Julia Abelson is a professor in the Department of Health Evidence and Impact and an associate member of the Department of Political Science. She was director of the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis (CHEPA) from 2006-2011. She was also the director of McMaster’s Health Policy PhD program from 2017-2022. Julia Abelson is a past recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator award and an Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Career Scientist award.

Abelson obtained her M.Sc. in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health and her doctorate in social and policy sciences at the University of Bath, U.K. Her research interests include public engagement in health system governance; the analysis of the determinants of health policy decision-making; and the evaluation of innovations in the organization, funding and delivery of health services. Through her research, education and service activities, Abelson works closely with decision-makers in provincial, regional and local governments.

Research Interests: public engagement methods and evaluation; values in health policy analysis; politics of health policy.

Julia Abelson is a professor in the Department of Health Evidence and Impact and an associate member of the Department of Political Science. She was director of the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis (CHEPA) from 2006-2011. She was also the director of McMaster’s Health Policy PhD program from 2017-2022. Julia Abelson is a past recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator award and an Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Career Scientist award.

Abelson obtained her M.Sc. in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health and her doctorate in social and policy sciences at the University of Bath, U.K. Her research interests include public engagement in health system governance; the analysis of the determinants of health policy decision-making; and the evaluation of innovations in the organization, funding and delivery of health services. Through her research, education and service activities, Abelson works closely with decision-makers in provincial, regional and local governments.

Research Interests: public engagement methods and evaluation; values in health policy analysis; politics of health policy.

Katherine Boothe is an associate professor in McMaster’s Political Science department and a member of CHEPA. She holds a PhD and an MA from the University of British Columbia and a BA (Hons.) from the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on comparative public policy in advanced industrial democracies, with a focus on health policy, particularly the development and reform of public pharmaceutical insurance programs.

Research Interests: Canadian and comparative politics; public policy in advanced industrial democracies; health and social policy; federalism.

Katherine Boothe is an associate professor in McMaster’s Political Science department and a member of CHEPA. She holds a PhD and an MA from the University of British Columbia and a BA (Hons.) from the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on comparative public policy in advanced industrial democracies, with a focus on health policy, particularly the development and reform of public pharmaceutical insurance programs.

Research Interests: Canadian and comparative politics; public policy in advanced industrial democracies; health and social policy; federalism.

Andrew Costa is an associate professor and Schlegel Research Chair in Clinical Epidemiology & Aging in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics at McMaster University. He also serves as the research lead at the DeGroote School of Medicine, Waterloo Regional Campus. He is an interRAI Fellow where he is engaged in the Network of Excellence in Acute Care (iNEAC) and leads the Emergency Department Working Group. He has received CIHR awards for his research in health services and policy and is a member of the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis (CHEPA).

Academic Interests

Dr. Costa’s research program promotes evidence-based care and policy in seniors and geriatric care. His program of research makes use of health information and technology to develop better models of care and decision support systems in home and community care, emergency departments and acute care. His current work is focused on the development and evaluation of models of care for avoidable emergency department use and care of the elderly in emergency departments. He is an interRAI Fellow where he is engaged in the Network of Excellence in Acute Care. Dr. Costa’s work makes use of large health care data repositories, multi-site prospective cohort studies and pragmatic trial methods. He also has an active interest in the development and use of funding and performance systems in health care reform.

Research Interests: Big Data and geriatric models of care; avoidable emergency department and acute care use among frail older adults.

Andrew Costa is an associate professor and Schlegel Research Chair in Clinical Epidemiology & Aging in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics at McMaster University. He also serves as the research lead at the DeGroote School of Medicine, Waterloo Regional Campus. He is an interRAI Fellow where he is engaged in the Network of Excellence in Acute Care (iNEAC) and leads the Emergency Department Working Group. He has received CIHR awards for his research in health services and policy and is a member of the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis (CHEPA).

