Future Trial Leaders

Vinai Bhagirath

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Biography: Vinai Bhagirath is a hematologist focusing on thrombosis medicine. He completed hematology training and a master's in medical sciences at McMaster University, subsequently joining the faculty. He is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University, academic lead of the thrombosis program, and director of McMaster Thrombosis Fellowships. His research interests include optimal use of antithrombotic therapies to minimize bleeding risk, with a growing focus on use of information and communication technologies.

Pavlos Bobos

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Biography: Pavlos Bobos is an assistant professor (tenured track) in musculoskeletal health. Professor Bobos’ research themes include the development and evaluation of mobility and activity interventions, clinical measurement methods and innovations and the identification of best practices using evidence synthesis. His clinical experience is in the field of musculoskeletal health with a focus on exercise, activity modification and complex multimodal interventions that improve physical and mental health in people with chronic pain.

Rahul Chanchlani

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Biography: Rahul Chanchlani is a clinician-researcher appointed as an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster Children’s Hospital, Hamilton. He holds associate faculty status in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HEI) and is a cross-appointed scientist at ICES and the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI), McMaster University. His research program, which aims to address critical knowledge gaps in pediatric kidney diseases and hypertension using routinely collected healthcare data, is supported by grants from various organizations, including CIHR and Kidney Foundation of Canada. His recognitions include induction into the Society of Pediatric Research (SPR) and the International Pediatric Nephrology Association’s Renee Habib Young Investigator Award. He has demonstrated a strong track record of productivity, including 2 book chapters, >90 manuscripts and >70 oral presentations and posters. Recognitions include induction into the Society of Pediatric Research (SPR) and the International Pediatric Nephrology Association’s Renee Habib Young Investigator Award.

Edward (Ted) Clark

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Biography: Edward (Ted) Clark, MD, MSc is a staff nephrologist, associate professor and medical director of Critical Care Nephrology at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa. He is also an associate scientist in the Clinical Epidemiology Program of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He is trained and certified in nephrology and critical care medicine with a clinical and research focus on acute kidney injury and renal replacement therapy in ICU.

Megan Delisle

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Biography: I completed my Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship at the University of Ottawa, my general surgery residency at the University of Manitoba, and my medical degree at McGill University. During my general surgery residency, I studied at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where I acquired a master’s of Public Health with a focus on improving health systems. I also obtained a MSc in Surgery from the University of Manitoba through the Clinician Investigator Program, where I evaluated the quality and costs of colorectal cancer care in Manitoba. In addition to my clinical work as a Surgical Oncologist within CancerCare Manitoba and Shared Health, I dedicate an equal proportion of my time to advancing my research program.

Tyrone Harrison

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Biography: Tyrone Harrison MD PhD is an assistant professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary, where he works as a health services researcher and nephrologist. He completed his nephrology clinical training in 2018, followed by a PhD in Health Services Research at the University of Calgary in 2022. His current research program is focused on exploring patient-oriented clinical, perioperative, and health utilization outcomes and prediction strategies, and use this to inform risk-guided interventions for people with acute and chronic diseases.

Sabrina Hoa

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Biography: Sabrina Hoa, MD MSc FRCPC, is a rheumatologist, assistant professor and clinician researcher at the University of Montreal Health Center. She completed her MD and internal medicine training at McGill University, her rheumatology subspecialty training at University of Montreal, and a Masters in Epidemiology and postdoctoral fellowship in systemic sclerosis at McGill University. She is now an FRQ-S-funded clinical research scholar and chair of the University of Montreal Scleroderma Chair. Her current research focuses on the study of treatment effectiveness in systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease, using data from observational registries and clinical trials.

Benita Hosseini

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Biography: Benita Hosseini is a research scientist at the Upstream Lab, MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto. Benita completed her Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Université de Montréal, where she contributed to several clinical trials addressing the impact of dietary intervention on respiratory illnesses in children and adults. Her research focuses on a comprehensive approach to managing respiratory diseases, including dietary interventions, advanced diagnostic tests, and the implementation of Artificial Intelligence solutions, with a particular emphasis on vulnerable populations. Currently, Benita is one of the co-principal investigators of the CanTreatCOVID study, which is a nationwide adaptive platform trial designed to identify effective and affordable medications for COVID.

