Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair, Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University
Meet the team!
Current Trainees
Monika Dutt
Health Policy
PhD, expected 2026
Full-Time Student
Monika Dutt is a PhD student beginning the Health Policy Doctoral Program at McMaster in 2022. Her research will focus on decent work as a public health issue. Her goal is to use qualitative research to strengthen collaboration between community-based worker-led organizing and institutional public health, using the specific policy example of paid sick days. She is a physician in both Public Health and Preventive Medicine as well as Family Medicine. She has worked in public health for over ten years as a Medical Officer of Health, most recently for Central and Western Newfoundland and Labrador. She also works at the Ally Centre of Cape Breton Health Centre. She has lived in Nova Scotia for the past ten years with her son. Monika’s doctoral work is funded by a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship from CIHR.
Dima Hadid
Health Policy
PhD, expected 2026
Full-Time Student
Dima Hadid is starting her PhD in Health Policy at McMaster University in September 2022 under the supervision of Dr. Vanstone. Her research has appeared in several top tier journals across disciplines and she will be working as a research assistant with Dr. Vanstone on multiple ongoing research projects. She is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Scholar award 2022. She is expected to graduate in summer 2026.
Gursimran Deol
Health Science Education
MSc, expected 2025
Full-Time Student
Gursimran Deol is an MSc student in the Health Science Education program. She earned a BSc (Hons) from the Life Sciences program at McMaster University in 2023. During her BSc, Gursimran worked in the Sloboda Lab investigating the impact of diet-induced obesity and taurine supplementation on paternal periconceptional health and placental development. Her master’s thesis will be exploring non-pregnant partner support during pregnancy and developing programming to inform partners of pregnant individuals through primary care practices. Gursimran is a CIHR CGS-M award recipient.
Cindy Quinton
Health Science Education
MHSEd, expected 2025
Part-Time Student
Cindy is a practicing medical oncologist just beginning her thesis in the Master’s of Health Science Education program. Her thesis work will concern the development and portrayal of empathy in end-of-life care providers.
Jessica Gaber
Health Policy
PhD, expected 2028
Full-Time Student
Jessica Gaber started her Health Policy PhD at McMaster in 2024 under the co-supervision of Dr. Vanstone and Dr. Fiona Kouyoumdjian. Her research is focused on improving health-related evidence about and alongside people with lived experience of incarceration. She has a BA in Psychology as a Research Specialist (Minor in Political Science) and a Master of Social Work (MSW), both from Wilfrid Laurier University. Now a registered social worker with clinical, community development, and research experience, Jessica has worked as a Research Coordinator at the Department of Family Medicine for over a decade. She is the recipient of a 2024-2025 Ontario Graduate Scholarship.
Harmela Celestin
Honours Health Science
HBHSc – Thesis student
Full-Time Student
Harmela is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) program at McMaster University.
Her thesis, funded by a CIHR Undergraduate Student Research Award, examines how university students search for and make sense of health information on social media.
Abisha Yogaratnam
Health Policy
PhD, expected 2028
Full-Time Student
Abisha joined the Health Policy PhD program in September 2024 and is co-supervised by Meredith and Dr. Amanda Sim. Abisha is interested in studying health policies which influence the health of refugees and asylum-seekers in Canada.
Dania Ihsan
Honours Health Science
HBHSc – Thesis student
Full-Time Student
Dania Ihsan is a third-year undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) program at McMaster University. With a strong passion for advancing equitable and community-centered healthcare, Dania is currently completing a project course closely with Gursimran, focusing on non-pregnant partner support during pregnancy.
Mayah Foo
Honours Life Science
BSc(Hons)
Full Time Student
Mayah is a third-year undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Life Sciences (Honours) program at McMaster University. Currently, she is assisting in the completion of a project on Ontario’s three-month waiting period for Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage under the guidance of PhD student, Dima Hadid.
