Angeline Abela, ACP, BHSc-P(Hons.), MA – Fellow
Angeline Abela is an Advanced Care Paramedic working as a Senior Quality Assurance Strategist with Alberta Health Services. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Applied Health Studies in Paramedicine, as well as a Master’s of Arts in Leadership from the University of Guelph, and is looking to start her PhD in the near future. Her research interests include female leadership development, diversity and inclusion, employment interview process and design, and organizational behavior. Follow Angeline on Twitter @AngAbela or find her on LinkedIn.
Dr. Gina Agarwal MBBS, PhD, MRCGP, CCFP, FCFP, DFFP – Collaborator-Scientist
Dr. Gina Agarwal is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University. She joined the department in 2000 after training and working in England. Gina is the Principal Investigator of the McMaster Community Paramedicine Research Team and a practicing family physician at the McMaster Family Practice (MFP). Her research focuses on improving health systems for vulnerable populations. Gina is committed to ensuring adequate care is provided at the right time and place to those most in need. Her most recent research with the Community Paramedicine at Clinic (CP@Clinic) involves paramedics holding drop-in sessions at select subsidized housing buildings with high numbers of 911 calls. The results of a pilot study showed that the program significantly lowered the number of ambulance calls, improved quality of life, and lowered systolic blood pressure among older adults in subsidized housing. Gina is also involved in training family medicine residents and supervising undergraduate, masters and doctoral students
Lindsey Boechler, ACP, MA – Fellow
Lindsey is the Research Chair of Cultural Empowerment with the Centre for Health Research, Improvement and Scholarship at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. Prior to her employment at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, she practiced as an Advanced Care Paramedic with the Saskatchewan Health Authority. She holds a Master of Arts in Leadership from Royal Roads University and is looking to begin her Doctorate in the near future. Lindsey’s research interests include qualitative methods, Indigenous ways of knowing and patient oriented research. Her current academic work focuses on health system accessibility and navigation supports, and integrating virtual health supports to covey preventative and health promotion information to patients and their families. Follow Lindsey on Twitter @BoechlerLindsey.
Sonja deBruyn, PCP student – Member
Sonja is a student in her final year of the paramedic program at Fanshawe College and is expected to graduate in April 2021. Prior to entering the paramedic program, she completed a certificate in Pre-Health Sciences and achieved Dean’s Honour Roll. Sonja has a passion for emergency medicine and pre-hospital care and an interest in research and evidence-based practice. During the summer of 2020, Dalhousie University published her critically appraised topic on Paramedic Preparedness Involving Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). After graduation she would like to continue pursuing her interest in research and hopes to make an impact on paramedic practice.
Madison Brydges, PCP, HBSc, MA, PhD(c) – Senior Fellow
Madison Brydges is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Health, Aging and Society at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, and a Primary Care Paramedic with Halton Region Paramedic Services. Madison holds an Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Arts in Health, Aging & Society from McMaster University. Her research adopts a sociological lens to understand the role of paramedics in the healthcare workforce. She uses primarily qualitative methodologies, including ethnography. Madison can be reached at m.brydges@mcnallyproject.ca. Follow Madison on Twitter @BrydgesMadison. View her research on PubMed.
Cheryl Cameron, ACP, BA(Hons.), MEd – Fellow
Cheryl Cameron is an Advanced Care Paramedic currently working in a strategic policy and leadership role with Emergency Health Services (Ministry of Health, Government of Alberta). She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Masters of Education in Health Sciences Education and Certificates in Adult/Continuing Education and Occupational Health and Safety. She is a member of the leadership team at the Paramedic Pay it Forward Award and provides both educational and operational program expertise on a number of national initiatives in the sphere of paramedicine and palliative care. Her research interests include mentoring, preceptorship, and interprofessional/interdisciplinary education, with additional interests in quality and patient safety, female leadership advocacy, and policy development. She is currently searching for her next professional development and educational exploit (to PhD or not PhD?). Follow Cheryl on Twitter @cherylcookie21 or find her on LinkedIn.