Academic Interests

Dr. Costa’s research program promotes evidence-based care and policy in seniors and geriatric care. His program of research makes use of health information and technology to develop better models of care and decision support systems in home and community care, emergency departments and acute care. His current work is focused on the development and evaluation of models of care for avoidable emergency department use and care of the elderly in emergency departments. He is an interRAI Fellow where he is engaged in the Network of Excellence in Acute Care. Dr. Costa’s work makes use of large health care data repositories, multi-site prospective cohort studies and pragmatic trial methods. He also has an active interest in the development and use of funding and performance systems in health care reform.

Research Interests: Big Data and geriatric models of care; avoidable emergency department and acute care use among frail older adults.

Research Interests: use of research evidence, citizen values and stakeholder insights in policy making; politics of health and social systems.

Research Interests: use of research evidence, citizen values and stakeholder insights in policy making; politics of health and social systems.

Research Interests: health policy, mental health, co-design and co-production of services for structurally vulnerable populations.

Research Interests: health policy, mental health, co-design and co-production of services for structurally vulnerable populations.

Glen Randall specializes in health policy and strategic management. He has more than twenty years of experience working with leaders in government, regulatory agencies and health care organizations. He has been the Chief Executive Officer for one of Ontario’s health regulatory colleges and has served as a member of a number of Boards of Directors.

Research Interests: impact of health care restructuring on health professionals; privatization of health care services; business-government relations; governance and strategic management in the not-for-profit sector.

Glen Randall specializes in health policy and strategic management. He has more than twenty years of experience working with leaders in government, regulatory agencies and health care organizations. He has been the Chief Executive Officer for one of Ontario’s health regulatory colleges and has served as a member of a number of Boards of Directors.

Research Interests: impact of health care restructuring on health professionals; privatization of health care services; business-government relations; governance and strategic management in the not-for-profit sector.

Research Interests: humanitarian health care ethics; global health ethics; the teaching of ethics in health care education; patient advocacy; research ethics; bioethics; privacy and confidentiality.

Research Interests: humanitarian health care ethics; global health ethics; the teaching of ethics in health care education; patient advocacy; research ethics; bioethics; privacy and confidentiality.

Research Interests: knowledge translation; citizen engagement methods and evaluation; politics of health systems.

Research Interests: knowledge translation; citizen engagement methods and evaluation; politics of health systems.

Ellen Amster is the Jason A. Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine at McMaster University and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and the Department of History, specializing in global health and women’s health. She is also a member of CHEPA. A Fulbright scholar and a Chateaubriand scholar of the government of France, she holds a PhD and a Masters’ degree in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in political science from the University of Chicago.

Before coming to McMaster, she was an Associate Professor in history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has research and field expertise as an Islamicist and an Arabist, and has served as an Arabic-English-French translator for ORBIS, an international ocular surgery non-governmental organization (NGO) during its mission in Morocco. She uses qualitative and mixed-methods to study the social aspects of health policy; barriers to care; the cultural experience of illness; and social attitudes to birth, midwifery, sexuality, violence against women and infant health in Morocco.

Ellen Amster is the Jason A. Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine at McMaster University and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and the Department of History, specializing in global health and women’s health. She is also a member of CHEPA. A Fulbright scholar and a Chateaubriand scholar of the government of France, she holds a PhD and a Masters’ degree in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA in political science from the University of Chicago.

Before coming to McMaster, she was an Associate Professor in history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has research and field expertise as an Islamicist and an Arabist, and has served as an Arabic-English-French translator for ORBIS, an international ocular surgery non-governmental organization (NGO) during its mission in Morocco. She uses qualitative and mixed-methods to study the social aspects of health policy; barriers to care; the cultural experience of illness; and social attitudes to birth, midwifery, sexuality, violence against women and infant health in Morocco.

