Other Affiliations:
Assistant professor, Faculty of Nursing, UBC
Research Interests:
• Digital health
• Human-computer interaction
• Health technology design
Dr. Abdul-Fatawu Abdulai's program of research seeks to explore how principles of human-computer interaction and trauma-informed care approaches can be leveraged to address inequities in sexual and reproductive health access for marginalized populations. He primarily conducts digital health research related to sexually transmitted infections, endometriosis-associated sexual pains, and reproductive health services including contraception and abortion care.
Other Affiliations:
Associate professor, Department of family medicine, McMaster University
Adjunct professor, Department of family medicine, McGill University
Research Interests:
• Chronic diseases prevention and management
• Knowledge translation
• Health services research
Dr. Janusz Kaczorowski, is a medical sociologist with research background in family medicine, epidemiology, psychology, and sociology. He is Professor and Research Director in the Department of Family and Emergency Medicine at the Université de Montréal. He is a holder of the Dr. Sadok Besrour Chair in Family Medicine, the GlaxoSmithKline Chair in Optimal Management of Chronic Disease, and CIHR-ICRH/Heart & Stroke/Hypertension Canada Chair in prevention and control of hypertension. He is deputy head of the Health Innovation and Evaluation Hub at CRCHUM research center.
He plays leadership roles in hypertension, stroke and primary care research communities in Canada. He has an active, collaborative and multi-disciplinary research agenda that includes optimal use of therapeutics in primary care, primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and stroke, knowledge transfer, health services research and population health.
He has over 25 years of experience in developing, coordinating, and completing all aspects of research studies in primary care. He has held a number of large grants both as principal investigator and co-investigator and has co-authored over 250 peer-reviewed articles.
Current Research Projects:
Canadian Abortion Provider Survey (CAPS): Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, this study aims to better understand the current workforce (including administrators, nurse practitioners and physicians), quality of abortion care and stigma and resilience experienced by Canadian health care professionals providing abortion care in 2019. To learn more about the survey, please click here.
The CART Mife-Outcomes study: Using linked health administrative data to define health system outcomes, costs and access to abortion before and after the sea-change shift in 2017 of medical abortion practice. Access and outcomes will be comprehensively measured and related to varied provincial health systems and to the outcomes and systems in other countries.
To learn more about Dr. Kaczorowski’s research and projects, please visit https://fammedmcmaster.ca/our-people/faculty-directory/bios/janusz-kaczorowski
Publications:
Other Affiliations:
Scientific Director, Health Data Research Network Canada (and SPOR Canadian Data Platform)
Scientific Director, Population Data BC
Director of Research, UBC Health
Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health
Research Interests:
• Evaluations of policy interventions
• Aging, use and cost of health care services, and health care financing
• Equity
• Population data science
Dr. Kimberlyn McGrail is a Professor in the UBC School of Population and Public Health and Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, Director of Research for UBC Health, and Scientific Director of Population Data BC and Health Data Research Network Canada. Her research interests are quantitative policy evaluation and all aspects of population data science. Kim is Deputy Editor of the International Journal of Population Data Science, the 2009-10 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Associate in Health Care Policy and Practice, 2016 recipient of the Cortlandt JG Mackenzie Prize for Excellence in Teaching, 2017 recipient of a UBC award for Excellence in Clinical or Applied Research, and in 2019-2020 participated as a member of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Task Force on AI4Health. She holds a PhD in Health Care and Epidemiology from the University of British Columbia, and a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Michigan.
Current Research Projects:
The CART Mife-Outcomes study: Using linked health administrative data to define health system outcomes, costs and access to abortion before and after the sea-change shift in 2017 of medical abortion practice. Access and outcomes will be comprehensively measured and related to varied provincial health systems and to the outcomes and systems in other countries.
