The People
Click on our names for a short bio and contact information. For mailing and courier addresses, please visit our Contact Us page.
For a listing of former SPHERU faculty members, please go to the Former Research Faculty page.
Researchers
| Surname | First Name | Position | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McIntosh | Tom | Research Faculty & Interim Director Political Science (University of Regina) | tom.mcintosh@uregina.ca | (306) 337-2312 |
About Tom McIntosh, PhDDr. McIntosh joined SPHERU in 2002 and brings expertise on public policy making and knowledge transfer and exchange to numerous SPHERU projects. He is presently working on the political and economic components of SPHERU's historical analysis of population health in Saskatchewan. He was also the co-editor of Redistributing Health: New Directions in Population Health Research in Canada (CPRC: 2010). Dr. McIntosh is currently a professor and head of the Department of Political Science at the University of Regina.Research areas of interest include:
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| Abonyi | Sylvia | Research Faculty Community Health and Epidemiology (University of Saskatchewan) | sylvia.abonyi@usask.ca | (306) 966-2194 |
About Sylvia Abonyi, PhDDr. Abonyi is an anthropologist working primarily in the area of Aboriginal health. She explores the role of culture in health with a number of research projects located in northern and remote Saskatchewan and across the Prairie provinces. She is an associate professor with the University of Saskatchewan’s Community Health and Epidemiology Department and holds a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Health. Research areas of interest include:
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| Daschuk | Jim | Research Faculty Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies (University of Regina) | jim.daschuk@uregina.ca | (306) 337-3272 |
About Jim Daschuk, PhDDr. Daschuk joined the SPHERU team in 2008 and brings experience as an historian with a background in anthropology. He has been researching and teaching in the field of Aboriginal health for nearly 20 years. He is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the University of Regina. Research areas of interest include:
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| DeSantis | Gloria | Postdoctoral Fellow / Research Associate (University of Regina) | gloria.desantis@uregina.ca | (306) 337-3252 |
 About Gloria DeSantis, PhDDr. Gloria DeSantis is a post-doctoral fellow and Research Associate, working in the area of socio-health. In 2008, the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation awarded her its Top Socio-Health Researcher Award. She has been an instructor in health studies, justice studies and graduate public policy at the University of Regina. Her interest in socio-health results from her 20 years of work and volunteering in the non-profit social service sector. Today, using a population health framework and a social justice lens, Dr. DeSantis is undertaking historical, interdisciplinary research on the evolution of the social and structural determinants of health as well as non-profit social service sector program interventions in Saskatchewan. Research areas of interest include:
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| Hackett | Paul | Research Faculty Geography and Planning (University of Saskatchewan) | paul.hackett@usask.ca | (306) 966-2919 |
About Paul Hackett, PhDDr. Hackett's interests focus on the impact of cultural change on community health. Research projects include examining the factors that helped set the stage for the current epidemic of Type 2 diabetes among First Nations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and investigating the history of tuberculosis among the western First Nations. He is also currently working on the SPHERU project, History of Public Health and Health Care in Saskatchewan: The origins and import of health inequities in Saskatchewan 1905-1985. Dr. Hackett is an assistant professor with the University of Saskatchewan's Department of Geography and Planning.Research areas of interest include:
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| Hampton | Mary | Research Associate Psychology - Luther College (University of Regina) | mary.hampton@uregina.ca | (306) 585-4826 |
About Mary Hampton, PhDDr. Hampton is currently a research associate focusing her research interests on developing materials to increase cross-cultural knowledge and facilitate delivery of culturally appropriate end-of-life care for Aboriginal families. She is the Saskatchewan Research Coordinator for Research and Education Solutions to Violence and Abuse (RESOLVE) http://www.uregina.ca/resolve/ and a professor of Psychology with Luther College, University of Regina. Research areas of interest include:
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| Jeffery | Bonnie | Research Faculty Social Work (University of Regina) | bonnie.jeffery@uregina.ca | (306) 953-5311 |
About Bonnie Jeffery, PhDDr. Jeffery began working with SPHERU in 2000 as a research faculty member, and was appointed director in 2006. A professor in the Faculty of Social Work, she has maintained a long-standing commitment to access to post-secondary education for rural and northern residents. In her research, this commitment extends more broadly to influence policies that impact access to a variety of services for rural and northern residents, particularly for seniors. During her tenure with the Faculty of Social Work, she has served as Assistant Dean, Director of the Social Policy Research Unit, and Director of both the Saskatoon and Prince Albert Community Education Centres. She currently serves on a number of research related boards and committees, including Vice-Chair of the Canadian Rural Health Research Society. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Toronto and an interdisciplinary PhD in Health Services Research and Social Work from the University of British Columbia. Research areas of interest include:
