Digital Mental Health Research Team
Dr. Gillian Strudwick RN, PhD, FAMIA, FCAN
Dr. Gillian Strudwick is a Registered Nurse, holding the positions of Scientific Director of the Digital Innovation Hub, Senior Scientist and Chief Clinical Informatics Officer at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She is also an Associate Professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, and holds academic appointments at both Western University (Nursing) and the University of Victoria (Health Information Science). She serves as a board member for AMS Healthcare, and the Village Family Health Team in Toronto, Ontario.
In 2020, Dr. Strudwick became the first women in Canada to become a Fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association and was recognized by Digital Health Canada as a top women leader in Digital Health.
Dr. Nelson Shen MHA, PhD
Dr. Nelson Shen is a Staff Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. He is also an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) at the University of Toronto. He was a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Health System Impact Post-Doctoral Fellowship.
Dr. Shen’s program of research is participatory and uses mixed methods to engage patients, families, clinicians and other stakeholders in the design of technologies, processes, policies, and strategies that support digital health and AI initiatives. Broadly, his research interests focus on digital health in the areas of patient engagement, privacy, trust, compassion, adoption theory, evaluation, implementation sciences, and design thinking.
Iman Kassam MHI
Iman Kassam is the Manager of the Digital Innovation Hub at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She supports and leads digital mental health research in the areas of population mental health, implementation science, and knowledge user engagement. Iman is also an Adjunct Lecturer within the Master of Health Informatics program at the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto. She is also the Communications Coordinator for the Ontario Nursing Informatics Group.
Jessica Kemp MHI
Jessica Kemp is a graduate of the Master of Health Informatics program at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) at the University of Toronto. She is a Research Coordinator in the Digital Mental Health Lab at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She supports projects and research involving the development of digital interventions for mental healthcare, addressing clinician burnout related to electronic health record use, and the influence of patient portals on trust, compassion, and recovery.
Brian Lo MHI, PhD(c)
Brian Lo is a Senior Project Manager at Unity Health, a Doctoral Candidate at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, and a CIHR Health Systems Impact Fellow at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). His research focuses on exploring how the uptake of digital health tools, such as mobile health apps, virtual care, and patient portals, can be enhanced to enable better care for patients, families and clinicians.
Dr. Hwayeon Danielle Shin RN, MScN, PhD
Hwayeon Danielle Shin is a Registered Nurse and health services researcher whose work centres on mental health, implementation science, and digital health. She received her PhD in Health Services Research from the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on using digital interventions to support evidence-based clinical practice and on implementing and evaluating digital interventions. Danielle also applies an integrated knowledge translation (iKT) approach, collaborating with diverse knowledge users and partners throughout the research process.
Danielle received a CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, where this work will focus on the implementation of AI in healthcare. Danielle’s postdoctoral research seeks to develop a theory-informed, responsible guide for the implementation and evaluation of AI in healthcare, with a particular focus on Canada and the United States.
Dr. Keri Durocher RN, MN, PhD
Keri Durocher is a Registered Nurse and Postdoctoral Researcher at CAMH. She is also a Professor in the School of Nursing at Sheridan College. She has a strong passion for nursing education, research, and projects that advance the profession of nursing. Keri's dissertation work focused on patient’s experiences of the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative within Ontario. More broadly, her research interests include the intersection of women’s and digital health and advancing the provision of clinical care. Keri also recently completed a CIHR Doctoral Health Systems Impact Fellowship at CAMH.
Dr. Sara Ling RN, PhD
Dr. Sara Ling completed a Master of Nursing with a Collaborative Specialization in Addictions Studies in 2014 and a PhD in 2022 at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing. She is an Associate Scientist within the Digital Mental Health Lab at CAMH, focusing on integrating digital health interventions within addictions settings. Dr. Ling previously worked as an Advanced Practice Clinical Leader at CAMH, where she provided clinical leadership support to the inpatient addictions services.
Sridevi Kundurthi BSc.
Sri Kundurthi is a graduate of the BSc Psychology Co-op program at the University of Waterloo. She is a Research Analyst in the Digital Mental Health Lab at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where she supports research projects on identifying and improving digital interventions for grief, and digital data considerations for suicide prevention.
Charlotte Pape BA, MHI
Charlotte is a graduate of the Master of Health Informatics program at the University of Toronto within the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME). She is a Project and Research Analyst in the Digital Mental Health Lab at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She supports research projects that focus on improving access to digital mental health tools and initiatives to improve clinicians experiences with health information systems.
Shanuki Goonasekera BSc, MPH (c)
Shanuki Goonasekera is a Master of Public Health student at the University of Toronto, specializing in Health Promotion and Aging & the Life Course. She is passionate about promoting digital health equity and exploring how technology can be leveraged to better serve underserved populations. As a Graduate Research Trainee with the Digital Mental Health Lab, she is contributing to the adaptation of a digital literacy program and supporting research on the implementation and impact of digital navigators in healthcare settings.
Affiliate Researchers
Dr. Laura Sikstrom PhD
Dr. Laura Sikstrom is a Medical Anthropologist, Scientist, and Co-Head of the Predictive Care Lab within the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics at CAMH. Her research examines new healthcare opportunities and risks that emerge alongside innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Dr. Sikstrom also teaches a wide range of courses in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto, including Childhood and Childcare, Global Health, Anthropology in Action and Medical Anthropology and Social Justice.
Dr. Lydia Sequeira MHI, PhD
Dr. Lydia Sequeira is the Executive Director of Applied Research at Kids Help Phone and an Associate Scientist within CAMH’s Digital Mental Health Lab. Her research is focused on improving mental health care and service delivery through technology, including studying the usefulness and integration of mobile health into care. Lydia is also a course instructor at Michener's Digital Health and Data Analytics Program and guest faculty at University of Toronto’s Master of Health Informatics Program.
Dr. Marta Maslej PhD
Dr. Marta Maslej is a Staff Scientist with the Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics (KCNI) at CAMH. She completed her PhD in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour (PNB) at McMaster University, with a focus on understanding the emotional and cognitive symptoms of depression, and implications for treatment. Dr. Maslej’s current research at KCNI involves using computational methods to derive insights from clinical data, including psychiatric notes, with the aim of improving assessment, informing treatment decisions, and identifying and mitigating bias. As part of this work, she co-leads the Predictive Care team.