PhD '13, Health Studies and Gerontology
CURRENTLY: Vice President of Research and Innovation, Grand River Hospital
Tina Mah grew up in Prince Rupert, B.C. in a close-knit family that encouraged intellectual curiosity.
“As an undergraduate, I dabbled in everything from dentistry to engineering,” she says with a laugh. “It was a sad day when I realized I couldn’t do seven degrees in one lifetime!”
Tina ultimately settled on occupational therapy for her first degree and enjoyed a 10-year career in that field that took her all over Canada. But eventually she became interested in having a more wide-ranging impact on health-care operations and headed to Laurier to complete an MBA.
After an extensive and satisfying administrative career, Tina decided to return her focus to the quality of patient care and enrolled in PhD studies at Waterloo. There her research examined the use of restraints in mental health populations.
“I had always relied on the rigorous research of others, and it was a weighty responsibility to be the one now producing the research," says Tina. "But it also underlined for me how research can make a huge impact at the patient level.”
Today Tina serves as Vice President of Research and Innovation for Kitchener-Waterloo’s Grand River Hospital. There she stewards a somewhat unusual commitment to practice-based research.
“This is a bit of a changing tide, because we know most research happens in large teaching hospitals. But the vast majority of patient care happens in community hospitals, like ours. So we saw an opportunity to advance research that would help the community we serve, as well as beyond.”
As part of this mandate, Grand River has an active partnership with UWaterloo. This relationship brings clinicians and researchers together, where they are now exploring areas related to the care of older adults, cancer care and technological innovations in health care.
“It’s been a highlight of my career to formalize this partnership,” says Tina. “Waterloo Region has a well-earned reputation for collaboration, whether building a barn or establishing a tech hub. I know that by working together we will always find the best ways to serve our community.”
