IMHA Institute Advisory Board Members – Biographies
An-Wen Chan (Chair)
Phelan Scientist
Women’s College Hospital (Toronto)
Professor of Medicine (Dermatology)
University of Toronto
Dr. Chan is a clinical epidemiologist and Mohs micrographic skin cancer surgeon at Women’s College Hospital, Toronto. He is the Phelan Scientist at Women’s College Research Institute, Professor of Medicine at University of Toronto, and Director of Transplant Dermatology at University Health Network. After obtaining his DPhil as a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford, Dr. Chan completed his dermatology residency at University of Toronto, followed by a Mohs surgery fellowship at Mayo Clinic, Rochester. His research interests include the epidemiology and management of high-risk skin cancer in solid organ transplant recipients, as well as issues of transparency and biases in randomized trials. Dr. Chan leads the international SPIRIT initiative to improve the quality of clinical trial protocols, and chairs the Advisory Panel of the World Health Organization’s International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. He has previously served as Special Advisor to the CIHR Randomized Controlled Trials Unit. Every year since 2004, Dr. Chan has published in at least one of the highest-impact general medical journals worldwide, including The Lancet, JAMA, BMJ, and PLOS Medicine.
Maryam Amin, DMD, MSc, PhD
Professor and Associate Chair, Research - School of Dentistry
Director, Graduate Program - Dentistry
Alberta Dental Association & College Chair in Clinical Dentistry Research
University of Alberta
Dr. Amin is a Professor and Associate Chair of Research, and Director of Dentistry Graduate Program at the University of Alberta. She received her DMD degree in Iran followed by an M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree from the University of British Columbia. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Health Education and received a certificate in "Teaching in Higher Education" from UBC. She is the recipient of the American Dental Education Association/ADEA Gies Foundation Scholarship and completed a one-year certificate program offered by the American Dental Education Association Leadership Institute. She holds the Alberta Dental Association and College Clinical Dentistry Research Chair.
Dr. Amin’s research interests are social and behavioral aspects of oral health with a focus on understanding the psychosocial, behavioral, community, and societal influences on oral health and access to dental care particularly among individuals from disadvantaged marginalized populations. Her research program aims to identify risk factors that result in adverse oral health outcomes and to develop strategies for promoting public health and preventing oral diseases.
Clare Ardern, PhD
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia
Dr Clare Ardern is an Australian-trained physiotherapist and health researcher, appointed as Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at UBC. She leads the DigiMSK research team, whose work brings researchers, patients, clinicians, designers and policy makers together to re-imagine musculoskeletal health care, to deliver the right care in the right place at the right time. Dr Ardern is editor-in-chief for the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy (JOSPT) and JOSPT Open. She hosts the weekly JOSPT Insights podcast, which is downloaded over 35,000 times each month.
Kathryn Birnie
Assistant Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, University of Calgary
Assistant Scientific Director, Solutions for Kids in Pain
Psychologist, Alberta Children’s Hospital
Dr. Kathryn (Katie) Birnie is a Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at the University of Calgary. Dr. Birnie is also Assistant Scientific Director of Solutions for Kids in Pain (SKIP), a national knowledge mobilization network working to improve children’s pain through coordination and collaboration, and provides clinical care through the Vi Riddell Children’s Pain and Rehabilitation Program at Alberta Children’s Hospital. Dr. Birnie completed her PhD at Dalhousie University and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children. While in Toronto, Dr. Birnie also spent time as a clinical research postdoctoral fellow and clinical psychologist at the University Health Network, including with the Transitional Pain Service at Toronto General Hospital and the Interventional Pain Program at Toronto Western Hospital. Dr. Birnie leads Partnering For Pain, a patient-oriented research program that integrates patient and family partnership and multi-stakeholder engagement to improve the prevention, assessment, and management of pain in children and their families. Dr. Birnie is a strong advocate for the partnership of patients and families in health research, health care delivery, and health systems design.