Naheed Jivraj

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Biography: Naheed Jivraj is an intensivist and anesthesiologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, as well as an assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto. Naheed completed residencies in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine (2023) at the University of Toronto. He also completed an MSc in International Health Policy with a focus on Health Economics from the London School of Economics and a MSc in Clinical Epidemiology from the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (UofT) under the supervision of Dr. Hannah Wunsch. His research focuses on understanding drivers of international and local variation in critical care service delivery, the cost-effectiveness of critical care interventions, and improving ICU and post-ICU sedation and analgesia practices.

Calvin Ke

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Biography: Calvin Ke is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine and Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, a clinician scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, an adjunct scientist at ICES, and a staff endocrinologist at the Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network in Toronto, Canada. He directs the Epidemiologic and Applied Research Lab in YoungOnset Diabetes​ (EARLY Diabetes, earlydiabetes.ca), and leads the Health Services and Quality of Care Working Group of the Novo Nordisk Network for Healthy Populations at the University of Toronto. He received his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Toronto. He completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of British Columbia and in Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Toronto. He completed his PhD in clinical epidemiology and global health as a Global Scholar at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto. His research interests include the management and outcomes of type 2 diabetes, with a focus on young-onset type 2 diabetes and on Chinese and South Asian populations. He has conducted diabetes research internationally across Canada, China, India, and Guyana. His research publications have appeared in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals such as JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, Diabetes Care, The Lancet Global Health, PLoS Medicine, and Nature Reviews Endocrinology. He previously served as an Honorary Visiting Scholar at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and has received multiple awards including the Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism Dr. Fernand Labrie Fellowship Research Award, the Queen Elizabeth Advanced Scholars Award, and the South Asian Network Supporting Awareness and Research Burgundy Young Investigator Award. He serves as Associate Editor of Primary Care Diabetes, Section Editor of Current Diabetes Reports, National Consultant Editor of the Canadian Journal of Diabetes, and as a member of the International Diabetes Federation Atlas Committee and the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration. As a second-generation Chinese Canadian with roots in Hong Kong, he engages closely with ethnically diverse communities in his research and clinical work.

Tibetha Kemble

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Biography: Tibetha Kemble (Stonechild) is nêhiyawipwâtinâhk and a registered member of the Piapot First Nation (Treaty No. 4). Tibetha currently serves as the Indigenous Project Lead for the Accelerating Clinical Trials Consortium, and is a proud mother and small business owner. Tibetha recently completed her PhD in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Education where the focus of her research centered on understanding the impacts and effects of colonial material deprivation in First Nations early childhood. She is an accomplished and established senior Indigenous leader who has held several senior leadership positions across a wide variety of sectors; most recently as the founding Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Associate Vice President of Learner Experience, and as the Senior Manager, Indigenous Relations & Supports with NorQuest College. She entered post-secondary administration in 2017 as the Director of Indigenous Health in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta. Prior to post-secondary, Tibetha worked in both the federal and provincial public service for 15 years in Indigenous public policy and program management in the areas of First Nations Child Welfare, Education, Indian Moneys and Field Services. Tibetha is deeply committed to serving her community and currently serves as a Director on the Boards of the John Humphreys Centre for Peace and Human Rights, ACTUA, and Kickstand. The focus of her work, both personally and professionally, remains focused on addressing systemic barriers and redressing the legacies of colonialism across the health and education systems that are distinct to Indigenous peoples and communities in what is now Canada.

Abhijat Kitchlu

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Biography: Abhijat Kitchlu completed medical school at Western University, followed by postgraduate training in internal medicine and nephrology at the University of Toronto. He then completed a master’s in clinical epidemiology at the University of Toronto as part of the Clinician Scientist Training Program. He is currently a staff nephrologist and director of the Onco-nephrology Program at the University Health Network in Toronto. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. His research and clinical interest include onco-nephrology (co-existing cancer and kidney disease), with specific focus on toxicities of cancer therapies and cancer treatment options in the setting of chronic kidney disease. He also has interest and expertise in the use of population-level healthcare administrative data for clinical research.

Roni Kraut

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Biography: Roni Kraut is a family physician and assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta. She is an early career researcher with an interest in trials that are centered in family medicine, including deprescribing, overdiagnosis, population screening, and women's health. She has a family medicine practice and is an attending physician at a long-term care centre.

Monali Malvankar

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Biography: As a research director in the Department of Ophthalmology, my focus is to include pragmatic trials to our departmental research portfolio by designing and conducting large-scale multi-centre pragmatic trials to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions in real-life routine practice conditions with the goal of better patient care and cost savings at the hospital- and provincial-levels. With my quantitative methods background, I foresee myself as a leader in conducting large-scale pragmatic trial involving multiple Canadian hospitals in vision research.

