Research
Several of my current projects use existing datasets for secondary analysis, including survey data from Statistics Canada (eg. Canadian Community Health Survey), health administrative data from Alberta Health Services and ICES Ontario, and community-based data from the All Our Families Study and Alberta's Tomorrow Project.
I am also leading two projects (described below) that involve recruitment and primary data collection through prospective cohort studies, as well as linkage with existing administrative datasets.
The Motherhood and Chronic Illness (MaCI) Study
Maternal chronic illness is increasingly common, and is prevalent in roughly 1 in 7 new or expecting mothers. The MaCI Study is aimed at exploring how chronic condition-related factors impact women's perinatal outcomes, with a focus on breastfeeding patterns. We recruited 405 pregnant women in Alberta living with pre-existing physical health conditions (e.g., diabetes, arthritis) to fill out a series of online questionnaires during pregnancy and up to 6 months after their baby was born.
I led this project for my PhD thesis with mentorship from Drs. Katie Chaput and Suzanne Tough. This study was funded by a University of Calgary Department of Pediatrics Innovation Award and the Alva Foundation.
Hysterectomy Versus Uterine Preservation for Pelvic Organ Prolapse Surgery (HUPPS) Study
Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) will affect half of Canadian women in their lifetime. Surgery to correct POP is common, and approaches can be divided into those that keep the uterus intact and those that remove the uterus from the patient’s body. At present, we do not have enough high quality evidence on which approach can best fix POP and restore quality of life, nor on the reasons women prefer to keep or remove their uterus during surgery. The HUPPS Study is aimed at investigating health outcomes, patient beliefs and decisions, and health service use in women choosing uterine preservation compared to those choosing hysterectomy for POP surgery up to 1 year post-operation. We are actively recruiting women from the Foothills Pelvic Floor Clinic who have been referred for POP surgery.
I am a Co-Investigator and methodologist for the HUPPS Study and work closely with Principal Investigator Dr. Erin Brennand to oversee operations. This study is funded by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Clinical Mentorship Grant and Early Career Investigator Award and The MSI Foundation.
