About the Deliberation Team

Project Co-Leaders:

Dr. Stirling Bryan (he/him) a is health economist (PhD). He began his career in the United Kingdom with appointments at St Thomas’ Hospital Medical School and then Brunel University, before moving to the University of Birmingham in 1997. In 2005 he was awarded a Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellowship and spent one year at Stanford University, researching health technology coverage decision making in US health care organizations. Stirling immigrated to Canada in 2008, taking on the roles of professor in UBC’s School of Population & Public Health, and director of the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Evaluation. In 2021, he was appointed Chief Scientific Officer for British Columbia’s health research agency, Michael Smith Health Research BC. Stirling is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and currently serves as President for the Canadian Association for Health Services & Policy Research (CAHSPR).

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. They are one of the principal investigators on the Pharmacogenomics for Depression Project.

Public Deliberation Lead:

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. She 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. She love’s being near any kind of water and feels very lucky to live on the beautiful west coast!

Lead Methodologist:

Kieran C. O’Doherty (he/him) is professor in applied social psychology at the University of Guelph, where he directs the Discourse, Science, Publics research Group. His research focuses on the social and ethical implications of science and technology. He has published on such topics as vaccines, human tissue biobanks, the human microbiome, salmon genomics, and genetic testing. His research also emphasizes public deliberation on science and technology. He has designed and implemented deliberative forums in which members of the public engage in in-depth discussion about ethical aspects of science and technology and collectively develop recommendations for policy. O’Doherty’s research has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation, Genome Canada and Genome British Columbia. He is editor of Theory & Psychology. His role on this project is to advise on the public deliberation process.

Large Group Facilitator:

Dr. Colene Bentley (she/her) is a health services researcher with the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control and the BC Cancer. She has managed, facilitated and analyzed the results from several deliberative public engagement events on the topics of cancer control and using linked data for research in Canada and the US. Colene Bentley – facilitator for the large and small group discussions at the public deliberation, assisting in the planning and design of the deliberation. Colene Bentley is a health services researcher with the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control and the BC Cancer. She has managed, facilitated and analyzed the results from several deliberative public engagement events on the topics of cancer control and using linked data for research in Canada and the US.

Small Group Facilitators:

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. She is a small group facilitator for the public deliberation, along with being the lead for Activity 1.1 (jurisdictional scan) and co-lead for Activity 3 (healthcare professional focus groups) of the PGx Implementation Study. 

Kennedy Borle (she/her) is a board-certified genetic counsellor and PhD Candidate in the Interdisciplinary Studies Program at UBC. She is a small group facilitator for the public deliberation phase of the PGxIS project. Kennedy’s doctoral research is about exploring the unmet need for clinical genetic services in Canada and identifying strategies to improve equitable access to care. Her other areas of interests include integrating genetic counsellors into primary care, and research on research in the context of health services and systems. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her partner and enjoys playing soccer and pickleball, and reading fiction. 

Alexandra Cernat (she/her) is one of the small group facilitators that will be working with participants in the public deliberation to guide the conversation and help foster rich discussions. She recently completed her PhD in Health Policy at McMaster University, where her dissertation examined the perspectives and preferences of patients, clinicians, scientists, policy makers, and members of industry about the implementation of PGx testing to guide antidepressant prescribing in primary care in Ontario.

Courtney Cook (she/her) is a board-certified genetic counsellor. She received her BSc in Biology and English Literature from the University of British Columbia (UBC) followed by her MSc in Genetic Counselling from UBC.  

She works as a research genetic counsellor at UBC. Her research interests include integration of genetic counsellors in novel practice areas, evaluating innovative service delivery models and genetic counsellor’s role in utilization management initiatives. Courtney also has experience working as a clinical cancer genetic counselor at BC Cancer in the Hereditary Cancer Program and a research genetic counsellor at UBC on the MAGERS (Metabolic and Genetic Explorations in Refractory Schizophrenia) study where she provided psychiatric genetic counselling and return of whole genome sequencing and pharmacogenomic results to patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. She is involved with the UBC Genetic Counselling MSc program as a lecturer, clinical supervisor and research supervisor. Courtney will be one of the small group facilitators for the public deliberation.

Note Takers:

Mary Bunka (she/her) is an MSc student at the School of Population and Public Health at UBC, supervised by Dr. Stirling Bryan. Mary completed her BA in psychology at the University of British Columbia in 2017 and has since worked on several studies around mental health and treatment optimization with the Department of Family Practice and School of Population and Public Health. Mary joined the C2E2 team in September 2020 as a Research Assistant, working with Dr. Stirling Bryan and Dr. Jehannine Austin’s team on systematic reviews, modelling, and patient engagement for the Pharmacogenomics for Depression project. Mary’s research interests include adolescent mental health and relationships, depression care optimization, and patient-oriented methodologies. Her thesis will examine treatment patterns in children and youth with depression in BC. Mary is grateful to be supported in her MSc by a CGS-M award from CIHR. She is a note-taker for the public deliberation.

Jamie Dhami (she/her) is a Research Administrative Assistant for the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. She is currently working with Dr. Stirling Bryan and Dr. J9 Austin to help facilitate the Pharmacogenomics for Depression (PGx) Project. Jamie has just recently joined the C2E2 team in July 2024. She has previously completed a Bachelor’s degree from UBC in Sociology and is interested in pursuing law as a future career, working somewhere in the fields of environmental law/ public health policy. She is interested in facilitating and fighting for equitable and accessible healthcare. She is a note-taker for the public deliberation. Her weekends are spent painting, reading books, watching movies, and spending time in the beautiful outdoors of British Columbia!