Susan Jack RN BScN PhD

Founder, PHN-PREP

I have always valued the important work of public health nurses in promoting the health of individuals and families during pregnancy and the early years, and especially the critical care that they provide to families experiencing social and economic disadvantage. My knowledge of public health nursing practice is grounded in my early experiences as a public health nurse in both Alberta and Ontario. As a Professor, School of Nursing, Associate Member in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, and a Core Member, Offord Centre for Child Studies, I have had the opportunity to develop a program of research focused on the development, evaluation, and dissemination of public health nursing interventions, specifically home visiting, to improve maternal-child health outcomes, and those developed to prevent family violence, including child maltreatment and intimate partner violence. More recently, building on my expertise as an applied qualitative health researcher, I have begun to explore, document and share the tacit knowledge of public health nurses – or that professional knowledge that is rooted in context, their experiences, practice and values – as a way to make visible the complex, critical processes used by these professionals to influence health outcomes.

I completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Alberta (1993) followed by a PhD (Clinical Health Sciences) at McMaster University (2003). I completed a post-doctoral fellowship (2004-2006), funded by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University and at the Knowledge Utilization Studies Program at the University of Alberta, with a policy practicum at the Public Health Agency of Canada. The foundation of my research program was supported with a CIHR New Investigator Award (2007-2012)./p>

Anja Cahill RN BNSc BScH

As the Ontario Parent-Child Relationship Program Nursing Practice Lead I provide professional nursing practice support to NCAST Parent-Child Interaction (PCI) Instructors across Ontario’s 34 public health units through collaboration with partners from the Public Health Nursing Practice, Research & Education Program (PHN-PREP) (School of Nursing, McMaster University), the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS), and the Parent-Child Relationship Program at the Barnard Centre (PCRP). As a public health nurse in the Healthy Babies Healthy Children program, I have used the scales in my practice for over a decade. I hold extensive knowledge about the PCRP assessment and intervention tools, experience in training and facilitation, and a passion for promoting public health nursing practice and supporting families and children to thrive.

Karen Campbell RN PhD

I am a post-doctoral fellow and an Ontario Women’s Health Scholar at Western University, Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing. I completed a Master of Nursing at Ryerson University and received a PhD in Nursing from McMaster University. My doctoral work focused on the influence of geography on the Nurse-Family Partnership® program in British Columbia. I have over 20 years of experience as a Registered Nurse and my clinical background is in public health nursing, with a focus on reproductive and child health. My program of research is at the intersection of women’s health and physical and social geography. I am most interested in how community health nursing intervention programs can improve health and quality of life for women experiencing health inequities across diverse geographical settings, including rural communities and women with disabilities.

Sarah Carsley MSc PhD

I joined the PHN-PREP team in February 2021. I am the Applied Public Health Science Specialist in Healthy Growth and Development in the department of Health Promotion, Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention at Public Health Ontario (PHO). I have a Master of Science degree in Epidemiology from McGill University and a PhD in Health Policy, Management and Evaluation from the University of Toronto. In my position at PHO, I Chair the Healthy Growth and Development Evidence Network, a group of public health practitioners working on maternal, child and family health in public health units across Ontario. I have also previously worked on the Rourke Baby Record and Greig Health Record evidence updates and as a Clinical Research Project Manager on the TARGet Kids! Study at the Hospital for Sick Children. My research interests include applied public health research, early childhood growth and development, adverse childhood experiences, reproductive health, and health services research.

Lindsay Croswell RN CCHN(C) MPH BScN BSocSc

I am the Ontario Nurse-Family Partnership® (NFP), Nursing Practice Lead. I work with the Ontario Public Heath Units currently providing the NFP home visiting program to facilitate the nurse and supervisor education, provide implementation guidance and ensure the goal of program fidelity. As a home visiting public health nurse, I have delivered the NFP program to clients during its successful pilot in Hamilton from 2008 to 2012. As a public health nursing practice leader, I have provided leadership to the development, implementation and evaluation of the Nurse-Family Partnership® home visitation program, working in partnership with clinical and managerial leads from Ontario’s provincial Healthy Babies, Healthy Children Program since 2016. As a knowledge user, I have been involved with the Nurse-Family Partnership® International team as a contributing member of the Clinical Advisory Group and related working groups. I have also been actively engaged as a collaborator in multiple research projects to evaluate nurse home visiting programs, most notably the CaNE project to develop, implement and evaluate a Canadian model of nurse home visitor education and a case study to evaluate models of shared supervision within a home visitation program.

