O'Brien Institute Executive Committee

Head, Department of Community Health Sciences

Dr. Clement has extensive training in Health Services Research, Health Economics and Health Policy. She is the Director of the Health Technology Assessment Unit at the University of Calgary; a policy responsive research unit that completes evidence synthesis, economic evaluations, health technology assessments and reassessments in response to decision-makers’ needs. Her research interests include drug and non-drug technology reimbursement and cost containment policy, evidence in decision-making, and evidence in health policy development.  In 2014, she was selected as the Canadian Harkness fellow; a unique opportunity to study US healthcare policy.  She has also received the Maurice McGregor Award for outstanding leadership and excellence in HTA in Canada.  She is the first from Alberta to be awarded either of these awards.  As a result, in 2015, she was named one of Calgary’s Top 40 under 40 for her work in health policy. 

Professor, Faculty of Social Work

Dr. Gina Dimitropoulos is a Professor at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, and is cross appointed with the Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics. Dr. Dimitropoulos is a Full Member of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education, the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, and the O'Brien Institute for Public Health. She currently holds the University of Calgary Research Excellence Chair in transdisciplinary research and system level interventions for equitable and accessible youth mental health services.  She was recently inducted into the College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists at the Royal Society of Canada. Additionally, she is a Clinical Fellow and Supervisor with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and a Certified Family Therapist and Supervisor with the Training Institute for Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders. Dr. Dimitropoulos has over 25 years of clinical experience in both tertiary care and community-based settings delivering family-based treatments, group therapy and individual counselling for adolescents and adults with mental health issues.  

Postdoctoral Portfolio Co-lead

Dr. Jessalyn Holodinsky is an Assistant Professor (Data Science) in the Department of Emergency Medicine, with a cross-appointments to the Departments of Community Health Sciences and Clinical Neurosciences. She received her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Calgary and also holds a Master’s of Science in Health Services Research. Jessalyn has also trained in Toronto (Sunnybrook Research Institute), Melbourne (Melbourne Brain Centre - University of Melbourne), and Dublin (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland) lending an international perspective to her work. 

Jessalyn’s research focuses on the utilization and optimization of resources in the emergency department. She is highly skilled in administrative and big data use, complex modelling techniques including machine learning, and health system level research. Jessalyn is an advocate for using data to make change in the healthcare system and profoundly believes that Data Saves Lives. 

Jessalyn is also the Director, Artificial Intelligence & Data, Education and Ethics for the Office of Faculty Development. She has over a decade of experience in university-level teaching and learning, predominantly teaching statistics and machine learning. She prides herself in making statistics both accessible and fun (yes, it is possible!). In her role at OFD Jessalyn works to increase data and AI literacy across CSM faculty members. 

Head, Department of Medicine

Dr. Jayna Holroyd-Leduc is an academic geriatrician, Professor and Head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services (AHS) Calgary zone. Her research utilizes knowledge translation (KT) science to improve care for older adults across the care continuum, including those living with cognitive impairment and frailty. She is the Academic Lead for the UCalgary Centre on Aging and the UCalgary Brenda Strafford Foundation Chair in Geriatric Medicine. 

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Nursing

Dr. Jennifer Jackson is a Registered Nurse and an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary, with a joint appointment in Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine. 

Her research interest is supporting nurses healthcare providers and improving health systems, currently focusing on community based addiction and harm reduction services. Social vulnerability, health systems, and nursing workforce and professional issues are her areas of expertise. She is available for media comment. 

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA) Portfolio Lead

Dr. Kassam is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences in the Medical Education specialization. Dr. Kassam’s background is in psychology, epidemiology and health services research. She is interested in the intersection of medical education with health services, specifically in the areas of how medical education impacts patient-centered care and patient safety.  Dr. Kassam is the Research Lead in the Office of Postgraduate Medical Education and has educational research in three primary areas: 1) assessment of non-medical competencies within residents; 2) examining the structure of residency education programs and 3) the application of evidence based practice in medical education. She has taught courses in Research Design and Statistics as well as Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis.

Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Arts

Dr. Kiddle is Associate Dean, Research and Communities and Professor of Latin American history in the Faculty of Arts.  She is also Editor In Chief of the Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rclc20/current 

She specializes in the political and cultural history of Mexican foreign relations and received the Killam SSHRC Emerging Research Leader Award from the University of Calgary in 2014. She is the co-author of the Historical Dictionary of Mexico (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024) and she has published articles in the Journal of Latin American Studies, ISTOR. Revista de Historia Internacional, The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History, The Jahrbuch fur Geschichte Lateinamerikas - Anuario de Historia de America Latina, The Latin Americanist, and Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos. Her co-edited volume with María L.O. Muñoz, Populism in Twentieth Century Mexico: The Presidencies of Lázaro Cárdenas and Luis Echeverría was published by the University of Arizona Press in 2010. Her first monograph, Mexico's Relations with Latin America during the Cárdenas Era, which is based upon her University of Arizona doctoral dissertation (winner of the 2010 Premio Genaro Estrada from the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs) was published by the University of New Mexico Press in 2016.

Head, Department of Family Medicine

Dr. Sonya Lee is a family physician and associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. She obtained her medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1996 and has a family medicine certification from the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Internal Peer Review Portfolio Lead

Dr. Andrew McRae is a clinician-scientist in the Department of Emergency Medicine, with a cross-appointment to the Department of Community Health Sciences. In addition to active research interests in emergency department crowding and operations, his primary interest is in health services dimensions of the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular emergencies (myocardial infarction, arrhythmias, stroke).

He is an associate editor at CMAJ, and a decision editor for the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine (CJEM).

Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Social Work

David Nicholas, PhD, RSW, joined the Faculty of Social Work in the Central and Northern Alberta Region as an Associate Professor in 2008. He has a background in psychosocial outcome and intervention research related to children, youth and families affected by illness and disability. Dr. Nicholas brings expertise in qualitative and mixed-method research approaches. He brings an extensive clinical and administrative background in social work and health, and disability.

Dr. Nicholas is the author of over 70 research publications. Over the past 20 years, he has held over $12 million in research grants and has been a PI on major grant funding from federal and provincial sources, including grants funded by SSHRC and CIHR. Dr. Nicholas has been a key leader in nurturing capacity building, addressing vocational issues in ASD, and building partnerships in Canada and internationally. Much of his current research focuses on seeking more equitable opportunities for obtaining and retaining employment for persons with ASD.

Postdoctoral Portfolio Co-lead

Dr. Khara Sauro is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery with cross appointments in the Departments of Community Health Sciences and Oncology. She is a member of the O’Brien Institute for Public Health and the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute. Dr. Sauro holds a PhD in Community Health Sciences (Health Services Research) from the University of Calgary and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Implementation Science within the Department of Critical Care Medicine (University of Calgary).