Dr. Justin Presseau, PhD

Scientist, Associate Professor
(+1) 613-737-8899 x73821
jpresseau@ohri.ca

Dr. Presseau is a Scientist and behavioural scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Associate Professor in the School of Epidemiology & Public Health and School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Aberdeen (UK).

His research draws upon theories and approaches from health psychology and behavioural medicine to develop and evaluate interventions focused on changing healthcare professional behaviours and health behaviours of patients and the public.

Madison Foster

Clinical Research Associate
Blueprint Translational Research Group Project Manager
madfoster@ohri.ca

Madison completed her BSc (Honours) in Biopharmaceutical Sciences (co-op) and her MSc in Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa. Madison joined the Blueprint team in December 2017.

Madison is the Project Manager for the group. Currently, she is working on several of the team’s Patient Engagement programs, which focus on studying and facilitating patient engagement (involving patients and caregivers as collaborators throughout the research process). Through this work the team aims to better align their research with patient priorities and interests, as well as create guidance for patient engagement.

Meredith Conboy

Research Assistant III
mconboy@ohri.ca

Meredith completed her BSc (Honours) in Biopharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Ottawa and her MSc in Population Medicine (Epidemiology) at the University of Guelph. Meredith joined the Blueprint team in March 2022.

Meredith is involved in the Making Patient Partnerships a Reality in Very Early Phase Clinical TriaLs (MARVEL) research program. MARVEL aims to develop a platform for meaningful patient engagement in early phase clinical trials by building patient panels for three different research programs and then describing the methods, processes, activities, and lessons learned through a series of manuscripts. Meredith is also working on Cellular precOnditioning for post-Surgical Myocardial Ischemic Complications (COSMIC), a phase I clinical trial that aims to test the safety and feasibility of using stem cells as a preconditioning treatment to try and reduce cardiac complications following a noncardiac surgery.

Maryam Ghiasi

Research Assistant III
mghiasi@ohri.ca

Maryam holds a Doctorate in Dentistry from Tehran University of Medical Sciences and also completed her MSc in Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa. She joined the Blueprint team in March 2022.

Maryam primarily coordinates Systematic Reviews in the team. She is also helping with the Patient Engagement in Basic Science (PEBS) research program, aiming to develop a framework providing guidance on patient engagement in laboratory research.

Doreen Engelberts

Senior Research Technician
dengelberts@ohri.ca

Doreen is a Veterinarian Technician who has spent 25 years in the Dr. Brian Kavanagh laboratory at the Hospital for Sick Children, as Lab Research Project Coordinator investigating Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and Ventilator Induced Lung Injury (VILI).

Doreen is currently working in the wet lab in Acute Lung Injury (ALI) looking at sex differences, COVID 19 induced lung injury model and helping to standardize a laboratory model of sepsis for the National Preclinical Sepsis Platform.

Forough Jahandideh

Research Associate
fjahandideh@ohri.ca

Forough completed her PhD on cardiometabolic benefits of food-derived bioactive peptides in rat models of hypertension, obesity, and metabolic syndrome at the University of Alberta. Forough then completed her postdoctoral studies on preclinical models of sepsis in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Alberta. Forough joined the Blueprint team in January 2023.

Forough is leading the coordination and conduct of preclinical multilaboratory studies for different disease models (ALI, sepsis). She is coordinating preclinical sepsis studies between 6 centers across Canada through the National Preclinical Sepsis Platform (NPSP), which is establishing and optimizing a laboratory model of sepsis through this work, the team aims to improve the translatability of preclinical studies and work through filling the knowledge gaps in this area.

Brian Dorus

Clinical Research Assistant II
brdorus@ohri.ca

Brian completed his BSc in Biochemistry, his BASc in Chemical Engineering (Biotechnology program) and his MSc in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Ottawa. Brian Joined the BLUEPRINT team in January 2023.

Brian primarily works on the VAMPIRE project, which evaluates the success rate of translation from preclinical research to clinical application. This project also entails identifying potential factors that can influence successful translation.

Sabryna Dumont

Junior Research Technician
sdumont@ohri.ca

Sabryna completed her BSc (Honours) in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Sabryna joined the Blueprint team in January 2023.

Sabryna works with preclinical models of Acute Lung Injury (ALI) with a focus on biological sex differences and in models of sepsis for the National Preclinical Sepsis Platform (NPSP) multi-laboratory project.

Bashaer Hussein

Clinical Research Assistant I
bhussein@ohri.ca

Bashaer completed her Honours BSc in Psychology at the University of Ottawa. She joined the Blueprint team in Fall 2022.

Bashaer is working on multiple projects, particularly in the field of Patient Engagement in Basic Science (PEBS) aiming to establish a framework for guiding patient engagement.

Michael Verret

MD, MSc, PhD candidate, FRCPC
Anesthesiologist, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval
michael.verret.2@ulaval.ca

Dr. Verret is an anesthesiologist who recently completed his FRCPC as well as his MSc in Epidemiology (Department of Anesthesiology, Université Laval, supervised by Dr. Alexis Turgeon) within the Clinician Investigator Program. Dr. Verret was recruited to the Blueprint Translational Research Group (OHRI) and started his PhD at the uOttawa School of Epidemiology and Public Health in September 2021.