Linda Hunter RN, MScN, PhD (C)
Retired Executive Health Care Leader and Nurse
Linda is a retired executive health care leader and nurse who has worked locally, nationally, and internationally in healthcare. Linda is the former Vice Chair and Chair, Quality and Safety Committee, for the Queensway Carleton Hospital. She has served on the EORLA (Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratory Association) Board Quality and Safety Committee and lent her expertise to the Steering Committee of 100 Women Who Care Ottawa. Linda’s areas of expertise include organizational change, performance measurement, quality and process improvement, patient safety, and group facilitation. Linda is a registered nurse with a Master’s degree – with over 35 years in the health sector. She completed her executive leadership training at Queen’s University and finished the Champlain LHIN Senior Leadership Course. Linda was a PhD Candidate in the Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Nursing, at the University of Ottawa. She is a certified Patient Safety Officer, a Patient Safety Education Program facilitator/trainer, is certified in Root Cause Analysis and Failure Mode Effects Analysis and has Lean and Six Sigma training. Linda has extensive experience in quality and patient safety, accreditation, risk management and patient engagement. Linda is currently a CIHR Patient Engagement Research Ambassador for the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis and is a Working Group Member of CIHR’s ICanCME. Linda has lived experience with a chronic condition and lives with chronic pain – using physical activity, mindfulness, and a positive attitude to contribute to bettering her quality of life!
Allyson Jones
Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta
Dr. Allyson Jones is a Physiotherapist, Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine with a cross appointment in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. She is an affiliated scientist at Arthritis Research Canada. As a clinician she has worked in several provinces and currently practises at a primary care clinic that serves Edmonton, northern Alberta, and NWT. She has undergraduate degrees in Physical Therapy from the University of Saskatchewan and administrative studies from the University of Winnipeg. She completed a PhD in epidemiology at the University of Alberta and a CIHR/AHFMR funded post-doctoral fellowship in health-related quality of life. Her research interests are in health-related quality of life and mobility of older adults with chronic musculoskeletal conditions including osteoarthritis/total joint arthroplasty, and hip fracture. Her research has been funded by the Canadian Institute for Health and Research, The Arthritis Society of Canada and the Canadian Rheumatology Association.
Morris F. Manolson, PhD
Professor and Vice Dean, University of Toronto
Morris F Manolson is a Professor and Vice Dean, Research at the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto. His research, focusing on preventing excessive bone loss associated with osteoporosis and inflammatory arthritis produced over 60 peer-reviewed papers accumulating over 5000 citations. He received the "Quality of Life” award from the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis, and the Canadian Institute of Health Research-Institute for Gender Health/Ontario Women's Health Council Senior Investigator Award, both in recognition of his work towards preserving bone health in arthritis and osteoporosis. With respect to volunteer positions for patient advocacy, Dr. Manolson was the Chair of Board of Directors for the Canadian Association of Psoriasis Patients, was a member of the board of the Canadian Skin Patient Alliance, and is currently serving as a Patient Advisory Committee Member for the Skin Investigation Network of Canada and for the Psoriatic Arthritis Research Program at Toronto Western Hospital.
Suzanne Morin
Director, Division of General Internal Medicine, McGill University Health Centre Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
University McGill
Dr Morin graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Université Laval de Québec, did her Internal Medicine specialty training and obtained a Master’s in epidemiology and biostatistics from McGill University, where she is now Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Director of the division of General Internal Medicine at the McGill University Health Centre, and scientist at the Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.
Dr Morin’s research program includes evaluation of outcomes of osteoporosis and its treatment, and implementation of health system improvement initiatives for men and women who have sustained fractures such as secondary fracture prevention, pain management and functional recovery. She is a leader in clinical practice guidelines development for the management and prevention of osteoporosis and fractures.
She is a scholar from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec en Santé, and has received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and other peer-reviewed agencies. She is past-Chair of the Scientific Advisory Council of Osteoporosis Canada and a member of the Council of Scientific Advisors of the International Osteoporosis Foundation.
Edward Nason
Senior Advisor Creating Impact for Genomics in Society, Genome Canada
With over 15 years experience in developing, analyzing and evaluating research systems, Eddy Nason brings provincial, national and international expertise to the IMHA Advisory Board. Eddy is Senior Advisor Creating Impact for Genomics in Society at Genome Canada. Eddy was part of a three-person expert advisory panel on evaluation, impact analysis and data capabilities for CIHR, and has advised research funders across Canada and internationally on health research strategies. He is an expert in Research Impact, having authored numerous influential reports, tools and frameworks to assess impact and train others in research impact assessment. Prior to working for Genome Canada, Eddy was Assistant Director at the Ontario SPOR SUPPORT Unit (OSSU) and worked with a number of think-tanks in Canada and the UK. Eddy has an academic background in molecular genomics and developmental biology.
Liam O’Neil, MD
Clinician-scientist, University of Manitoba
Dr. Liam O’Neil is a rheumatologist and clinician-scientist at the University of Manitoba. He received his post-doctoral training at the National Institutes of Health (Bethsda, MD) and completed a MHSc (Duke School of Medicine) in 2020. He was hired as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Immunology in 2020. His research program aims to understand the pre-clinical stages of Rheumatoid Arthritis with a focus on First Nations populations in Manitoba.
