Co-Principal Investigators
Dr. Peter Gill
Dr. Peter Gill is a general paediatrician and an Associate Scientist at the SickKids Research Institute, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, and a Senior Associate at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, University of Oxford. His research focuses on improving the care and outcomes for hospitalized children on the general paediatric inpatient unit by conducting outcomes-based comparative effectiveness, patient-oriented and implementation science research. He is Vice-Chair of the Canadian Paediatric Inpatient Research Network (PIRN), a member of the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health Advisory Board, and on the CMAJ Open and BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine Editorial Board.
Dr. Sanjay Mahant
Dr. Sanjay Mahant is a general paediatrician and an Associate Scientist at the SickKids Research Institute, a Professor in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto. His research focuses on outcomes research in paediatric hospital medicine and has addressed management of common inpatient conditions (clinical trials), shared decision-making in children and youth with medical complexity (mixed methods), and health systems performance (large observational studies using health administrative data). He is Senior Deputy Editor of the Journal of Hospital Medicine, Chair of the Canadian Paediatric Inpatient Research Network (PIRN), and Executive Council Member of the US Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings (PRIS) network.
Research Staff
Farhana Islam
Dr. Farhana Islam is a Data Analyst at the Gill-Mahant Lab. She is interested in using data-driven based approaches to improve quality of care and health outcomes for patients. Farhana completed a Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the University of Toronto and a Master of Science Degree in Neuroscience at Queen’s University. Her doctoral research investigated genetic contributions to antidepressant and antipsychotic treatment response and adverse drug reactions with the goal of advancing precision medicine in psychiatry. Aside from her research, she enjoys writing short stories, browsing the shelves of her local library, and exploring the city with her family.
Cory Borkhoff
Dr. Cornelia (Cory) Borkhoff is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, a Clinical Epidemiologist in the Division of Paediatric Medicine of the Hospital for Sick Children, and a Team Investigator in the Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute. She is also an Adjunct Scientist at the Women’s College Research Institute.
Dr. Borkhoff completed a Master’s Degree in Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo and PhD in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Toronto. With research interests in child health equity and measurement, her research focus is to advance early childhood screening in primary care practice settings to inform practice and policy. Dr. Borkhoff is a recipient of a CIHR Early Career Investigator in Maternal, Reproductive, Child and Youth Health Grant to develop a clinical decision rule to identify young children at risk for iron deficiency
Thaksha Thavam
Thaksha Thavam is a Clinical Research Project Coordinator and joined the Gill-Mahant Lab in October 2019. She is also the Lab Manager responsible for organizing lab meetings and providing assistance to other lab members. Thaksha completed her Bachelor of Science in Health Studies at University of Waterloo and her Master of Science in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western University. Thaksha coordinates various research projects that focuses on identifying conditions that should be prioritized for hospital paediatric research based on their healthcare system burden and health inequalities.
Keenjal Mistry
Keenjal Mistry is a passionate learner interested in improving patient health, outcomes, and equity through clinical research. Keenjal has a H.B.Sc. in Biomedical Sciences with a specialization in Medical Physiology from the University of Waterloo. Keenjal enjoys baking sweet treats for her friends and family, travelling and exploring the outdoors.
Caitlyn Kaziev
Kimberly Nurse
Kimberly Nurse is a PhD student in Clinical Epidemiology & Health Care Research at the University of Toronto. She is also a Clinical Research Project Coordinator in the Gill-Mahant lab and Manager of the Canadian Paediatric Inpatient Research Network (PIRN). Ms. Nurse holds a Bachelor of Kinesiology with High Honours and Master of Science in Health Services Research from the University of Toronto
Shamama Raza
Shamama Raza is a Clinical Research Project Coordinator and joined the Gill-Mahant Lab in August 2023. She is working on coordinating and recruiting for the PREFER project which aims to study the involvement of parents in shared decision making when choosing between IV and NG fluids treatment options for hospitalized children with bronchiolitis. Shamama completed her Bachelor of Science Honours from Queen’s University with a major in Life Sciences. Her research interests include the concept of patient-centered care in a paediatric setting with a focus on identifying and implementing strategies that enhance the overall quality of care, minimize stress and discomfort, and promote better health outcomes for paediatric patients. Aside from her research interests, she enjoys playing hockey and football, hiking, and working on her golf game.
Vincent Albert G. Flores
Patient and Family Engagement Coordinators
Francine Buchanan
Francine Buchanan, MLIS, PhD is the Research Patient & Family Engagement Coordinator, for the Ontario Child Health Support Unit (OCHSU) based at SickKids. In this role, Francine supports the hospital’s Child and Family Centred Care philosophy by ensuring patients and families have the opportunities to partner with researchers in the development and execution of paediatric research. Francine’s goal is to develop partnerships and facilitate communications between researchers, patients and families to ensure research is conducted with the patient and family voice as a key driver. Francine brings a diverse background of skills and experience to the role, as parent to a SickKids patient, health care researcher, former strategy consultant and patient research partner.
