reporting bias); tools to assess risk of bias in randomized trials and non-randomized studies of interventions; and examination of selective inclusion of results in meta-analyses. He is leading the 2020 update of the PRISMA reporting guideline for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and was an associate editor for the 2019 edition of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. He frequently collaborates with clinicians on systematic reviews of interventions for a range of conditions, which often informs his research agenda.

Priscille-Nice Sanon is a sickle cell survivor. She was diagnosed with Sickle Cell type SS at birth. Due to complication to this disease, she has received over 100 blood transfusion and a bone marrow transplant. She is involved in patient engagement and has a passion for health research. She graduated with a master degree in pharmaceutical science: pharmacoepidemiology from Université Laval. She was also involved with the Quebec SPOR unit as a patient coordinator for University Laval and collaborated on several research projects as a patient. Being a patient partner allowed her to put her passion for research and volunteering at work while being able to make a lasting impact on health research.

Annie LeBlanc is a clinical epidemiologist, Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Investigator in the Research Center of the Quebec Institute of Primary Healthcare and Social Services, Quebec, Affiliate Investigator, Knowledge and Evaluation Research Unit, Mayo Clinic, USA, and Interim Director, Capacity Building & Professional Development Core, Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR) Quebec SUPPORT Unit, Quebec.

Dr. LeBlanc’s research centers around the translation of comparative effectiveness research into practice through the design, evaluation, implementation, and sustainability of patient-centered interventions and their impact on patient important outcomes. She lives in Quebec City with her husband and two children.

Ms. Elliot PausJenssen is an older adult who feels fortunate to be able to work in retirement on issues she cared about during her years as social worker in geriatric assessment. These include senior-friendly health care and housing, age-friendly community development, human rights of older adults, elder abuse and senior-to-senior bullying. She has recently served on the Boards of the Saskatoon Council on Aging, the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (external member) and continues to be an active volunteer with SCOA. She is a member of the newly formed SK Human Rights Commission Advisory Committee. She has engaged in participatory research on age-friendly Saskatoon (a citizen led initiative), promoting aging in place, peer bullying in seniors subsidized housing, and an intervention program to influence residents interactions. She values involvement in the SPOR Evidence Alliance and its Knowledge Translation Committee. Ms. PausJenssen has been married over 50 years, and has 3 adult children and 5 grandchildren.

Graham Macdonald is a PhD candidate in UBC Medicine’s Rehabilitation Science program, co-supervised by Drs. Linda Li and Laura Nimmon. Graham is a qualitative researcher, trained in social science theory and methodology. Formerly, Graham was employed as a research assistant at Arthritis Research Canada, and a research coordinator at UBC’s department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Graham’s interests include patient and public engagement in research and healthcare, medical anthropology and sociology, political economy of health, chronic illness, and disability.

PhD, MSc

@ATricco

Dr. Andrea C. Tricco is a Scientist and Director of the Knowledge Synthesis Team in the Knowledge Translation Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health & Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation. She is Co-Director & Adjunct Associate Professor for the Queen’s Collaboration for Health Care Quality JBI (formerly Joanna Briggs Institute) Centre of Excellence at Queen’s University and Nominated Principal Investigator of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) Evidence Alliance.

Dr. Tricco holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Knowledge Synthesis and has over 325 peer-reviewed publications. She has conducted knowledge synthesis at the international (e.g. World Health Organization), national (e.g. Health Canada), provincial (e.g. Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care), and local (e.g. Toronto Central Local Health Integrated Network) levels. She is the Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.

Fiona Clement has extensive training in Health Services Research, Health Economics and Health Policy. She is the Director of the Health Technology Assessment Unit within the O’Brien Institute of Public Health, University of Calgary; a policy responsive research unit that completes evidence synthesis, economic evaluations, health technology assessments and reassessments in response to decision-makers’ needs. Her research interests include drug and non-drug technology reimbursement and cost containment policy, evidence in decision-making, and evidence in health policy development.

Dr. Clement was selected as the Canadian Harkness fellow in 2014; a unique opportunity to study US healthcare policy. She has also received the Maurice McGregor Award for outstanding leadership and excellence in HTA in Canada. She is the first from Alberta to be awarded either of these awards. As a result, in 2015, she was named one of Calgary’s Top 40 under 40 for her work in health policy.