To learn more about Dr. McGrail’s research and projects, please visit https://chspr.ubc.ca/about/people/core-faculty/kim-mcgrail/
Students/Trainee Supervision:
- Suzie Maginley, PhD student, School of Population and Public Health
Publications:
Other Affiliations:
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UBC
Applied (Clinical and Engineering Applications)
Research Interests:
• Reproductive and perinatal population health
• Reproductive and perinatal health services and policy
• Patient-oriented research
• Population-based administrative health data
Dr. Laura Schummers, ScD, is a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist. After completing her Doctor of Science in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Schummers joined the Contraception and Abortion Research Team in the Department of Family Practice at UBC as a postdoctoral fellow. Dr. Schummers’s research uses large population-based administrative health databases to examine health services, policy, and clinical research questions related to women’s reproductive and perinatal health and integrated knowledge translation methods to translate findings to practice and policy. She holds a CIHR Patient-Oriented Research Leadership award and a Research Trainee award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and is a Trainee with ICES McMaster. Her current work focuses on the impact of the Canada’s uniquely deregulated policies for the medical abortion drug mifepristone on abortion access, outcomes, and costs, optimal pregnancy spacing for high-risk obstetric populations, and postpartum opioid prescribing.
Current Research Projects:
The CART Mife-Outcomes study: Using linked health administrative data to define health system outcomes, costs and access to abortion before and after the sea-change shift in 2017 of medical abortion practice. Access and outcomes will be comprehensively measured and related to varied provincial health systems and to the outcomes and systems in other countries.
Interpregnancy Interval and Pregnancy Outcomes: Pregnancies following short interpregnancy intervals (conceived within 12 or 18 months of a prior delivery) are linked with increased risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preterm birth, poor fetal growth leading to small-for-gestational age birth or low birthweight, and infant death. Current North American guidelines recommend that women wait a minimum of 18 months before becoming pregnant again, while the World Health Organization advises waiting at least 24 months. As preventing short interpregnancy intervals may be a strategy to reduce the burden of adverse fetal and infant outcomes, short interpregnancy intervals (<18 months) are monitored as a public health indicator in many countries across the globe, including the US.
In this study, we will identify the optimal interpregnancy interval range for three high-risk obstetric populations that currently lack evidence to inform pregnancy spacing decisions. The findings of this study will inform pregnancy spacing recommendations to optimize healthy pregnancy and fetal and infant outcomes in these high-risk obstetric populations that most need targeted evidence to support pregnancy spacing decision-making. Read more here.
Early pregnancy loss incidence in high income settings: a systematic review: Early pregnancy loss (unintended pregnancy loss before 20 completed weeks of gestation) is a common adverse pregnancy outcome, with previous evidence reporting incidence ranging from 10% to 30% of detected pregnancies. The objective of this systematic review is to determine the incidence and range of early pregnancy loss in contemporary pregnant populations based on studies with good internal and external validity. Findings may be useful for clinical counseling in pre-conception and family planning settings, and for people who experience an early pregnancy loss.
To learn more about Dr. Schummers’s research and projects, please visit here.
Students/Trainee Supervision:
- Niki Oveisi, Master of Public Health student, School of Population and Public Health, UBC
- Mika Ohtsuka, Master of Public Health, School of Population and Public Health, UBC
- Suzie Maginley, PhD candidate, School of Population and Public Health, UBC
View Publications on Google Scholar
Other Affiliations:
ICES McMaster
Research Interests:
• Midwifery services
• Health disparities
• Access to care
• Midwifery scope of practice
• Health care service implementation
• Health policy
• Perinatal health surveillance/epidemiology
Dr. Liz Darling is the Assistant Dean of Midwifery at McMaster University and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her qualifications include an Honours BArtsSc (McMaster), a BHSc in Midwifery (McMaster), an MSc in Health Research Methodology (McMaster), and a PhD in Population Health (Ottawa).
She holds a CIHR Early Career Investigator Award in Maternal, Reproductive, Child and Youth Health that supports a mixed methods research program investigating the impact of funding expanded midwifery care models in Ontario. Her research interests include midwifery services, health disparities, access to care, health policy, and perinatal health outcomes. She has particular expertise in the midwifery data collected in Ontario’s perinatal registry (BORN-Ontario). She is committed to building research capacity within the midwifery profession, and currently mentors undergraduate and graduate students in a variety of academic programs.
