Joshua Armstrong, Public Health and Health Systems
Joshua is a 3rd year PhD student in the School of Public Health and Health Systems. Prior to coming to UW, he completed an Honours Bachelor Degree in Science (Major: Psychology, minor: Biology) and a Master’s of Science Degree in Experimental Psychology - Applied Health Research with a Specialization in Gerontology. Both degrees were completed at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
His
dissertation,
under
the
supervision
of
Dr.
Paul
Stolee,
will
focus
on
the
use
of
health
information
to
improve
rehabilitation
services
for
older
home
care
clients.
For
this
project,
Josh
plans
to
work
closely
with
colleagues
in
the
Statistical
and
Actuarial
Sciences
Department
to
combine
advanced
analytic
methods
with
input
from
stakeholders
in
an
attempt
to
create
knowledge
from
within
the
large
administrative
health
data
sets
housed
at
UW.
His
general
research
interests
include
health
care
services,
gerontology,
epidemiology,
frailty,
longevity,
Alzheimer’s
disease,
machine
learning
algorithms,
and
data
mining
approaches
in
health
research.
Jennifer Carson, Recreation and Leisure Studies
Jennifer Carson is currently working towards completing her PhD in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies. Jennifer Carson’s academic background includes a BA in Therapeutic Recreation from Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington and a MS in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management with an emphasis on Therapeutic Recreation from Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina.
Jennifer also works as a research assistant for the Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program. Professionally, Jennifer has worked in long-term care and assisted living settings as a certified therapeutic recreation specialist, program director, quality of life consultant and general manager. Informed by a critical postmodern perspective, Jennifer’s current research continues her commitment to improving the quality of life of older adults in institutional settings by using participatory approaches with those living and working on the front lines of struggle to facilitate culture change in long-term care.
Stephanie Chesser, Recreation and Leisure Studies
Stephanie
Chesser
is
a
1st
year
PhD
student
in
the
Department
of
Recreation
and
Leisure
Studies.
Her
academic
background
includes
a
BScH
(Biology)
from
Queen’s
University
in
Kingston
and
an
MPH
and
diploma
in
Health
Services
and
Policy
Research
from
Lakehead
University
in
Thunder
Bay.
Stephanie’s
research
interests
are
related
to
gender
and
aging.
More
specifically,
Stephanie
is
interested
in
using
qualitative
methodologies
to
examine
the
lived
experiences
of
aging
men
and
how
concepts
such
as
masculinity,
family,
health
and
leisure
may
affects
older
men’s
lives.
Stephanie
is
currently
working
under
the
supervision
of
Dr.
Diana
Parry.
Andrew Costa, Public Health and Health Systems
Andrew Costa is a third year Doctoral Student in the Aging, Health, and Well-being program, supervised by Dr. John Hirdes. Broadly, Andrew studies the needs and transitions of frail older adults in acute hospitals, emergency departments (EDs), and home care. His current research projects investigate the needs and transitions of Alternate Level of Care (ALC) patients as well as the prevention of hospitalizations/ED visits among community dwelling seniors. In addition, Andrew’s dissertation work includes the CIHR-CGA funded Management of Older Persons in Emergency Departments (MOPED) project, which is an intervention study using the interRAI Emergency Department Screener in multiple Canadian provinces.
Andrew works part-time as a Research Associate in the ideas for Health research cluster at the University of Waterloo and as a seconded consultant to the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Community Care Access Centre.
Alex Crizzle, Public Health and Health Systems
Alex Crizzle is a 4th year PhD student in the School of Public Health and Health Systems. He holds a BSc in Kinesiology and Health Science (from York), a post grad Certificate in Gerontology (from Ryerson) and a MPH degree (from Lakehead).
Alex is currently working on his dissertation focusing on older drivers with Parkinson’s disease as presently there are no clear guidelines on fitness-to-drive for this population. His study investigates the perceptions and self-regulatory behaviour of Older Drivers with Parkinson’s compared to Age-matched (55+) Healthy Controls. He will examine how motor symptoms (e.g., fatigue, tremors, rigidity) and cognitive symptoms impact on perceptions (particularly comfort level), functional abilities (e.g., brake reaction time, contrast sensitivity) and naturalistic driving behaviour.