Caitlin McArthur

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Biography: Caitlin McArthur is an assistant professor in the School of Physiotherapy at Dalhousie University. She completed a BSc in Kinesiology (University of Waterloo), MScPT (University of Toronto), and PhD in Kinesiology with a specialization in aging, health, and well-being (University of Waterloo). Caitlin also completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the GERAS Centre for Aging Research within the Department of Medicine at McMaster University. Her research focuses on improving the effectiveness of and access to rehabilitation for people living with chronic health conditions. She is a lead instructor of the continuing education course Bone Fit™ hosted by Osteoporosis Canada, which teaches exercise professionals about safe movements, physical activity, and exercise for people with osteoporosis. Dr. McArthur is also an interRAI fellow.

Flory Muanda

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Biography: Flory Tsobo Muanda is an adjunct scientist in the Kidney, Dialysis, and Transplantation (KDT) Program. He is a pharmacoepidemiologist and assistant professor at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western University. Flory's research program aims to improve prescription-drug safety for older adults. His particular focus is on older adults with chronic kidney disease, chronic liver disease, and those taking multiple medications. He conducts population-based studies using Ontario’s administrative healthcare databases housed at ICES to inform safer prescribing practices for older adults, a segment of the population often excluded from clinical trial.

Sanjay Murthy

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Biography: Sanjay Murthy is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, Gastroenterologist at the Ottawa Hospital IBD Centre and Scientist at The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He completed his medical degree at the University of Ottawa, Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Manitoba and Gastroenterology Residency at the University of Toronto. He completed advanced clinical and research fellowships in inflammatory bowel diseases (Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto), clinical nutrition (Toronto General Hospital) and diagnostic endoscopy (University of Mainz, Germany) and an M.Sc. degree in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research from the University of Toronto. Sanjay Murthy’s research program uses clinical and health administrative data to study cancer epidemiology, health care practice quality, health intervention optimization and personalized medicine, which he applies to the study of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and gastrointestinal cancers. He has attained more than $3 million in peer-reviewed PI grant funding and has published more than 100 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. He currently holds a Tier II Faculty of Medicine Research Chair in IBD from the University of Ottawa. He was recognized as a national Rising Star in IBD research in 2018 by Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. He is currently leading multiple national studies evaluating cancer epidemiology and prevention in IBD, including a multicentre randomized controlled trial comparing different strategies for colorectal cancer prevention.

Mahesh Nagappa

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Biography: Mahesh Nagappa is an experienced anesthesiologist who built his expertise through rigorous training at the University of Toronto before assuming the role of assistant professor at Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University. Renowned for pioneering research initiatives, he has spearheaded a dynamic team that revolutionizes post-surgical rehabilitation methodologies. Mahesh 's mentorship extends to graduate students, medical trainees, and residents, fostering a culture of innovation and excellence. Notable contributions include groundbreaking investigations into preoperative patient screening to preempt adverse outcomes, refining perioperative pain management strategies, and evaluating safety and patient satisfaction protocols. His impactful research has garnered international recognition through presentations at esteemed conferences and publications in reputable journals, positioning him as a trailblazer in anesthesiology and surgical care optimization.

Kyla Naylor

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Biography: Kyla Naylor is an Adjunct Scientist in the Kidney, Dialysis and Transplantation Program at ICES, an Associate Scientist at Lawson Health Research Institute and an Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western University. She completed her PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western University in 2015 and completed her post-doctoral training at ICES in 2018. Kyla is passionate about using research to improve patient care and access to kidney transplant. Her research is primarily focused on using administrative healthcare databases to meet these goals, and also concentrates on the epidemiology of post-transplant outcomes, and more recently, the epidemiology of COVID-19 in the kidney disease population.

Pavel Roshanov

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Biography: I am a new assistant professor and clinician-scientist since July 2022 in the Department of Medicine (Division of Nephrology) and Epidemiology & Biostatistics at Western University where I spend 75% of my time conducting research and 25% providing clinical care in Nephrology and transplantation. I am also an early career investigator at the Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton, ON. I first became involved in large international studies as a medical student. I am now involved in clinical trials and the studies that motivate them and inform their design.

Marco De Tubino Scanavino

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Biography: After graduating in medical school and receiving training in Psychiatry, Scanavino underwent to a research training in University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, attending to the programs of Master’s, doctorate and post doc. He also got additional training in the Center for HIV Education, Study and Training, City University of New York and attended to the course Principles and Practice of Clinical Research, from Harvard Medical School, United States. He was a Lecturer part-time-Professor of University of Sao Paulo from 2018-2021. Scanavino was appointed as Assistant Professor of the Department of Psychiatry since August, 2023; and Cross-appointed to Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics since January 2024 at Western University. His interest of research involves themes as compulsive sexual behavior, sexual disorders, HIV risk behavior, sexual violence, risk behavior for violence, severe mental illness, education on psychiatry and neuroscience.