Laurie Proulx
Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance
Laurie Proulx was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of 14, and the condition has shaped many aspects of her life—from navigating school and work to managing her health during the pregnancies of her two children. Her lived experience with the disease led her to become deeply involved in patient advocacy, joining the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance (CAPA) in 2006, where she now serves as the part-time Managing Director. With over 15 years of experience in human resources, Laurie provides consulting service supporting people with disabilities in the workplace, helping them navigate both employment challenges and available supports. She also works in patient engagement and knowledge translation acting as a knowledge broker to researchers, ensuring that patient perspectives are integrated into their work. Laurie has been a strong advocate for patient perspectives in pharmaceutical policy in Canada, including serving as the first-ever Patient Advisor to the Canadian Drug Agency Transition Office (Health Canada) for a limited term. Laurie continues to participate in various research networks and projects as a patient partner.
Jennifer Stinson, RN-EC, PhD, CPNP, FAAN
Mary Jo Haddad Nursing Chair in Child Health
Scientist, Child Health Evaluative Sciences
Nurse Practitioner, Chronic Pain Program, The Hospital for Sick Children
Professor, Lawrence S. Bloomberg, Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto
Dr. Jennifer Stinson is a Nurse Clinician-Scientist and inaugural Mary Jo Haddad Nursing Research Chair in Child Health, a Nurse Practitioner in the Chronic Pain Program at the Hospital for Sick Children, Co-Director of the SickKids Centre for Pain Management, Research and Education and Full Professor (Status-Only) in the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing with cross-appointments to the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Stinson’s clinical work focuses on working with children and youth with chronic pain and their families as part of an interdisciplinary pain team in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine at SickKids. Her major clinical research interests are in the area of pain and symptom management and the use of e-health (internet) and m-health (mobile phones) technologies to improve the assessment and management of pain and other symptoms in children with chronic illnesses. Dr. Stinson also focuses on interprofessional pain education, which is demonstrated in her leadership in innovative training programs (Pain in Child Health now situated in SickKids Pain Centre; University of Toronto Centre for Study of Pain) and Pediatric Project ECHO at SickKids (PI funded by Ontario Ministry of Health).
Dr. Stinson has received several new investigator awards, including the prestigious Peter Lougheed CIHR New Investigator Award (top ranked applicant), the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Career Award, the Canadian Pain Society Early Career Award and the IASP Special Interest Group on Pain in Childhood Early Career Award.
Paul Wankah Nji, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor, McGill University
Dr. Wankah is a health services and policy researcher and Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences, McGill University. He received his MD degree in Cameroon, followed by an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Health Sciences at Université de Sherbrooke. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation of the University of Toronto.
Dr. Wankah’s research interests are on understanding the conditions for developing and implementing complex healthcare innovations, with a focus on integrated primary health and social care systems. His research program aims to understand social factors that facilitate or hinder inter-organizational networks, interprofessional teamwork, integrating oral health in primary care systems, incorporating principles of equity, diversity and inclusion in the organisation and delivery of integrated care networks, and policy supports for integrated primary healthcare systems.
Guangju Zhai, PhD
Professor, Human Genetics & Genomics, Memorial University of Newfoundland
Dr. Zhai is a University Research Professor and Professor in Human Genetics & Genomics at Division of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland. He received his PhD in medicine from University of Tasmania, Australia, and postdoctoral training in genetic epidemiology from King’s College London, UK. He was the recipient of the President’s Award for Outstanding Research in 2017 and the recipient of the inaugural ROCKStar Supervisors in 2020. He received the designation of the University Research Professor in 2023.
Dr. Zhai’s research mainly focuses on biomarker and endotype identification for musculoskeletal disorders, especially osteoarthritis, by population-based multi-omics approaches. He is the founder of the Newfoundland Osteoarthritis Study (NFOAS), which is the major initiative in creating a joint tissue biobank to support multiple osteoarthritis research programs. The NFOAS is one of the few joint tissue biobanks in the world and has attracted many national and international collaborators. His research is supported by multiple funding sources, largely from CIHR. His work has been cited over 32,000 times, and he has a h-index of 66 and i10-index of 121. He also serves as the member of the editorial boards for several peer-reviewed journals including Scientific Reports, BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, and Metabolites, and a grant reviewer for many funding agencies such as CIHR, Arthritis Society, National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia), Dutch Arthritis Foundation, and others.
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