Meet the Team
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Noreen Kamal
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Associate Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering, Dalhousie University.
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Andrew Demchuk
CO-INVESTIGATOR
Stroke Neurologist and Professor at the University of Calgary.
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Grant Stotts
CO-INVESTIGATOR
Stroke Neurologist and Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa.
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Betty Adewusi
PROJECT MANAGER
Department of Industrial Engineering, Dalhousie University
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Denise St. Louis
PROJECT MANAGER
Department of Industrial Engineering, Dalhousie University
National Roundtable
The OPTIMISING ACCESS national roundtable consists of stroke neurologist(s) and provincial-level stroke administrator(s) dyads from each province in Canada. It also includes representation from patient representative, interventional radiology, emergency medicine (including rural), and paramedicine.
The objective of the roundtable is to provide direction to ensure the highest level of quality in the treatment (with thrombolysis and EVT) of Acute Ischemic Stroke patients across Canada. They provide direction in the development, maintenance, and update to the OPTIMISING ACCESS registry.
The OPTIMISING ACCESS roundtable membership is listed below - *Note: only physicians are given a “Dr.” honorific for easy identification of the physician leads for each province and included specialist groups
NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR
Renee Cashin, Regional Stroke Program Manager, Provincial Cardiovascular and Stroke Program, NLHS
Deanne Drover, Regional Emergency Program Coordinator, Eastern Urban/Rural Zones, NLHS
Donnie Sampson, Senior Director of Provincial Cardiovascular and Stroke Program, NLHS
Dr. Marsha Eustace, Stroke Neurologist & Medical Division Head of Stroke in Provincial Cardiovascular and Stroke Program, NLHS
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
Trish Helm-Neima, Provincial Stroke Coordinator
Dr. Heather Williams, Neurologist
NEW BRUNSWICK
Trish Murray, Clinical Executive Director Medicine & Neurosciences
Dr. Shahram Abootalebi, Stroke Neurologist - Horizon
Julie Savoie, Regional & Local Zone 5 Stroke Strategy Coordinator
Dr. Chadi Darwich, Head of Neurology Department, Vitalité
NOVA SCOTIA
Alissa Decker, Director- Neurosciences, Orthopedics & Spine, QEII Health Sciences Centre, NS Health
Melissa Buckler, Manager of Planning, Development and System Performance; Integrated Acute and Episodic Care Network
Dr. Sherry Hu, Stroke Neurologist
QUEBEC
Dr. Alexandre Poppe, Stroke Neurologist, Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal
Dr. Marie-Christine Camden, Stroke Neurologist; Laval University - CHU de Québec - Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus
ONTARIO
Shelley Sharp, Director, Stroke Clinical Program, Ontario Health
Natalie Beavis, Director, Cardiovascular/Stroke, Collaborative Practice and Ethics & Chair, Research Ethics Board, Peterborough Regional Health Centre
Dr. Grant Stotts, Division Head, Neurology, Ottawa Hospital
Dr. Aristeidis Katsanos, Stroke Neurologist, Hamilton Health Sciences, McMaster University
Dr. Albert Jin, Stroke Medical Director, Ontario Health
Dr. Ravinder-Jeet Singh, Northern Ontario School of Medicine University
MANITOBA
Regan Spencer, Provincial Clinical Services Lead, Acute Medicine
Dr. Esseddeeg Ghrooda, Stroke Neurologist, co-head for Division of Neurology
Dr. Nishita Singh, Stroke Neurologist, Health Sciences Center, University of Manitoba
SASKATCHEWAN
Ruth Whelan RN, Stroke Services Clinical Nurse Specialist, Saskatchewan Health Authority
Dr. Regan Cooley, Stroke Neurologist
ALBERTA
Balraj Mann, Senior Program Lead, Neurosciences Care Alberta, Acute Care Alberta
Mary-Lou Halabi, Senior Consultant, Neurosciences Care Alberta, Acute Care Alberta
Dr. Brian Buck, Stroke Neurologist
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Sacha Arsenault, Provincial Director - Stroke Services BC
Dr. Aleksander Tkach, Vascular Neurologist
PATIENT
Garima Dwivedi, Patient Representative
THE TERRITORIES
Samantha Atwan, Clinical Care Manager Emergency, ICU & Registration - Yukon Hospital Corporation
Dr. Katherine Breen, Emergency Physician, Stanton Territorial Hospital
PRIMARY STROKE CENTRE NEUROLOGY
Dr. Danielle de Sa Boasquevisque, Stroke Neurologist, Niagara Health
EMERGENCY MEDICINE
Dr. Katie Lin, Emergency Physician, Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, AB; Flight Transport Physician
Dr. Etienne Van Der Linde, Emergency Physician (Rural), G.B. Cross Memorial Hospital, Clarenville, NL
INTERVENTIONAL NEURORADIOLOGY
Dr. Jai Shankar, Interventional Neuroradiologist
PARAMEDICINE
Ian Drennan PhD, Advanced Care Paramedic, Ornge Critical Care Transport
Ian Blanchard, Advanced Care Paramedic, Alberta Health Services
TRANSPORT PHYSICIAN
Dr. Brian Metcalfe, Provincial Medical Director for Paramedicine and MedFlight NL
OTHER MEMBER AT LARGE
Dr. Andrew Demchuk, CSC Board Chair, Stroke Neurologist
COMMITTEE CHAIR
Noreen Kamal PhD PEng, OPTIMISiNG ACCESS - Principal Investigator
Funding
The initial funding for the activities of the group is provided by NSERC Alliance grant, (Title: Designing and Deploying a National Registry to Reduce Disparity in Access to Stroke Treatment and Optimise Time to Treatment, PI: Noreen Kamal), which includes funding from Medtronic. This funding will be available until March 2026.