Leadership

Historically, the CART-GRAC network has been managed by a Governing Council. In 2022, we began the process to revise our council makeup and membership to better reflect the next 10 years of contraception and abortion research in Canada. Find out more about our council here: Governance Structure

Director


Professor (Dr) Wendy V. Norman

Email: wendy.norman@ubc.ca

Academic Positions:
MD, CCFP, FCFP, DTM&H, MHSc
Canada Research Chair in Family Planning Innovation
Professor, Dept of Family Practice;
Associate Member, School of Population & Public Health;
Associate Member, Dept of Obstetrics & Gynecology;
Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia.

 

About: Wendy V. Norman, MD, CCFP, FCFP, DTM&H, MHSc, is a Professor in the Department of Family Practice, and an Associate Member in both the School of Population and Public Health, and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Dr. Norman’s research has informed dozens of provincial and federal contraception and abortion policies in Canada, and her evidence and invited briefings with WHO leaders and international government policy makers have led to national policy changes in Australia, the USA and a range of countries around the globe. From 2012 to 2020 Dr. Norman held a Scholar Award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. From 2014-2024 she held the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Chair in Family Planning Public Health Research.  Dr. Norman was awarded the prestigious Darroch Award for sexual and reproductive health policy research in January 2016 by the New York-based Guttmacher Institute, and the Inaugural National Mentorship Award of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada in 2020, and was inducted in 2021 into the Government of Canada’s Women of Impact in Canada gallery, Women and Gender Equality Canada, among other prestigious awards. In 2024 The Canada Research Chairs awarded Professor Norman a Tier 1 Chair in Family Planning Innovation (2024-2032).


Directors of Research Divisions

Emeritus Directors


Emeritus Founding Directors:

Dr. Sheila Dunn   (2010-2022)

Associate Director, ResearchDr. Sheila Dunn

Email: sheila.dunn@wchospital.ca
Academic Positions:
MD, MSc, CCFP, FCFP
Scientist, Women’s College Research Institute
Director, Family Practice Health Centre, Women’s College Hospital
Staff Physician, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Women’s College Hospital
Associate Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto
Publications: “Sheila Dunn- PubMed”

About: Dr. Sheila Dunn is research director of the Family Practice Health Centre of Women’s College Hospital as well as an active member of the clinical staff. She completed her masters in clinical epidemiology in 2007 and is an Associate Professor and Clinician Investigator in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and Scientist at Women’s College Research Institute.

Dr. Dunn’s research focuses on people’s reproductive health care, specifically contraception, emergency contraception and medical abortion, including the development and evaluation of innovative models of care to enhance access and quality. She is a member of the SOGC Canadian Contraception Consensus Guideline Working Group and from 2009-2015 was on the board of the National Abortion Federation and served as Chair of the Clinical Practice Guideline Committee.


Dr. Édith Guilbert, MD, M.Sc.  (2010-2022)E. Guilbert

Email: edith.guilbert@inspq.qc.ca

Academic positions:

MD, MSc, CCFP, FCFP
Senior medical advisor, National Institute of Public Health of Quebec
Associate clinical professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Laval University, Quebec
Staff physician, Family Planning Clinic, CHU de Québec, CHUL, Quebec
Member, Executive Board, Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada

About: Dr. Edith Guilbert obtained her medical degree in 1978, from Laval University, Quebec. She also performed postgraduate studies in Education Sciences and Public Health at Laval University as well as at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA in the Department of Population Dynamics, School of Hygiene and Public Health. Dr. Guilbert holds a master degree in Epidemiology from Laval University, as well as a Family Medicine Certificate from the College of Family Physicians of Canada. She now does research for the Research Unit in Public Health of the CHU de Québec, after more than 20 years of clinical research in contraception, abortion and teenage pregnancy prevention. Dr. Guilbert has been honoured with numerous research grants and several honorific prices, among which the Mérite du Conseil interprofessionnel du Québec, in 2014, for her work on collaborative agreements.

Dr. Guilbert is a member of several professional associations, including the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC), the Society of Family Planning and the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals. Dr. Guilbert is a member of the advisory committee of the Contraception Awareness Project of SOGC and leads the implementation in the province of Quebec of increased access to hormonal and intrauterine contraception through collaborative agreements and Protocole de contraception du Québec. She also co-chairs the Committees of SOGC producing Canadian guidelines on Contraception and Abortion.

 

 

Mentors


 

Dr. Dorothy Shaw, MBChB, FRCSCDorothy_Shaw_thumb(1)

Health System Leadership & International Reproductive Health

Vice President, Medical Affairs; BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre; Clinical Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia

 

Emeritus Co-Director (2022-2024)

Dr. Sarah MunroSarah Munro - CHÉOS: Centre for Health Evaluation & Outcome Sciences

Academic Positions:
PhD, MA, BA (Hons), Scientist
Assistant Professor, Department of Health Systems and Population Health, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USAAffiliate Assistant Professor, The University of British Columbia
Director, Reproductive Choices Lab | www.reprochoiceslab.org
Co-Lead, Collective for Reproductive Rights and Health | hspop.uw.edu/crrh
Scientist, Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes, Women’s Health Research Institute (Affiliate Member)

Publications: “Munro S – PubMed”

About: Sarah Munro, PhD, MA, BA (Hons), Scientist, is a qualitative health services researcher whose focus is on knowledge translation and implementation science. Her research focuses on the investigation of factors that influence implementation of patient-centred practice and policy, and the development and evaluation of tools that support shared decision-making for patients and their care teams.
Dr. Munro conducts research related to implementation of patient-centred care for choice of next birth after caesarean, choice of contraception, medical abortion practice, and breastfeeding. Through this research, Dr. Munro partners closely with stakeholders (patients, health care professionals, and policy makers) to produce evidence that is action-oriented, relevant, and supports patients and their care teams to make informed, shared healthcare decisions.
Dr. Munro completed her postdoctoral training in implementation science with the Canadian Contraception and Abortion Research Team and Dartmouth College. She is also a Scientist with the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences.

To learn more about Dr. Munro’s research and projects, please visit: http://www.sarahmunro.ca

Follow Dr. Munro

Selected Awards and Distinctions:
2020:  Preceptor Excellence Award, Enhanced Skills Residency Program, Department of Family Practice, UBC
2022:  Overall Excellence in Early Career, Distinguished Achievement Award, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
2019-2024:  Scholar Award, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research