Credits – Heart Failure

Acknowledgements

We would like to extend sincere thanks to all of the women living with heart failure who participated in this study by sharing their experiences with our team, as well as to the members of the full project team and advisors (see members below). Special thanks to Celine Bailey who provided professional translation support, and to the excellent support from the Trillium Health Partners – Institute for Better Health (IBH) operations and research ethics teams. Finally, thanks to our summer and practicum students Hargun Kaur (McMaster University), Tanya Jain (University of Toronto), and Yousra Lakhani (University of Toronto) for help with various aspects of this study, including the gathering of resources, recruitment and social media support.

 

Core Research Team

• Susan Law, PhD (Principal Investigator) 
  Susan leads the Health Experiences Research Canada (HERC) Program and at the time of this study was a Senior Scientist at Trillium Health Partners – Institute for Better Health. She is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Health Policy, Management & Evaluation (IPHME), University of Toronto. Susan oversaw all aspects of this research, including study design, data collection, analysis and dissemination.
• Michelle Marcinow, PhD (Project Coordinator and Qualitative Researcher, IBH) 
  Michelle was the excellent project coordinator for this project who kept us to task and organized until she left on maternity leave in 2023.
• Heather Lannon, PhD (Qualitative Researcher) 
  Heather brought a wealth of personal and professional experience to the team, first as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto, and then as a research associate at Trillium Health Partners – Institute for Better Health. Heather and Jason (see below) conducted the majority of interviews for this project. Heather also supported the analysis as well as preparation of the materials for the web module.
• Jason Nie, MSc (Qualitative Researcher) 
  Jason has worked with the HERC team on different projects. He provided excellent support for the grant application and is credited for penning the title ‘From the Heart’. He conducted interviews for this project.
• Jane Sandercock, MSc (Qualitative Researcher) 
  Jane is an experienced qualitative researcher. Our team was delighted when she was able to join the team in the latter half of the project to support the qualitative analysis and preparation of the materials for the website module.
• Ryan Caulfeild, BCOM (Technical Lead for HERC) 
  Ryan is a graduate in business from McMaster University with a background in information technology and has worked to provide stellar technical support for HERC projects for the past several years. He helped with the extraction and management of clips on our various platforms to produce the web module and overall editing to ensure confidentiality as per consent and smooth starts and finishes of individual clips. His role in data management and web functionality has been integral for our work.

 

Full Project Team & Advisors

Members of the full project team listed below provided timely, insightful support, help with recruitment, and advice throughout the project.

Patient & Community Partners: 

Jackie Ratz, HeartLife Canada (Manitoba), Patient Advisor

Jennifer Monaghan, Heart Failure Patient Advisor 

Shami Dua, Patient and Family Advisory Committee, Trillium Health Partners 

Patrice Lindsay, Heart & Stroke Canada 

John Sawdon, Heart Failure Patient and Cardiac Foundation of Canada 

Sharon Bray, Patient Advisor

Co-Investigators & Collaborators: 

Mark Smilovitch, MD, Cardiologist – McGill University and McGill University Health Centre 

Jillianne Code, PhD, HeartLife Foundation and University of British Columbia, Heart Failure Patient 

Kerry Kuluski, PhD, Trillium Health Partners – Institute for Better Health 

Elizabeth Mansfield, PhD, Trillium Health Partners – Institute for Better Health 

Manish Maingi, MD, Cardiologist – Trillium Health Partners 

Kim Anderson, MD, Cardiologist – Nova Scotia Health Authority 

Émilie Dionne, PhD, VITAM (Centre de rechérche en santé durable) and Laval University 

Seema Marwaha, MD, Internal Medicine – Unity Health and Chief Editor, Healthy Debate  

David K. Wright, PhD, School of Nursing, University of Ottawa 

Angela Colantonio, PhD, OT, Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto 

Tracey Colella, RN, PhD, University of Toronto and University Health Network 

Susan Marzonlini, RKin, PhD, University of Toronto and University Health Network 

Nadia Giannetti, MD, Cardiologist – McGill University and McGill University Health Centre 

Debbie Josephson, MD, Family Physician (retired), Montreal 

Sean Virani, MD, Cardiologist – HeartLife, Providence Health Care, BC 

Hannah Lee, MD, Cardiologist – Trillium Health Partners 

Tahseen Rahman, MD, Cardiologist – Trillium Health Partners

Anne Simard, Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research 

Heather Ross, MD, Cardiologist – University of Toronto and Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research