Krzysztof Adamczyk has been the Information Technology Manager for the DFM since 2006. He has been an integral part of the DFM since 2004 and joined McMaster University 2003. He has a 4 year Honors BSc double major in Business Computing and Administrative Studies from the University of Winnipeg. He is skilled in the application of computing into different business situations, particularly e-health. He has a multitude of experience in medical record system implementation and technology, not just in the academic family practice setting, but in regular community practices as well. He has led the gowth of the DFM IT sector in Stonechurch in 2006, Niagara in 2008, Burlington in 2014, Downtown Hamilton in 2015 and Stonechurch again in 2016. His expertise in the implementation and maintenance of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is extensive. He has successfully managed and supported the whole Department’s EMRs in multiple clinical sites for more than 10 years, together with his team of enterprise technology level staff. He has specialist knowledge in OSCAR and its deployment and implementation, as well as general medical systems administration. Other areas of expertise are complex systems networking, and High Performance Team leadership for special project management. He also holds specialist certification in ITIL Fundation and ORACLE MySQL Cluster Computing.

He enjoys teaching and regularly accepts IT and Engineering students as interns and for practicums from Universities all over Ontario since 2006. He was an invited expert to Bandah Aceh, Indonesia, where he devised and taught a Workshop on the Implementation and Functioning of the OSCAR EMR in Syiah Kuala University in 2015.

Neha has been a part of McMaster since 2011 working in DFM since 2014 on the iGAP study. She is a trained physiotherapist and her research interests are in the care of the elderly.

Alisha started working at DFM in June 2022 and has thoroughly enjoyed her time since. She is coordinating a few projects that aim to improve health outcomes of people who use drugs by mitigating the harms associated with drug use. Alisha’s interest in harm reduction began during her time working in McGill University residences when safer sex and drug use were prioritized over punitive approaches. Alisha is excited to be conducting research that uses mixed methods designs and participatory action approaches to work with service users. Outside of work hours, you can find her biking, hiking, or climbing in Hamilton.

Kyle Auton began working for McMaster University in 2022 for the Department of Family Medicine.

In 2018, Jean Paul commenced his academic odyssey at the University, finding his place in the Faculty of Health Sciences HR Department. He journeyed through various HR roles, gaining expertise. In 2023, he ascended to HR Partner at DFM, balancing responsibilities under the guidance of the Executive Director of DFM and Assistant Director of Faculty of Health Sciences. Armed with a B.A. in Labour Studies from McMaster University and a Post Grad Certification in HR from Mohawk College, Jean Paul boasts over 10 years of HR mastery in telecommunications, healthcare, and education. Beyond work, he thrives in the sports realm, reveling in both participation and observation. Despite his seemingly French name, bilingualism remains elusive.

Erin Beaulieu has worked for the Department of Family Medicine since March 2019 as a Knowledge Translation (KT) Specialist and then moved into the role of KT and Strategic Communications Manager in February 2022. In this role, she provides leadership, guidance and support for targeted, responsive and effective KT and communications initiatives across all departmental domains to further strategic objectives, strengthen internal and external engagement, enable greater research impact by furthering the uptake of evidence into practice and policy. Prior to joining McMaster University, Erin worked as a Registered Dietitian in public health and supporting local food policy and programs in the provincial government. Erin holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Applied Human Nutrition and a Masters of Public Health in Community Nutrition. When she’s not at work, Erin enjoys cooking, cycling, and cuddling with her cat, Ollie.

Jill has spent the past 20 years working as a Physiotherapist, Manager, Director and Consultant in multidisciplinary healthcare settings, in private and public sectors, in Canada and internationally. Jill has worked with the Department since 2013, and has enjoyed the challenge of developing her new role as Clinic Director at McMaster Family Practice.

Jill lives in Brantford with her husband and two boys. She enjoys volunteering with local groups and charities and sits on several different Boards, assisting in managing several different fundraising events. She and a small team raise thousands of dollars for cancer research each year as a special hobby. Other interests include spending time with family and friends, traveling, renovating old homes, reading and her book clubs.