As part of his thesis work, Dr. Verret will work on perioperative opioid minimization strategies aiming at finding effective perioperative interventions to improve patient-centred outcomes and reduce persistent postoperative opioid use. He will be conducting practice surveys, observational studies, scoping reviews, and systematic reviews. He will also be working on transfusion practices aiming at finding optimal perioperative transfusion strategies in non-cardiac surgery.

Matthew Jeffers

PhD Student
mjeffers@ohri.ca

Matthew completed his BSc (Honours) in Psychology at the University of Manitoba before pursuing his MSc in Medicine (Neurosciences) at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Subsequently, Matthew conducted 9 years of research in preclinical models of stroke recovery and rehabilitation as Laboratory Manager to Dr. Dale Corbett and Dr. Gergely Silasi at the University of Ottawa. He initially joined the Blueprint group in the MSc Epidemiology program before fast-tracking to the PhD program and receiving funding from the Ontario Graduate Scholarship.

Matthew's research interests include optimization of preclinical experimental design and analysis to maximize validity, as well as methods of assessing preclinical evidence to inform decisions to translate novel healthcare interventions to early-phase clinical trials. This includes studying existing regulatory and ethical frameworks surrounding initiation of confirmatory preclinical experiments and first-in-human clinical trials.

Eva Kuhar

Master's Student
ekuhar@ohri.ca

Eva is a first-year graduate student in the University of Ottawa's Cellular and Molecular Medicine program, where she conducts research in the lab of Dr. Manoj Lalu and Dr. Duncan Stewart in the Regenerative Medicine Program at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI).

Her thesis work will primarily focus on biological sex differences in preclinical models of acute lung injury (ALI). Previously, she completed a BSc in Biochemistry with a concentration in Molecular Biology and a minor in Psychology from Bishop's University.

Grace Fox

SPOR Research Assistant with the Ottawa Methods Center
grfox@ohri.ca

Grace worked as a summer student, research assistant and graduate student for the Blueprint Translational research group. She recently finished her MSc in Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa and has taken on a new role at the Ottawa Methods Center where she helps researchers and patient advisors navigate patient engagement in research.

Grace's research interests include patient engagement along the research continuum. She also worked on a clinical trial focused on virtual care as a method of monitoring recovery at home after surgery. Grace focused her MSc thesis on patient partner recognition, specifically financial compensation.

Marc Antonino Albert

Master's Student
malbe074@uottawa.ca

Marc has been working with the Blueprint team since January 2022. He is currently a graduate student at the University of Ottawa, pursuing an MSc. Health Systems from the Telfer School of Management. He completed his BSc. in Biomedical Science at the University of Ottawa in 2021, where he was involved in ovarian cancer research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.

Marc is currently working on a cross-sectional, observational study to characterize policy documents with citations to Predatory Journal articles across multiple disciplines. His thesis research will also focus on Predatory Journals – specifically with a focus on investigating how the trustworthiness of research is considered by individuals and organizations who prepare public health policy documents.

Ayni Sharif

Master's Student
aysharif@ohri.ca

Ayni has completed her honours BSc in Biomedical Sciences and is currently a MSc candidate in Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa.

Ayni’s research interests include bridging the gap among preclinical research, clinical research, and medical treatment. She is working on integrating patient engagement and network meta-analyses as novel approaches to preclinical systematic reviews to potentially improve knowledge translation.

Alvin Tieu

MD/PhD Candidate
atieu@toh.ca

Alvin completed a BMSc and MSc at Western University. He is currently an MD-PhD Candidate at the University of Ottawa in his final year of medical school.

For his PhD, Alvin is evaluating the therapeutic efficacy and biodistribution of extracellular vesicles derived from mesenchymal stromal cells to treat acute and chronic lung diseases. His project combines clinical research methodology with basic science techniques. With the Blueprint Translational Research Team, he is leading systematic reviews to investigate the protective potential of extracellular vesicles in a variety of preclinical disease models. In the lab, he is developing a novel, more accessible mouse model of COVID-19 to investigate the pathophysiology and new interventions to combat this devastating illness.

Hannah Wotherspoon

Master's Student
hwotherspoon@ohri.ca

Hannah is currently pursuing an MSc in Health Systems from the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa. Prior to this, she completed a BSc. Honours in Biological Science with a minor in Neuroscience from the University of Guelph.

Her thesis work is focused on understanding the decision-making process of clinical researchers when deciding to launch an early-phase clinical trial.

Benjamin Lam

Medical Student
blam@toh.ca

Benjamin is a medical student at the University of Ottawa.

He is working with Dr. Michael Verret on the opioid minimization scoping review project, with the aim of improving patient-valued outcomes following surgery. Benjamin has previously worked in biomedical research, and he is eager to translate his skills and competency to the clinical setting. He looks forward to collaborating with patient partners and working towards the betterment of their care.

Ahmed Sadeknury

Honours Student
asade066@uottawa.ca

Ahmed is in his fourth year of undergraduate studies, pursuing an honors BScs in Biomedical sciences at the University of Ottawa. He has worked with the team since the start of January 2022.