Thérésa J. Choisi, EMD, EMD-Q, BSc, MSc (Hons.) – Fellow
Thérésa Choisi is co-coordinator of the Research Program at Urgences-santé, one of the largest emergency medical services in Canada. She has eight years’ experience as an Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD), being promoted to Team Leader, then Quality Assurance Specialist (EMD-Q). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences from the University René Descartes (Paris V) and an Honours Master’s degree in Experimental Health Sciences from the University of Québec. In addition to her operational expertise, she coordinates interventional, qualitative and comparative-effectiveness research, with an emphasis on data management and survey methods. Her research interests include 911 call-taking and dispatch operations, mental wellness of healthcare workers, and quality of care (patient oriented research). Currently, she leads three studies focusing on agreement between information collected by EMD and what is observed by the paramedics and/or diagnosed at the hospital.
Cristina D’Alessandro, PCP, BA(Hons.) – Fellow
Cristina D’Alessandro is pursuing a master’s degree in health research methodology and is a Primary Care Paramedic with York Region Paramedic Services. Cristina holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies from the University of Toronto and studied cardiovascular physiology at Dalhousie University. Some of her research interests include optimizing cardiovascular assessments performed by paramedics, particularly in the female population & investigating the clinical utility of cardiac and lung point of care ultrasound (POCUS). Cristina’s work has spanned both realms of academia and advocacy. She is also a documentary film writer and producer. Cristina can be reached at c.dalessandro@mcnallyproject.ca. Follow her on Twitter @cfd1986
Dr. Polly Ford-Jones, PCP, BA(Hons.), MA, PhD – Scientist
Dr. Polly Ford-Jones completed her PhD in Health Policy and Equity in the School of Health Policy and Management at York University, Toronto Ontario, and is a Primary Care Paramedic with Halton Region Paramedic Services. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Psychology and a Master of Arts in Health Policy and Equity. Polly holds a part-time faculty position in the Humber College School of Health Sciences. Her research focuses on mental health and psycho-social calls to paramedic services in the prehospital setting, exploring the training, education, and policy guiding paramedic practice in mental health calls. Additionally, her research explores the ways in which paramedics can inform an understanding of the social determinants of health and mental health and the factors contributing to distress and leading individuals to activate paramedic services. She uses qualitative research methods with experience in ethnographic research. Polly can be reached at pollyfj@yorku.ca and @pollyfordjones on Twitter. View her research on ResearchGate.
Jennifer Greene, ACP, MSc(c) – Fellow
Jen is an Advanced Care Paramedic in Nova Scotia. Clinically, Jen is a ground ACP and Clinical Support Paramedic. She also works in the QEII department and with the NSHA Simulation Program. Jen’s primary research role is as the Knowledge Translation Scientist for the Dalhousie University Division of EMS. In this role, she coordinates the international evidence synthesis endeavour; the Prehospital Evidence Based Practice Program. Jen believes in fostering a culture of evidence-based medicine (EBM) among paramedics as part of our clinical identity. To instill this knowledge, she teaches EBM to paramedic student across Canada. She is passionate about advancing paramedicine through conducting paramedic led research in the EMS setting. She has published guidelines with the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation. Jen is working to put paramedics at the table in guideline development and is the evidence consultant for the EHSNS Ground and LifeFlight CPGs. She is striving to represent paramedics as leaders in medicine, and is currently completing an MSc in Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University. Her thesis is on predictors related to treatment in EMS patients experiencing sepsis.
Jennie Helmer, ACP, MEd, PhD(c) – Senior Fellow
Jennie Helmer is an Advanced Care Paramedic and Paramedic Specialist, working as the BCEHS Research Lead and Paramedic Practice Leader with BCEHS. She holds a Master’s in Education, and is a Ph.D. student at the University of British Columbia in the School of Population and Public Health- Department of Medicine. Her research interests include better understanding what the future paramedic looks like, palliative emergencies and cardiac arrest management. Jennie can be reached at jennie.helmer@bcehs.ca or on Twitter @helmerfarm or find her on LinkedIn.
