Renée Lafleur – Research Assistant  Renée holds a Master of Science in Human Kinetics from the University of Ottawa.  Her research interests in the field of Motor Control were focused on cognitive processes during blind navigation in elderly adults.  Prior to joining the CT Lamont Centre research team, Renée worked as a student intern at the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Health.  During here time there, Renée had the opportunity to learn about the process with which evidence-based research guides health care policy-makers in Canada to make informed decisions.  Renée is looking forward to expanding her knowledge in primary healthcare research and how it contributes to improving patient care.

Liesha Mayo-Bruinsma – Research Assistant Liesha graduated with distinction from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Environmental Biology.  She has worked as a research assistant for the Institute for the Environment at the University of Ottawa and as a researcher in medical education for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Indigenous Physicians Association.  She currently holds a CIHR Master’s award and is working on her Masters of Science in Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa using data from the Comparison of Models Project (COMP-PC).  She is also a research assistant working on the IDOCC project.

Kate Nash – Outreach Facilitator Kate has an MSc in Health Psychology from City University, London UK and completed a Project Management course at McGill. Before moving to Canada four years ago she worked as an osteopath in primary care and was Research Co-ordinator at the British School of Osteopathy.

Olga Nikolajev – Outreach Facilitator Olga holds a Master's Degree in Religion & Culture from Wilfrid Laurier, a BA in Anthropology and Psychology, as well a Nursing diploma. Since moving to Ottawa years ago, Olga has been providing palliative care nursing in the community, long-term care nursing, and has been involved in palliative care research with several doctors at the Elisabeth Bruyère Research Institute and The Ottawa Hospital. Olga continues to expand her educational knowledge and looks forward to contributing to healthcare research.

Priyanga Seyon – Project Manager Priyanga holds a Master’s degree in Critical Disability Studies with a concurrent Graduate Diploma in Health Service and Policy Research. She also has a Bachelor of Health Studies with specialized honours in Management (Hon BHS), from York University. Priyanga comes to us from Toronto where she worked for the University Health Network as a research analyst. Since moving to Ottawa she is excited to expand her knowledge and experience at the Élisabeth Bruyère Research Institute with the Chronic Disease Self-Management Project.

Jackie Schultz – Program Manager Jackie combines a background in nursing, including 12 years in an academic primary health care setting at The Ottawa Hospital’s Melrose Family Medicine Centre, and extensive project management experience. Jackie has been a project administrator for primary health care research studies at the University of Ottawa for the past four years and currently manages three projects with combined budgets of over two million dollars.

JP Singh – Research Associate J.P. holds a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto.  Prior to his time at the CTLC, J.P. worked as a Research and Development Engineer, designing devices for interventional radiology procedures.  J.P. is currently working on a project which aims to improve the delivery of cardiovascular care in primary care settings.  J.P. continues to diversify his research background and is looking forward to contributing to primary healthcare research.

Chi-Anh Ta – Research Coordinator Chi-Anh completed her graduate studies in nutrition at Université Laval and has an undergraduate degree from McGill.  Before joining the University of Ottawa team in 2002, she worked for the Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire en santé at l’Université de Montréal and as a Research Officer for the Department of Family Medicine, University de Montréal, where she participated in the process to review the family medicine residency program.  She is presently working on a project which is following the evolution of medical students’ interest in a family medicine career.

Eileen Vilis – Outreach Facilitator   Eileen holds a Bachelor of Nursing Science, a Masters in Public Administration and over 20 years of experience in both traditional and non-traditional health care settings. Since 2001 she has been involved in primary health care research as an outreach facilitator, promoting systems change through evidence-based best practices in prevention, respiratory infection control and chronic illness care management. Eileen has been involved in the dissemination of the outreach facilitation model as the Ontario lead for the National Facilitation project and its WebCT course, “Guiding Facilitation in the Canadian Context”.

Ashley Walsh – Research Assistant Ashley holds a Bachelor of Arts in Health Studies from Queens University and an Event Management Certificate from Algonquin College. She has an interest in pursing a career in Health Promotion.