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| Johnson | Shanthi | Research Faculty Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies (University of Regina) | shanthi.johnson@uregina.ca | (306) 337-2436 |
About Shanthi Johnson, PhDDr. Johnson is a professor and Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Studies) in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the University of Regina. Her research program is two-fold: epidemiological research related to the surveillance and monitoring of falls and fall-related injuries among seniors; and intervention research focusing on the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of factors associated with falls among seniors in community and long-term care settings. Specifically, the role of exercise and nutrition to improve an individual's capacity to carry out activities of daily living and to decrease the frequency of debilitating falls are examined. Her research also extends to the cross-cultural study of aging, rural-urban differences, and health beliefs and practices related to chronic diseases such as osteoporosis.Research areas of interest include:
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| Martz | Diane | Research Faculty Geography and Planning (University of Saskatchewan) | diane.martz@usask.ca | (306) 966-8585 |
About Diane Martz, PhDDr. Martz mainly works in the area of rural women’s health. She brings to the SPHERU research team extensive experience in working in large research teams, a research focus on the social, economic, and cultural dimensions of rural health as well as established relationships with many Saskatchewan and Alberta rural communities. She is co-investigator with other SPHERU research faculty on several projects and contributes to the development of an evaluation framework, workshops, and supporting materials for communities evaluating Aboriginal health projects. Research areas of interest include:
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| Muhajarine | Nazeem | Research Faculty Community Health and Epidemiology (University of Saskatchewan) | nazeem.muhajarine@usask.ca | (306) 966-7940 |
About Nazeem Muhajarine, PhDDr. Muhajarine is a social epidemiologist and leads SPHERU's Healthy Children research program. His work includes researching questions related to community and family contextual influences in child development and health, risk in the prenatal period, and developing community-university research partnerships to improve knowledge creation, transfer and application. His current research includes evaluations of population-level early childhood intervention programs. He particularly cherishes the mentoring role and works closely with junior colleagues and graduate students. He is the recipient of several awards of distinction, including his province's 2009 Health Research Achievement Award and the CIHR Knowledge Translation Award. He is a professor and chair in Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan.Research areas of interest include:
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| Neudorf | Cordell | Research Associate Community Health and Epidemiology (University of Saskatchewan) | cory.neudorf@usask.ca | (306) 966-2276 |
About Cordell Neudorf, PhDDr. Neudorf is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan and joined SPHERU in 2013. Much of his work focuses on improving the social determinants of health. He is Chief Medical Officer of Health for the Saskatoon Health Region and collaborated with SPHERU to produce the Healthy Families, Healthy Communities report, released in late 2012.Research areas of interest include:
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| Novik | Nuelle | Research Faculty Social Work (University of Regina) | nuelle.novik@uregina.ca | (306) 585-4573 |
About Nuelle Novik, PhDDr. Novik is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Regina. She has worked in health, mental health and community development in Saskatchewan and also spent six years as Coordinator of the Social Work Program at Aurora College in the Northwest Territories. Prior to joining in 2013, Dr. Novik worked with SPHERU as co-investigator on the Role of Social Systems in the Health of Seniors Living in Rural Saskatchewan pilot project and is actively involved with the Healthy Aging in Place study, which grew out of the pilot project.Research areas of interest include:
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| Oosman | Sarah | Post Doctoral Fellow (University of Saskatchewan) | sarah.oosman@usask.ca | (306)966-2693 |
 About Sarah Oosman, PhDDr. Sarah Oosman is a post-doctoral fellow and physiotherapist working in the area of health promotion with a specific interest in community-based health intervention research in partnership with Aboriginal communities. She is interested in working with communities to develop and implement culture-based health promotion programs in order to positively influence health across the lifespan. She is currently collaborating on the Healthy Aging in Place project with northern Métis and First Nations communities.