Laura Hirello, PCP, BSc, MHA – Fellow, Director of Equity and Inclusion (she/her)
Laura Hirello is a Primary Care Paramedic currently working as a workforce reporting analyst for the IWK Health Centre in Halifax Nova Scotia. She completed her Master of Health Administration at Dalhousie University, and also holds a BSc in Chemistry and Neuroscience from Dalhousie University. She is a counselor for the College of Paramedics of Nova Scotia (CPNS) and is a member of the CPNS Legislative Review Committee. Laura is also involved in multiple research initiatives at the IWK Health Centre, Nova Scotia Health Authority, and Dalhousie University. Her current academic work focuses on trends in the equity of healthcare utilization in Canada. Laura’s other interests include paramedic systems design, analytics, health policy, organizational behavior and female leadership in paramedicine. Follow Laura on twitter @LHirello or find her on LinkedIn.
Marea Hosien, PCP, BSc(Hons.)(c) – Member
Marea Hosien is a Primary Care Paramedic and a Bachelors of Sciences candidate at the University of Toronto. She is pursuing research in the area of hallway medicine as it relates to the pre-hospital setting and paramedics. Her other research interests include public policy as it pertains to paramedics in Ontario. She can be reached at marea.hosien@mail.utoronto.ca
Chelsea Lanos, ACP, BSc, MSc(c) – Fellow, Director of Membership and Outreach
Chelsea Lanos is an Advanced Care Paramedic with the County of Renfrew Paramedic Service. She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Ottawa, and is undertaking an MSc in Critical Care at Cardiff University. Chelsea is a Clinical Research Assistant with The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute’s Clinical Epidemiology program. She is currently part of a team working on enhancing in-hospital cardiac arrest research within the Department of Emergency Medicine. Chelsea is a strong advocate for paramedic led research, and her interests are primarily out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, as well as organ and tissue donation as it relates to the role of paramedics in the setting of out-of-hospital death. In addition, Chelsea is passionate about end of life care at home, and the implications of medical ethics on advanced care directives, including ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ orders in the paramedic setting. She can be reached at c.lanos@mcnallyproject.ca. Follow her on twitter @cjlanos. View her research on ResearchGate.
Shannon Leduc, ACP, MSc – Fellow
Bio coming soon
Tyne Lunn, ACP – member (she/her)
Tyne Lunn is an Advanced Care Paramedic with Alberta Health Services in Northern Alberta. She currently provides direct delivery patient care as a Community Care Paramedic Specialist within the EMS department of Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH). Drawing on the unique value of working within multiple rural clinical practice settings, Tyne cultivates collaborative relationships with public service stakeholders and healthcare allies. Her desire to push the leading edge of her profession forward has led to her expanded roles in Community Paramedicine, multidisciplinary committee membership, provincial and national project work, education, research, and leadership. Her research interests include palliative and end of life care, professionalism, cognitive bias, women’s leadership, antiracism, diversity and inclusion, and accessible health equity. Realizing her advocacy capabilities, Tyne’s next steps for professional grow are to formalize her credentials by gaining a Master of Public Health Degree. View her research on ResearchGate. Follow her on Twitter: @Tyne_River.
Meghan Lysko, PCP student, BSc(Hons.) MSc – Fellow
Meghan Lysko is a Primary Care Paramedic student at Fanshawe College. Prior to returning to school for paramedicine, Meghan obtained her Honours Bachelor of Science degree with a human biology specialization from the University of Toronto. Meghan then completed her Master of Science degree within the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto. Her focus was in neuro-rehabilitation at the cellular level following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in an animal model. Meghan moved into paramedicine with goals of working more directly with patients, but hopes to continue to fuse her research background with her growing paramedicine knowledge. Some of Meghan’s research interests in the field of paramedicine so far include; infection control and recognition and treatment of addiction. Some of her previous research can be found on PubMed, or follow her on ResearchGate.
