Profiles

Sheila Bodemer is the Research Coordinator for the Geriatric Health Systems Research Group in the School of Public Health Sciences. Sheila is the group’s “go-to” person. When in doubt, we will often defer to Sheila. If she doesn’t know the answer to something, you can be sure that she will dig around until she finds it. Sheila is responsible for overall site research coordination, ensuring that all projects’ timelines are met, budgets managed efficiently, and supervision of research assistants.

Dr. Jacobi Elliott completed her PhD under the supervision of Professor Stolee. She currently holds an Adjunct Associate Professor appointment with the University of Waterloo, School of Public Health Sciences. Jacobi is also a member of the Canadian Frailty Network – Citizen Engagement Committee.

Dr. Paul Stolee leads the Geriatric Health Systems Research Group at the University of Waterloo, where he is a Professor in the School of Public Health Sciences.

Justine Giosa (Toscan) has been working in health services research in both academic and applied settings for over 10 years. She has a PhD in Public Health and Health Systems from the University of Waterloo.

Diya Chowdhury is a first-year MSc candidate in the School of Public Health Sciences, under the supervision of Professor Paul Stolee. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo, majoring in Health Studies with a minor in Gerontology.

Ben Kim completed his PhD in August, 2020. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Health Studies and Gerontology from the same department in 2011. He received his Masters in Health Informatics from the University of Toronto.

Karen El Hajj is a full-time PhD student at the School of Public Health Sciences, she is supervised by Professor Paul Stolee.

Dr. Catherine Tong works with a range of stakeholders to improve the health and wellbeing of older adults, with a dedicated emphasis on foreign-born older Canadians.

Eric is a PhD candidate, working under the supervision of Dr. Bert Chesworth, at the University of Western Ontario.

Leonardo Romano is a first-year MSc student in the School of Public Health and Health Systems under the supervision of Professor Paul Stolee. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo, majoring in Health Studies with a minor in Gerontology. Leo’s interest in the health of elderly peoples started very young through his relationships with his grandparents. Leo’s research interests include evaluation, geriatric mental health, and care coordination, both independently and in their interplay. For his thesis, Leo will be conducting an evaluation of a novel home-based care coordination program, in which will attempt to integrate primary care into a home care setting more seamlessly. 

In his spare time, Leo enjoys reading, music, and making kombucha.  

Maggie MacNeil completed her PhD under the supervision of Professor Paul Stolee. Maggie received a B.A. (with distinction) from Concordia University in Montreal with a joint specialization in sociology and anthropology and minor in urban studies. She completed her Masters in Public Policy and Public Administration at Concordia University. Her masters research was a comparison of age-friendly advocacy efforts in two Canadian cities.

Given the disruption to his retirement plans by Covid-19, Doug Andrews has registered in the MSc program with the School of Public Health Sciences, to provide more direction and support for his reading and research interests. Following a successful career as an actuary and a Chartered Financial Analyst, Doug retired early to enter academia. After completing a doctorate at the University of Waterloo, he taught and conducted research at three universities. At this stage of his life, Doug is increasing his time spent on leisure and family activities but continues to undertake smaller research projects in which he has an interest that have practical implications for social policy, especially with respect to social support systems in Canada. Doug's research is interdisciplinary and has an international perspective. It is focused on aging, economics, investments, and risk management, and their implications for the management of systems supporting an aging population, such as pensions, health care, and long-term care.