Activity 4
Economics of genomic Diagnosis in Indigenous Populations

Dean Regier
PhD, Scientist, Cancer Control Research, BC Cancer, Assistant Professor, School of Population and Public Health, U. of British Columbia

Team Lead Activity 4

Dr. Dean Regier is a Scientist within Cancer Control Research, BC Cancer and the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC), and an Assistant Professor, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia. Dr. Regier’s research focuses on understanding access to healthcare and improving methods to estimate the benefit of health care, with applications to genomic technologies and the ‘value of genomic knowledge’ i.e. how genes play a role in our personal lives and how publics value and trade between benefits and risks when making decisions to undergo testing. He incorporates this person-centred evidence into economic models that answer questions of equity and value for money.
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Nadine R. Caron 
MD, MPH, FRCSC Associate Professor, UBC Northern Medical Program Co-Director, UBC Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health

Co-Project Leader and Team Lead Activity 1

Nadine Caron currently resides in Prince George, BC where she provides surgical oncology care for those that call rural and remote Canada home. Nadine is also an associate professor in the UBC Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Surgery where she teaches in the Northern Medical Program. During her surgical residency, Nadine completed a Master’s in Public Health from Harvard University and was awarded UBC’s Top Student Award. Nadine is also appointed as an Associate Faculty member of the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University where she teaches for the Center for American Indian Health. Nadine is Anishnawbe from Sagamok First Nation. Her work involves a variety of audiences and knowledge users including governments, provincial health authorities, national medical organizations, health research funding bodies, and several universities to achieve identified and overlapping objectives. In 2014, she was appointed Co-Director of the UBC Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health located at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health.
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Nanibaa’ Garrison
Associate Professor, University of California, Los Angeles

Co-Investigator

Dr. Garrison is Assistant Professor in the Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington.  She is also faculty for the Summer internship for INdigenous peoples in Genomics (SING) Workshop, a competitive yearly one-week workshop covering the uses, misuses, and limitations of genomics as a tool for indigenous peoples' communities.  Dr. Garrison's research interests include ethical issues in genetics research such as informed consent, issues with privacy and confidentiality, and special issues for diverse groups with a concentration on Native American communities.
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Morgan Ehman
MPH

Health Economist

Morgan is a health economist within Cancer Control Research and the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC) at BC Cancer. He completed BSc degrees in chemistry and psychology at the University of Victoria before earning his Masters of Public Health from the School of Population and Public Health at UBC in 2018. Morgan’s work and research experience has primarily centred on mental health, health resource engagement, and health equity. Previously, Morgan lived in Williams Lake and worked in program evaluation to help implement community-specific and culturally informed mental health interventions to Indigenous communities in the British Columbia Interior. He is excited to join this team and is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the Silent Genomes Project.

Sonia Isaac-Mann
MSc, BSc, Vice President Programs and Services, First Nations Health Authority

Co-Investigator

Sonia Isaac-Mann is of Listuguj Mi’gmaq First Nation ancestry and serves as the Acting VP, Policy, Planning, Programs & Community Wellness Services. As a key member of the Chief Operating Officer’s team, Sonia leads Community Health and Wellness Services and brings a community-oriented approach to the delivery of services and program supports to BC First Nations. A critical function of her role is to provide professional advice to BC First Nations, First Nation Health Service Organizations, Health Directors and Regional Directors.

Sonia has worked in the area of First Nations health for over 20 years and has extensive community, regional and national experience. She advocates for culturally-appropriate health policies that lead to better programs and health service delivery for First Nations. Prior to joining the FNHA in 2015 Sonia worked with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) as the Associate Director of Health. 
Sonia holds a Master of Science degree in Medical Sciences – Public Health Sciences with a focus on Population Health from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Alberta. She also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Bishop’s University.
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Anne-Marie Laberge
MD, MPH, PhD, Associate Clinical Professor, Medical Genetics/Pediatrics, CHU Sainte-Justine, Department of Pediatrics, Université de Montréal

Samantha Pollard
MSc, PhD

Dr. Pollard holds a BA in Philosophy (honours) from the University of British Columbia (UBC), an MSc. in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University, and a PhD from UBC’s School of Population and Public Health.  She is currently completing her post-doctoral fellowship with the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC) and UBC’s School of Population and Public Health.

Dr. Pollard’s research focuses on patient preferences elicitation within the context of precision medicine to facilitate the development of patient decision support techniques. 

Deirdre Weymann
MA 

Health Economist

Deirdre is a Health Economist working with the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC) at BC Cancer. She holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Victoria and a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, Mathematics, and Statistics from the University of British Columbia. Deirdre’s research focuses primarily on preference elicitation and economic evaluation in the context of precision medicine. She is eager to contribute her experience in quasi-experimental matching methods and real-world data analysis to the Silent Genomes Project.

Thanks for working with us!

Ian Cromwell
MSc, PhD (candidate)

Health Economist 

Ian completed an Honours BSc at the faculty of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo, and went on to receive an MSc in Epidemiology from the Department of Public Health Sciences at Queen’s University before starting in the PhD program at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health. Since 2009, Ian has worked as a health economist as a member of the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC) at BC Cancer. Ian’s research interests include health economic decision modeling and using real-world evidence to inform decision making. He is excited and grateful for the opportunity to contribute his enthusiasm and skills to the Silent Genomes Project.

Kim van der Hoek
MSc

Kim van der Hoek is the Program Manager for the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC). ARCC is an innovative pan-Canadian research centre whose mission is to improve cancer control and the delivery of care through interdisciplinary leadership in health economics, services, policy, and ethics research, education and knowledge translation.

Kim has over 15 years experience in health and cancer research. Her previous research experience includes managing the Centre for Health Economics in Cancer at the BC Cancer (BCC), working on projects pertaining to cost-effective of chemotherapy drugs, quality of life in people with cancer and the economic evaluation of screening and diagnostic technologies. Prior to her BCC role she worked in the area of breast cancer for the Alberta Cancer Board. She received her undergraduate and Master’s degree in Kinesiology from the Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.

Chenoa Cassidy-Matthews

Chenoa hails from eastern Ontario and is a Nishnawbe member of Sachigo Lake First Nation, with Scottish and Irish settler heritage. Her family spans Canada from Vancouver to Halifax, and London to Taloyoak; her strong Nishnawbek lineage and large family drive her passion for Indigenous public health and wellness research. Chenoa’s background includes a Bachelor of Health Sciences from UOttawa and a Master of Public Health from SFU. 

JB Sithebe Research Associate

Oliver Burn Research Associate

Kathryn Robinson Embedded Scholar within FNHA

Jessica Dunne Research Associate