Research Team

Claudio Martin, MSc, MD, FRCPC
Acting Director
Dr. Martin is a physician with the London Health Sciences Centre, Victoria Campus and an Associate Professor of Medicine and Physiology at The University of Western Ontario. His clinical interests include information systems and critical illness severity scoring. He is involved in the development of a critical care medicine resource site on the Internet.

Femida Gwadry-Sridhar, MSc Ph.D(c)
Research Scientist
Ms. Gwadry-Sridhar is a pharmacist and epidemiologist, currently completing her training at McMaster University in Health Research Methodology. She is a health services researcher, with expertise in Health Related Quality of Life, community-based research, economic analyses of health technologies and the use of decision analytic modelling.

Diane Bentley, BA, BSW
Project Manager
Ms. Bentley is a project manager with the Critical Care Research Network. Her skill set in healthcare management and human resources management augments her research interests in quality improvement (Ql), ethics, and human development research. She is currently managing the Sepsis Treatment and Response Registry (STAR) with Dr. Claudio Martin.

Teresa Morrison RN
Clinical Research Coordinator

Ms. Morrison is a clinical research coordinator/research assistant with CCR-Net for the the past 12 years. Her clinical experience as a nurse is instrumental in coordinating clinical trials, ICU data collection and maintaining quality data management. She has developed her itnerests and skills in managing and overseeing clincial trials within the ICU.

Eileen Campbell
Clinical Research Coordinator

Ms. Campbell is a clinical research coordinator with CCRNet for the past 4 years. Her experience as a pharmacy technician is integral in the application of all elements of the research coordinator role. She has developed the necessary skills required for clinical research, the close attention paid to detail, and especially the interaction with the mulitdisciplinary ICU team as well as the industry research team.

Fran Priestap, BSc, MSc Epidemiology
Research Associate
Ms. Priestap has been part of the CCR-Net team for the past 8 years. Prior to completing her degree in clinical epidemiology, she was the MDS database manager where she developed her skills in managing, reporting, and analyzing data using SAS and Microsoft Access. Currently, Fran is still involved with the MDS, performing higher-level analyses, allowing her to pursue her interests in performance measurement. In addition, she is developing her skills in the area of knowledge translation and qualitative research methods through her involvement with the KIDMI study (Knowledge Innovation and Diffusion in Myocardial Infarction).

Andrea Hill, MSc Human Biology & Nutritional Sciences, MSc Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Research Associate
Ms. Hill is a research associate with the CCR-Net. Her research interests include quality improvement and translating research into practice, with emphasis on understanding the barriers to research transfer. Her current projects include a survey to examine physicians' attitudes towards continuous quality improvement (CQI) and a survey of ventilation management practices in the ICU.

Selam Mequanint, BSc. Statistics , MSc Management Information Systems
Database Manager
Ms. Mequanint joined the CCR-Net team in April 2006 and is the new MDS database manager.Her previous work experiences include coordinating several research projects, maintaining data quality and analyzing registry data. Her health research experiences and educational background will be instrumental in coordination of the MDS.

The purpose of the Advisory Committee is to advise the Executive Leadership and LHSC Scientists comprising the core of the Critical Care Research Network (CCR-Net) on the following:

• prioritization of research projects,
• educational needs of member units regarding health services division,
• policies for access to data for research purposes,
• methods of data quality evaluation,
• relationships with medical industry and integration of such partners into this research collaborative, and
• other tasks as requested by the CCR-Net Executive.

Funding Partners

Support and financial assistance has come to us from a variety of sources. Our founding partners, The Richard and Jean Ivey Fund and the former Victoria Hospital Research Institute, assisted with our start-up funding to support personnel and information systems specific to the regional network. The "academic" partners have supported ongoing research registries that examine heathcare outcomes, while the traditional "medical" granting agencies support scientific projects with specific hypotheses.

Foundations and Agencies:

Canadian Lung Association/Medical Research Council Fellowship

Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (Toronto, Ontario)

London Health Sciences Centre - Research Inc. (London, Ontario)

The Physicians' Services Incorporated Foundation (Ontario)

Social Science and Humanities Research Council

Heart and Stroke Foundation

Canadian Institute of Health Research

Medical Industry Partners:

Nestle Clinical Nutrition

Gaymar Industries Inc.

Siemens Electric Limited/Medical Systems Division

Hill-Rom Pressure Ulcer Prevention Trial

Baxter Web Page

Core (Bayer)

Eli Lilly Canada Inc.

Clinical Support Team

Ron Butler, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Research Associate

Dr. Butler is Site-Chief, ICU, University Campus, London Health Sciences Centre. Dr. Butler's research interests include protocolized care and mechanical ventilation.

Frank S. Rutledge, MD, FRCPC, CHE
Associate Researcher

Dr. Rutledge is a Professor of Medicine at The University of Western Ontario, Medical Director of the Critical Care Program for London Health Sciences Centre, and Chair, Program in Critical Care, University of Western Ontario. As Medical Director of the Critical Care Transport Program for Southwestern Ontario, he is interested in regional approaches to the delivery of healthcare.

Sean Keenan, MD, FRCPC (Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine)
Research Associate

Dr. Keenan is a physician in British Columbia (formerly with the London Health Sciences Centre). His research interests include withdrawal of life support, mechanical ventilation, weaning protocols and health technology assessment.