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VHA Research Fellowship Program
Past Research Fellowship Recipients
Chrissy Froude
2020 VHA Champions of Change Interprofessional Fellowship Recipient
Chrissy Froude is a “Client Choice” Award Winning PSW that has worked at VHA for 6 years in the community working with the elderly and special needs clients. Chrissy also has a background in legal and medical administration. She is hoping to bring these skills to this project for the Champions of Change Fellowship program 2020. She is excited to design and implement a quality improvement initiative related to improving medication safety for VHA’s clients.
Safiullah Barat
2020 VHA Champions of Change Interprofessional Fellowship Recipient
Safiullah Barat has been a registered nurse with VHA since 2016. Currently, he is working with the palliative team and providing end of life (EOL) care in the homes over the past 2-3 years. Since being exposed to the palliative care team, he has enjoyed and loved working in the community. Safi loves working with individuals and families and working with the interdisciplinary team to help improve quality of life for individuals with life limiting/chronic illnesses. Given that providing EOL care requires the need for high risk medications, he was interested in joining the Champions of Change Fellowship program with an interest in improving medication safety in the community/home setting.
Hana Asfaw
2020 VHA Champions of Change Interprofessional Fellowship Recipient
Hana Asfaw is a PSW at VHA and has been working for the organization for about 5 years. She is greatly enjoying working in the community. Before moving to Canada, Hana was working in business administration, and had worked in that field for 5 years. Now she is excited to take part in the Champions of Change Fellowship program.
Marzieh Moattari
2019 Fellowship Recipient
Marzieh Moattari is an internationally educated nurse with a strong background in practice, teaching, research and leadership. During her +10 years of experience as a nursing scholar, she has contributed to the quality of care of many patients through applied research and conducting many quantitative, qualitative and mixed method designs.
Her research interest can be categorized in the following areas: Medical-Surgical Nursing to improve patients’ health and or quality of life in challenging situations, Primary Health Care, Ethics, Critical Thinking, Social Responsibility, and Nursing Education and Assessment. During her study at York University Post RN program, she had a chance to deeply learn about the Canadian Health Care System.
Currently, Marzieh is an RN she is working in a VHA Nursing Clinic where she has the opportunity to inquisitively raise many practical questions and improve quality of care through empowering clients who live with different challenges across the life.
As a VHA Research Fellow, Marzieh implemented a QI project titled: Whole vs Hole: Enabling Nurses to Apply Wholistic Wound Care.
Banu Sundaralingam
2019 Fellowship Recipient
Banu Sundaralingam graduated from Queen’s University with a Master’s of Science in Occupational Therapy (OT). She joined VHA in 2018 as an OT working in the Central South Region practicing in physical medicine and geriatric health. Banu also has experience working in the mental health field using cognitive behavioural therapy techniques to guide her practice. She also has experience working with clients with acquired brain injuries and works with them to manage their psychosocial issues and post-concussion symptoms.
As a VHA Research Fellow Banu implemented a QI project titled “Addressing Caregiver Needs in the Community.” Caregivers are a vital part of a client’s recovery journey; however, their needs are often unaddressed.
This project aims to increase the community resources available to clinicians to provide to caregivers. The project also aims to enhance clinicians’ knowledge on educating clients’ caregivers on self management skills to manage caregiver burnout. It is hoped that through this project, the needs of caregivers are addressed to overall enhance the quality of life and care for both the client and the caregiver.
Nadine Narain
2018 Fellowship Recipient
Nadine Narain graduated from the University of Toronto with a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy and has experience working with both children and older adults. She started working at VHA in 2017. Nadine’s experience of working with older clients in the community has allowed her to identify critical issues that impact health and well-being. Nadine hopes that her project will enhance clients’ quality of life and contribute to inclusivity and their engagement in meaningful activities.
Nadine will be implementing a QI project to expand the VHA volunteer program with the goal of addressing social isolation and loneliness among seniors.
Tandi Betani
2018 Fellowship Recipient
Tandi Betani received diplomas in Nursing and Midwifery from UK Universities and also completed the RNAO/MOHLTC Advanced Clinical Nurse Program (2001).
She joined the VHA Child & Family Nursing Team in 2013 and has over 25 years of general nursing experience. She is passionate about advocating for optimum well-being for all children, and supporting/empowering nurses to sensitively provide effective, evidence-based, quality care for children with life-limiting illnesses.
During her fellowship, Tandi will complete the QI project: Raising the Bar: Equipping & Supporting Community Paediatric Nurses for Provision of Quality, Effective & Contemporaneous Palliative/End of Life Care.
Brydne Edwards
2017 Fellowship Recipient
Brydne Edwards, OT Reg. (Ont) started working as an occupational therapist in 2013, and is dedicated to translating knowledge to practice in rehabilitation.
Brydne has experience working with children and older adult clients. She is passionate about enabling participation and inclusion across the lifespan, and hopes that her proposal will contribute to enhancing clients’ quality of life.
Brydne will be implementing the QI project: Enhancing physical activity in the disease self-management plan for clients living with mild cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease.
Olivia Logan
2017 Fellowship Recipient
Olivia Logan, RPN has been working with VHA as a Registered Practical Nurse since 2016.
As one of the original members of the Palliative Care team pilot in Scarborough, Olivia has a great passion for end of life care and is dedicated to improving direct care delivery, self-care for staff and implementing evidence-based tools in her everyday practice. She is committed to ensuring that VHA is a leader in palliative care.
Olivia will be implementing a palliative-focused quality improvement project.