Current Research Assistants
Alison Scholes
Project
IPCA
Alison graduated from Queen’s University in 2022 where she received a BSc (Hons) with a major in Life Sciences. During her undergraduate studies, Alison’s work as a research assistant at Brantford General Hospital and involvement with the 3 Wishes Program sparked her interest in end-of-life care and ethical dilemmas. From 2022-2024, she attained a MSc from the Health Sciences Education program. Having received the MERIT-HSED Fellowship award, Alison’s thesis addressed ethical decisions made by frontline ICU clinicians during COVID-19 and the issue of moral distress. Alison is currently working as a research assistant on the IPCA project. In August 2025, she will begin medical school at the University of Chicago.
Asiana Elma
Project
IPCA & Addressing pay gaps in medicine
Asiana is a Research Coordinator in the Department of Family Medicine and a PhD student at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Her doctoral research, supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, focuses on the role of information and communication technologies in facilitating information coordination between primary care and other levels of care. In her role as a Research Coordinator, Asiana supports Dr. Vanstone on various projects, including optimizing indirect patient care activities in primary care and addressing pay gaps in medicine.
Katrina Shen
Project
Addressing pay gaps in medicine
Katrina completed her Honours Life Sciences degree at McMaster University in 2023. She is currently enrolled in the Master’s of Public Health program at McMaster. Katrina has contributed to many projects on the Vanstone Team, and is currently coordinating the Pay Gaps in Family Medicine study.
Alumni
Alexandra Cernat, PhD
Health Policy
Graduated 2024
Dissertation
Alexandra Cernat began her PhD in Health Policy in September 2020, under the supervision of Dr Vanstone. She earned an MSc in Health Services Research from the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation (IHPME) at the University of Toronto in 2020, and a BSc from the Honours Life Sciences program at McMaster University in 2018. She began working with Dr Vanstone in 2015 as a Research Assistant, studying stakeholder perspectives and the ethical and social implications of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). Alex’s thesis work focuses on stakeholder perspectives on and preferences for the implementation of genetic testing for drug response in primary care. She is the recipient of a 2021-2022 Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS), as well as a Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canadian Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award (CGS-D) from CIHR (declined). She currently holds a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship from CIHR. Alex completed her doctoral studies in 2024 and is currently a medical student at the University of Alberta.
Manisha Pahwa, PhD
Health Policy
Graduated August 2023
Dissertation
Ethical dimensions of lung cancer screening in Canada
Manisha Pahwa completed her PhD in the Health Policy program at the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis (CHEPA) at McMaster University in August 2023. Her PhD thesis is entitled “Ethical and social values of screening Canadians for lung cancer using low dose computed tomography”. She has published primary research papers and systematic reviews in the cancer, occupational, and epidemiology literature. Manisha is a recipient of the 2019-2020 Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and her doctoral work was funded by Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award (CGS-D) from CIHR. In 2023, Manisha won a CIHR REDI award, which is currently funding a postdoctoral fellowship at McGill University.
Shipra Taneja, MSc
Health Research Methodology
Graduated July 2023
Thesis
Shipra Taneja completed her MSc in the Health Research Methodology Program in July 2023. She earned a BSc (Hons) from the Life Sciences Program at McMaster University in 2021. Shipra’s master’s thesis involves using a mixed-methods design to develop a score that will measure bleeding in acute leukemia patients during clinical trials. During her undergraduate and graduate degrees, Shipra worked as a Research Assistant for Dr. Vanstone on multiple projects: exploring how pregnant persons make decisions about using cannabis during pregnancy and breastfeeding, exploring the experiences of child life specialists working in adult oncology settings, developing a measure to incorporate patient and family perspectives on gastrointestinal bleeding into clinical trial research.
Monica Molinaro, PhD
Family Medicine
Postdoctoral Fellow (2021-23)
Monica Molinaro was a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Family Medicine exploring patient and health care provider experiences of health inequity in primary care. Monica completed her PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences from Western University, her Master of Science in Kinesiology from Wilfrid Laurier University, and her Honours Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences from McMaster University. Her research interests include using qualitative methodologies to explore patient, health care provider, and caregiver experiences of providing and receiving care. Her specific expertise, developed during her PhD, lies in using critical narrative methodologies, as well as moral distress as an analytic lens, to explore health care providers’ experiences of caregiving. Monica is currently an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Health Science Education at McGill University.
