Our Research Team
Team Biographies
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Dr. Sarina Isenberg is the Chair in Mixed Methods Palliative Care Research at Bruyère Health Research Institute in Ottawa, Canada. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine and School of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Isenberg has a PhD in Social and Behavioural Sciences from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a Masters of Arts in English Literature from Queen’s University, and a Bachelors of Arts in English Literature from McGill University.
Prior to pursuing her PhD, she worked as a management consultant for Deloitte’s National Health Services Team.
In her free time, Dr. Isenberg enjoys spending time with family and friends, and pursuing her ever growing lists of hobbies including hiking, cycling, rock climbing, stained glass making, collaging, and reading.
Sarina Isenberg
Principal Investigator/Lead
William Hall
Postdoctoral Fellow
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Dr. William Hall is a Health Economist trained at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, and Business Administration as well as a Master’s and PhD degree in Health Economics.
Dr. Hall’s experience in economic evaluation spans multiple domains including pharmaceuticals, software, robotics, and care delivery models. He has supported over $2M of successful grants as a co-investigator and co-applicant including a ‘CIHR Catalyst Grant’, a ‘SPOR Rewarding Success Grant’ and an ‘Institute for Health System Transformation and Sustainability (IHSTS) Project Grant’. His PhD research focused on the application of health economic methods to support resource allocation decisions in the domain of home health for seniors.
He is currently working with the Isenberg Lab on the examination of physician and nurse practitioner provided home visits to patients at end of life.
Kyle Drouillard
Research Coordinator I
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Kyle Drouillard (they/them/iel) holds an Honours Bachelor of Science with Specialization in Psychology from the University of Ottawa, where they completed an undergraduate thesis focused on US Peace Corps volunteers' experiences with mental illness. Following a three-year sojourn to the Republic of Korea, Kyle returned to the University of Ottawa to complete a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences for which they wrote an award-nominated thesis exploring sexual and gender diverse people's experiences with intimate partner violence in Ontario.
Kyle is an experienced qualitative researcher, having started as a volunteer with the now-defunct Institute for Population Health at the University of Ottawa in 2014 as a transcriptionist. Since returning to academia in 2020, Kyle has led and supported sexual and reproductive health and rights research in Canadian and international contexts on family planning, gender-based violence, and intimate partner violence. In 2023, Kyle was Coordinator for an international collaborative of sexual and reproductive health researchers and a production assistant for the peer-reviewed journal Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. Kyle is also an experienced teacher, having guest lectured for courses on the social determinants of health, sexual and reproductive health, human sexuality, health communication, and critical appraisal of health research.
As Research Coordinator for the Isenberg Lab at the Bruyère Health Research Institute, Kyle brings their passion and commitment to health equity, bodily autonomy, and improved health and well-being for vulnerable and systemically marginalized populations to palliative and end-of-life care research. Currently, Kyle is interested in the palliative care experiences of sexual and gender diverse patients and their caregivers and arts-based research methods and knowledge translation.
Kyle is an avid (and well-reviewed!) home cook, and enjoys connecting to loved ones and making memories through food. They can be found plying others with homemade snacks and sweets, searching for new things to ferment, and exploring Danish, Korean, and Mexican cuisine. Kyle also enjoys film and film history, travelling alone or with friends, and hiking and cycling.
Prabasha Rasaputra
Research Assistant I
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Prabasha is a Masters candidate in Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa. He completed his Bachelors of Science in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Psychology from the University of Ottawa in 2024.
Prabasha has been a research assistant with the Bruyere Health Research Institute for over 3 years, working with the Hsu Lab and focusing on projects around inequities in care for older adults. He has used ICES and CLSA datasets to conduct quantitative analysis on his projects.
Prabasha works as a research student in the Isenberg Lab. His research interests include improving quality of care towards the end-of-life, access to home care, and improving on care for marginalized populations. Prabasha aims to expand on his research skillset by working on a mixed-methods thesis centered around hospital-to-home transitions, gaining invaluable qualitative research experience with this project.
In his free time, Prabasha loves to play basketball and baseball recreationally, as well as taking up running. He also enjoys cooking and learning to cook different cultural foods.
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Dr. Lisa M. Boucher is currently a postdoctoral fellow with the Bruyère Health Research Institute and University of Ottawa. She has a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health and a Master's in Cognitive Psychology. Her PhD was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Research Award, and for this work Lisa won Faculty of Medicine awards for Best PhD Thesis in Epidemiology and for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Champion, Graduate studies.
Lisa's health services research has focused on improving self-management supports for people with chronic conditions, especially those with complex health and social needs. Lisa has expertise in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research, as well as extensive experience conducting community-based participatory research that involves meaningfully engaging and amplifying the voices of people with lived experience. Her work has focused on people living with HIV or hepatitis C, people who use non-prescribed drugs, and people experiencing homelessness. Lisa’s research has contributed to understanding health and social inequities, with particular attention to socioeconomic marginalization, chronicity and multimorbidity, self-care and mutual care, primary and community care, and intersectionality.