Lee Anne Davies, Public Health and Health Systems
Lee Anne Davies is a second-year PhD student in the School of Public Health and Health Systems. Her work focuses mainly on retirement readiness for clients. By applying principles of aging she can help the sales force identify potential issues that clients may need to fund during their retirement years.
Lee Anne's focus for her PhD will be to study how Canadians can better prepare for their retirement and what existing retirees did well and what they wish they could have done differently to enjoy their retirement. The impact of finances on their retirement outcomes will be a key consideration.
Andrea Foebel, Public Health and Health Systems
Andrea is completing her degree in the Aging, Health and Well-Being PhD program. She holds a BSc from McGill University (Anatomy and Cell Biology) and a MSc from McMaster University (Medical Science/Pharmacology and Physiology). Her doctoral work, under the supervision of Dr. John Hirdes, examined the use of medications for heart failure in elderly home care clients. This work incorporates chronic disease management, pharmacoepidemiology and health policy, and will ultimately help to develop a decision support tool for the management of congestive heart failure. Upon completion of her PhD, Andrea plans to do post-doctoral work in Europe before pursuing a career in health policy. Andrea also enjoys volunteering in the Waterloo community as well as with Camp Trillium, and is the graduate student representative for the School of Public Health and Health Systems.
Shannon Freeman, Public Health and Health Systems
Shannon is a 3rd year PhD student in the School of Public Health and Health Systems. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from McMaster University (Gerontology and Political Science) and completed her Masters degree in Northern Japan, at Tohoku University School of Medicine (Internal Medicine and Rehabilitation).
Shannon’s research focuses on caregiver distress of informal caregivers caring for terminally ill individuals in the community. She is interested in finding ways to better prioritize and allocate resources to help alleviate caregiver distress. She has completed her comprehensive examination A which investigated barriers to accessing palliative care in Canada. Shannon is also very interested in studying longevity and centenarians. She is currently investigating centenarians in different care settings (Institutional vs. Community based).
Vahe Kehyayan, Public Health and Health Systems
Vahe is a 4th year PhD student in the School of Public Health and Health Systems. Vahe holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry (BSc) from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BScN) from the American University of Beirut, and a Master of Science Degree in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing (MScN) and a Master of Science Degree in Health Sciences, Health Care Administration (MHSc) both from the University of Toronto, Ontario.
He is currently working on his thesis, which focuses on the quality of life of residents in Longterm Care Homes. He is specifically investigating the relationship between residents’ selfreported quality of life to residents’ socio- demographic (e.g., age, gender, marital status), clinical characteristics (e.g., health and functional status) and facility attributes (e.g., size, geographic location, staffing ratios, and profit status). Vahe’s study will target several LTC facilities across Canada, including Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan. The overall purpose of this study is to improve the quality of care and life of LTC facility residents.
Eva Neufeld, Public Health and Health Systems
Eva is in her 3rd year as a PhD student in the School of Public Health and Health Systems. Eva holds Bachelor degrees in Psychology (University of Windsor) and Gerontology (Laurentian), and a Master’s degree in Gerontology (Simon Fraser University). Eva’s research interests are in the field of mental health and aging; namely late-life depression and suicide prevention among older adults. Her doctoral research will tackle mental health stigma and ageism by examining whether the mental health care system in Canada is age-friendly. It is Eva’s hope that openly discussing late-life depression and suicide will help to dispel the existing stigma often attached to mental health issues, and improve seniors' access to age-appropriate mental health treatment.
Andrew Robertson, Kinesiology
Andrew is a 4th year PhD student in the Department of Kinesiology. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Science (Kinesiology) and a Master of Science (Kinesiology) both from the University of Waterloo.
Under the guidance of Dr. Richard Hughson his research looks at how aging blood vessels affect brain blood flow and brain health. As people age, their blood vessels lose the ability to protect against high pressure (increased vessel stiffness). In Andrew’s lab, he uses ultrasound tools to take pictures of blood vessels and measure how much blood is moving through them. His research has shown a link between this increase in vessel stiffness and changes in the smaller blood vessels that control how much blood gets to the brain. Currently, his research is looking at changes in the sensitivity of brain blood vessels as a result of aging. He is also interested in looking at how aging blood vessels affect a person’s decision-making, memory and other skills of independent living. If we can detect small changes in blood vessel health soon enough, we hope to eventually identify ways to prevent further change or even reverse the changes that have already occurred.