Research Team

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McMaster University, Canada 

Dr. Anthea Innes is a Professor, the Gilbrea Chair in Aging and Mental Health, and the Director of the Gilbrea Centre. As a researcher, she has specialized in the area of dementia for the last 25 years. At the core of her work is a concern to engage with the lived experiences of those impacted by dementia, namely, those diagnosed with the condition, their family members and professional care supporters. Her research interests span the care continuum from pre-diagnosis to end of life.  She has been an advocate for community engagement, inclusion and involvement of people living with dementia for the last decade, and enjoys working in partnership with people living with dementia in the conduct of research, dissemination, and sharing of examples of what works in practice for those living with dementia to different audiences.  

McMaster University, Canada 

Dr. Dobbins, is a professor in the School of Nursing at McMaster University and Scientific Director of the National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools (NCCMT), funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada. Her research efforts seek to understand knowledge translation among public health decision makers in Canada. Her program of research has: identified barriers and facilitators to research use; explored the information needs of public health decision makers; and developed, implemented and evaluated a variety of knowledge translation strategies for public health decision makers. Since 2001, she has been the Director of Health Evidence (www.health-evidence.ca), a single source of high-quality effectiveness evidence and one component of a comprehensive knowledge translation strategy for public health decision makers worldwide. Similarly, as the Scientific Director of the NCCMT, one of six National Collaborating Centres for Public Health in Canada, Dr. Dobbins leads an organization that provides leadership and expertise in helping public health professionals put research evidence into policy and practice.

McMaster University, Canada  

With a career grounded in public health nursing practice, education, and research, Dr. Jack’s program of research is focused on the development and evaluation of interventions to 1) identify and respond to family violence, and 2) home visiting innovations to improve the health and social outcomes of mothers and their children who experience social and economic disadvantage. As the Research Lead, for the Public Health Nursing, Practice, Research and Education Program (PHN-PREP) she partners with public health units and other community agencies to develop and disseminate resources to advance nursing practice underpinned by the principles of trauma-and violence-informed care. For over 20 years, Dr. Jack has developed extensive expertise in designing and conducting applied qualitative health research studies as well as mixed methods studies.  

University of Manitoba, Canada

Dr. Sonia Udod has an active program of research on the role of the nurse leader and nurses’ work environments.  Her research focuses on nurse leader development important to the creation of high-quality healthcare workplaces, leading to quality nurse, patient, and organizational outcomes.   She has a PhD in the Science of Nursing Administration from the University of Toronto. Her teaching expertise includes leadership and management, and advanced qualitative methods.    Dr. Sonia Udod received the Top Researcher in Socio-Health, New Investigator Establishment Grant Award, Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation, Gail Donner Fellowship in Nursing, and Rosenstadt Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto. She is the recipient of ARNM 2023 Professional Nursing Award of Excellence.  Dr. Sonia is a recipient of several CIHR grants among which some of her work played critical role in strengthening healthcare-leaders’ capacity in managing COVID-19 health related crisis at different stages of the pandemic. She is the Chair of the leadership, Management and Policy Interest group, CASN, was on the Board of Directors as the International Director for the Association of Leadership Science in Nursing (an international association of nurse leaders), and is an inaugural member of the Leadership Institute in the Asper School of Business.   

University of Toronto, Canada

Dr. Shan Mohammed, RN, PhD is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto. Dr. Mohammed completed his postdoctoral research fellowship at the Global Institute of Psychosocial, Palliative and End of Life Care and the Department of Supportive Care at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. He currently is an Academic Fellow for the Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research (CQ) at the University of Toronto.  Dr. Mohammed’s research encompasses several areas such as supportive and end of life care, early palliative care, the medicalization of dying, family caregiving, homecare, and nursing practice in the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Mohammed theoretically locates his work in poststructuralism, biomedicalization, critical social theory, and feminist ethics. In addition, he has methodological experience in generic qualitative research, discourse analysis, constructivist grounded theory, and critical case study.  

Athabasca University, Canada

Salima Hemani is a sessional instructor at Athabasca University, Faculty of Health Discipline in Athabasca, Alberta. She has experience in both undergraduate and graduate online teaching and has taught courses related to nursing research, culture and health, and knowledge dissemination. She has completed her post-doctoral research fellowship at Chanchlani Research Centre at McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario under supervision of Dr. Sonia Anand. She completed her PhD in Nursing from the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto under supervision of Dr. Monica Parry. 

Her area of research is South Asians and their risk and management of cardiovascular disease, particularly the self-management of chronic disease and adoption of a healthy lifestyle through engagement in preventative strategies such as healthy eating. South Asian individuals have significantly higher rates of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease. Hypertension is prevalent in South Asian Canadians and there are various risk factors associated with HTN, from excessive sodium intake, physical inactivity, stress, alcohol consumption, smoking and lower levels of fruits and vegetable intake. Salima has conducted the South Asian Low-sodium sTudy (SALT) using a Multi-Method Approach as part of her doctoral dissertation. The aim of the pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a culturally tailored low-sodium dietary intervention in reducing systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, 24-hour urinary sodium and knowledge, attitude and behaviour related to dietary sodium. The aim of the cross-sectional study was to assess sodium intake, physical activity, stress, alcohol intake, smoking behaviours and fruit and vegetable intake and the knowledge, attitude and behaviours related to dietary sodium intake for South Asian Canadians living in Ontario. In 2021, Salima became the first registered nurse to win the SANSAR Burgundy Young Investigator Award, an award that recognizes the impact of research on the health of the South Asian community. She has conducted a systematic review for health-related education and its effect on knowledge, attitudes and behaviours to prevent chronic disease for newcomer immigrant population. This manuscript has been submitted and is currently under peer-review. 