Alyssa has been a staff member with McMaster University since January 2014. After completing the Health Office Administration Program at Conestoga College, she started as an Education Program Associate at the Waterloo Regional Campus. In March 2016, she transferred to the Education Team of the McMaster Family Medicine Department in Hamilton. Between 2017-2020 she completed two back to back career growth opportunities as a Medical Secretary II with the Department of Pediatrics. In March 2020, she came to her current position as a Medical Secretary II in Patient Services at McMaster Family Practice. In this role she thrives with every opportunity to help her fellow staff members, faculty, and patients to the best of her abilities. In her spare time, Alyssa enjoys spending time with family and friends, but also enjoys her down time with a good movie or TV series and a hot beverage, or participating in alternative fitness classes for women. She is due to welcome her first child in May 2022 and is very excited to become a mom!

Tracey Carr is the Executive Director of the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University, a capacity in which she provides leadership in the strategic and operational direction of education, research, clinical services and eHealth innovations of the Department. Tracey is a Registered Nurse with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Business Administration in Health Services Management from McMaster.

In her career, Tracey has collaborated effectively with diverse stakeholders and demonstrated skill in facilitating changes in process across systems, academic institutions and health care organizations. She was a founding member of the Senior Executive Team of the Trillium Gift of Life Network, an agency established by the Province of Ontario to promote and facilitate increased organ and tissue donation. As Administrative Director of McMaster’s School of Nursing, she was instrumental in strengthening collaboration within the Nursing Education Consortium comprised of McMaster University, Mohawk College and Conestoga College.

Since joining the Department of Family Medicine in 2010, Tracey’s leadership has been integral to its success through a time of great expansion in both education and research, and substantial changes in the local health system. In addition to optimizing the Department’s infrastructure and strengthening operations across all domains and sites, she has been a key leader in Health TAPESTRY and local care integration initiatives (e.g. Health Links and more recently the Hamilton Health Team). Tracey brings a strong voice and skill-set in digital health to system transformation opportunities, and is the Department’s primary liaison with industry partners collaborating on Family Medicine’s digital health innovations. These include:

• OSCAR, one of the most highly-adopted EMRs in Canada;
• CP@Clinic and CP@Home, technologies supporting the clinically proven Community Paramedicine Program led by Dr. Gina Agarwal;
• TaperMD, a tool supporting the proven approach of deprescribing led by Dr. Dee Mangin;
• kindredPHR, a platform designed to enable each person to have their own customizable space within an expanding digital health ecosystem in which they can connect the people and information that matter most to their health from their perspective; and
• FAST (Flu Automated Surveillance Tool), a tool integrated with OSCAR to facilitate capture of flu surveillance data that has been proven to mirror actual incidence of flu in the community.

Tracey believes passionately in the transformative potential of people working together for a common purpose. Her professional background in health and business administration, her leadership experience, and her skill in conceptualizing and implementing solutions to health and health system needs, together, enable her to make vital contributions to our Department, University and community.

Andrea Carruthers is a Research Coordinator that applies her project management, data collection, and analytical skills in her work with Dr. Meredith Vanstone.

She attained a Master of Human Kinetics degree from Laurentian University, after completing a Bachelor of Education (physical education and music) and Bachelor of Arts in Sport Psychology. As a former competitive figure skater, she has combined her love of athletics, psychology, and science to build a career focused on health and research.

Using her post-graduate experiences, as well as her natural observation skills gained from teaching and coaching, Andrea continues to hone her qualitative research expertise. Outside of work, Andrea enjoys spending time with friends and family, exploring coffee shops, and adventuring with her dogs.

Her special interests are primary care, clinical trials, sport science, and brain injury research.