Carla Southward
Carla Southward is the Patient, Family & Community Engagement Coordinator for POPCORN and PIRN. Carla is a lifelong learner with a passion for bringing people together to improve research outcomes. Before working at SickKids, Carla was the Senior Lead, Knowledge Translation at the Ontario Brain Institute where she was responsible for ensuring the voices of patients and their advocates were incorporated into the research activities across six multi-institutional research networks. Carla has a PhD in Kinesiology, with a specialization in Neuroscience from the University of Waterloo. She loves spending time outdoors with her family, and you can easily find her walking her dog in the Glen Stewart Ravine.
Trainees
Ilana Walters
Ilana Walters was born and raised in Toronto. She attended McGill University for her undergrad in Arts & Science, majoring in North American studies and minoring in Biology and Life Science. She completed a Master of Science in Global Health at McMaster University, with a focus on Health Economics, for which she completed a policy project at Autism Speaks in New York, New York. After working at Holland Bloorview in Toronto as a cerebral palsy lab research coordinator, she moved to Halifax to complete medical school at Dalhousie University. Ilana is now in her second year of her paediatrics residency at U of T. She has published research on topics including sex differences in pain perception, child maltreatment, functional outcomes in children with CP, and the gut microbiome.
Erin Hessey
Erin Hessey is a paediatrics resident at SickKids. She has a Master of Science degree in Experimental Medicine from McGill University and a special interest in large administrative database research. Her current project is focused on evaluating the most common and costly reasons for hospital admissions in children with medical complexity
Morgyn McKerlie
Morgyn McKerlie is a fourth-year medical student studying at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON. Her research efforts are driven by a passion for improving the health and well-being of children and adolescents. She is happiest in/on/under the water.
Agnes Sebastian
Clarelle Gonsalves
Clarelle Gonsalves is a first year Paediatrics Resident at the University of Toronto based out of The Hospital for Sick Children. She completed medical school at McMaster University. Her research interests focus on standardizing and optimizing health outcomes for children who do not readily have access to tertiary paediatric centres. Her current project is focused on understanding the role of adjunctive corticosteroids in the management of orbital cellulitis
Justin Brunet
Justin Brunet is a senior medical student at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He completed his Bachelor of Health Sciences and Master’s of Medical Sciences, both at McMaster University. He has an interest in paediatrics, namely working with at-risk populations and studying health outcomes at a population level.
Emily Nguyen
Emily Nguyen is a second-year medical student at the University of Toronto. She joined the Gill lab in the summer of 2022 as a PeRCS student to study the care and outcomes of children with periorbital and orbital cellulitis. In her spare time, Emily can be found running, drawing, or doing photography.
Kara Picco
Victor Do
Victor Do is currently a PGY-3 paediatrics resident at the University of Toronto/The Hospital for Sick Children and will be one of the incoming chief residents. Victor’s research interests are primarily in child health equity with his current efforts focused on children and families with limited English proficiency and participatory research methods for marginalized populations.
Shawn Lee
Shawn Lee is a third-year medical student at the University of Toronto and graduated from Western University in medical science. He loves medicine because it allows him to talk to and get to know so many different people, and he has a special interest working with children in paediatrics. In his spare time, he enjoys photography, traveling and discovering new places to eat.
Polina Kyrychenko
Polina Kyrychenko is a second-year medical student at the University of Toronto. She completed her Bachelor’s Health Sciences degree at McMaster University where she first became involved in research with paediatric populations. She is interested in exploring the clinical and community applications of her research to see its potential benefit for patients and their families.
Nilushi de Silva
Nilushi de Silva is a first-year medical student at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She is completed her undergraduate program in nutritional science at the Toronto Metropolitan University. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking, photography, gardening, and arts and crafts
Jonathan Fortini
Jonathan Fortini is a second-year medical student at the University of Toronto. He completed his Bachelor of Medical Sciences at Western University, specializing in Microbiology and Immunology. He is passionate about working with children and very interested in the field of paediatrics. In his spare time, Jonathan enjoys playing hockey, squash, golf, and chess.
Gemma Postill
Gemma Postill completed her undergraduate studies in One Health at the Western University. She is currently pursuing an MD / PhD at the University of Toronto. Her research interests focus on understanding how health and illness are distributed socially and spatially.
With her One Health background, Gemma approaches questions related to health from a systems level, looking at how health is shaped by human, animal, and environmental factors, such as the foods we eat, the spaces we live in, the animals (and other humans) that we interact with, and the government structures in place that facilitate all these interactions.