Research areas of interest include:
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| Petrucka | Pammla | Research Associate College of Nursing (University of Saskatchewan) | pammla.petrucka@usask.ca | (306) 337-2228 |
About Pammla Petrucka, PhDDr. Petrucka's research interests include Aboriginal health, rural women's health, informatics in health care, and global health. She currently leads/co-leads various community-based research projects with Aboriginal groups in Saskatchewan. Dr. Petrucka is a professor at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Nursing.Research areas of interest include:
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| Sari | Nazmi | Research Faculty Economics (University of Saskatchewan) | nazmi.sari@usask.ca | (306) 966-5216 |
About Nazmi Sari, PhDDr. Sari is a health economist with specific research interest in quality and efficiency issues in hospital markets, provider reimbursements and health care financing reforms, and economics of smoking and physical activity. He is an associate professor of economics with the University of Saskatchewan since 2004.Research areas of interest include:
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Staff
| Surname | First Name | Position | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bacsu | Juanita | Project Coordinator (University of Saskatchewan) | juanita.bacsu@usask.ca | (306) 966-7942 |
 About Juanita BacsuJuanita has been the project coordinator for the SPHERU team projects since 2009. Prior to her work at SPHERU, she worked as a senior communications manager for the Government of Saskatchewan and as a research associate at the University of Saskatchewan. She is a board member of the Canadian Rural Health Research Society and is completing her PhD in Community Health and Epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan. She is currently working on the Healthy Aging in Place and History of Public Health and Health Care in Saskatchewan team projects. | ||||
| Chouinard | Mike | Knowledge Translation Officer (University of Saskatchewan) | mike.chouinard@usask.ca | (306) 966-5547 |
 About Mike ChouinardMike joined SPHERU as Knowlege Translation Officer in April 2011, overseeing SPHERU's KT acitivities. He has a history degree from Simon Fraser University and is a graduate of the University of Regina journalism program. He has also been managing editor of the Healthy Children team's website, kidSKAN.ca, since September 2010. | ||||
| Fedosoff | Diana | Research Officer (University of Saskatchewan) | diana.fedosoff@usask.ca | (306) 966-1732 |
 About Diana FedosoffDiana Fedosoff has been a member of SPHERU since 2002. She is Research Officer for Dr. Sylvia Abonyi and manages Dr. Abonyi's research program by coordinating administrative, financial and research activities on various projects. | ||||
| Hamilton | Colleen | Administrative / Project Coordinator (University of Regina) | colleen.hamilton@uregina.ca | (306) 953-5535 |
About Colleen HamiltonColleen has been with SPHERU since 2002, located at the SPHERU Prince Albert site. She has worked as Project Coordinator on a number of research projects, primarily in the Northern and Aboriginal Health theme. Along with involvement in research projects, she also serves as the Administrative Coordinator, overseeing SPHERU’s financial and administrative activities. | ||||
| Macqueen Smith | Fleur | Knowledge Translation Manager (University of Saskatchewan) | fleur.macqueensmith@usask.ca | (306) 966-2957 |
 About Fleur Macqueen SmithFleur is the Knowledge Transfer Manager in the Healthy Children research program at SPHERU led by Nazeem Muhajarine, a position she has held since 2004. She works with academics and decision-makers to share research findings and best practices, many of which are posted on kidSKAN, the Saskatchewan Knowledge to Action Network for early childhood development (kidskan.ca), which she coordinates. Fleur has 16 years of experience as a journalist, writer and editor. She holds an English and Business co-op degree from the University of Waterloo, and an interdisciplinary master's degree from the University of Saskatchewan. In 2011, she was awarded a National Collaborating Centres for Public Health Knowledge Translation graduate award for her master's research on knowledge transfer. | ||||
| McMullin | Kathy | Project Coordinator (University of Saskatchewan) | kathleen.mcmullin@usask.ca | (306) 953-3432 |
 About Kathy McMullinKathy joined SPHERU in 2006 as Project Coordinator, working with Dr. Sylvia Abonyi on a number of research projects targeted at reducing the spread of tuberculosis by influencing the social determinants of health. She is currently Project Manager on the First Nations Lung Health Project and is based at the Prince Albert SPHERU Population Health Research Lab. Kathy holds Bachelor and Masters of Education degrees from the University of Saskatchewan. As a member of the Lac La Ronge Cree Nation, she applies both her Indigenous community and academic backgrounds in a variety of research settings. | ||||
| Todd | Tara | Research Secretary (University of Regina) | tara.todd@uregina.ca | (306) 585-5674 |
About Tara ToddTara joined SPHERU in 2011 as a Research Assistant, working with Dr. Gloria DeSantis and Dr. James Daschuk on the Origins and Import of Health Inequities in Saskatchewan, 1905-1985, team project. Since completion of her Health Studies degree, she has expanded her role with SPHERU to include both research assistance and administrative support at the University of Regina office. | ||||
| Trawin | Jessica | Research Secretary (University of Saskatchewan) | jessica.trawin@usask.ca | (306) 966-2250 |
About Jessica TrawinJessica Trawin joined SPHERU in 2011 as the Research Secretary at the Saskatoon site. Her role with SPHERU is to provide administrative support to the research unit at the University of Saskatchewan as well as supporting SPHERU’s knowledge translation strategies. | ||||