Janet Curran is a Professor in the School of Nursing at Dalhousie University and a Research Chair in Quality and Patient Safety at IWK Health, Nova Scotia Health and Dalhousie University.

She is the Scientific Lead in the Strengthening Transitions in Care lab at IWK Health where her program of research is focused on co-designing and evaluating best practice and policy change interventions to improve transitions in care for patients and families. Her co-design work is informed by collaborating with multiple stakeholders including patients, parents and caregivers, healthcare providers, and policy makers.

Dr. Linda Li is Professor and Harold Robinson/Arthritis Society Chair in Arthritic Diseases at the Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia and holds a Canada Research Chair in Patient-oriented Knowledge Translation. She is also a senior scientist at Arthritis Research Canada where she leads the Arthritis & Implementation Science Program (https://arthritis.rehab.med.ubc.ca/). Her research focuses on the integration of wearables and apps to support health professionals in promoting physical activity and chronic disease self-management. Her work in implementation science includes studying strategies for engaging people with lived experiences in the research process. Dr. Li is a recipient of the American College of Rheumatology – Association of Rheumatology Professionals (ARP) Distinguished Scholar Award (2015) and the ARP Distinguished Educator Award (2022), recognizing her leadership in both arthritis research and education. In 2019, she was inducted as Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Ms. Elliot PausJenssen is an older adult who feels fortunate to be able to work in retirement on issues she cared about during her years as social worker in geriatric assessment. These include senior-friendly health care and housing, age-friendly community development, human rights of older adults, elder abuse and senior-to-senior bullying. She has recently served on the Boards of the Saskatoon Council on Aging, the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (external member) and continues to be an active volunteer with SCOA. She is a member of the newly formed SK Human Rights Commission Advisory Committee. She has engaged in participatory research on age-friendly Saskatoon (a citizen led initiative), promoting aging in place, peer bullying in seniors subsidized housing, and an intervention program to influence residents interactions. She values involvement in the SPOR Evidence Alliance and its Knowledge Translation Committee. Ms. PausJenssen has been married over 50 years, and has 3 adult children and 5 grandchildren.

Graham Macdonald is a PhD candidate in UBC Medicine’s Rehabilitation Science program, co-supervised by Drs. Linda Li and Laura Nimmon. Graham is a qualitative researcher, trained in social science theory and methodology. Formerly, Graham was employed as a research assistant at Arthritis Research Canada, and a research coordinator at UBC’s department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Graham’s interests include patient and public engagement in research and healthcare, medical anthropology and sociology, political economy of health, chronic illness, and disability.

Catherine Yu is a Staff Endocrinologist at St. Michaels Hospital, Associate Professor of Faculty of Medicine and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and Associate Scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital. After completing her undergraduate and postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at the University of Toronto, she then completed a MHSc in Public Health. Her research focus is on the care of the patient with diabetes in the context of a health care team, revolving around the role of integrative health informatics tools, patient and clinician education and behaviour change, shared decision-making and medical humanities in improving quality of care. She has been Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on several CIHR-funded projects. In addition, she is the past co-Chair of the Clinical Practice Guidelines Dissemination and Implementation Committee of Diabetes Canada, where-in she has developed evidence-based and innovative strategies to put guidelines into practice across Canada.

Dr. Erna Snelgrove-Clarke is the Vice Dean (Health Sciences) and Director of the School of Nursing, Queen’s University. She is the CIHR Embedded Clinical Researcher in the Maternal Newborn Program at the IWK Health Centre and her program of research focuses on the identification of successful strategies for improving use of evidence in maternal newborn practices. Dr. Snelgrove-Clarke explores the transfer of knowledge through multiple methodologies, concentrating on the relationships of health care professionals, organizations, and decision-makers; including patient participation and voice. Areas of interest include women’s pain, obesity, breastfeeding, pregnancy, fetal health surveillance, practice development, and person centered practice.

Dr. Tanya Horsley is the Associate Director, Research, at the Royal College. She is also the Principal Scientist with over 100 peer-reviewed abstracts and publications. She is a proud faculty member within the School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, where she teaches approaches to evidence syntheses including systematic and scoping review methods. Tanya leads a program of research looking at the formalization of integrated knowledge translation for the co-creation, use and influence of research and complex systems of care with an interest on patient & caregiver engagement. She is frequently sought after for her expertise in evidence synthesis approaches and work in reporting guideline development.