Dr. Darling practiced midwifery in Ottawa and was a part-time faculty member with the Midwifery Education Program at Laurentian University prior to joining McMaster full-time in 2017. She is also an Adjunct Scientist at ICES-McMaster and holds an Associate appointment in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster University. She has represented the midwifery profession in clinical and research committees at the provincial and national level, including serving as a member of the Expert Advisory Committee for the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System.
She is the recipient of academic awards which include a CIHR Early Career Investigator Award (2019), the Association of Ontario Midwives’ Excellence in Midwifery Research Award (2019), the Joseph De Koninck Doctoral Thesis Award (2015), a CIHR Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (2011), and a CIHR Health Professional Fellowship (2011 – declined).
Current Research Projects:
The Canadian Abortion Provider Survey (CAPS): A national survey of abortion care providers in order to understand their workforce, quality of care and experiences with stigma and resilience. Read more here
Mifepristone Access and Outcomes Study: To examine how the implementation of mifepristone medical abortion has impacted abortion access, outcomes, costs and service distribution in Ontario. Using linked health administrative data to define health system outcomes, costs and access to abortion before and after the sea-change shift in 2017 of medical abortion practice. Read more here
To learn more about Dr. Darling’s research and projects, please visit: http://www.lizdarling.ca/
Publications:
View Publications on ResearchGate
Other Affiliations:
Research Scholar, Health Law Institute, Schulich School of Law
Research Interests:
• Reproductive health, criminalization and prison abolition
• Access to abortion and reproductive health services
• Human milk donation and sharing
Dr. Martha Paynter is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of New Brunswick, where her clinical teaching and research focus on the intersection of reproductive health and the criminal justice system. She is the Affiliate Scientist for the Nova Scotia Women’s Choice Clinic, and the founder and past chair of Wellness Within: An Organization for Health and Justice, the only organization in Canada dedicated to advancing reproductive justice for people experiencing criminalization. She is the author of Abortion to Abolition: Reproductive Health and Justice in Canada, which was published in Spring 2022 by Fernwood Publishing.
Current Research Projects:
The Canadian NP Mifepristone Implementation Study: Medication abortion via the drug mifepristone is a safe, effective practice available in over 60 countries. In 2017 Canadian nursing regulators and Health Canada implemented changes that would allow nurse practitioners (NPs) to provide mifepristone. This study seeks to understand the experiences of NPs with medication abortion in order to improve the implementation of this practice amongst NPs, with the potential to improve access for marginalized, rural and remote communities in Canada. Read more here.
To learn more about Martha’s research and projects, please visit: https://marthapaynter.ca/
View Martha's Publications here
Other Affiliations:
• Co-Founder and Co-Director, Youth Wellness Lab, University of Toronto
• Cross-appointed Faculty, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto
• Affiliated Faculty, School of Cities, University of Toronto
Research Interests:
• Reproductive Justice
• Youth-led Research and Social Change
• Improving Health Outcomes among Youth Experiencing Homelessness
• Human-Centered Design
• Participatory Action and Arts-Based Research
Dr. Stephanie Begun's experiences in family planning policy and community organizing prompted her commitment to an academic career in social work research and reproductive justice advocacy. Her scholarship focuses on improving family planning access, education, and outcomes among youth, with an emphasis on those facing intersectional marginalizations related to their identities and experiences. Although such youth face nuanced and myriad challenges, her work with and alongside young people is boundlessly inspired by their brilliance, creativity, and unique capacities to transcend their lived experiences of oppression.
Current Research Projects:
The CART Access Project: Advancing Access to Abortion for Under-Served Populations through Tools for Health Care Professionals and People Seeking Care (CART Core Research Team)
For information on all other current and completed research projects, please visit Dr. Begun's faculty website page: https://socialwork.utoronto.ca/profiles/stephanie-begun/
View Stephanie's Publications here
Other Affiliations:
Division of General Gynaecology & Obstetrics, Division of Gynaecologic Specialties
Nanaimo Regional General
Island Health Authority (VIHA)
Research Interests:
• Sexual and reproductive health services
• Family planning
• Contraception
• Abortion care
Dr. Regina-Maria Renner is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of UBC where she first joined in December 2012. Since May 2015 she is the Fellowship Co-Director of the Family Planning Fellowship at UBC. In March 2013 she also joined the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. She has been a CART member since 2011.