Research activities include:

• Addressing child nutrition and development and education outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal cohort and randomized controlled trial,
• Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA): Building COVID-19 Platform for Research in Canada,
• Cardiovascular disease attributable to nutrition-related causes: Estimating future burden and evaluating nutrition policy options for maximizing population health benefit in Canada,
• Cigarette taxes, prices and tax evasion in Canada: implications for tobacco control,
• Clustering of obesity related characteristics and associations with body mass index, waist circumference, and body fatness

Research activities include:

• Addressing child nutrition and development and education outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal cohort and randomized controlled trial,
• Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA): Building COVID-19 Platform for Research in Canada,
• Cardiovascular disease attributable to nutrition-related causes: Estimating future burden and evaluating nutrition policy options for maximizing population health benefit in Canada,
• Cigarette taxes, prices and tax evasion in Canada: implications for tobacco control,
• Clustering of obesity related characteristics and associations with body mass index, waist circumference, and body fatness

Research Interests: peace and health in complex ecological-social-cultural systems; international law and policy; the Arctic Region and globalization; adaptive co-management.

Research Interests: peace and health in complex ecological-social-cultural systems; international law and policy; the Arctic Region and globalization; adaptive co-management.

Research Interests: socio-economic inequalities in health in urban areas; population health equity.

Research Interests: socio-economic inequalities in health in urban areas; population health equity.

Research Interests: policy implementation in organizations and in practice, particularly regarding integrated care delivery and quality improvement; qualitative methods; organizational behaviour.

Research Interests: policy implementation in organizations and in practice, particularly regarding integrated care delivery and quality improvement; qualitative methods; organizational behaviour.

Research Interests: partnering with Indigenous communities to explore and address health and well-being issues; examining the impact of digital technology in these communities.

Research Interests: partnering with Indigenous communities to explore and address health and well-being issues; examining the impact of digital technology in these communities.

Research Interests: population-level measurement of children’s developmental health at school entry: methodology, outcomes and correlates; individual, community and policy impact on children’s development; transition to school for children with special needs.

Research Interests: population-level measurement of children’s developmental health at school entry: methodology, outcomes and correlates; individual, community and policy impact on children’s development; transition to school for children with special needs.

Lydia Kapiriri is an associate professor in McMaster’s Department of Health, Aging and Society and a member of CHEPA. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Medicine and General Surgery and a diploma in Public Health from Makerere University, Uganda. She also has masters in Public Health from Royal Tropical Institute and Medicine, Public Health from Makerere University. She earned her PhD at the University of Bergen, Norway, Faculty of Medicine, Centre for International Health, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto.

Her research is focused mainly on health systems and global health research, including priority setting in health care at the different levels of decision making (macro, meso and micro levels). She is also involved in research related to ethical issues in public health and global health, including international research ethics.

Research Interests: global health; HIV preventative behaviour; priority setting in health care.

Lydia Kapiriri is an associate professor in McMaster’s Department of Health, Aging and Society and a member of CHEPA. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Medicine and General Surgery and a diploma in Public Health from Makerere University, Uganda. She also has masters in Public Health from Royal Tropical Institute and Medicine, Public Health from Makerere University. She earned her PhD at the University of Bergen, Norway, Faculty of Medicine, Centre for International Health, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto.

Her research is focused mainly on health systems and global health research, including priority setting in health care at the different levels of decision making (macro, meso and micro levels). She is also involved in research related to ethical issues in public health and global health, including international research ethics.

Research Interests: global health; HIV preventative behaviour; priority setting in health care.

Research Interests: complexities of addressing sex/gender in biomedical research; critical literacy and reflexibity in medical and health education.

Research Interests: complexities of addressing sex/gender in biomedical research; critical literacy and reflexibity in medical and health education.

Hsien Seow, PhD (Johns Hopkins), BSc (Yale), is the Canada Research Chair in Palliative Care and Health System Innovation at McMaster University and Director of the ICES-McMaster site. Previously he held a CIHR New Investigator award and the Cancer Care Ontario Chair in Health Services Research.

