Health System Impact Embedded Early Career Researchers – 2026 Researcher Profiles
| Profile: |
|---|
 Advancing Canada's Long-Term Care Outcomes, Workforce Stability, and Emergency PreparednessName: Valentina Antonipillai About You & Your Program of Work:My research focuses on strengthening Canada’s long-term care system by examining how workforce conditions and facility characteristics shape resident outcomes, staff wellbeing, and infectious disease preparedness. Through cross-sector collaboration between government and academia, this work addresses systemic inequities and preventable harm by integrating data and translating evidence into policy, to build a safer, more equitable, and resilient system for all. |
 From Lived Experience to System Change: Co-Designing A Northern Health Equity Learning CommunityName: Viviane Josewski About You & Your Program of Work:As a Health Equity Scholar in Residence with Northern Health, my HIS program of work will co-create a Northern Health Equity Learning Community (NHELC) that embeds lived and living experience of substance use, Indigenous perspectives, and co-design into health system learning and decision-making. NHELC will advance access to equity-oriented, culturally safe substance use care for communities across Northern British Columbia. |
 Strengthening Integrated, Responsive, and Relational Primary CareName: Cara Spence About You & Your Program of Work:My embedded scholarship focuses on relational-based models of care that respond to the interconnected health and social needs of communities. This work continues my commitment to the First Peoples of this land called Canada and those marginalized by globalized systems and structures. I hope to impact and uplift the lives of others with the skills and capacities that I have to offer. |
 Advancing patient-centered breast cancer care through evidence-informed treatment de-escalation and health system innovationName: Alison Laws About You & Your Program of Work:Grounded in my clinical work as a breast cancer surgeon, my embedded research will address challenges patients experience navigating complex cancer care and managing the effects of treatment on quality of life. Working alongside patients, clinicians and health-system leaders, I will generate evidence that drives sustainable practice change, shapes care delivery, and improves outcomes that matter to patients. |
 Improving Guidance and Health System Preparedness for Wildfire Smoke EventsName: Catherine (Cathy) Slavik About You & Your Program of Work:I am an Assistant Professor and Legacy for Airway Health Chair in Health Communication at Simon Fraser University. My embedded research at Vancouver Coastal Health aims to examine how healthcare providers and public health practitioners interpret and apply wildfire smoke guidance, strengthen workforce preparedness, and develop communication tools that help health systems protect rural, remote, and higher-risk patients and communities. LinkedIn: Catherine Slavik |
 Implementing, Evaluating, and Preparing for Scaling of Equity-based Practices Across Ontario’s Children’s Treatment CentresName: Vanessa Tomas About You & Your Program of Work:I am an emerging equity-centred implementation scientist dedicated to improving childhood disability services through community, clinical, and policy partnerships. Our research focuses on implementing innovations that address equity gaps with three pediatric rehabilitation centre-community organization partnerships and scaling learnings across Ontario. I hope to contribute practical changes and methodological advancements that create more inclusive, accountable systems for children and families. LinkedIn: Vanessa Tomas |
 Measuring Systems, Not People: Community-Governed Data for Health System DecisionsName: Sana Shahram About You & Your Program of Work:I build community-governed data systems inside health organizations — shifting data from monitoring individuals to measuring whether systems meet their responsibilities. I pursue this because equity commitments fail without governance and infrastructure behind them. At the JP Centre, I hope to show that when communities and Nations hold real authority over data, health systems become more accountable and more trusted. Website: Equity Science Lab |
 Improving reproductive population health through embedded health policy and epidemiological researchName: Laura Schummers About You & Your Program of Work:My embedded research will examine effects of universal coverage for contraception and menopausal hormone therapy on women’s population health outcomes. Effects of these policy interventions are unknown and may inform future policies. I will generate and mobilize urgently needed evidence to improve reproductive health outcomes and equitable service access related to these policies and emerging host organization priorities. Email: laura.schummers@ubc.ca |
 Advancing equity in mental health care: leveraging longitudinal data and advanced analytics to improve care pathwaysName: Yohann Moanahere Chiu About You & Your Program of Work:My embedded research is driven by a commitment to ensuring that people living with mental health conditions receive equitable, timely, and person-centered care. I use advanced analytics to identify systemic barriers and improve care pathways, in partnership with leaders, clinicians, and patients. I hope to help build a health system where everyone has the opportunity to receive high-quality care. LinkedIn: Yohann Chiu |
 Using real-time administrative health data to promote rapid learning and health system response to the overdose public health emergency in British ColumbiaName: Heather Palis About You & Your Program of Work:Overdose (i.e. drug poisoning) is the top cause of death among people aged 19-59 in British Columbia (BC). This program of embedded research seeks to improve identification of people at risk of overdose in BC, for whom overdose prevention services can be offered across the health system to reduce overdose risk, and intervene before an overdose event occurs. X: @heatherpalis |