Alice Cavanagh, PhD
Health Policy & Medicine
Graduated October 2022
Dissertation
Alice Cavanagh is an MD/PhD student at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine and in McMaster University’s Health Policy PhD Program. Alice’s doctoral research uses qualitative methodologies to understand how physicians learn about intimate partner violence in the course of their medical training. She is a recipient of a PSI Research Trainee Award, an Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and a Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canadian Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award (CGS-D) from CIHR. Dr. Cavanagh defended her dissertation, entitled “Physician roles in addressing intimate partner violence: Stakeholder perspectives to inform medical education and policy” on October 7, 2022. Alice completed her medical degree in 2024 and is currently a Family Medicine resident at the University of Toronto.
Shayan Novin
Honours Health Sciences
BHSc
Shayan is an undergraduate student in the Health Sciences (Hons.) Program. He is currently completing a project on the representation, exclusion, and social constructions of the LGBTQ+ community in Bachelor of Health Sciences courses. Shayan hopes to use his findings to guide change in existing curricula.
Zara Hasan
Honours Health Sciences
BHSc
Zara is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Health Sciences (honours) program at McMaster University. She is currently completing her thesis related to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome under the supervision of Dr. Vanstone.
Anuoluwa Popoola
Honours Health Sciences
BHSc
Anu is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Health Sciences (honours) program at McMaster University. She has worked with the Vanstone team for over 2 years on a variety of projects, including those related to decision-making about cannabis use in pregnancy. Currently, she is completing her thesis related to childhood experiences of racism under the supervision of Dr. Vanstone.
Lana Amoudi
Honours Health Sciences
BHSc
Lana is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Health Sciences (honours) program at McMaster University. She is currently completing a project course related to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome under the supervision of Dr. Vanstone.
Sujane Kandasamy, PhD
Health Research Methodology
Graduated August 2021
Current Position
Postdoctoral Fellow at Brock University
Simone Griffith, MHSEd
Health Science Education
Graduated April 2021
Kristen Burrows, PhD
Health Research Methodology
Graduated October 2019
Dissertation
Exploring Physician Assistant Role Integration in the Ontario Healthcare System
Current Position
Assistant Dean, Physician Assistant Program, McMaster University
Amanda Bell, MD, MSc
Health Science Education
Graduated September 2019
Thesis
“Medical Student Mistreatment: A Journey”
This work was funded in part by the Canadian Association for Medical Education Wooster Family Grant. In this work we describe the experiences of medical students who undergo mistreatment during their training in five phases and look at student suggestions for improved support and changes to the learning environment. Through her Masters studies, Amanda has twice received the Faculty of Health Sciences Graduate Programs Excellence Award and presentation of her thesis results also received an outstanding oral presentation award in 2019 at the Faculty of Health Science Research Plenary.
Current Positions
Regional Assistant Dean of the Niagara Campus of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine
Assistant Clinical Professor, part-time, in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster
Member of McMaster’s program for Education Research, Innovation, and Theory
Amanda is the past recipient of the McMaster Faculty of Health Science’s John C. Sibley Award for Excellence in Education of a Part-Time Faculty and has been awarded the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario Council Award.
Chanté De Freitas, MSc
Health Science Education
Graduated August 2019
Thesis
This work identified several dimensions to the obstacles that are faced by aspiring physicians from low-income backgrounds and how they work around these challenges. It was funded by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship and the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University. Chanté is a member of McMaster’s program for Education Research, Innovation, and Theory (MERIT) and has won awards for Graduate Student Excellence, Outstanding Oral Presentation, and Outstanding Thesis Research. She uses her background in anthropology and her interest in design to understand and address social problems in medical education and health care. She recently published an article in Medical Education entitled “When I Say…Merit.” Chante’s work was funded by a Ontario Graduate Scholarship Award.
Current Position
Emily Block, MSc
Health Science Education
Graduated April 2019
Thesis
“How clinical environments shape the medical learner -clinical teacher relationship”
This work was supported with funds by an overarching project that examined unprofessionalism, mistreatment and abuse that medical learners experienced during their medical training at McMaster University. Emily’s thesis project found that there are key types of interactions that build trust in the medical learner-clinical teacher relationship. These interactions play a critical role in how the learner perceives a learning environment where they feel they can confidently co-navigate with their teacher, learning within the dynamics of a work environment that can often make learning difficult (i.e. learning from mistakes).
