MERLIN Team Members

Erin Cameron, B.Ed, MA, PhD
Assistant Professor, Medical Education
MERLIN Chair

NOSM University in Thunder Bay
ercameron@nosm.ca

Research Interests: Social accountability, rural medical education, qualitative and participatory research methods.

Brian Ross, PhD, MEd
Professor of Pharmacology
Interim Associate Dean, UME

NOSM University in Thunder Bay
brian.ross@nosm.ca

Research Interests: Social accountability, community placements, place-based education theory and practice.

Roger Strasser, MBBS, BMedSc, MCISc
Professor of Rural Health
Founding Dean of NOSM University

NOSM University in Sudbury
roger.strasser@nosm.ca

Research Interests: Social accountability, generalism, rural health, and family medicine.

James Goertzen, MD, MCISc, CCFP, FCFP
Assistant Dean, CEPD

NOSM University in Thunder Bay
jgoertzen@nosm.ca

Research Interests: Medical education, compassionate leadership, professionalism.

Sarah McIsaac, MBBCh, MEd, FRCPC
Medical Director, Faculty Development
Assistant Professor, Clinical Sciences Division

NOSM University in Sudbury
smcisaac@nosm.ca

Research Interests: Faculty development, needs assessment, and organization change management.

Robert Anderson, MD, FRCPC
Program Director, Anesthesiology
Associate Professor, Clinical Sciences Division

NOSM University in Sudbury
randerson@nosm.ca

Alex Anawati, BSc, MD, CCFP-EM
Global Health Coordinator
Assistant Professor, Clinical Sciences Division

NOSM University in Sudbury
aanawati@nosm.ca

Research Interests: Social accountability of health institutions and health professional education programs (other than medical schools).

Paul Miron, MSc, MD, CCFP
NOSM University Family Medicine Program Director
Associate Professor, Clinical Sciences Division

pmiron@nosm.ca
Research Interests: Selection, Assessments, and Program Evaluation.

Marion Maar, BSc, MA, PhD
Associate Professor, Human Sciences Division

NOSM University in Sudbury
mmaar@nosm.ca

Research Interests: Cultural Safety (community based curriculum co-design, experiential learning and Indigenous pedagogy, service provider education and development, Indigenous arts in curriculum, evaluation and assessment), opioid use in First Nations, Anishnaabe cultural language, and land based approaches.

Elaine Hogard, BA (hons), MSc, MEd, PhD
Professor of Program Evaluation in the Human Sciences Division
Director of UME Assessment

NOSM University in Thunder Bay
ehogard@nosm.ca

Elizabeth Wenghofer, BSc, MSc, PhD
Professor of Kinesiology and Health Sciences

NOSM University in Sudbury
ewenghofer@laurentian.ca

Research Interests: Physician performance, medical regulation, continuing professional development, rural physicians and program evaluation.

Gayle Adams-Carpino, PhD, MSW, RSW, CYW
Faculty, Interprofessional Education
Assistant Professor, Clinical Sciences Division

NOSM University in Sudbury
gadamscarpino@nosm.ca

Research Interests: Interprofessional education for collaborative practice, interprofessional student-led clinics focusing on priority populations, interprofessional placements, and interprofessional community collaborations to enhance undergraduate and graduate curriculum.

Jeff Bachiu
UME Administrative Manager, Curriculum and Planning
NOSM University in Sudbury

jbachiu@nosm.ca

Jennifer Fawcett
Senior Director, Postgraduate Education
NOSM University in Thunder Bay

jennifer.fawcett@nosm.ca

John Friesen
Director, UME Education
NOSM University in Thunder Bay

john.friesen@nosm.ca

John Dabous
Instructional Designer
NOSM University in Sudbury

jdabous@nosm.ca

John Hogenbirk, PhD
Family Medicine Research Tutor
NOSM University in Sudbury

john.hogenbirk@nosm.ca

Christina Tremblay
Assistant Instructional Designer
NOSM University in Sudbury

christina.tremblay@nosm.ca

Clare Cook, PhD
CEPD Research Coordinator
NOSM University in Thunder Bay

ccook@nosm.ca

Ghislaine Pilot-Attema
Research Coordinator
NOSM University in Thunder Bay

gpilotattema@nosm.ca

Sophie Regalado, MISt, MA
Research & Scholarly Communications Librarian
NOSM University in Thunder Bay

sregalado@nosm.ca

Kelly Meservia-Collins

Kelly Meservia-Collins is currently working towards her Ph.D. in Education Studies. She has a MA in Applied Social Psychology and 13 years progressive leadership experience in healthcare education. Kelly advocates for system and social change in healthcare and uses simulation and transformational learning to create spaces for critical dialogue, professional growth and quality improvement. In her most recent role as Executive Vice President, Research, Quality and Academics, she championed a learning health system model to integrate research and education at the bedside and meet the patient and healthcare needs of the hospital, community and region. Her current research is exploring health professional education within a learning health system model in Northern Ontario.

