Melanie Barwick, PhD, C.Psych.
Senior Scientist
Melanie Barwick
Melanie (she/her) is a Registered Psychologist and Senior Scientist in the Department of Psychiatry and Child Health Evaluative Sciences program of The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) Research Institute. She is also Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH) at the University of Toronto where she is affiliated with the Behavioural Health Sciences program of the DLSPH and the Institute for Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation (IHPME).
Melanie’s program of research is in implementation science (IS) and she is involved in a broad range of IS research across health. She has a particular interest in the intersection of IS science and practice and in developing implementation capacity and resources.
Kadia Petricca, M.Sc., PhD
Research Associate
Kadia Petricca
Kadia brings more than 15 years of experience working on a variety of global health system and public health issues, having most recently led a five-country East African study to elicit health system determinants of pediatric cancer drug access. Her research interests and expertise focus on projects related to community-based programming, health services utilization, implementation research, and knowledge translation.
Andrea Greenblatt, PhD, MSW, RSW
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Andrea Greenblatt,
Andrea Greenblatt (she/her) is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Barwick Implementation Lab, primarily working on the CARIBOU-2 project in partnership with the Centre for Addition and Mental Health (CAMH). Andrea’s background is in social work and her primary research interests focus on youth-centred research, patient experiences of mental health and treatment, qualitative methods and supporting the implementation of research evidence into clinical practice.
Ashleigh Miatello, MA, PhD Candidate
Clinical Research Project Manager
Ashleigh Miatello
Ashleigh is passionate about improving care experiences as patients navigate through the health system, with a particular interest in the transition from paediatric to adult health services. She supports the implementation of the PACE Transition trial and the research initiatives that further our understanding of the implementation process in the context of research initiatives.
Luma Samawi, M.Sc.
PhD Candidate
Luma Samawi
Luma also works as a consultant for the national mental health program at the World Health Organization in Jordan, her home country, where she supports the implementation and scale-up of mental health programs within the public health system. Luma has a background in psychology, neuroscience and global mental health, and her academic and professional interests lie at the intersection of mental health, global health and implementation science.
Bisma Imtiaz, MBBS, MBA
PhD Candidate
Bisma Imtiaz
As a project manager at the Aga Khan University (AKU), Bisma helped design and implement the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded COVID-19 Tele-ICU Project, a nation-wide program aimed at enhancing critical care capacity in Pakistan. As Co-Director, she helped develop and implement a novel, virtual, healthcare management course titled “Building Capacity of Hospital Managers in LMICs”; a 40 credit hour joint course offered by AKU and World Health Organization, EMRO, which continues to train health managers in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Iran and Kenya.
Bisma is passionate about leveraging innovative solutions like digital health to enhance access to healthcare in vulnerable populations by way of thoughtful and contextual implementation. Under the supervision of Professor Melanie Barwick and Dr. James Andrew Shaw, she intends to explore factors that serve as facilitators and barriers to successful implementation of innovative interventions especially in resource constrained settings.
Maryam Pyar Ali Lakhdir, BScN, M.Sc.
PhD Candidate
Maryam Pyar Ali Lakhdir
She currently works as the Clinical Research Project Coordinator at SickKids, where she is supporting various projects centred on mental health outcomes in youth and health services utilization, using large linked health and administrative databases like ICES.
In Pakistan, she spent seven years as a Senior Instructor at the Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University. In this role, she was deeply engaged in academic teaching, imparting knowledge in epidemiology and biostatistics to undergraduate MBBS and M.Sc. students. Additionally, she worked as a statistical consultant and also played an active role in diverse community and clinical research initiatives aimed at improving mental health outcomes across the lifespan.
With 25 publications added to her hat, including 11 as the primary author, Maryam demonstrates her commitment to advancing research in the field. Her academic and professional interests converge at the intersection of child and adolescent mental health, childhood adverse experiences, and implementation science. Maryam’s commitment to improving mental health outcomes is unwavering, making her a valuable asset to the academic and research community.
Renira Narrandes, MA, M.Sc.(OT), MPH
Knowledge Translation Program Manager
Renira Narrandes
Before joining SickKids, Renira was a KT Specialist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where she coordinated the KT program at two research centres and developed organization level KT and evaluation strategies.
With a background in journalism, occupational therapy and public health, Renira loves telling stories about health and teaching others how to do the same! She facilitates storytelling workshops specialized in health, science, and KT and has performed in North America, Europe, on TV, in podcasts and at academic conferences and events.
Alyssa Kelly, MPH
PhD Candidate
Alyssa Kelly
Alyssa (she/her) is completing her PhD at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management, & Evaluation specializing in health systems research with a concentration in global health. Her doctoral research uses qualitative case study methodology to explore how health equity is conceptualized, operationalized, implemented, and evaluated in Ontario hospitals. Alyssa has worked locally and internationally with a range of health and social services organizations, and her interests pertain to health equity, population health, and the social determinants of health.
Andrea Chiaramida, BA
Administrative Co-ordinator
Andrea Chiaramida
Elaine Stasiulis, PhD
Research Collaborator
Raluca Dubrowski, PhD
Research Collaborator