Alice is a student in McMaster’s MD/PhD program, graduating in 2024. At the DFM, she’s worked on projects about medical student mistreatment and abuse with Dr. Meredith Vanstone, the health of people who are incarcerated with Dr. Fiona Kouyoumdjian, principles for data-driven education research with Dr. Lawrence Greirson, and primary care provision of medical abortion with Dr. Tejal Patel. She defended her doctoral dissertation, ‘Physician roles in addressing intimate partner violence: Stakeholder perspectives to inform policy and medical education’, in October 2022.

Rebecca has worked at DFM since Summer 2019. As a Research Coordinator, she works with multiple projects and initiatives within the department including MUSIC, and the David Braley Primary Care Research Collaborative. She also advocates for good data management practices for research.

Rebecca has a Master’s of Science from the University of Waterloo. Her research interests are in primary care, in particular the improvement of health care delivery and collaborative team-based care. Outside of work, Rebecca enjoys spending time with her family and staying active.

Laura Cleghorn has conducted research about the organization and delivery of health care for over 15 years in the areas of home care, primary care and cancer care and specializing in interprofessional teams and qualitative methods. Since 2016, Laura has been with the Department of Family Medicine in several leadership roles that support research faculty and staff  in engaging in high-quality research. She is also interested in cultivating a workplace culture that encourages personal and professional growth.

Sarah Collier works with the People, Culture & Wellness team where she plans, evaluates, and continuously improves all human resources and labour relations activities for a diverse group of staff and faculty within the Department of Family Medicine.

As a true HR generalist, Sarah has the opportunity to provide great service and make an impact in a number of different areas – some of which include: employee relations; recruitment, selection and orientation; training and development; health and safety; human resources planning; and organizational development and culture.

Sarah received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from McMaster University, and has a postgraduate certificate in Human Resources Management. She is a member of the Human Resources Professional Association of Ontario, and is a Certified Human Resources Professional.

When she’s not thinking about ways she can contribute to the overall HR strategy of the Department, she’s playing crokinole, going out and about, and collecting wonderful slices of happiness.

Rebecca is a PhD candidate in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University and a Research Assistant in the Department of Family Medicine. Rebecca is coordinating the quantitative portion of the “Navigating Covid-19 Risk in Pregnancy” project led by Dr. Meredith Vanstone.

She liaises with theme group experts (clinicians, researchers, and persons with lived experience), methodologists, and statisticians to plan and oversee the quantitative analysis for this cross-provincial, mixed methods study involving the use of population-based health administrative data.

In her free time, Rebecca enjoys skiing, spin, and reading.

Stephanie has worked with the Department of Family Medicine since 2018. She received a Master’s in Public Health from Queen’s University. In her current role, Stephanie works as a Research Assistant with the CAMH-McMaster Collaborative and Health TAPESTRY. In her primary role with Health TAPESTRY, Stephanie helps with the implementation and evaluation of the project, which aims to improve the health of older adults with multiple chronic conditions through community engagement and increased connections with primary care.

Bethany is the Administrative Director of the David Braley Primary Care Research Collaborative (PCRC). In this role, she supports the development and expansion of a network to explore important questions in primary care and amplify evidence to inform primary care practice, education, and health systems planning. Bethany has a Master of Public Health in health promotion and community development and prior to joining the PCRC worked in the public health sector in British Columbia and Ontario for over a decade. Through this work, Bethany collaborated regularly with health system partners, local and provincial governments and community organizations on projects ranging from health promotion and evaluation to health systems planning. Most recently, she provided strategic and operational support to the Hamilton COVID-19 Response Table – a collaborative table chaired by public health, primary care, and hospitals to prevent and respond to COVID-19 in Hamilton.

Asiana is a Research Coordinator working on various medical education research projects in the Department of Family Medicine. She completed her MSc in eHealth (Health Informatics) and her Honours BSc in Life Sciences at McMaster University. Her research interests include health system innovation, with a specific interest in researching the implementation of digital health interventions to improve access to primary care services for vulnerable populations.

Research Interests: Health System Innovation, Medical Education, Virtual Care.