Hsien Seow, PhD (Johns Hopkins), BSc (Yale), is the Canada Research Chair in Palliative Care and Health System Innovation at McMaster University and Director of the ICES-McMaster site. Previously he held a CIHR New Investigator award and the Cancer Care Ontario Chair in Health Services Research.

Meredith Vanstone is an associate professor in McMaster’s Department of Family Medicine and a member of the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis (CHEPA). She holds a PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (health professional education) from Western University. Vanstone uses a variety of qualitative research methods to investigate socially and ethically complex areas of primary care. This means she examines how physicians and patients work together to make decisions about aspects of health care for which evidence doesn’t exist, is ambiguous, or is not the main decision determinant. Her policy work interfaces with health professional education through a number of projects examining how health professionals respond to explicit, implicit and structural policies that shape their professional lives. By focusing on policy and practice areas with an ethical or moral valence, her research aims to support ethical health professional practice through education and policy initiatives. Vanstone’s work is supported by funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the Greenwall Foundation. Vanstone supervises in the following graduate programs: Health Sciences Education (MSc), Health Research Methodology (Msc and PhD) and Health Policy (PhD).

Meredith Vanstone is an associate professor in McMaster’s Department of Family Medicine and a member of the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis (CHEPA). She holds a PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (health professional education) from Western University. Vanstone uses a variety of qualitative research methods to investigate socially and ethically complex areas of primary care. This means she examines how physicians and patients work together to make decisions about aspects of health care for which evidence doesn’t exist, is ambiguous, or is not the main decision determinant. Her policy work interfaces with health professional education through a number of projects examining how health professionals respond to explicit, implicit and structural policies that shape their professional lives. By focusing on policy and practice areas with an ethical or moral valence, her research aims to support ethical health professional practice through education and policy initiatives. Vanstone’s work is supported by funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the Greenwall Foundation. Vanstone supervises in the following graduate programs: Health Sciences Education (MSc), Health Research Methodology (Msc and PhD) and Health Policy (PhD).

Jennifer Walker is a Haudenosaunee member of Six Nations of the Grand River with a Ph.D. in Community Health Sciences (Epidemiology) from the University of Calgary. Dr. Walker’s work focuses largely on Indigenous community-engaged health research using large health services databases through her work as a Core Scientist and Indigenous Health Lead at ICES in Ontario and through the Health Data Research Network Canada.

Dr. Walker has an active research community-engaged research program in aging and dementia. She is the co-lead of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging’s (CCNA) Team 18 – Issues in Dementia Care for Indigenous Populations and the lead for the Indigenous Cognitive Health Program. She has also led the validation of the Canadian Indigenous Cognitive Assessment tool and the implementation of the tool in Anishinabek communities of Northern Ontario.

Research Interests: Indigenous health services; aging; health services research; knowledge translation; population and public health.

Jennifer Walker is a Haudenosaunee member of Six Nations of the Grand River with a Ph.D. in Community Health Sciences (Epidemiology) from the University of Calgary. Dr. Walker’s work focuses largely on Indigenous community-engaged health research using large health services databases through her work as a Core Scientist and Indigenous Health Lead at ICES in Ontario and through the Health Data Research Network Canada.

Dr. Walker has an active research community-engaged research program in aging and dementia. She is the co-lead of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging’s (CCNA) Team 18 – Issues in Dementia Care for Indigenous Populations and the lead for the Indigenous Cognitive Health Program. She has also led the validation of the Canadian Indigenous Cognitive Assessment tool and the implementation of the tool in Anishinabek communities of Northern Ontario.

Research Interests: Indigenous health services; aging; health services research; knowledge translation; population and public health.

Research Interests: sociology of mental health; work-family interface; quantitative methods; sociology of work and occupations; social psychology; sociology of family; sociology of urban health.

Research Interests: sociology of mental health; work-family interface; quantitative methods; sociology of work and occupations; social psychology; sociology of family; sociology of urban health.