Salima serves as a co-investigator and collaborator on multiple grants from the Canadian Institute of Health Research and Social Science and Humanities Research Council. She also serves as an abstract committee member for the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association.

Dr. Mohammad Nazmul Hussain is a social scientist with a strong track record of research-appropriate career stage and excellent Qualitative and Quantitative methodological skills. Dr Hussain's PhD thesis was "Experiences of Dementia in a UK Bangladeshi Community: An Exploratory Study" from the University of Salford UK. He also studied MSc in Social Research Methods and Statistics from the University of Manchester, UK and has a proven academic background in teaching research methodology and statistics to non-statisticians using SPSS and STATA. He is the founder chairman of CRMS (Centre for Research Methods and Statistics), an online institute providing coaching (additional supports) on research methods and design to Masters and PhD level students globally. His research interests include: dementia in the South Asian community, lived experiences (person with the diagnosis and family members), improving service provision, ethnicity and culture, older people, migration study, and mental health. 

 Daniel, currently resides in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and has had a career as Vice-President of Finance at a non-for-profit beverage recycling organization. After his wife, Janet, was diagnosed with early onset dementia in 2010, Daniel retired early to become a full-time care partner to her. Daniel has since become an advocate for people living with dementia. He has spoken for Alzheimer’s Society Calgary, became a member of the Dementia Network Calgary and contributes to the Resident & Family Council at Alberta Health Services.  Daniel was part of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA)Engagement of People with Lived Experience of Dementia. He actively participates in research projects giving input from a lived experience perspective. He often enjoys spending his time hiking in the mountains and golfing.    

 Iqra is a Registered Nurse and a recent graduate of the Course-Based Masters of Nursing program with a Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner diploma (MN-PHCNP) from McMaster University. She currently works as a Professional Practice Clinical Scholar at St. Mary’s General Hospital supporting the Medicine and Cardiac/General Surgery programs. Within this role, she provides leadership and mentorship to all nurses (including those that are students, new graduates, internationally trained, or experienced with an interest in up-skilling) to support their nursing practice and integration into their clinical areas in accordance with organizational and professional standards and in collaboration with clinical teams. Iqra has almost 7 years of extensive nursing experience delivering comprehensive health care in areas of medicine, cardiology, cardiac and general surgery, home and community care, and primary care to diverse populations and age groups. Within her graduate studies, Iqra conducted research of the literature in both quantitative and qualitative realms. In quantitative studies, she performed a critical appraisal of a best practice guideline and used a knowledge translation model to share practice recommendations to implicate how the misuse of physical restraints in hospital settings on an as-needed basis (as opposed to having a timed physician order) poses a greater risk to patient safety. In qualitative studies, she designed a research proposal for an exploratory case study that would determine the decision-making factors for South Asian caregivers to accept or reject Medical Assistance in Dying as a treatment intervention for a loved one with a serious illness. Iqra is passionate about primary care, particularly ways in which the integral role of Nurse Practitioners could be leveraged to fill current healthcare gaps. Iqra hopes to contribute to this caregiver study by bringing a depth of clinical hands-on experience in diverse areas of the healthcare sectors especially with individuals who have or are caring for a loved one with dementia or other cognitive impairments; her personal experience and upbringing in a multi-generational household in Pakistan; and her skills to translate in multiple South Asian languages. As well, she hopes to collaborate with other researcher counterparts to collect data and provide support in a Patient Partner capacity as a key member of this research study.

Jehanara is an Advanced Practice Nurse with Home and Community Care Support Services Central West. I have a Master of Science in Nursing and am a Certified Hospice Palliative Care Nurse. I am currently pursuing PhD in Nursing from the University of Ottawa. I am an experienced nurse with over 20 years of nursing and teaching experience at various national and international healthcare settings and colleges. 

Moreover, I am a South Asian immigrant and have always been passionate about South Asian patients with Dementia and their journey; therefore, I led the development of a program called "the Hospital to Home (H2H) Palliative Support and monitoring program for Home and Community Support Services" to improve the end-of-life experiences of patients with Dementia. I was responsible for developing a curriculum to prepare nurses to take the role, mentor the nurses, and support the patients and program. I am also passionate about supporting caregivers and understanding their experiences and challenges as a nurse and caregiver. Therefore with this passion, I Chaired Palliative Care Network Caregiver Support Working Group to improve caregivers' experiences. As a group, we developed a questionnaire on identifying caregivers in their roles, connecting them to available resources, and supporting them in their roles. I led its testing and implementation through PDSA cycles at multiple healthcare organizations and had positive results. I have also been part of numerous projects focusing on refugee health, palliative care symptom management, and Medical assistance dying.    

Jaya, was born in India, immigrating to Canada with her family when she was a young child. Jaya works in Psychology and has a private practice. Over several decades, she has worked in a variety of settings serving children, adolescents, adults and families. Jaya served as Co-chair of a Family Council in a Long-Term Care Home, beginning when her mother was a resident. She has served on 2 committees of Family Councils Ontario. In addition to her academic background and work experience, she has extensive lived experience as a caregiver and advocate for a loved one with Dementia.

Fariha is currently completing her Masters in Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. Fariha completed her Honours Bachelor of Applied Science in Human Behaviour degree at McMaster University. Fariha’s research interests include exploring dementia care, evaluating psychometric properties, knowledge translation, improving quality of life in marginalized communities, and improving systems of healthcare access. Fariha’s current focus is in qualitative methodology, and she is working towards becoming a mixed-methods researcher.