Dawn Elston has been fortunate to work in research at McMaster University since 1988. Dawn’s research interests reflect a diverse range of positions in the social and health sciences. Between 1988 to 1998, Dawn worked in a basic science lab studying hunger and satiety in an animal model of inflammatory bowel disease. Moving from the social sciences into the health sciences, Dawn has worked on projects studying quality of life following treatment for prostate cancer, smoking cessation in patients with PVD, nursing undergraduate education, risk factors associated with hospital-acquired infections, cardiovascular disease in patients living with HIV and most recently Advance Care Planning in primary care. Dawn completed her Masters degree in 2013 focusing on gender and social determinants of health, specifically HIV stigma in women living with HIV. Dawn’s professional capacity is supported by her love of animals, friends, family and commitment to community.

Special Interests

Women’s Health
Social Determinants of Health
Advance Care Planning

Special Interests

Addictions and Mental Health

Karla Freeman has been with the Department of Family Medicine since 2014, and is now working as a Clinical Research Coordinator with the TAPER-P project. Her interests include research in primary care, community pharmacy practice, and care of the elderly.

Jennifer has worked for the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster Family Practice since 2000 and has been in the role of Clinical Site Coordinator at McMaster Family Practice since 2015. Jennifer provides lead hand supervision with day-to-day clinic operations and issues related to clinic staffing and care delivery in the clinic. Jennifer completed her Human Resources Management Diploma at McMaster University in 2012. In 2015, Jennifer was awarded the Chair’s Award for Excellence in Service from the Department of Family Medicine. Jennifer loves camping, playing baseball and travelling with her husband Mike.

Jessica Gaber is a Research/Program Coordinator in Department projects that focus on promoting healthy individual behaviour change or large-scale systemic change, or both. She is skilled in developing, implementing, and evaluating health interventions, particularly using qualitative methods. Jessica is a Registered Social Worker with a Master of Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University and experience in three sides of social work practice: research, community development, and clinical work. She’s most interested in projects that can bring voices to populations in need and support communities in making change where change is needed. Before joining the Department, she worked in research at the Offord Centre for Child Studies (Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neuroscience), as well as in crisis intervention, mental health counselling, and community mental health both at home and in western Africa. She is always looking at the next best way her skills can be used to create positive change. Beyond work, she enjoys writing fiction, aiming to grow a vegetable garden better than the year before, and playing piano and ukulele.

Special Interests: Mental health, Prison health, Chronic illnesses, Refugee and immigrant health, Global health, Elder health.

Sue has over 25 years of administrative experience at McMaster University. Her current role as a Senior Education Program Associate involves coordination of the undergraduate clerkship program. Sue is a dedicated administrative professional who enjoys meeting new people and learning new skills. In addition to having a strong work ethic, Sue likes to bring a fun, light-hearted approach to her interactions with others.

Ashlinder Gill is a Research Coordinator for the Department of Family Medicine, and Division of Palliative Care. She facilitates the implementation and evaluation of projects for faculty, palliative medicine residents, and the Dr. Joshua Shadd – Pallium Canada Research Hub. She has worked in health research since 2010, where her initial interest in palliative care began while completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Waterloo, and co-operative education placements with the Palliative Care Consult Team at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. To advance her research training, she completed her graduate studies at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (University of Toronto), and was a trainee with the Health System Performance Research Network. During this time, Ashlinder conducted patient and caregiver interviews, and focus groups for multiple team grants, and ministry-funded projects. The primary aim of these projects were to better understand the challenges experienced by community-dwelling older adults with multimorbidity, and how to best deliver primary care services, and home care. Ashlinder began working at McMaster in 2020, as a Research Coordinator with the Health information Research Unit (Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence & Impact), and continues to support her role in Health Knowledge Refinery projects, and PLUS platforms.

Patricia Habran-Dietrich joined McMaster in 2013, as an administrative assistant for the Aging, Community and Health Research Unit (ACHRU), within the School of Nursing. In mid- 2014, Patricia joined the Department of Family Medicine as part of the HOPE program. Since 2015 she has been a member of the Research Enterprise, providing direct support to Drs. Dee Mangin and Michelle Howard in their research administrative tasks, as well as broadly supporting the staff of the research team.
Her broad interests include travel, reading and meeting people from diverse backgrounds.