 Developing and Evaluating an AI Asthma Voice Assistant to Strengthen Asthma Self-Management as Part of a Digital Learning Health SystemName: Andrew Kouri About You & Your Program of Work:As a Respirologist, I know that many patients have trouble keeping their asthma under control, often due to lack of self-management education and resources. At Women's College Hospital, I'm developing an AI telephone agent to better support asthma self-management, and to show how safe clinical AI tools can be built with and for patients. Website: Andrew Kouri, MD, PhD - Academics at Women’s College Hospital |
 Advancing learning health systems to improve child and youth health in the MaritimesName: Christine Cassidy About You & Your Program of Work:My embedded research aims to transform how Maritime Child Health at IWK Health moves evidence into practice and policy through rapid learning cycles on priority child and youth health challenges. I want to build lasting skills, infrastructure, and a culture of continuous learning across the Maritimes. I also hope to advance our understanding of how to best implement and sustain evidence-based care. |
 Learning to Care Earlier: Transforming Early Intervention for Bipolar DisorderName: Delphine Raucher-Chéné About You & Your Program of Work:As a psychiatrist and clinician-scientist, I witness how delayed recognition and fragmented care affect young people with bipolar disorder. My embedded research bridges clinical evidence, patient experiences, and health system innovation to develop early intervention services through continuous learning and improvement. My ambition is to make timely, personalized, and equitable care accessible to every young person who needs it. LinkedIn: Delphine Raucher-Chéné |
 Wise practices in action: Advancing Indigenous health systems transformationName: Tara Pride About You & Your Program of Work:My embedded research with Ganawishkadawe captures how Indigenous wise practices, mentorship, and data sovereignty can transform health systems. I do this work because Indigenous knowledges belong at the centre of care, not the margins. My hope is that the next seven generations can access healthcare that is accountable to, and led by, Indigenous Peoples, families, and communities. |
 Sustaining Home Care: Strengthening the WorkforceName: Mary Crea-Arsenio About You & Your Program of Work:My embedded research examines how Ontario’s home and community care sector is evolving within a changing health system. Using systems-based approaches, I will work with health system partners (VHA Home HealthCare) to understand how policy and workforce factors shape the sector. This research will strengthen workforce planning, identify opportunities for improvement, and develop learning approaches to improve quality of care. LinkedIn: Mary Crea |
 Equity and Efficiency for Cancer Outcomes through the Diagonal Approach (E²CODA)Name: Erin Kirwin About You & Your Program of Work:Health system leaders face trade-offs between health system investments when budgets, infrastructure, and workforce are limited, yet health economic methods typically evaluate interventions independently. This research helps decision-makers compare combinations of cancer interventions and shared system investments, including impacts on other patients. It aims to inform efficient, equitable decisions that improve outcomes in cancer and across the Canadian healthcare system. LinkedIn: Erin Kirwin |
 Co-Creating a Path to Transformative Change: Advancing the Quintuple Aim Through Equity-Driven Collaborative GovernanceName: Cheryl Pritlove About You & Your Program of Work:My embedded research seeks to reimagine health-system governance, shifting from hierarchical approaches toward collaborative, power-sharing models that bring patients, communities, healthcare providers, health-system leaders, and policymakers into shared decision-making. Through participatory, interdisciplinary research, I aim to co-create this vision and co-develop tools to enact it, advancing more equitable, inclusive, democratic systems that foster innovation and collective action toward the Quintuple Aim. LinkedIn: Cheryl Pritlove |
 Beyond Prediction: Towards Person-Centred Kidney Failure CareName: Ping Liu About You & Your Program of Work:Individuals with kidney failure face high-stakes, preference-sensitive choices, including dialysis or conservative kidney management, often without clear prognostic information. Through the WiseKidney program, I aim to close this gap by integrating individualized survival predictions and structured prognostic communication into Alberta Kidney Care. My goal is to move risk prediction into practice, enabling informed, values-aligned decisions and scalable person-centred care. |
 When systems listen: Improving mental health and substance use care for children and youthName: Trevor Goodyear About You & Your Program of Work:I'm a nursing professor with a clinical background and research focus in youth mental health and substance use. My embedded research at BC Children's Hospital leverages timely partnerships with health system leaders, youth, and families. Together, we will build the evidence, collaborations, and system capacity to better address high-priority issues around mental health and substance use among children and youth. |
 Implementing Equitable, Evidence-Based Genetic Testing for PsychosisName: Jennie Pouget About You & Your Program of Work:Clinical practice guidelines have recommended physicians consider genetic testing for psychosis since 2017, but provide little guidance on who should be offered testing. As a result, access remains limited. My research aims to co-design better genetic testing pathways with patients and familie, develop evidence-based elgibility criteria for genetic testing in psychosis, and measure outcomes to support equitable implementation at scale. |
- Date modified: