Team Members

Dr. Samantha Anthony, PhD, MSW
Scientist
Email
samantha.anthony@sickkids.ca
Phone
: 416-813-7654 ext. 303126

Samantha Anthony - Clinician Scientist
Samantha Anthony - Clinician Scientist

Dr. Samantha Anthony is a Social Worker within the Transplant and Regenerative Medicine Centre and a Health Clinician Scientist at SickKids. She is a Scientist in the Child Health Evaluative Sciences Program of the Research Institute. Dr. Anthony is an Associate Professor in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. As a clinician, Dr. Anthony works with the multidisciplinary Lung Transplant Team and provides evidence-informed psychosocial assessments, interventions and consultation. In her research role, Dr. Anthony leads a clinical research program focused on establishing a foundation for successful psychosocial adaptation and enhanced quality of life for children with chronic disease, with a particular focus on solid organ transplantation. Patient-engagement, mixed methods and patient-reported outcomes are all key elements of Dr. Anthony’s research portfolio.

Read more about Dr. Anthony here

Sarah Pol
Clinical Research Project Manager
Email
: sarah.pol@sickkids.ca
Phone: (416) 813-7654 ext. 308084

Sarah Pol - Summer Student

Sarah graduated from Western University with a Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honors) in spring 2018 and received her Master of Science in Global Health from McMaster University in 2019. She previously worked as a Summer Student with Dr. Anthony’s lab from 2017 – 2018, and as a Clinical Research Project Coordinator from 2018 – 2023 and is now a Clinical Research Project Manager in the Anthony Lab. In this role, Sarah coordinates the day-to-day activities associated with Dr. Anthony’s various studies.

Jia Lin
Clinical Research Project Coordinator
Email
: jia.lin@sickkids.ca
Phone: 416-813-7654 ext. 309985

Jia is a Clinical Research Project Coordinator and joined Dr. Anthony’s Lab in March 2020. She completed her Bachelor of Sciences at the University of Toronto and earned her Master of Public Health at Queen’s University. Jia is passionate about equity-oriented research and qualitative methodologies. In this role, Jia supports the various research projects in the Anthony Lab, including preparing research proposals, coordinating participant recruitment and data collection and analysis.

Deana De Rango Aquino
Administrative Assistant
Email
: deana.derangoaquino@sickkids.ca
Phone: (416) 813-7654 ext. 308276

Deana joined the Anthony lab as an administrative assistant in November 2022. Deana has focused on working in a challenging role within a healthcare setting for eleven years and plans to continue to grow towards administrative excellence at SickKids.

Enid Selkirk
Research Fellow
Email:
enid.selkirk@sickkids.ca

Enid is a Research Fellow and joined Dr. Anthony’s Lab in April 2023. She completed her Bachelor of Physical and Health Education and MSc at the University of Toronto (UofT) and earned her PhD at McMaster University in Rehabilitation Science in 2021. Enid held a post-doctorate position at CanChild (2022) and was a lecturer at UofT in the program of Biomedical Communications (2012-2022), following her role at SickKids as a research manager in the Department of Social Work (2004-2009). Enid is experienced in qualitative research methods in various health contexts and is passionate about pediatric health research, particularly in the fields of transplantation and quality of life for families of children with chronic illness. She has joined Dr. Anthony’s team to support all aspects of the Anthony Lab research program.

Faye Ajmera
Research Student (2023)
Email:
faye.ajmera@sickkids.ca

Faye is an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Health Sciences at Queen’s University, specializing in the Global and Population Health learning track. She joined Dr. Anthony’s lab as a SURP (Summer Undergraduate Research Program) student in the summer of 2023. Faye is passionate about improving paediatric health care and supporting children and youth’s mental health. She looks forward to learning about and contributing to research that furthers her passions at SickKids with the Anthony Lab.

Joshua Bougadis
Research Student (2023)
Email:
joshua.bougadis@sickkids.ca

Joshua is an incoming undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Health Sciences and a Medical Degree at Queen’s University through the QuARMS Advanced Route to Medical School program, and a recent high school graduate of Upper Canada College. He joined Dr. Anthony’s lab as a SickKids StAR (Student Advancement Research) student for the summer of 2023. He plans to learn more about pediatric medical research and gain insight into the field of medicine through his experience at Dr. Anthony’s Lab. Joshua looks forward to his work at SickKids and exploring the intersectionality between pediatric medicine and social determinants of health.

Amarens Matthiesen
Research Fellow
Email:
amarens.matthiesen@sickkids.ca

Amarens is a Research Fellow and joined Dr. Anthony’s Lab in July 2023. She completed her Bachelor of Psychology (with German) at the University of Dundee in Scotland. She subsequently pursued a Master of Arts in Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria. In 2022, she completed her PhD in Child and Youth Care from the University of Victoria, where she continues to lecture on a sessional basis. Amarens is a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) and has provided psychosocial support to children and families in pediatric hospitals around Canada. In her PhD, Amarens explored the role of child life specialists in shaping children’s right to participation in health care decision-making in pediatric hospitals in the Netherlands. Amarens is passionate about centering children’s needs, wishes and preferences in pediatric health care delivery and research.

