MIRA Members

Elizabeth Alvarez is an experienced family/public health physician and Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact (HEI) at McMaster University. After completing her medical degree and family medicine residency at the University of Toledo in Ohio, she earned a master’s degree in public health through the Northwest Ohio Consortium for Public Health, and a PhD in Health Policy at McMaster University. She also holds a certificate in cognitive behavioural therapy (CMCBT).

Her research uses policy analysis and qualitative and mixed methods for applied knowledge translation, spanning the role of context in evidence informed decision making, public health topics, sustainable health behaviour change across the lifespan, and multidisciplinary care.

Carol Bassim is the Scientific Manager for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). She graduated Dental School in 2004 from the University of Florida, then spent several years with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and the NIDCR of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a Clinical Research Fellow. Carol’s research explores oral health in older adults and the interdependent relationships between tooth loss, food choice, weight loss and frailty. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact at McMaster University and a Section Editor for the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Pamela Baxter is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at McMaster University. Currently, Pamela is examining the issue of resident-to-resident aggression in long-term homes in Canada. Her research is focused on the impact of health policy on health service delivery for older adults living with dementia in long-term care or in the broader community. Using various research designs, she is investigating resident, caregiver and leadership issues. Pamela’s overall goals are to support, challenge and inform policies in order to promote quality care, healthy aging and improve the lives of older adults.

Dr. Beauchamp is a Physical Therapist and Assistant Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster.  She is also an Associate Member in the Department of Medicine.  Marla completed her PhD in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Toronto (2012) and her postdoctoral training in outcomes measurement at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

The overall objective of Dr. Beauchamp’s research program is to develop evidence-based strategies to improve mobility among older adults. Her research has two key arms related to this aim: 1) advancing the assessment of mobility problems among older adults; and 2) personalized rehabilitative interventions to optimize late-life mobility. Dr. Beauchamp’s ongoing research is supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canada’s Aging and Technology Network (AGE-WELL NCE), the Canadian Respiratory Research Network (CRRN), and the Labarge Centre for Mobility in Aging within the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA).

Jackie Bosch is primarily focused on the area of clinical adult neurological rehabilitation. She began her work with large clinical trials at the Population Health Research Institute where she completed her Master’s in Clinical Epidemiology, which focused on functional recovery post-stroke. She currently acts as co-investigator on both primary and secondary trials on the prevention of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Her research also examines cardiovascular disease prevention and studies improving function. Jackie has over 65 peer reviewed publications.

Lisa Dolovich is the Research Director and Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. She is a scientist with the Centre for Evaluation of Medicines at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. Lisa co-leads Health TAPESTRY, a research program and health intervention which aims to help older adults stay healthy longer and to age well in their own home and community. This approach is identifying people at risk before they require emergency medical care or hospitalization, which reduces health care costs and improves outcomes for older adults in health care facilities. The program has successfully been funded to expand to new communities across Canada. Lisa’s expertise is based on the emerging eHealth discipline, population health, and community-based primary health care interventions.

Vickie Galea is an Associate Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. Her expertise is in sensory/motor neuroscience with a focus on sensory/motor development. Her research focuses on using neurophysiological assessments to study motor behaviour in child patient populations. In addition, she is the Co-Director of the Human Movement Laboratory and a member of the McMaster Institute for Music & the Mind, due to her interest in dance and motor control in relation to coordination with rhythmic sounds. Vickie’s interest in aging research is focused on pain management and mobility in older adults.

Rebecca Ganann is a full-time Assistant Professor at McMaster University's School of Nursing. She teaches in both the undergraduate and graduate programs. After completing her PhD, Dr. Ganann completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the Aging, Community and Health Research Unit (ACHRU) to study the impact of patient, caregiver, and community engagement in research teams under the supervision of Dr. Maureen Markle-Reid, Ruta Valaitis, and Carrie McAiney.

Dr. Ganann is an early career researcher with ACHRU and the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA). Her research focuses on the real-world impact of patient, caregiver and community engagement on older adults.

Andrea Gonzalez is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences. Her research aims to understand the mechanisms by which early human experiences are transmitted across generations and how preventive interventions may affect this transmission. Andrea looks to identify biological, neuropsychological and psychosocial risk and resilience factors contributing to parenting and subsequent child developmental outcomes. Andrea’s research is an important key for understanding links between intergenerational trauma and how some people live longer, healthier lives based on their biological makeup.

Lauren Griffith is an associate professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster. She holds a PhD in epidemiology from the University of Toronto and a master’s degree in biostatistics from the University of Michigan. Her research interests include physical functioning, injury and aging as well as the harmonization of longitudinal data. Since joining the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) in November 2007, Dr. Griffith has worked on the analysis and reporting of several feasibility studies and the development of the CLSA protocol. In 2011, she served as interim national manager of the CLSA, and is currently the lead of the Hamilton Data Collection Site.

Michelle Kho is an Assistant Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science. Her research focuses on effective and creative methods of physiotherapy such as in-bed cycling, to help patients stay as strong as possible while they are in the intensive care unit (ICU). She is also a clinician-scientist who cares for patients at St. Joseph’s Healthcare ICU. Michelle holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Critical Care Rehabilitation and Knowledge Translation. As our population ages and the demand for critical care increases, Michelle’s rehabilitation research may help improve function and quality of life in ICU survivors.

Cynthia Lokker is an Assistant Professor and the Faculty of Health Sciences lead for McMaster University’s Master of Science in eHealth. Dr. Lokker teaches core health sciences courses such as Fundamentals of eHealth and the Canadian Health Care System, and Research Methods in eHealth. In addition, she is also an academic advisor for students completing their thesis in the eHealth program. Her research focuses on critically reviewing medical journals and improving the use of terminology in knowledge translation. Lokker is primarily interested in evaluating eHealth applications and knowledge translation.

Gurmit Singh is a Professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University. His research through the Singh Laboratory focuses on experimental therapies for breast and prostate cancer, with a specific interest in bone mestasis. Singh’s most recent research has focused on Oncodynamics, a term used for understanding how cancer cells effect the body. Dr. Singh aims to understand cancer-induced pain and develop pain management treatments, which could greatly affect aging adults suffering from cancer. In addition, Singh is involved in a variety of national and international research foundations and associations. He served as chair of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (Ontario) and is currently a member of the National Board of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Lehana Thabane is a Professor of Biostatistics and Interim Chair of the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, an Associate Member of the School of Nursing and Rehabilitation Science, and Departments of Pediatrics and Anesthesia, as well as a Senior Scientist with the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) at McMaster University. As a research methodologist, Lehana’s research covers a wide spectrum of areas such as clinical trials, evidence-based medicine, research ethics, systematic reviews, and conjoint analysis of patient preferences for health services. Lehana provides statistical leadership in studies of aging population health research, clinical research, health services research and outcomes research. He is currently working on a number of investigations in long-term care evaluation, interventional pain management and transitional care, stroke, frailty, and multimorbidity. His commitment to educating and mentoring has granted him winner of the President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision 2016 and the FHS Excellence in Graduate Supervision Award for 2012 at McMaster.