St. Joseph's Care Group

Team Biographies

The research team is headed by the Scientific Director. In addition there are two full-time, permanent positions, including a Research Statistician and a Research Coordinator. The activities of the Research Department are further complimented by a number of individuals working on specific projects.

Lana Ozen
Post Doctoral Fellow

Lana Ozen is a PhD graduate in Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience from the University of Waterloo, where she also received her Certificate of University Teaching. She is currently a recipient of the Alzheimer Society of Canada Quality of Life Post-Doctoral Award (2012-2014) and is conducting her research with Michel Bedard through Lakehead University and St. Joseph's Care Group. They are conducting a randomized control trial to examine the efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) to improve depression symptoms and quality of life in individuals with dementia and their caregivers. Lana will be a certified MBCT facilitator as of March 2013. Lana has received about 200 thousand dollars in funding for her graduate and post-doctoral training, and is a co-author of seven peer-reviewed articles and ten scientific conference presentations.

Chiachen Cheng
Physician Researcher

Dr. Chiachen (Chi) Cheng is a Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist and Physician Researcher. Dr. Cheng completed her Child & Adolescent and Adult Psychiatry residencies at McMaster University and moved to Thunder Bay after completing a Masters of Public Health at Harvard University. She has been Medical Director of First Place Clinic and Regional Resource Centre since its inception in 2006. Her primary research interests are Early Psychosis Intervention, evidence based practice as it interfaces with paediatric mental health policy, and models of care for vulnerable populations in rural/remote settings. Her academic appointments include those at Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute, and Lakehead University's Department of Health Sciences. In 2012, Dr. Cheng was awarded a 3-year New Investigator Research Grant from the Sick Kids Foundation and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for "The NorthBEAT Project", which aims to identify the mental health service needs of youth in Northern Ontario.

Carole Lem
Research Assistant

Carole Lem has been working as a Research Assistant since 2009. Carole has worked on various research and evaluation projects such as "Psychosis 101", which was funded by the Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health in 2011. Carole joined SJCG in 2012 as Research Assistant to "the NorthBEAT Project". In addition to her Research role, she is also Communications Assistant for CMHA Thunder Bay. Carole is enthusiastic about knowledge exchange, and finding relevant and youth-friendly methods to disseminate and increase uptake of research findings. Further, Carole has contributed to the design of knowledge exchange activities over the years. Carole is currently supporting Ontario's Early Psychosis Intervention Network (EPION) with their knowledge exchange initiatives. Carole holds a Bachelor's degree from York University.

Carrie Gibbons
Research Coordinator

Carrie Gibbons works as the Research Coordinator at St. Joseph's Care Group and has been with the Research Department since 2001. Carrie coordinates various research projects from conception through to publication of results including preparing grant submissions, liaising with researchers, completing ethics applications, supporting data management and output and facilitating research dissemination. This includes multi-site randomized controlled trials, a number of externally-funded studies, as well as various projects initiated from within SJCG. She holds a Masters degree in Public Health and she has a number of publications related to driving, and mental health issues.

Shevaun Nadin
Research Coordinator

Shevaun Nadin joined St. Joseph's Care Group in 2013 as the Research Coordinator to "the NorthBEAT Project". Shevaun is a PhD candidate in Psychology from Carleton University. Her research interests are in the general areas of applied research and program evaluation, with an eye toward understanding and improving health care services. Shevaun has worked on various applied research and evaluation projects including independent consulting projects, and projects conducted through the Centre for Education and Research on Aging and Health and the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research (Lakehead University). In addition, Shevaun is a sessional lecturer for the Master of Public Health Program at Lakehead University.

Sacha Dubois
Research Statistician

Sacha Dubois, MPH, is a Research Statistician for the St. Joseph's Care Group Research Department. As a Research Statistician, Sacha applies specialized knowledge of both research methodology and advanced statistical principles to research, analysis, and educational activities. His research interests include driver safety, medication usage, health service needs and delivery, and methodological and statistical issues. Together with his position at SJCG, Sacha is also an Associate Member of the Centre for Research on Safe Driving and a Research Affiliate with the Centre for Education and Research on Aging and Health. Alongside his research portfolio, Sacha teaches graduate learners the foundations of research as a faculty member of the Human Sciences Division, Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) and the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, Lakehead University. A complete list of Sacha's publications can be found on his Google Scholar Profile.

Michel Bédard
Scientific Director

Michel Bédard holds a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Aging and Health (2003-2013) and is Professor in the Master of Public Health (MPH) Program and Northern Ontario School of Medicine at Lakehead University. He is Director of the Centre for Research on Safe Driving (CRSD) and Scientific Director at St. Joseph's Care Group, a rehabilitation, mental health, and long-term care network. Along with his colleagues, he has received more than 12 million dollars in funding, leading to more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and 150 presentations at scientific conferences. In addition to the CRC award he holds, Michel received the R K Dewar Medical Research Award in 2003, a Premier's Research Excellence Award (PREA) from the Province of Ontario in 2002, and a research award from the International Psychogeriatrics Association in 1997. Michel was voted as one of Lakehead University's top 40 researchers in it first 40 years of existence (2006) and is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (2009).

 

-- Updated: April 19, 2013 --