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Capacity Enhancement Program Staff
Program Manager
Tricia Waldron, MSc
Tricia Waldron joined McMaster University in 2001 as Research Coordinator for the Cancer Care Ontario Program in Evidence-based Care (CCO PEBC). During her seven years at the PEBC, Tricia primarily developed clinical practice guidelines and other evidence-based products on genitourinary cancers. In 2008, she took a position with the CEP as Training Coordinator, which involved training various stakeholders on systematic review and guideline development methodologies and developing resources and tools to support training initiatives and evidence-based practice. Tricia has been Program Manager of the CEP since 2011. Her primary work with the CEP is to oversee and monitor the progress of its three core projects, which includes the SAGE Directory of Cancer Guidelines; Training, Education and Skills Acquisition (TESA); and the Cancer Knowledge Translation Casebook. Tricia holds a BSc and MSc in Health Studies from the University of Waterloo.
Research Coordinator
Lavannya Bahirathan
As a CEP Research Coordinator, Lavannya Bahirathan is responsible for the maintaince of the SAGE Directory of Cancer Guidelines – a publicly searchable database of Canadian and International cancer guidelines. This involves quality appraisal of guidelines using the AGREE II tool and providing each guideline with specific tags across the cancer care continuum.
Research Coordinator
Ellen Rawski, MSc
Ellen has been involved with the CEP since it began in 2008 leading the development of the SAGE Directory of Cancer Guidelines, including organization of the SAGE processes and it’s Web presence. Through these efforts, the CEP has been able to improve the quality of cancer guidelines, facilitate coordination of guideline efforts, and reduce duplication in guideline development.
Training Coordinator
Karen Spithoff, MSc
Karen Spithoff began working in clinical practice guideline development in 2005 as a Research Coordinator with the CCO PEBC. She joined the CEP as Training Coordinator in 2009 and completed a MSc in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University in 2010. As a CEP Training Coordinator, Karen’s primary role is to provide training opportunities in guideline development methods for Canadian stakeholders with an interest in cancer guidelines. This includes conducting and developing training materials for webinars and workshops, developing online tools and resources, and mentoring Canadian cancer guideline developers.
Training Coordinator
Caroline Zwaal, MSc
Caroline Zwaal started working in clinical guideline development at McMaster University with the CCO PEBC as a Research Coordinator in 2005. She joined the CEP as a Training Coordinator in 2008. As a CEP Training Coordinator, Caroline provides training opportunities in guideline development methods for Canadian stakeholders with an interest in cancer guidelines. This includes conducting and developing training materials for webinars and workshops, developing online tools and resources, and mentoring Canadian cancer guideline developers. Caroline has a BSc in Kinesiology and a MSc in Health Studies and Gerontology from the University of Waterloo.
Principal Lead
Melissa Brouwers, PhD
Dr. Melissa Brouwers is an Associate Professor and Health Services Research Lead in the Department of Oncology, McMaster University; Scientific Director of the Program in Evidence-based Care (PEBC), Cancer Care Ontario; National Lead for the CEP of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and KT Lead for The Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC), a National Consortium of HSR researchers in cancer.
She holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of Toronto and an MA and PhD in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario. She is an active and leading member of various national and international research groups including a member of the Clinical Guidelines Advisory Group of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and the Principal Investigator of the AGREE A3 project and the AGREE Next Steps Project.
Her primary research interests include the development, dissemination, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based decisions products such as clinical practice guidelines, standards, and quality indicators, models of decision-making, and knowledge translation and/or brokering.
Program Coordinator
Laurie Cocking
Laurie Cocking has worked at McMaster University since 1988 and has been Program Coordinator for Melissa Brouwers since 2005. Laurie is responsible for the management of administrative support for the CEP as well as management and coordination of IT and computer related services, space and equipment, support for data systems and procedural information, finances related to program expenditures, and coordination of communications with university personnel and external collaborators.
Executive Assistant to Dr. Melissa Brouwers
Sharon Garden
Sharon Garden is the Executive Assistant to Dr. Melissa Brouwers, National Lead, CEP. She is responsible for the administrative aspects of Melissa’s portfolio. Sharon also fulfils a role in the financial processing and tracking for the CEP and works collaboratively with the CEP team members. She is the primary contact for “all things Melissa.”
Program Assistant
Kate Kerkvliet
Kate Kerkvliet has completed her third year of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.Sc.N.) program at McMaster University. She is responsible for the administrative aspects of the CEP. She is also the primary contact for “all things CEP.”
Project Assistant
Sally Kang
Sally Kang is currently in her third year of the Bachelor of Health Sciences (B.HSc) program at McMaster University. As a CEP Assistant, her role is to provide administrative and research assistance.
She is actively involved in the maintenance, quality assurance and appraisal of clinical guidelines. She also assists in the preparation of cancer guideline reports, online survey development and data collection.
