NCCDH Staff Biographies
The National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health, at St. Francis Xavier University, is pleased to announce the arrival of new staff in September 2011.
Claire Betker – Senior Knowledge Translation Specialist
Claire Betker began her career in rural Manitoba in a single-nurse public health office working with several rural communities. Over the next 3 decades, she has worked in Public Health, Home Health and Primary Health Care at a local, regional, provincial and national level. Claire is a Certified Community Health Nurse, a past President of the Community Health Nurses Association of Canada, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Nurses Association. Claire has a Master of Nursing degree and is a PhD student at the University of Saskatchewan focusing on public health nursing practice.
Andrew Bresnahan – Research Officer
Andrew Bresnahan completed an undergraduate degree in international development studies at the University of Guelph, a Masters of Science in medical anthropology at the University of Toronto, and a Masters of Public Health at Memorial University. Rooted in a commitment to health and social justice, his research and practice focus on social inequalities as determinants of disease distribution and outcomes. Andrew's interests include social and preventive medicine, epidemiology and biostatistics, political economy and social policy, tuberculosis prevention and control, rural and northern health, and global health delivery.
Lesley Dyck – Knowledge Translation Specialist
Lesley Dyck is a mid-career health promotion professional with over 10 years of public health experience. She earned her MA at the University of British Columbia and has managed programs at the YWCA of Canada, communication strategies for the Alberta Centre for Well-Being, and chronic disease prevention programs (tobacco reduction, injury prevention and health equity) with Interior Health in B.C. Lesley was part of the development of a population health unit designed specifically to take action on the social determinants of health.
Stephanie Johnston – Administrative Assistant (part-time)
Stephanie Johnston has a background in small business accounting and data management, and taught chemistry and mathematics at the high school level. She currently teaches step dancing in Antigonish and directs Coisir Ghàidhlig a' Bhaile Mhòr (the Antigonish Gaelic Choir). Since moving to Canada from North Carolina three years ago, she has worked for number of departments at StFX.
Hannah Moffatt – Knowledge Translation Specialist
Hannah Moffatt holds a Master of Public Health from Simon Fraser University and a BSc from McGill University's School of Environment. Her master's work focused on food security in Vancouver and how communities across Canada are preparing for climate change. In 2010 and 2011 Hannah was a Knowledge Translation Scientist at the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health. Hannah also works part-time with a research group developing a Canadian Environmental Health Atlas.
Pemma Muzumdar – Knowledge Broker
Pemma Muzumdar is thrilled to be joining the NCCDH in the role of Knowledge Broker. She is able to view public health topics from multiple perspectives, having contributed to dynamic teams at the Ontario Science Centre, Discovery Channel Canada, The Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael's Hospital, and the Program Training and Consultation Centre at Cancer Care Ontario. Pemma is a proud graduate of the University of Waterloo's Master of Public Health program, and is passionate about health equity within Canada and abroad. Pemma was recently a member of the 2011 Canadian Refugee Health Conference Steering Committee and has served as a Member-at-Large on the Board of Directors for the Ontario Public Health Association for the past two years. Pemma speaks, understands and reads French at an advanced level.
Sume Ndumbe-Eyoh – Knowledge Translation Specialist
Sume Ndumbe-Eyoh is a former Health Promotion Specialist and Knowledge Broker with the Program Training and Consultation Centre of the Smoke Free Ontario Strategy, where she coordinated and facilitated the development of Ontario-wide communities of practice. Sume holds a Masters of Health Sciences in Health Promotion and Global Health from the University of Toronto. She has numerous professional experiences in equity-focused organizational and community development and change, social justice education, HIV/AIDS prevention, research and evaluation and women's rights. Sume has advanced French.
Alison Vickerman – Administrative Assistant (full-time)
After completing a Master of Science degree at the University of Alberta, Alison Vickerman went on to coordinate multiple provincial, national, and international conferences primarily related to health care in Canada. Her organizational skills will come in handy as she takes care of the logistics and administrative activities at the NCCDH. Alison has functional ability in French.
Continuing staff are:
Faith Layden – Manager
Faith Layden has been with the NCCDH since February 2007. She earned her MPA at the University of Victoria and has an MA in French from Dalhousie University. Faith's work at the NCCDH includes strategic and operational planning. She has a keen interest in utilization focused evaluation and evaluation capacity building. Faith is a member of the GASHA Community Health Board. Faith has functional ability in French.
Connie Clement – Scientific Director
Connie Clement joined the NCCDH in January 2011. Previously, Connie has been executive director of Social Venture Partners Toronto, a venture philanthropy collaborative, and Health Nexus/Nexus Santé, Canada's premiere health promotion consultancy. She was Director of Planning and Policy at Toronto Public Health when six public health units merged, and previously held varied health promotion and sexual health management and front-line positions. Connie holds a BSc in Biology/Sociology from Trent University. She played a key role in the development of innovative initiatives including: Women Healthsharing, community grant programs, round tables on pesticide use, prostitution and food policy.