She completed her Family Planning Fellowship at Oregon Health & Science University, OR USA (OHSU, 2011), where she also did her residency. She completed a Master of Public Health at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, USA (2005).
In 2018 she completed a certificate in quality improvement. Her recent research has focused on in implementation of mifepristone for medical abortion in Canada. She currently is the principal investigator on a CIHR grant to survey Canadian abortion providers.
Her prior research in pain management of first trimester surgical abortion has led to a Cochrane review and several randomized controlled trials on this topic. Additional research of Dr. Renner has focused on midlevel providers in abortion care, youth and abortion care, pregnancies with an IUD in situ, and IUD efficacy.
Current Research Projects:
The Canadian Abortion Provider Survey (CAPS): A national survey of abortion care providers in order to understand their workforce, quality of care and experiences with stigma and resilience. Read more here
The CART Mife-Outcomes study: Relating Canada’s unique mifepristone regulations to health system events, costs and access to abortion, using linked health administrative data
To learn more about Dr. Renner’s research and projects, please visit here.
Students/Trainee Supervision:
- Dr. Madeleine Ennis, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, UBC
- Mahan Maazi, Bachelor of Science, UBC
Publications:
Other Affiliations:
Professor and Director, School of Nursing, Assistant Dean Research, Dalhousie University
Affiliate Scientist, Nova Scotia Health
Affiliate Scientist, Maritime Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research Support Unit
Research Interests:
• Primary health care
• Long-term care
• Evaluation and implementation
Dr. Ruth Martin-Misener, is a Professor and the Director of the School of Nursing and Assistant Dean, Research, at the Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She is also the Co-Director of the Canadian Association of Advanced Practice Nursing at McMaster University and an Affiliate Scientist with Nova Scotia Health as well as the Maritime Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research Support Unit.
Dr. Martin-Misener’s research evaluates the implementation and outcomes of the nurse practitioner role and innovative team-based care. Her research supports evidence-informed policy formation for decision-makers in organizations and in government through rigorous evaluation of the implementation and impact of nurse practitioners on patient, system and provider outcomes. Results of her research have been used provincially, nationally and internationally to inform policy related to nurse practitioner scope of practice, education, regulation and deployment across sectors and with different populations.
Her research has had a sustained impact on the integration of nurse practitioner roles in Canada through its application to health policy for role implementation and regulation, particularly in primary health care and long-term care.
Current Research Projects:
The Canadian NP Mifepristone Implementation Study: Medication abortion via the drug mifepristone is a safe, effective practice available in over 60 countries. In 2017 Canadian nursing regulators and Health Canada implemented changes that would allow nurse practitioners (NPs) to provide mifepristone. This study seeks to understand the experiences of NPs with medication abortion in order to improve the implementation of this practice amongst NPs, with the potential to improve access for marginalized, rural and remote communities in Canada. Read more here.
To learn more about Dr. Martin-Misener’s research and projects, please visit: https://www.ruth-martin-misener.dal.ca
Students/Trainee Supervision:
- Dr. Andrea (Andie) Carson, postdoctoral fellow at the School of Nursing, Dalhousie University
- Martha Paynter, PhD student at the School of Nursing, Dalhousie University
- Emma Cameron, Master’s student at the School of Health and Human Performance at Dalhousie University
- Ziwa Yu, Research Assistant at the CART Canadian Nurse Practitioner Mifepristone Implementation Study
Publications:
These are co-investigators and visiting scholars who have collaborated with CART in the past.
Ashley Waddington, Past Investigator
Professor Ashley Waddington (MD, MPA, FRCSC) Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Queen’s University, Kingston General Hospital, Co-Director, Contraception Advice, Research, and Education (CARE) Fellowship
Meredith Temple-Smith, Visiting Scholar 2017
Professor Meredith Temple-Smith (BSc, Dip App Child Psych, MPH, DHSc) Director of Research Training in the Department of General Practice at the University of Melbourne
Danielle Mazza, Visiting Scholar 2016
Professor Danielle Mazza (MD, MBBS, FRACGP, DRANZCOG, Grad Dip Women’s Health, GAICD) Chair of General Practice at Monash University, Head of Department of General Practice