Shuaib Hafid is a Statistical Analyst. Shuaib has worked in health research since 2019. He completed a BA and a MPH at McMaster University, a Professional Specialization Certificate in Population-Level Data Analysis at the University of Victoria and is currently enrolled in the Health Research Methodology PhD Program at McMaster University.

His PhD work will explore regional variations in end-of-life care provision and measure the association between patients’ residential proximity to their care providers and their end-of-life care patterns and healthcare outcomes.

His research interests include population-level health administrative data analysis, large-scale EMR data analysis, geospatial analysis, primary care, and end-of-life care.

Special Interests

Information Technology
music
Art
Graphic Design
Photography
Industrial Design
Instruments
Sculpturing

Natalie has worked for the Department of Family Medicine since 2015. She has been with the University since 2004 working in various areas including Research finance, Administration and the Faculty of Engineering. She loves various activities during her free time including stained glass, reading and lots of walks with her dog Jaxxon.

Casey Irvin works to amplify our department’s impact.

As the manager of knowledge translation and strategic communications at the department of family medicine (DFM), he supports faculty, staff and learners to help connect their ideas, research and purpose to key audiences.

Casey worked with DFM for six years as both a communications coordinator and as the department’s first knowledge translation specialist before joining the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging in 2021. Returning to DFM in 2024 (to cover a leave for Erin Beaulieu), Casey is a steadfast advocate for creating progressive, equitable improvements to health care through effective communication, knowledge mobilization and telling good stories.

He has a master’s degree in communications and cultural studies and over 15 years of communications experience in the health care, education and social services sectors.

Advina Kamaric has been working for the Department of Family Medicine since July 2023. In her role as Knowledge Translation Specialist, she works with DFM researchers to raise awareness of the outcomes of research projects in the department through the development of various knowledge translation products such as infographics, videos, reports, and social media posts.  

Advina holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Studies with a Specialization in Health Research and a Master of Public Health.  

Outside of work, Advina enjoys traveling, baking, and reading.

Christie has worked with the Department of Family Medicine for over 10 years, and mostly recently joined the VIP Research Lab as a Research Coordinator in 2022. Prior to this, Christie worked on CATCH Study, as part of the Infant and Child Health Lab. Her areas of interest are physical health and fitness in children, and health promotion among vulnerable populations.

Christie graduated from McMaster University in 2008, with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. She is involved with the CP@clinic program, as well as the CHAP-P, ECHEC, and the Social Housing Cohort studies within the VIP Research Lab.

Cassandra Kuyvenhoven is a Research Coordinator working with Dr. Meredith Vanstone, applying her specialized qualitative knowledge to monitor, analyze, and report on several different research projects. Her doctorate is in Environmental Studies, and she enjoys bringing an environmental/social justice lens to health research. Outside of work, she is growing her feminist clowder and getting to know the Hamilton area one shawarma at a time.

Special interests: interdisciplinary research, queer and feminist theories, chronic illnesses, mental health, and best practices in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion research.

Greetings everyone! I am from Hong Kong and hold a degree in public health from the United States. Following my studies, I delved into the healthcare field as a hospital administrator at the NHS in the UK. In addition to my academic pursuits, I have a profound love for ballet, boasting over a decade of experience in dance. The proud owner of two British Short Hair cats, I’m always eager to connect with fellow cat enthusiasts. As a fervent learner, I thrive in patient-facing roles, believing that healthcare work epitomizes the fundamental determinants of well-being. My day-to-day experiences at MFP have been both challenging and rewarding, pushing me to strive for excellence in catering to the unique needs of every patient. I anticipate the pleasure of crossing paths with you, whether it be within the family practice or out on the streets beyond the confines of work.