Rita Wiebe comes to us, as a Patient Partner from a small city in Northern BC. Prince George BC is what she has called home for her entire life. With a background in “real-life, citizen centred” outreach, brings a Patient partner lens to rural communities and cities, so prevalent in our great Nation.
Her post secondary education also includes many facets of communication, social and media relations.

She is no stranger to writing content for blogs, media releases and websites and especially enjoys being able to apply that “plain language” humanistic approach!
She has been a Patient Partner in various capacities for the past decade, starting with Patient Voices Network in BC. She has held engagements with the BC Cancer Agency, has worked on a couple engagements with a cancer researcher from Eastern Canada, is part of the BC Support Unit Patient Council and others.
Rita became serious about the “Citizen approach” to Patient Engagement about two years ago, after the death of her son from pancreatic cancer. The passing was with assistance from the MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying) program. At that time, it was within the first 1000 cases since legalization in Canada.
Her journey as a team caregiver created a painful awareness of the need for a more humanizing lens for patients and families, which continues to fuel her passion. Her other passion lies with the 45-64 age demographic in terms of living a purposeful, engaged life for as long as possible. She reminds us that the ages of 45-64 is the best time to intentionally unlearn bad habits and replace with healthier ones.
This preventative, holistic (body, mind & spirit) approach has gained more traction since COVID. The healthcare decision makers seem to recognize the importance of going into the 65+ years with less health concerns. From the Citizen (patient) perspective, she knows the importance of the “whole person approach” to wellness!

Kelly Mrklas is a national expert, co-investigator, and consultant supporting the development, execution and evaluation of knowledge translation (KT) and implementation science (IS) strategies on local, provincial, national and international scales. Kelly helps clinicians, researchers, decision- and policy makers, health care leaders and staff across Alberta turn high quality knowledge, innovations and improvements into daily work. Kelly works in partnership to design and troubleshoot implementation within workflow, care pathways, research and improvement programs for efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability. Kelly is a named KT/IS investigator, collaborator and/or knowledge user on 30 major research initiatives totaling more than $23M and facilitated over double that number of major funding submissions in the past 6 years. During the same time, she conducted more than 300 consults, gave 85 presentations, with roles as lead/co-lead in clinical and research initiatives involving knowledge synthesis, integrated KT, implementation and its evaluation, and sustainability. Kelly’s doctoral work focuses on tools for assessing the outcomes and impacts of health research partnerships and integrated KT, supported by a CIHR Foundation Scheme (FDN#143237).

Charlene Soobiah is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Health Policy, Management & Evaluation at the University of Toronto and a graduate student in the Knowledge Translation Program at St. Michael’s Hospital. Her dissertation focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of geriatrician-led care models and seeks to identify optimal care models to improve health outcomes. Charlene has a background in systematic reviews and knowledge translation, and has contributed to over 15 systematic reviews and several papers on knowledge synthesis methods. Charlene is focused on finding ways to engage patients, clinicians and policymakers in systematic review processes to optimize uptake of evidence into clinical practice.

Subsequent to a 3 year term at a national accounting firm, JoAnne worked as an analyst in the public/private sector. The diagnosis of her child’s rare disorder led to a career pivot; doing so allowed for the time to engage with similarly diagnosed families and to watch (painfully slow) scientific discovery unfold over the years.
Her interest in research brought her to joining a Research Network in 2017. This was timely; opportunities for patient engagement were becoming more apparent.
To further her capacity, she pursued training through St. Michael’s Hospital KT Program PIR Course, McMaster University-KBHN FER Course, and other Patient and Public Research Partnership offerings.
Recent and on-going activities are diverse. These include providing the patient perspective at various stages of the research process; Beta tester for PORCCH; reviewing lay summaries; initiating a newsletter for members of PAN (Patient Advisors Network); serving on a Grant Review panel, on a Network KT Committee , on a project PFAC / RCT liaison; serving as a patient –partner on a Global database encompassing 2 rare diseases as well as on TACC (Transforming Autism Care Consortium); serving as member of MNI/H (Montreal Neurological Institute/Hospital) Patients Committee.
To keep inspired, she enjoys the manageable bites that “Behavioural Neuroscience Daily” brings. When interest is piqued but expertise lacking, she doesn’t hesitate to reach out to her designated champions of POR at academic and research institutions with questions or queries.
Paramount to JoAnne is patient partnership in helping set Canadian research priorities. To this end, she believes in academic persistence; that knowledge is a driver of empowerment and resilience.

