Our team
PaCER - Patient and Community Engagement Research
Dr. Maria J. Santana, PhD
Principal Investigator and Advisory Group Member
Dr. Maria Santana is a health services researcher, and patient and family-centred care scientist. She is an Associate Professor in the departments of Pediatrics and Community Health Sciences at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. Dr. Santana has received training in clinical pharmacy, public health, and clinical epidemiology. Her research focuses in developing novel methods to integrate the voice of patients and family caregivers in health care and health service research to improve health and health care. The methods advance person-centred care and patient-oriented research. She is the Provincial Lead, Patient Engagement, for the Alberta Strategy for Patient oriented Research.
Ingrid Nielssen
Instructor
The instructor for the PaCER program is Ingrid Nielssen. She holds a graduate degree in Gender and Social Justice from the University of Alberta. She is passionate about including patient and community members into the research that impacts them, and believes in co-developing more inclusive approaches to participatory health research methodology and praxis. She enjoys working with the unique and innovative learners that PaCER attracts.
Ingrid believes the PaCER program and methodology offers opportunity to all individuals interested in developing foundational research experience and skills. This can assure more inclusive and universal approaches to patient-centred participatory health research and engagement.
In addition to being the PaCER course instructor, Ingrid is the Patient Engagement Coordinator for the Alberta SPOR SUPPORT Unit’s Patient Engagement team.
Dr. Sheila LeBlanc, DBA
Advisory Group Member
Associate Vice-President (Continuing Education), University of Calgary
The University of Calgary welcomed Dr. Sheila LeBlanc as the Director of Continuing Education in July 2015. In early 2022, Sheila became Associate Vice-President (Continuing Education). Sheila brings a wealth of both academic and industry experience to the Continuing Education team and has a self-proclaimed passion for both teaching and lifelong learning.
Prior to this appointment, Sheila spent 3 years in the Czech Republic, where she worked as a consultant at the University of New York in Prague to help them acquire an international quality accreditation for their business school – the first university in central Europe to acquire this accreditation. Before working abroad, she served as the Director of Corporate Learning and Continuing Education at MacEwan University and taught in both their Bachelor of Commerce program and their Continuing Education Leadership certificate program.
Dr. Ewa Wasniewski, PhD
Advisory Group Member
Director Domestic Programs, University of Calgary, Continuing Education
Dr. Ewa Wasniewski has been working in the field of continuing education since 2015, starting with a position in educational and international development and progressing to an Assistant Dean position at MacEwan University. Now, as the Director of Domestic programs at UCalgary, she oversees portfolios that include technology, business, professional development, personal interest, Indigenous, and PaCER. Dr. Wasniewski’s area of specialization is educational psychology focusing on educational technologies and their impact on teaching and learning. She has extensive experience teaching various undergrad and graduate courses, as well as leading professional development workshops on teaching and learning, leadership, mentorship, and instructional design.
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Dr. John Lacey, PhD, DIC, RANS, CE, CCT |
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Dr. Sheila LeBlanc, DBA |
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Dr. Nancy J. Marlett, PhD, PaCER Founder |
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Dr. Deborah Marshall, PhD, PaCER Co-founder |
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Dr. Maria J. Santana, PhD |
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| Dr. Ewa Wasniewski, PhD | |
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Tracy Wasylak, MSCN, PaCER Co-founder |
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Gloria Wilkinson, PaCER Graduate |
Dr. Nancy Marlett, PhD
Founder Director and Advisory Group Member
Associate Professor, Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies, Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
Dr. Nancy Marlett works with the PaCER Advisory Group, the University of Calgary, Health Researchers, Health Systems and Associations, Government Agencies and Communities to change patient roles and relationships in their health and health care. She believes the challenge is to build and spread training in patient research and leadership and to incubate new approaches to health research within a sustainable social enterprise that incorporates small business offerings, ongoing partnerships, and grants.
Nancy’s PhD was a grounded theory study of innovation and social change (United Kingdom). She has worked for the Canadian, Ontario and Alberta governments; non-profit organizations; private consulting and as a faculty member in Education and Medicine to study new social organizations and social movements. In these capacities, she has led and managed large-scale programs and projects including psychiatric hospital deinstitutionalization in Ontario, Director of Community Rehabilitation and Disability studies when distance education and communities of learners models were being created, policy development in health care and social services, educational reform to include students with profound disabilities, the future of Health Care (Rainbow Report) in Alberta, and international educational curriculum development.
I have been fascinated by social innovation throughout my career, but PaCER is a force to be reckoned with because it is transforming basic roles in health care and health research.
Dr. Nancy Marlett
Dr. Deborah Marshall, PhD
PaCER Co-founder and Advisory Group Member
Canada Research Chair Health Services and Systems Research
Deborah A Marshall is the Arthur J.E. Child Chair of Rheumatology Outcomes Research and former Canada Research Chair, Health Services and Systems Research (2008-2018). She is a member of the O’Brien Institute of Public Health and the McCaig Institute of Bone and Joint Health and a Senior Scientist at Arthritis Research Canada.
Dr. Marshall has experience in technology assessment agencies, academia and pharmaceutical and diagnostics industry research settings in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Dr. Marshall focuses her research program on methods to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of health care services in the context of precision medicine and patient centeredness.
Dr. Marshall is also the co-lead of the Patient Engagement theme for IMAGINE (Inflammation, Microbiome, and Alimentation: Gastro-Intestinal and Neuropsychiatric Effects) – a CIHR Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR) Chronic Disease Network.
Tracy Wasylak, MSCN
PaCER Co-founder and Advisory Group Member
Chief Program Officer, Strategic Clinical Networks™ Alberta Health Services
Tracy Wasylak is the Chief Program Officer, Strategic Clinical Networks™ with Alberta Health Services. She has held numerous senior leadership roles within Alberta Health Services and the previous Calgary Health Region. She has an undergraduate degree in nursing from the University of Manitoba, Master’s Degree in Science (thesis) from McGill University, a graduate of the CFHI’s EXTRA Program, and a Certified Health Services Executive.
Tracy holds an adjunct assistant professor appointment with the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary. She is an active collaborator and knowledge user with several research teams and has published work in health systems research and system redesign, patient engagement and several quality improvement initiatives. Tracy received the Order of Merit, Nursing Policy Award, from the Canadian Nurses Association in March 2018. She was the recipient of the 2015 AHS Presidents Excellence Award in the category of Innovation. In 2019 she received the AHS President’s Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Quality Improvement for her provincial contributions to Care Pathways.