Guneet Mahal is a research assistant with the VIP (Vulnerable Individuals in Primary Care) lab at the David Braley Health Sciences Centre. She holds an HBSc in Life Sciences from McMaster University. She is passionate about issues of public health and social inequities, especially with regards to older adults and seniors.

Francine Marzanek has worked in the Department of Family Medicine since 2009. Prior to this, she worked in public health and education for over 10 years with a focus on heart health and population based community health promotion strategies. As a Research Coordinator, she has been involved with planning, implementing, and evaluating multiple health promotion studies, including the Truckers Research for Innovative Health Promotion Programs. Francine has research interests related to cardiovascular health promotion and chronic disease prevention in the community.

Augustine joined the DFM as a research assistant in September 2023. His research interests cut across the organization of care in both primary and long-term care, including practice and educational policies geared towards innovation to promote efficiency and effectiveness at the micro, meso, and macro levels. He enjoys playing and watching soccer and table tennis.

Melissa Pirrie is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Vulnerable Individuals in Primary Care (VIP) Research Lab, supervised by Dr. Gina Agarwal and Deputy Chief Richard Ferron (Niagara Emergency Medical Services). Melissa Pirrie has worked in health research since 2005, starting as an undergraduate research assistant with the Offord Centre for Child Studies. After completing a BSc in Kinesiology (McMaster University), she obtained an MA in Applied Health Sciences (Brock University), and recently completed a PhD in Health Studies and Gerontology (University of Waterloo). Her PhD focused on the associations between context and population health, and her dissertation examined school programs, policies, and resources associated with youth physical activity in a large cohort of Canadian students using multilevel modelling. Melissa was a CIHR training fellow in Population Interventions for Chronic Disease Prevention (PICDP) from 2010 to 2012, and currently holds a two-year CIHR Health System Impact Fellowship.

Special Interests: Research interests include population health, health equity, health systems, social epidemiology, vulnerable populations, chronic disease prevention, and the built environment.

Mikayla started working as a Research Assistant in the Department of Family Medicine in 2021. She completed an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Health Studies in 2017 at the University of Toronto and graduated with a Master’s of Science in Epidemiology from the University of Guelph in 2020. She is interested in population health, and the prevalence and prevention of chronic diseases in vulnerable populations.

As a research assistant, Mikayla is involved in a variety of projects including assisting with grant writing, developing knowledge translation materials, and tasks associated with the CP@clinic program.

Dr. Jennifer Salerno’s research interests include chronic disease epidemiology and the application of epidemiology methods to trial research, population and public health, and health services research. She holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Toronto, MSc in Community Health and Epidemiology from Queen’s University, and Honours BSc from McMaster University’s Biology and Pharmacology Co-operative Program. She completed fellowship training at both the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute in the area of traumatic brain injury epidemiology and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (National Cancer Institute’s Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch) in the area of breast cancer epidemiology. Her previous research interests included studying the epidemiology of brain injuries and related vascular dementias, and specifically, examining the etiology of cognitive function in aging populations using molecular/biochemical methods and advanced statistical models. She previously worked for several years as a clinical epidemiologist in the Government of Ontario (MOHLTC and Health Quality Ontario) where she performed several health technology assessments, systematic reviews and meta-analyses. She also developed cancer clinical practice guidelines supporting Cancer Care Ontario’s Cancer Imaging Program through McMaster’s Program in Evidence-Based Care, Department of Oncology.

Currently, at McMaster University, she is a Research Associate for the Department of Family Medicine. She is involved in the TAPER research study (TAPER: Team Approach to Polypharmacy Evaluation and Reduction) which aims to reduce multiple medication use and the harmful effects of polypharmacy among older adults. She is also involved with the Primary Care Research Collaborative (PCRC) in the Department of Family Medicine by providing clinical faculty teaching and mentoring initiatives and opportunities and developing the patient/public/community advisory group for the PCRC. She currently teaches in the health research methodology program in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster and is currently the Vice Chair of the American College of Epidemiology (ACE) Ethics Committee. She has held numerous leadership positions in ACE and more recently, she is involved with the International Epidemiological Association as the North American Regional Councillor.