Lisa's research interests continue to be centered around reducing health and social inequities for people with complex care needs. She is currently investigating how to better support people with opioid health harms at end of life, including those living in poverty and experiencing homelessness, as well as researching how social factors relate to long COVID.
Outside of work, Lisa enjoys relaxing activities, such as spending time in nature and with animals, yoga and traveling.
Lisa Boucher
Postdoctoral Fellow
Madeline McCoy
Research Manager
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Madeline McCoy received a Master of Science in Health Sciences from Carleton University and was awarded the SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship - Master's. Her master’s thesis was focused on barriers to and facilitators of access to public and community transportation for older adults in Ottawa and how transportation is a significant factor in reducing social isolation for older adults who are most “at-risk”. Madeline also holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Health Studies and Psychology from the University of Toronto. Her independent research project resulted in a published scoping review exploring the association between public transportation and social isolation in older adults.
Madeline has been a research assistant since she began volunteering with the National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly (NICE) in 2017. Since then, she was a research assistant at Carleton University with the “Imagining Age-Friendly ‘communities within communities’: International Promising Practices” project and a Clinical Research Assistant with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. She is currently a Research Coordinator in the Isenberg Lab at Bruyère Health Research Institute. Madeline has experience supporting many qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research projects including assisting with grant applications, research ethics board applications, participant recruitment, data collection, data analysis, and knowledge translation.
For the past few years, Madeline has been passionate about improving quality of life for the aging population and using participatory action research approaches to learn from people who are impacted by research outcomes. These interests have merged into a focus on health care research, specifically in palliative and end-of-life care. Madeline’s research interests include transitions from hospital to home, palliative homecare and home visits, and the integration of arts-based methodologies and health care research.
In her free time, Madeline enjoys many art-related hobbies including painting, drawing, and DIY home projects. She enjoys getting outdoors, especially with her corgi, Perogi, who is always ready for an adventure. Madeline also spends lots of quality time with family and friends.
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Aria is a health services Research Coordinator in the Isenberg Lab at Bruyère Health Research Institute, supporting mixed methods research in end-of-life and palliative care. She is also a Master's candidate in Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa, under the co-supervision of Drs. Jess Fiedorowicz, Sarina Isenberg, and Colleen Webber.
Aria completed her HBSc in Human Biology and Psychology at the University of Toronto, where she began in research as a clinical trial coordinator at Princess Margaret Hospital and has continued to expand her career in academia since, including at the University of Toronto, and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (KITE).
Her research interests have led her to support projects aimed at understanding and improving the quality of life and care for marginalized and underserved populations across care settings; Aria looks forward to continuing this pursuit with her research thesis focused on the end of life for individuals with schizophrenia.
In her free time Aria enjoys volunteering in her community, including with the Ottawa Victims Services, dancing, doing hot yoga, and loving her family & friends.
Aria Wills
Research Coordinator I
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Taylor Shorting received her Bachelor of Arts (hons.) in psychology, a diploma in social services, and a certificate in addiction studies from Vancouver Island University (VIU). As an honour’s student, she was awarded the VIU REACH grant to carry out her year-long independent research study.
Concurrent with completing her undergraduate degree, Taylor served as a research assistant in the Environmental Psychology Research Lab for over three years. Her research focused on both natural and built settings, ranging from coastal and mountainous communities to hospital environments on Vancouver Island and surrounding areas.
Taylor has since developed a passion for exploring the impacts of built environments on human well-being, specifically how residential environments impact the psychosocial wellbeing of patients and caregivers who transact with the particular space.
In her free time, Taylor works alongside children and families navigating the foster care system, hiking with friends and family, and taking her boxer, Marvel, for adventures.
Taylor Shorting
Research Coordinator I
Sabah Tasnim
Research Assistant I
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Sabah is a Masters candidate in Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa. She completed her Bachelors in Biology with a minor in Applied Ethics from the University of Ottawa in 2022. Since then, she has been working in the Deputy Minister’s Office at Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Sabah volunteered as a Recreational Therapist’s Assistant at Perley Health and worked closely with older adults and veterans with Alzheimer’s and dementia. This experience, among others, solidified her interest in health care and quality of life for older adults.
Sabah works as a research student in the Isenberg Lab. Her research interests include access to end of life care, social determinants of health and health equity.
In her free time, Sabah loves to be active and travel.
Mathania Vuningoma
Research Volunteer
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Mathania recently completed her bachelors degree in Translational Molecular Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at UOttawa.
Mathania has been an employee at Bruyère Health for four years, with experience in complex care at Saint Vincent Hospital and palliative care at Élisabeth Bruyère Hospital. She also works at Somerset West Community Health Centre. Mathania is passionate about health equity and dedicated to providing accessible care to marginalized and vulnerable populations.
During her undergraduate studies, Mathania conducted bacteriophage research aimed at combating antimicrobial resistance. She also worked on an independent project exploring neurogenesis in both infant and adult mice. Currently, Mathania is a research volunteer with the Isenberg Lab, where she furthers her interest in palliative care research.
In her free time, Mathania enjoys playing the guitar, connecting with her community—whether it’s spending quality time with family and friends—or giving back by volunteering at her church.