Manar El Malmi RN, BSCN, CCHN, MHA

I currently work as the Program Manager for the Healthy Growth and Development (HGD) and Healthy Babies Health Children (HBHC) Program at Ottawa Public Health. I have 8 years’ experience across different public health areas including HGD, reproductive health, school health, immunization, COVID case management and mental health. I am passionate to work with people for people’s health and wellbeing. I possess a deep and earnest desire to commit to improve cost-effective health services, expand patients access to essential care, address health inequities, promote health and healthy behaviors and ensure that healthcare professionals, systems and facilities meet their intended goal of enhancing the population’s quality of life. I have a Master in Health Administration (MHA) from the university of Ottawa. In 2020, I received MHA Alumni Association Health Leadership Award for demonstrated leadership, innovative contribution to health services, demonstrated planning and implementation capabilities, and the impact of my field project on the health system. I feel privileged to be part of PHN-PREP and its great work in advancing the HBHC home visitation program.

Andrea Gonzalez PhD

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, and a core member of the Offord Centre for Child Studies. My research focuses on 1) the intergenerational transmission of risk; 2) the impact of early adversity on later outcomes and physiology; 3) preventive interventions and the role of biological mechanisms; and 4) evaluation of preventive parenting interventions. I adopt a multi-levelled, multi-method approach, collecting behavioural, cognitive, and biological measures from mothers and their children (ages 0-6 years) within longitudinal studies or the context of evidence-based interventions. I am an Editorial Board Member for the journals Archives of Women’s Mental Health, Child Abuse & Neglect and Child Maltreatment and currently hold a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Family Health and Preventive Interventions.

Tricia Hardy RN BScN MPH

My name is Tricia Hardy and I currently work as the Program Manager in Healthy Families & HBHC at the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit. I have been involved in home visiting for 30 years; 10 years as a frontline Public Health Nurse. Working at 5 different Health Units of varying sizes and urban/rural mix over the years has allowed me to appreciate the similarities and the differences encountered across HBHC geographically. Most importantly I have also had the privilege to work with, support, and learn from many different nurses, family home visitors, and managers/supervisors along the way.

Fiona Myers

I have worked as an Administrative Assistant, in the School of Nursing, at McMaster University since 1995. I provide administrative support to faculty and their research programs, which includes my work with PHN-PREP.

Elizabeth Orr RN MSC PHD

I am an Assistant Professor in the Nursing Department at Brock University. My research is focused on understanding the complex processes of hospital-to-home transitions – especially for mothers and infants experiencing vulnerability – and building connections between acute care and community services. I also bring 13 years of experiences as an RN in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to my current academic and research roles.

Sonya Strohm MSc

Program Manager, PHN-PREP

I joined as the Program Manager of PHN-PREP in the School of Nursing, McMaster University in August 2020. In this role, I provide project management, research, and knowledge mobilization support. Between 2016-2018, I coordinated the Canadian Nurse-Family Partnership® (NFP) Education (CaNE) Pilot Project. I have many years experience in research coordination, as well as with supporting the ongoing development and maintenance of NFP program materials and curriculum. I have a Master of Science degree in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University, and earned my doctoral candidacy in Family Relations and Human Development at the University of Guelph.

Jessica Weatherby

Research Assistant, PHN-PREP

I joined the PHN-PREP team in the School of Nursing at McMaster University as a Research Assistant in May 2022. I have a Bachelor of Public Health and gerontology minor from the University of Waterloo. I provide project research and mobilization support, an example being the 2022 Environmental Scan on Prevention, Early Identification, and Early Intervention Home Visitation Program Service Delivery Models for Pregnant Individuals and Families with Young Children (0-6 years).