About the Team

Dr. J9 Austin (they/them) is Executive director of the BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services Research Institute, and is a Professor in Psychiatry & Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia. J9 is a board-certified genetic counsellor and their research work involves studying the impact of genetic counselling for people with psychiatric disorders and their families. They founded the world’s first specialist psychiatric genetic counselling service that has won an award for its impact on patient outcomes, and in addition to peer-reviewed publications, has written a book, and won awards for teaching, leadership, and research. J9 is a member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Louisa Edwards (she/her) is a social psychologist (PhD) with 10+ years’ research experience in primary care and population-based healthcare. Louisa is a Research Program Manager at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health & Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. Louisa is also the Public Deliberation Lead on the Pharmacogenomics for Depression Project. Louisa is interested in the interplay between motivation for seeking treatment, patient expectations, engaging with a treatment approach, and how these affect health and well-being outcomes. Louisa is a mother to two little rascals, so a frequent visitor of parks, hiking trails, campsites and beaches. I love being near any kind of water, and so feel very lucky to live on the beautiful west coast!

Zeina Waheed (she/her) is a PhD Candidate at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health, and previously completed her BSc in Cell and Developmental Biology and MSc in Neuroscience.  She will be using qualitative and quantitative methodologies during her PhD research to identify and develop implementation strategies for pharmacogenomic testing for major depressive disorder.  

Craig Ivany (he/him) is a laboratory services strategist with over 35 years of experience influencing healthcare. His depth of practice includes a legacy of leadership across Canada, including VP roles with DynaLIFE Alberta, Dynacare Ontario, CEO Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratory Association, President and CEO Alberta Public Laboratories, and Chief Provincial Diagnostics Officer, Provincial Health Services Authority British Columbia. Craig is a certified health executive, and long-standing member of the Canadian College of Health Leaders, holds an ICD.D with the Institute of Corporate Directors, and is an Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columba.

Dr. Gavin Wong (he/him) is a research scientist at the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation at UBC and Vancouver Coastal Health. He has over a decade of experience in systematic review research and has been actively involved in providing evidence for public policy since 2007. Dr. Wong has expertise in conducting systematic reviews, appraising different clinical trial designs, and has authored numerous HTA reports that have helped inform health policy in Canada. His research interests include meta-analysis, network meta-analysis, critical appraisal of randomized controlled trials and observational studies, and integrating clinical evidence with economic models.