Since entering medical school, Gemma’s curiosity in the multifactorial approach to problem solving has led her to the topic of shared decision making (SDM), a collaborative approach by which clinicians, patients and caregiver(s) engage in a partnership to synthesize the best-available medical evidence about the available options with the patient’s values, needs and preferences to arrive at the optimal decision for the patient. Within the Gill Lab, Gemma is working to summarize recent implementations of SDM in pediatric inpatient settings and describe the effect of SDM interventions on parent-reported and clinical outcomes.
When not studying or researching, Gemma can be found on the skiing, cycling, travelling, or cooking!
Leo Hersi
Ahastan Surees
Ahastan Surees is a high school student passionate about health, research and an advocate for mental wellness in youth. He is the co-founder of Mellness Kids Crew, an initiative aiming to promote mellness (mental wellness) strategies to youth across his community. He has been actively fundraising for over five years to support his local hospital’s mental health services.
Kody Wolfstadt
Kody Wolfstadt is a first-year medical student at the University of Toronto. He completed his BSc in Life Sciences at McMaster University and his MSc in Clinical Anatomy at Western University. With his peers, he is currently investigating the indications and outcomes for high flow nasal cannula in infants with bronchiolitis. Kody enjoys playing hockey, wakesurfing, and trying to improve his golf game
Winnie Yu
Winnie Yu is a medical student at the University of Toronto. With an interest in health outcomes research and exploring care gaps, she looks forward to better the understanding of care in pediatric patients. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking and exploring the city for new cafes and restaurants.
Tuana Kant
Tuana Kant is a medical student at the University of Toronto (class of 2027). She previously completed her HBSc and Master of Science degrees at the University of Toronto, studying the biological mechanisms underlying childhood psychiatric disorders. She is currently working on the READAPT-Kids study, under Dr. Gill’s supervision. In her spare time, Tuana loves to read historic fiction books, do pottery, go out for a run or join a spinning class.
Lab Alumni
Bianka Bezuidenhout
Bianka Bezuidenhout is a second year Medical student at the University of Toronto. She recently graduated with a BScH in Translational Molecular Medicine from the University of Ottawa. Outside of academia she enjoys graphic design, camping and chai tea lattes
Anya Nair
Sharanya (Anya) Nair is a research coordinator under Dr. Gill and Dr. Mahant’s supervision and is working on launching the PREFER project that aims to study the extent to which parents of children hospitalized with bronchiolitis are involved in the shared decision-making process of choosing between IV & NG fluids. Anya is also working on a clinical trial in the Department of Anesthesia & Medical Pain at SickKids, and has a background in paediatric chronic and acute pain, along with pain education for children and parents.
Nafisa Anwar
Nafisa Anwar is a Clinicial Research Project Assistant and is currently working on the READAPT-Kids study, supervised by Dr. Gill. Nafisa is a recent H.B.Sc. graduate from the University of Toronto with a specialization in Mental Health. Apart from academics, Nafisa is an avid collector of Marvel comics, and enjoys spending time with her friends and family
Jessica Cichon
Jessica Cichon obtained her H.B.Sc. (2017) in Molecular Biology and M.Sc. (2022) in Biostatistics from the University of Toronto. She began working with Dr. Gill as a graduate student and hopes to make a positive impact in the treatment and outcomes of patients with POC. In Jessica’s spare time, she enjoys exercising and travelling.
Danielle Gravesande
Danielle Gravesande is a recent Master’s of Public Health graduate from the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Her research interests include examining the social determinants of health including sex, gender, age, ethnicity, race, and economic standing, which together shape an individual’s state of health and wellbeing. As a Knowledge Translation (KT) Practicum Student for PIRN, Danielle leads the development and creative design of various KT products for the Top 10 priorities in paediatric hospital care, and facilitates partnerships with cross-organizational and external partners on the development of these products.
Rizk ElMadbak
Rizk Elmadbak completed his Honours Bachelor of Science at the University of Toronto, with a double major in Psychology and Neuroscience. He joined the Gill-Mahant lab in January 2023 as a Clinical Research Project Assistant and also works as the lab manager at the Social Psychophysiological Research and Quantitative Methods Lab at the University of Toronto. Rizk is passionate about mental health and hopes to pursue his doctorate in clinical psychology in the future.
Keane Fuerte
Keane Fuerte received his HBSc (2021) with a double major in pharmacology and physiology, and an MSc (2023) in physiology from the University of Toronto. His current research interests are in the READAPT-Kids study, which describes the clinical outcomes of pediatric patients with acute respiratory infections. In his spare time, Keane enjoys trying new food, running, and has recently taken an interest in boxing.
Rashid Anwar
Rashid Anwar is a physician from Bangladesh and is currently pursing his PhD in Health Services Research from University of Toronto. He received his master’s degree in community health science from University of Manitoba. Rashid’s research mostly focuses on healthcare utilization and paediatric inpatient care. He is involved in multiple systematic reviews, observational studies, and economic evaluations.