Dr. Jennifer Donnan is an Assistant Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, in the School of Pharmacy. She is also a pharmacist and teaches in the areas of Pharmacy Practice and Evidence Based Medicine. Her research interests are in health policy, drug safety and effectiveness, and integrating patient preferences into health care decisions. She also loves to foster a passion for evidence based medicine with the undergraduate pharmacy students.

Ms. Kelly English is a 62 year old who has difficult to treat Rheumatoid Arthritis. Ms. English also has permanent neurological damage from one of her meds on her right side. This has made activities difficult and increased pain. Despite this, Ms. English has made Rheumatoid Arthritis research her passion and goal. Participation in research, attendance at conferences, writing about her disease and being interviewed or speaking about it has helped her and others with arthritis. Working with researchers on teams as also increased her knowledge as opposed to simply being a participant in the research project. Ms. English has been a member of Arthritis Research Canada’s Arthritis Patient Advisory Board for 6 years – 3 of which were co-chair of the board. Ms. English also holds a part time job as a bookkeeper – dependent on how she is feeling at the time. Currently, Ms. English is on the Training and Capacity Development Committee of SPOR Alliance as patient co-chair. The experience has opened her eyes to a new area of research.

Dr. Marilyn Macdonald is a Professor and Associate Director of Graduate Studies in the School of Nursing, and Director of the Joanna Briggs Centre of Excellence in the conduct of systematic reviews, Dalhousie University. She has a varied background in clinical nursing including; general surgery, cardio-vascular surgery, public-health nursing, home care, and a decade as a clinical nurse specialist. The primary focus of her research is homecare with a focus on caregivers. Dr. Macdonald is an Affiliate Scientist with the Nova Scotia Health Authority, and theme lead for Transitions in Care with the Canadian Frailty Network. Research interests are in home care, patient/caregiver safety and qualitative inquiry.

Wasifa Zarin (MPH) is the Program Manager of the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) Evidence Alliance, based at the St. Michael’s Hospital site of Unity Health Toronto.  Wasifa earned her Master of Public Health in epidemiology from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. With a keen interest in the science of evidence synthesis and its uptake in the decision-making process and has contributed to a range of knowledge products for decision-makers locally (Ontario Drug Policy Research Network), nationally (Health Canada), and internationally (World Health Organization). Wasifa oversees the operations, communications, and strategic development of the SPOR Evidence Alliance. 

Sharmila Sreetharan is a research coordinator for the Central Coordinating Office of the SPOR Evidence Alliance. She holds a Master of Science degree from the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour from McMaster University.  She has extensive experience in conducting primary research, experimental research design, literature reviews, and quantitative data analysis. She has a strong interest in working with decision-makers to improve patient care.

Sharmila is responsible for supporting the SPOR Evidence Alliance’s daily operations, managing the coordination of patient and public partner engagement, and providing input on SPOR Evidence Alliance’s initiatives and activities.

Jacqueline Sally Co is a Research Assistant for the Knowledge Synthesis Team in the Knowledge Translation Program, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto. She completed her Bachelor of Health Sciences degree with an Honours Specialization in Rehabilitation Sciences from Western University. As an aspiring occupational therapist, she is committed to client-centered care and hopes to empower individuals and populations who face disproportionate inequities in health access and outcomes.

Angelika Aziz is a research assistant with the Central Coordinating Office of the SPOR Evidence Alliance, located at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital. She completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience at the University of Guelph. She has previous experience performing mental health-based research, stakeholder engagement, knowledge mobilization, and cultivating genuine connections with diverse individuals and stakeholders. Overall, she is passionate about improving health outcomes for diverse and underserved populations in her local community and abroad.

Angelika is responsible for providing administrative support, communication and dissemination, and supporting day-to-day operations of the SPOR Evidence Alliance.