Current Position
Curriculum Design and Education Research Lead, Continuing Health Sciences Education, McMaster University
Laura Davey, MSc
Health Science Education
Graduated December 2018
Thesis
Current Position
Registered Nurse, Trauma & Surgical Services, Alberta Health Services
Nicole Didyk, MD, FRCP(C), MSc
Health Science Education
Graduated December 2018
Thesis
“Optimization of Faculty Development at a Distributed Medical Campus”
This work examined the role of faculty development in the maturation of a newly implanted community medical campus. We found that a community undergoes a process of transformation to a medical campus as more learners move through the site, and more teachers are recruited and developed. Expert teachers can emerge and communities of practice for faculty development can promote the ongoing development and maintenance of community medical teachers.
Current Position
Geriatrician-Internist, Kitchener-Waterloo
Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine, Waterloo Regional Campus of the McMaster Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine
She is currently conducting research on the use of social media for education in Geriatrics, and can be contacted through her Facebook page The Wrinkle.
Mia Kibel, B. Arts Sci
Arts & Science
Graduated 2017
Thesis
This work addressed a problem in the discipline of health technology policy-making, wherein ethical vs. economic frameworks used to assess health technologies have different, and sometimes contradictory, ideas of a technology’s value or optimal use. Mia’s thesis offered evidence that the Capabilities Approach could be used to align economic and ethical evaluations in HTA, using Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing as an example case.
Current Position
Medical Student, University of Toronto
Mia went on to work as a Research Assistant at the University of Toronto, on a team investigating an HIV epidemic among street-connected youth in Eldoret Kenya, and afterwards as a Research Assistant at the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. She has published in Social Science and Medicine and the Journal of Adolescent Health. Mia started medical school at the University of Toronto in the fall of 2019.
Umair Majid, MSc
Health Research Methodology
Graduated June 2017
Thesis
“Appraising Qualitative Research for Evidence Syntheses: A Compendium of Quality Appraisal Tools”
This work reviewed the characteristics, content, and usage of high-utility tools for appraising qualitative research in qualitative evidence syntheses. Umair has also worked with Meredith on multiple projects for health technology assessment agencies, for example, HPV testing for primary cervical cancer screening for the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health and non-invasive prenatal testing for Health Quality Ontario.
Current Position
PhD student, Health Services Organization and Management, University of Toronto
Umair also completed his MEd in innovative curriculum planning from Queen’s University in December 2018. In his current position, he is formulating recommendations for hospitals on engaging patients in health service planning and improvement activities. He is expected to graduate from this program in June 2021. Umair is also an Instructor at McMaster University teaching courses on epidemiology, the Canadian healthcare system, pathophysiology, organizational behavior, and performance measurement. He continues to consult with health technology assessment agencies to provide evidence on patient perspectives and experiences as well as implementation considerations for interventions, drugs, and technologies.
Past Research Assistants
Rebecca Correia
Project
Navigating COVID-19 Risk in Pregnancy
Cassandra Kuyvenhoven
Project
Covid risk in pregnancy, direct observation, and experiences of recovery from ME/CFS
Cassandra Kuyvenhoven was a Research Coordinator in the Department of Family Medicine, applying her specialized qualitative knowledge to monitor, analyze, and report on several research projects. Her doctorate is in Environmental Studies, and she enjoys applying an environmental/social justice lens to health research. Special interests include interdisciplinary research, queer and feminist theories, chronic illness, and primary care. Cassandra contributed to a variety of projects including covid risk in pregnancy, direct observation, and experiences of recovery from ME/CFS.
Andrea Carruthers
Project
Cannabis and pregnancy, pay gaps in medicine and Covid risk in pregnancy
Andrea Carruthers attained a Masters of Human Kinetics degree from Laurentian University, after completing a Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Arts in Sport Psychology. As a past competitive figure skater, she combines her love of athletics, with psychology and science to build a career focused on health and research. Using her post-graduate experiences, as well as her natural observation skills gained from teaching and coaching opportunities, she brings project management, analytical, and data collection abilities to her work. Andrea contributed to a variety of projects including cannabis and pregnancy, pay gaps in medicine, and covid risk in pregnancy.