Ashley Hurley

Ashley Hurley is a graduate student in Interdisciplinary Health at Laurentian University. Born and raised in rural Newfoundland, her research interests include recruiting and retaining primary care physicians in that province. She is also a registered dietitian at the City of Lakes Family Health Team and a lecturer at NOSM University.

Sarah Lewis

Maya Brassard

Maya Brassard is an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia majoring in Critical Indigenous Studies and minoring in Educational Psychology & Special Education. She grew up on Vancouver Island with her mom, little sister, and two perfect cats. Maya is interested in community-based and population health research that advances system level change toward health equity. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in medicine as a rural generalist.

Kristina Levert

My name is Kristina Levert and I’m a third-year undergraduate student studying Biologie biomédicale (B.Sc.) at Laurentian University. After completing my undergraduate studies, I aspire to become a medical student at the NOSM University and pursue my dream of becoming a physician. Born and raised in Sudbury, ON, I recognize the struggles faced by individuals in isolated communities across Northern Ontario. As a trilingual individual with a passion for applied science, I am beyond excited to be a Research Assistant with this project. I look forward to furthering my knowledge regarding the influence of research on healthcare development in rural communities! In my free time, you can find me on the lake with a book in hand or hiking the Laurentian trails with my dog Chase!

Emily Booth

Emily Booth is a medical student at NOSM University. She will be acting as a MERLIN student researcher over the course of the summer, eager to learn more about healthcare in rural communities. Emily holds a Master of Public Health from Queen’s University where she completed a practicum placement in Indigenous Engagement focused on cultural competency enhancement. She completed her undergraduate degree in Health Promotion at Laurentian University. Emily was born and raised in Sudbury, and enjoys spending time outside hiking, fishing and downhill skiing.

Sadie Barnett

Sadie Barnett is a medical student at NOSM University. She holds a Master in Public Health from Lakehead University and a BA in Kinesiology from Western University. Her research interests include rural health education and community-based research to address health inequities experienced in rural and Northern populations. She is passionate about advocating for healthy public policy through a social justice lens to achieve health equity.

Sébastien Labelle

Sébastien Labelle is a first-year medical student at NOSM University on the Thunder Bay campus. He was born and raised in Timmins, Ontario. He completed an undergraduate degree in biomedical science at the University of Ottawa. Sébastien is a proud Franco-Ontarian who will be undertaking a research project in the area of Francophone Health Curriculum at NOSM University. In his free time, Sébastien loves to cook and bake, spend time outside fishing, hiking, and playing tennis.

Sophie Thomas

My name is Sophie Thomas and I am a medical student at NOSM University and researcher with MERLIN. I completed my undergraduate degree in Kinesiology at Queen’s University where I completed a thesis project examining individual variability in exercise tolerance. I grew up in a small town in Ontario which sparked my research interest in Generalism and Primary Care. I am looking forward to working on my MERLIN project which is part of a national study to examine Generalist curricula in pre-clerkship programs across Canada using the Toronto Generalism Assessment Tool (T-GAT). My other research interests are in the area of Emergency Medicine particularly pre-hospital and retrieval medicine, as well as wilderness medicine. Outside of research, my passion is in search and rescue where I worked for four summer with the Canadian Coast Guard marine search and rescue crews. I also enjoy spending time outdoors, hiking, boating, skiing and running.

Holly Fleming

MERLIN Research Assistant

Hafsa Siddiqui

MERLIN Research Intern

Devon Lee

MERLIN Research Assistant

Jacqueline Harvey

MERLIN Medical Student

Roslyn Graham

MERLIN Medical Student

Breezy Beaudry

MERLIN Medical Student

Miranda Waugh

MERLIN Medical Student

Chandelle Mensour

MERLIN Medical Student

Hannah Mikhail

MERLIN Medical Student

Zvia Mazal

MERLIN Medical Student

Dr. Brenton Button

MERLIN Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Brianne Wood

MERLIN Postdoctoral Fellow

Kirstie Taylor

MERLIN Research Intern

Sophia Myles

MERLIN Postdoctoral Fellow

Brandon Portelance

MERLIN Research Assistant