Shreya Rauthu
Research Volunteer
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Shreya Rauthu is a research volunteer at the Bruyère Health Research Institute in Dr. Sarina Isenberg’s lab. She is pursuing her Bachelor's degree in Honors Health Science at the University of Ottawa.
With a strong passion for the medical field, Shreya aspires to contribute to the enhancement of the healthcare system. Her research interests are centered around delivering high-quality patient care and advocating for health equity.
Additionally, Shreya actively volunteers at the Royal Victoria Hospital, primarily in the oncology and specialized senior care units.
In her free time, Shreya was a competitive figure skater, now she has transitioned into coaching, sharing her love for the sport with children. She also enjoys cooking and spending time with friends and family.
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Ladees Al Hafi is a research volunteer with a BSc from the University of Waterloo and a current MSc candidate in Aging and Health at Queen’s university.
Her experience in research is diverse with a background that includes assisting with psychology recruitment studies, exploring the effects of antidepressants on fish behaviour through an independent research project, and currently working as a child mental health research student with SickKids Hospital.
Ladees’s research interests centre around palliative care and the experience of patients and their caregivers during the transition from hospital to home. Her focus is on helping to identify strategies that can optimize the transition process and improve outcomes for patients and caregivers.
In her free time, ladees partakes in painting, exercising, and volunteering with local community organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Ladees Al Hafi
Research Volunteer
Hannah Millward
Research Assistant I
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Hannah Millward is a research volunteer at Bruyère Health Research Institute working in Dr. Sarina Isenberg’s lab. She is a dedicated third-year student at the University of Ottawa, obtaining an Honours Bachelor degree in Health Sciences. Hannah is deeply passionate about pursuing a career in the medical field. She looks forward to attending medical school to become a doctor like her grandfather and further explore opportunities in health research.
Hannah's research interests revolve around identifying opportunities for improvement in various aspects of healthcare and medical practice. She believes that continuous innovation and adaptation are essential in addressing the evolving needs of individuals and communities.
Beyond her academic pursuits and research endeavours, Hannah volunteers with children with autism, particularly in the realm of sports, striving to make a positive impact in their lives through engagement and encouragement.
In her leisure time, Hannah loves engaging in outdoor activities such as skiing, golf and hiking. She also enjoys cooking and baking new recipes alongside her friends and family. Furthermore, she finds immense joy in travelling to various destinations around the world, immersing herself in diverse cultures, cuisines and experiences.
Student Supervision
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Primary Supervisor
Prabasha Rasaputra
MSc in Epidemiology, University of Ottawa
Discharge readiness for patients transitioning from hospital to home
September 2024 - Present
William Hall
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Bruyère Research Institute
July 2023-Present
Lisa Boucher
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Bruyère Research Institute
March 2023-Present
Co-Supervisor
Aria Wills
MSc in Epidemiology, University of Ottawa
Topic to be determined
September 2024 - Present
Sabah Tasnim
MSc Epidemiology, University of Ottawa
Effectiveness of interventions and policies that enable the provision of home visits delivered by physicians and nurse practitioners: a systematic review
September 2023-Present
Committee Member
Ahmed Kayssi
PhD Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Emergency department visits following vascular surgery: A mixed methods study
December 2019-Present
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Primary supervisor
Jessica Cheng
MPH, University of Ottawa
“Abortion access in Canada: A Health Equity Impact Assessment”
September 2023-December 2023
Ruby Chang
PGY3 Palliative Care
“A process evaluation of a palliative care outpatient clinic for people with Heart Failure”
October 2022-September 2023
Ronnie Daoud
PGY3 Palliative Care
“The experience of a patient with opioid use disorder receiving palliative care: A case study”
July 2021-July 2022
Jacqueline Carverhill
PGY3 Palliative Care
“Dying Matters: Better Understanding Palliative Care Experiences Amongst Structurally Vulnerable Patients”
July 2021-July 2022
Cassandra Graham
PGY4 Palliative Care
“Health care providers perceptions and experiences of a home-based palliative care program for patients with heart failure”
August 2019-August 2021
Trevor Morey
PGY3 Palliative Care
“Patient and Caregiver’s perceptions of “continuity of care”: A qualitative study”
August 2019-August 2020
Naushin Walji
PGY3 Palliative Care
“Examining health equity and demographics in an inpatient palliative care unit.”
August 2019-August 2020
Co-Supervisor
Logan Roy
MSc Health Services Research, University of Toronto
“Health care providers perceptions of transitions from hospital to home in the context of palliative care.”
September 2019-October 2021
Committee Member
Mary Scott
MSc Epidemiology, University of Ottawa
“Which primary care physicians deliver home visits to their dying patients in Ontario? A retrospective cohort study
September 2019-January 2022
Wenshan Li
PhD Epidemiology, University of Ottawa
“Examining caregiver distress among seniors with care needs: a population-based study”
August 2019-March 2023
External Examiner
Monisha Kabir
MSc Health Systems, University of Ottawa
“Exploring the experiences and sense-making of patients and informal caregivers in the inpatient specialist palliative care context.”
December 2021-January 2022