Shamini Selvakumar

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Biography: Shamini Selvakumar is a general pediatrician at McMaster Children's Hospital. She completed her MD at McMaster University, followed by pediatric residency at McMaster Children's Hospital. During this time, she completed the Clinician Investigator Program and obtained a MSc in Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact. She has a research interest within hospital pediatrics.

Ravinder-Jeet Singh

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Biography: I work as a stroke neurologist at Health Sciences North in Sudbury and serve as medical director for the Northeastern Ontario Stroke Network. In addition to my clinical responsibilities, I am actively involved in teaching at NOSM University. I am eager to expand my expertise by learning about pragmatic trials, applying this knowledge to improve both stroke care and stroke care systems, and advancing stroke treatment and delivery of stroke services in Canada and beyond.

Morgan Slater

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Biography: I am an early career health services researcher with a focus on primary care and integrated health systems and have over 10 years of experience in clinical research. I am currently a research scientist with the Health Services and Policy Research Institute, with an adjunct appointment in the Department of Family Medicine, at Queen’s University and am an Adjunct Scientist with ICES. I received a master’s degree from the University of Calgary and my doctorate from the University of Toronto. During my postdoctoral fellowship, I was part of the inaugural cohort of the CIHR Health System Impact Fellows and was also a TUTOR-PHC Fellow, a pan-Canadian network of interdisciplinary primary health care researchers and decision-makers.

Ricky Turgeon

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Biography: Ricky Turgeon is an assistant professor at the UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and clinical pharmacy specialist at the PHARM-HF clinic, a pharmacist-led heart failure medication optimization clinic, at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver. His research focuses on integrating evidence and shared decision-making into clinical practice to optimize the care of people living with cardiovascular disease. His clinical focus is in optimal use of heart failure pharmacotherapy, medication safety in cardiovascular disease, and medications to reduce cardiovascular risk.

Eric Winquist

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Biography: Eric Winquist is a medical oncologist, clinician researcher, and Professor of Oncology at Western University in London, Ontario. He has extensive experience with clinical trials, and has a Master’s degree in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University. Current research interests include pharmacogenomics, predictive biomarkers, and research synthesis. He has served as Medical Director of the Clinical Cancer Research Unit at London Health Sciences Centre (2007-13), Subcontractor for the PMH Phase 2 Consortium (2000-10), and Lead for the Lawson Translational Cancer Research Program of the OICR High Impact Clinical Trials Program for the London site (2005-2010). In 2013 he received the Dean’s Individual Award of Excellence from Western University,

Yan Xu

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Biography: Yan Xu obtained his medical degree at Queen’s University (Kingston), followed by internal medicine residency at the University of Toronto. He moved to Ottawa in 2019 to complete his hematology residency, followed by an Adult Thrombosis Medicine fellowship and a master of science degree in Epidemiology. He joined the University of Ottawa in July 2023 as an assistant professor and an associate scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. He is also an attending hematologist and thrombosis specialist at The Ottawa Hospital. Dr. Xu's research program seeks to optimize the risks and benefits of anticoagulants in the prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism, with a particular focus to characterize, understand, and address systemic inequities across the spectrum of thrombosis research and clinical care. 

Ann Young

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Biography: Ann Young received her MD and completed her internal medicine and nephrology training at the University of Toronto. She holds a PhD in clinical epidemiology and health services research from Western University. She just completed a post-doctoral fellowship, supported by the KRESCENT program and CIHR. She is now an assistant professor and nephrologist in the Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine at St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto. Her research program is focused on strengthening health services delivery for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). She works on innovative approaches to leveraging anonymized health administrative data to enable population-level case-finding of patients at high risk for kidney failure who are not known to a nephrologist to directly contact and connect them with needed kidney care.

Lily Zhou

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Biography: Lily Zhou is a stroke neurologist at Vancouver General Hospital and an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She completed her Doctor of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, neurology residency at UBC, Master of Science in epidemiology at Harvard and fellowships in vascular neurology and neuroepidemiology at Stanford and NIH StrokeNet. She is active in medical education and her research interests are stroke epidemiology, machine-learning using administrative data, cost benefit analysis in health care and post stroke dysphagia treatment and outcomes.