Paige Mason, PCP, BA(Hons.) MA(c) – Fellow
Paige Mason is a Primary Care Paramedic with the Ottawa Paramedic Service. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Kinesiology from Western University and is an enthusiastic paramedic researcher with speaking engagements nationally and internationally. She is passionate about paramedic driven research and her research interests include female leadership in paramedicine, organizational culture, human factors, decision making, as well as the impact of appreciative inquiry and positive psychology on performance. Paige is undertaking an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies at Royal Roads University. Paige can be reached at p.mason@mcnallyproject.ca. Follow her on Twitter @paigemason2. View her research on ResearchGate.
Mary Osinga, CCPf, HBSc, MHPE – Fellow
Mary Osinga is Critical Care Flight Paramedic and a professor at Fleming College. She worked for the air ambulance service in Ontario for 25 years. She is the Director of Education for the Ontario Paramedic Association. Mary holds a Masters in Health Professions Education (MHPE) from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, where her thesis focused on the role of self reflection in continuing education (CE). Her research interests include motivation in education, communities of practice and various aspects of continuing professional development (CPD) . Mary can be reached at m.osinga@mcnallyproject.ca. Follow her on Twitter @maryosinga. View her research on ResearchGate.
Rebecca Rigney, Paramedic, BSc(c) – Member
Rebecca Rigney is a paramedic from Ireland in the process of relocating to Canada. She joined the National Ambulance Service in Ireland in 2018 and is currently studying for a Bachelor of Science in Paramedic Studies from the University of Limerick. She is involved with the NAS MidWest/REDSPOT Prehospital Grand Rounds and regularly attends CPD events in Ireland and the UK. She has a keen interest in improving outcomes for older adults in the prehospital arena as well as prehospital paediatric care. In the future, she would like to encourage more student paramedics to become involved in paramedic led research. Connect on Twitter @rebecca_rigney
Julie Sinclair, PCP, RN, BSc, MScN – Fellow
Julie Sinclair is in Ottawa, Ontario and works as a Coordinator with the Regional Paramedic Program for Eastern Ontario. She has worked as a Primary Care Paramedic in Ottawa and Registered Nurse at Winchester District Memorial Hospital on the medical/surgical floor. She holds a BSc in Physiology and MSc(A) in Nursing from McGill University and a BSc in Biomedical Toxicology from the University of Guelph. Her interest in research began when she worked as research assistant on the prehospital C-Spine Validation study and was further fueled during her Master’s training; her academic research project focused on adherence to clinical practice guidelines. After graduating, she worked with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute as research associate and was involved in the seminal OPALS and ROC studies. Her research interests, beyond trauma and cardiac arrests, include: patient and provider safety, clinical decisions guidelines, and alternative destinations of care. Follow her on Twitter @JECSinc. View her research on ResearchGate.
Meagan Slack, ACP, BA(Hons.) MSc – Fellow
Bio coming soon!
Dr. Charlene Vacon, PCP, BA(Hons.), MA, PhD – Scientist
Dr. Charlene Vacon is a manager at the Regional Paramedic Program for Eastern Ontario. She has worked in paramedic service operation, quality, education and research roles in Quebec, as well as in government EMS policy and regulation in Alberta. Charlene holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Communications earned jointly at Concordia University, the University of Montreal and the University of Quebec at Montreal. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours and a Master of Arts, both in sociology from Acadia University. In addition to contributing to the research literature, Charlene enjoys communicating with lay audiences. Her current interests in Canadian paramedicine include quality and performance measurement, governance, leadership, ethics, Canadian social history and the study of women. Find Charlene on LinkedIn and Twitter @charlene_vacon.