Mehreen Chowdhury
Project
Various
Mehreen is an undergraduate student enrolled in the Honours Integrated Science Program.
Ilana Allice, MA
Project
Evaluating Health and Social Provider Education about Family Violence Prevention
Ilana holds an MA in International Development Studies from York University. With Meredith, she has worked on projects related to Family Medicine education and direct observation and feedback. She coordinated a national study to implement and evaluate education materials encouraging health and social service providers to recognize and respond to people who have experienced family violence. Ilana works out of the Offord Centre for Child Studies with Dr. Melissa Kimber.
Darly Dash
Project
Patient preferences for prostate cancer screening
Darly was a Research Assistant with the Department of Family Medicine, working on a project about patient preferences for prostate cancer screening. Darly is completing her PhD in Health Research Methodology with Dr. Andrew Costa.
Njideka Sanya
Project
Understanding medical learner behaviour of seeking & avoiding feedback from preceptors
Njideka is a research assistant with the Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University, working with Meredith on varying projects including a direct observation of medical learners to understand their behaviour of seeking and avoiding feedback from preceptors. She has a first degree in Medicine and a Masters in Public Health from the University of Edinburgh as a Commonwealth scholar.
Janelle Panday, MSc
Project
Decision-making about cannabis in pregnancy and breastfeeding; Canadian Patient Partner Study
Janelle holds a BSc in Psychology & Biology from the University of Toronto, and an MSc in Rehabilitation Science from McMaster. She has conducted and supported research primarily in populations with neurological diagnoses using qualitative and mixed methods and is currently working with ECI Pharmacomm as a project coordinator.
Marina Sadik, MSc
Project
Overflowing Inbox: Optimizing the educational experiences of family medicine residents
Marina has worked as a Research Assistant and Research Coordinator at the Department of Family Medicine for four years. She is currently a Research Associate with the University of Windsor.
Eunice Tunggal
Project
Various
Eunice is an undergraduate student in the Molecular Biology and Genetics program. She worked with the team on a variety of projects.
Meera Mahmud, MSc
Project
Medical Education Adaptations in a Pandemic, Medical Education Admissions
Meera has an MSc in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Brock University. She joined the team to work on a variety of medical education projects co-led with Dr. Lawrence Grierson. She is currently an epidemiologist and data lead with the Timiskaming Health Unit.
Kayonne Christy, MA
Project
Provider Experiences of Medical Assistance in Dying; Black women’s experiences of cervical cancer screening
Kayonne Christy graduated from McMaster’s Health Studies undergraduate program in June 2019. Meredith supervised Kayonne’s independent reading course on Black feminist approaches to understanding health inequities. The final product of this course was a comprehensive literature review and research proposal entitled, “Let’s talk about stress, baby: A Black feminist approach to understanding prenatal sources of stress among pregnant Black women”. This review found that mutually reinforcing systems of oppression (i.e. racism, sexism and classism) intersect to act as chronic psychosocial stressors in the lives of Black women, and contribute to a variety of negative maternal and perinatal health outcomes. The findings from this literature review have been presented at two academic conferences, Meredith’s Qualitative Health Research Lab meeting, and a McMaster Medicine OBGYN and LGBTQ+ Health Interest Group meeting. Kayonne is currently a Board Member of the Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre, and a member of the Race, Racialization & Racism working group of McMaster’s Presidents Advisory Committee on Building an Inclusive Community (PACBIC). Kayonne is a SSHRC CGS-M award recipient and completed an MA in Sociology at the University of British Columbia. She is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Michigan.
Eamon Colvin, B. Arts Sci
Project
Physician Experiences of Clinical Intuition
Eamon is currently completing his PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Ottawa.
Raquel Burgess, MSc
Project
Medical Education Admissions, Women and clinician’s experiences of non-invasive prenatal testing
Raquel is currently completing her PhD in Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health, Yale University.