Sophie Bui
Clinical Research Project Coordinator
Email:
sophie.bui@sickkids.ca

Sophie joined the Anthony lab as a Clinical Research Project Coordinator in July 2023. She graduated from Western University with a Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours). Sophie is passionate about using equity-informed research to enhance the quality of life for paediatric patients and their families. In her role, Sophie supports the day-to-day activities of various research projects including preparing grant applications, patient recruitment, data collection, analysis, and manuscript writing.

Christina Doan
User Experience Designer
Email:
christina.doan@sickkids.ca

Christina is a User Experience Designer. She completed both her Master of Information & Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto. Christina is excited to apply her design thinking knowledge and UX toolkit to transform clinical practices.

Sara Sacchetti
Research Student (2022)
Email:
sara.sacchetti@sickkids.ca

Sara is a high school student at St. Patrick’s High School who virtually joined Dr. Anthony’s lab as a SickKids StAR (Student Advancement Research) intern for the summer of 2022. She hopes to learn more about pediatric medical research and gain insight into the field of medicine through her experience at the Anthony Lab. Sara looks forward to her work at SickKids and is excited to explore the research world as it relates to pediatric medicine.

Megan Liang
Research Student (2022)
Email: 
megan.liang@sickkids.ca

Megan is a current undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Health Sciences at McMaster University with a specialization in Child Health. She joined Dr. Anthony’s Lab as a SURP research student in 2022. Megan is passionate about pediatric medicine, child & youth development, and pediatric care & wellbeing. She is excited to further explore her curiosities through work at SickKids in the Anthony Lab.

Mowa Ayibiowu
Research Student (2021 – 2022)
Email: 
mowa.ayibiowu@sickkids.ca

Mowa is a medical student at the University College Dublin who joined Dr. Anthony’s lab as a SickKids StAR research student. She now works as a participant in the Summer Research Program (SSuRe). Mowa looks forward to further exploring her passion for clinical research and healthcare and hopes to pursue a career in pediatric medicine.

Alameen Damer
Graduate Student (2021 – 2022)
Email:
alameen.damer@sickkids.ca

Alameen is currently a medical student at the University of Ottawa. He graduated from McMaster University’s Bachelor of Health Sciences program. He has done previous research in the field of refugee and pediatric mental health and is passionate about pediatric care and wellbeing. He is very excited to further explore this passion through work with the Anthony Lab at SickKids.

Marnie Cornett
Graduate Student (2020)

Marnie has a Bachelors of Psychology from Queen’s University and recently graduated from the Master of Social Work program at the University of Toronto. Marnie completed her undergraduate thesis with the SAGE lab and continued to develop her skills in healthcare research with the Anthony lab in 2020. Marnie is now working as a Social Worker at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

Alexa Kirkland
Graduate Student (2019 – 2020)

Alexa graduated from Brock University in 2015 with a degree in Child and Youth Studies (Honors) and completed a Social Service Worker diploma in 2016 from St Lawrence College. She recently graduated from the Master of Social Work program at the University of Toronto and completed her second-year practicum with the Anthony Lab where she participated in various stages of the team’s current research projects. Alexa worked clinically with Dr. Anthony to provide support for patients and their families within the SickKids Lung Transplant Program. She is currently working as a Research Assistant with the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto.

Rahma Osman
Research Student (2019)

Rahma joined the team for the summer of 2019 as a SickKids StAR (Student Advancement Research) intern.  She is currently a high school student at Martingrove Collegiate Institute and has plans to pursue Health Sciences at McMaster University.

Navreet Gill
Clinical Research Project Manager (2018 – 2019)

Navreet Gill - Clinical Research Project Manager
Navreet Gill - Clinical Research Project Manager

Navreet obtained both her Bachelors and Masters in Nursing from the University of Toronto Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing.  She joined SickKids in 2005 as a Registered Nurse in Division of Cardiology and in 2008 transitioned to a clinical research role.  Navreet joined the Anthony lab in January 2018 as the Clinical Research Project Manager and helped to oversee the program of research as well as pursuing potential funding opportunities.

Taylor Robertson
Clinical Research Project Assistant (2017 – 2019)

Taylor Robertson
Taylor Robertson

Taylor has a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Guelph and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto. She joined the Anthony Lab in September of 2017 as a research student and has stayed on the team as a Clinical Research Project Assistant. After completing her Masters of Social Work, she began her clinical role in social work at SickKids. She is presently the social worker for the Respiratory Medicine Program at SickKids.

Katarina Young
Clinical Research Project Assistant (2016 – 2019)

Katarina Young - Clinical Research Project Assistant
Katarina Young - Clinical Research Project Assistant

Katarina graduated from Western University with a Bachelor in Health Sciences (Honors) in 2016 and completed her Masters at Ryerson University in Public Policy and Administration in 2019. Katarina joined the team as a Clinical Research Project Assistant and was involved in the coordination of Dr. Anthony’s  studies including activities of participant recruitment, data collection and analysis.

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