MPH Faculty

Shehzad Ali, PhD

Associate Professor & Canada Research Chair in Public Health Economics

Research Interests / Specializations: Monitoring equity and efficiency of health systems using administrative data, Health policy analysis using observational data, Economic evaluation for health technology assessment, Developing predictive algorithms for patient outcomes, Elicitation of value judgments and treatment preferences to inform resource allocation Teaching: Thesis supervision for MSc

Cheryl Currie, PhD

Director and Professor

Research Interests / Specializations: Dr. Currie’s research examines the ways in which social experiences, both positive and negative, get under the skin to shape health and behaviour, with a special focus on addictive behaviour.
Biography: Dr. Currie earned a PhD in Public Health from the University of Alberta. She held a faculty position at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta for 12 years before joining Western in fall 2024. Dr. Currie led the development of the graduate Public Health program at ULethbridge, and taught courses in undergraduate and graduate epidemiology and biostatistics. Before becoming an academic, Dr. Currie served as a Program Evaluator, and as a Research & Policy Analyst in government. These foundational experiences in the public health sector continue to inform her teaching and fuel her interest in developing public health programming that is practical and relevant for students.

Ava John-Baptiste, PhD

Associate Professor

Research Interests / Specializations: Dr. John-Baptiste is an expert in health technology assessment. She conducts research on the safety, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a wide range of health technologies, including drugs, devices and health care programs. Dr. John-Baptiste is experienced in all areas of evidence synthesis including systematic review, meta-analysis and decision analytic modeling. She applies these skills to inform clinicians and other health policy decision-makers about the health benefits and cost impacts that can result from health-related decisions.

Daniel Lizotte, PhD

Associate Professor

Research Interests / Specializations: Dr. Lizotte is Assistant Professor, jointly appointed to the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the University of Western Ontario. He develops methodology grounded in machine learning and biostatistics for supporting complex decision making with a focus on health, from public health to precision medicine. Dr. Lizotte's work is inherently multidisciplinary, and is situated in machine learning, biostatistics, health equity, and primary care. Although his work spans a variety of methodological techniques and application areas, his goal is always to improve support for data-driven decision-making. Key to Dr. Lizotte's research philosophy is knowledge translation, and by building relationships with healthcare organizations he works to bridge the gap between machine learning research and healthcare and public health practice.

Gerald McKinley, PhD

Associate Professor

Research Interests / Specializations: Dr. McKinley is a medical anthropologist who specializes in the social determinants of mental health and Indigenous youth suicide prevention in Ontario, Canada. Dr. McKinley conducts research in partnership with First Nations across northern Ontario. His current research focuses on change and adaption across generations and how changes to land based activities impact social processes. Dr. McKinley is also a member of the Walpole Island First Nation/Western University Ecosystem Health Research Team which is studying the long-term health effects of environmental stress on the community.

Nicole Redvers, ND

Associate Professor

Research Interests / Specializations: Indigenous Health, Planetary Health, Traditional Medicine, Indigenous Knowledge Translation, Indigenous Global Health

Shannon Sibbald, PhD

Associate Professor

Research Interests / Specializations: As a health systems researcher, my interests span the health care continuum and focus on process, outcomes and evaluation of team-based care delievery. My program of research includes implementation science: the study of knowledge processes (capturing, sharing, using, storing). I use primarily qualitative research methods including multiple-case comparison, narrative approach, grounded theory, content and discourse analysis.

Amanda Terry, PhD

Associate Professor

Research Interests / Specializations: Dr. Terry's research in primary health care focuses on understanding issues in electronic medical record (EMR) adoption among primary health care practitioners, in developing approaches to measuring EMR data quality, and in exploring ways to enhance the value of EMRs in primary health care practice. She also works to enhance the connection among primary health care stakeholders in Canada, and to build research capacity.

Amardeep Thind, MD, PhD

Professor

Research Interests / Specializations: I am a head and neck surgeon with a doctorate in health services research. My areas of research interest and expertise are access to care (especially for vulnerable populations), health equity, program evaluation, and electronic medical records. I work on these issues both in Canada and internationally.

Lloy Wylie, PhD

Associate Professor

Research Interests / Specializations: Dr. Wylie's research is primarily focused on equity and cultural safety in health services delivery. Her applied approach includes supporting the development of interdisciplinary multi-sector models of service coordination that can improve continuity of care. Her current projects examine access to and experiences with health care services for Indigenous peoples and immigrant/ refugee populations. She also focuses on cultural competency of health care providers and institutions. In addition, she examines governance and models of care among First Nations controlled health services. Her work also examines the effectiveness of educational initiatives in changing health care practices, through community based evaluation.