Ahmed is working on his honors project - Using AI for the histological analysis of respiratory diseases. This includes a scoping review and developing an AI tool to classify lung histology images.

MengQi Zhang

Summer Student
mzhan178@uottawa.ca

MengQi has been working with the Blueprint team since fall of 2019. He is currently a medical student at the University of Ottawa (class of 2023). He completed his BSc at Western University in 2019, where he was involved in research with the department of physiology and pharmacology.

MengQi is working on the biological sex/sepsis preclinical systematic review, where he is looking at sex-dependent differences in animal models of sepsis.

Claudine Henoud

Summer Student
Claudine Henoud

Claudine joined the Blueprint team at the end of 2021. She is a member of the MD class of 2024 at the University of Ottawa where she also previously completed an HBSc and was involved in translational stem cell research.

Claudine is currently working on both a preclinical and clinical systematic review. Her projects respectively explore the preclinical and clinical safety and efficacy of mesenchymal stromal cells for improving outcomes in patients with myocardial infarction or ischemic heart disease.

Nikesh Chander

Summer Student
nchan105@uottawa.ca

Nik is entering his fourth year of undergraduate studies in an Honours BSc in Translational and Molecular Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He has been working with the Blueprint group since the summer of 2020 as a volunteer research assistant during his studies.

Nik is currently working in the wet lab with Dr. Lalu and Dr. Stewart on a project to develop and characterize a more accessible model of COVID-19 in mice. In the past he has also worked on an individual participant data meta-analysis looking at effect modifiers of CAR-T cell therapy, as well as a systematic review investigating randomized controlled trials published in predatory anesthesia journals.

Myriam Hamtiaux

Summer Student
mhamtiaux@ohri.ca

Myriam is currently an MD2025 candidate at the University of Ottawa. Previously, she completed a BSc in pharmacology at McGill University and subsequently spent a year working as a clinical research coordinator at the CHUM under Dre E. Duceppe's supervision. She has been working with the Blueprint team since the Fall of 2021.

Myriam is currently working on a scoping review that aims to identify and describe pharmacologic opioid minimization strategies for use during the intraoperative period that are tailored to the needs of surgical patients.

Raj Bapuji

Summer Student
rbapu098@uottawa.ca

Raj is going into his second year of medical school at uOttawa. Previously, he did his undergraduate degree in pharmacology at the University of Alberta. He is working for Blueprint as part of the Faculty of Medicine’s summer studentship program.

Raj is currently assisting on a project that involves engaging patient partners in a pre-clinical systematic review of a stroke intervention.

Malvika Argawal

Summer Student
magar025@uottawa.ca

Malvika completed a BSc in Life Sciences from McMaster University and is currently a second year medical student at the University of Ottawa. She is joining the Blueprint Team as a summer student through the Faculty of Medicine's Summer Studentship Program.

Malvika is assisting with the Virtual Recovery After Surgery (VRAS) program studies, which involve optimizing the VRAS program to further improve care and decrease hospital readmission rates and acute care visits. Specifically, she will be helping with a qualitative focus group study and a systematic review centered around VRAS optimization.

Lobna Al-Qaysi

CO-OP Research Assistant
loal@ohri.ca

Lobna is in her third year of undergraduate studies at the University of Ottawa, pursuing an Honours BSc in Biopharmaceutical Sciences, with an option in genomics. She joined the Blueprint team in January 2023.

Lobna is working on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses for Preclinical studies (PRISMA-Pre) project to help create reporting guidelines for preclinical systematic reviews. She is also helping with projects related to patient engagement in research, where patients join as active collaborators or partners in the research process.

Armita Kalani

Undergraduate Student
akala007@ohri.ca

Armita is a third-year undergraduate student in Honours BSc in Translational and Molecular Medicine (TMM) at the University of Ottawa. She has been working with the BLUEPRINT group since the winter of 2023 in completing her rotations project.

Armita is working on investigating the biological sex differences of organ dysfunction in a laboratory model of sepsis.

Jodi Peters

Executive Assistant
jpeters@ohri.ca
613-737-8899 x79842

Jodi Peters has been with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) since 2006. Currently, she is the Executive Assistant to Dr. Dean Fergusson, Director of the Clinical Epidemiology Program and Dr. Tim Ramsay, Scientific Director of the Ottawa Methods Centre. Jodi began her career at OHRI as a Research Administrative Assistant for a variety of scientists in both basic and clinical research. Prior to this, she’d acquired 11 years' experience as an Administrative Assistant working at Foresters (Toronto, Canada) and Office Team (Ottawa, Canada).

Sarah Peters

Administrator
sapeters@ohri.ca
613-737-8899 (x75083)

Sarah began her career at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) in February of 2017. She is the Clinical Epidemiology Program’s reception and is the administrator for Dr Lalu, Kyeremanteng, Boet, Squires, Hawken and Taljaard. Prior to joining the OHRI, Sarah was an Electoral Coordination Agent, Voting Process and Services to Candidates Expert, and Poll Bag Auditor for Elections Canada.