Njideka joined DFM as a Research Assistant in July 2022 and has supported various projects in medical education, prison health, and health policy since then. She has a first degree in Medicine and an MPH from the University of Edinburgh as a Commonwealth scholar, and experience in public health program implementation in Nigeria.

Njideka’s research interests are in qualitative program evaluation, health promotion in underserved communities, and global health.

Katrina Shen is a Research Assistant who works on various projects with Dr. Meredith Vanstone. She attained a Bachelors of Life Science from McMaster University in 2023. Her research interests include primary care, health equity, and mental health.

Cathy is a long-time employee of McMaster.  She joined the University in 1998 and joined the Department of Family Medicine in 2019.  She has extensive administrative experience with a solid knowledge surrounding academic appointments and Tenure & Promotion. Outside of work, she enjoys fitness and spending time with her family and three dogs.

Claudia Steffler is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University. She joined the Department in 2001 as a primary care nurse practitioner and was instrumental in the program design and development of the Maternity Centre of Hamilton. Claudia helped to build the multidisciplinary team at the Maternity Centre and establish long term partnerships with community stakeholders to support marginalized families in Hamilton.

Her clinical interests include family medicine obstetrics, perinatal substance use and understanding the non-medical factors that influence health. Claudia’s passion for advocacy and addressing health inequities has led to many innovative programs aimed at addressing the unfair and avoidable differences in healthcare access for vulnerable populations.

Claudia has been the clinic director of the Maternity Centre of Hamilton since 2010, splitting her time between administration, clinical practice, and medical education.

Special Interests: 3rd year nursing student at McMaster Used to be a National figure skater Played the flute in an orchestra.

Michelle joined McMaster’s Department of Family Medicine in August 2019 as the Research Administrative Coordinator. She transitioned to administrative work in 2015 after 10 years in broadcasting. Michelle enjoys cooking in her spare time and travelling whenever possible.

Danielle, an alumna of Western University and an Honors graduate from Mohawk College, is an enthusiastic member of DFM’s Faculty Relations Team. Beyond her professional pursuits, Danielle finds joy in spending quality time outdoors with her family and their rescue dog, Bonnie.

Kim Tucker joined the Department of Family Medicine team in August 2022 as the Administrative Assistant. Prior to joining McMaster University, Kim worked at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital where she supported the Volunteer Resources team. Kim is a graduate of George Brown College where she successfully completed the Health Office Administration Program with honours. Kim is often referred to as a jack-of-all-trades and for being extremely organized. Driven by her dedication, Kim takes pride in providing the best support possible. When she’s not keeping busy with her work tasks, Kim enjoys spending time with her family, working out, listening to music, and cooking.

Julianne has an educational and professional background in social work, she spent the beginning years of her career working as a Behaviour Support Worker, assisting with difficult discharges from hospital to community settings and managing complex behaviours primarily associated to diagnosed dementias within the parameters of an acute care environment. She has spent the past few years working within retirement living communities, as an Assisted Living/Memory Care Manager where she led a diverse team of nursing staff throughout the pandemic. Outside of her professional life, she is a self-published fiction author of two novels and spends a lot of time studying as she is also pursuing her MSW on a part-time/online basis. She is passionate about learning and is very excited about making an impact in her role with William Osler and McMaster University.

Alicia is a dedicated professional with expertise in equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism and anti-oppression (EDI/AR/AO), who currently serves as DFM’s Manager, EDI & Anti-Racism Initiatives. She is a central resource for leaders, faculty and staff across DFM’s domains. She actively collaborates with FHS, McMaster and Hamilton-based partners on programs and initiatives that enable greater equity, inclusion and belonging.

Prior to joining DFM, Alicia worked as the EDI Manager and a part-time faculty member at Sheridan College. She also spent several years in the non-profit sector as a workplace EDI consultant.