DR. Leslie Anne Campbell
Dr. Leslie Anne Campbell was announced as the Sobey Family Chair in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Outcomes in December 2015.
Dr. Campbell is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Community Health & Epidemiology and Psychiatry, and the School of Nursing at Dalhousie University. She completed her BSc in Nursing at the University of Toronto, and both her MSc and PhD at Dalhousie University. Her research interests include patient centered outcomes research and routine health outcome measurement, primarily in the area of child and youth mental health.
Dr. Campbell recognized that we needed support in knowing that we were providing the right care to the right patient at the right time while working firsthand with patients and families as a nurse. She aims to ensure that the best evidence available is used for every patient and family, and that determining whether care is or is not working occurs in a timely manner. Drawing upon her clinical experience and diverse training in research methods, Dr. Campbell’s program of research promotes the use of outcomes to inform patient care and service planning.
Outside of work, Leslie Anne enjoys spending time with her family and friends and connecting with the great outdoors.
dr. sharon clark
Dr. Sharon Clark is a Clinical Psychologist with IWK Health where she is the Advanced Practice Leader for the Choice and Partnership Approach (CAPA). Dr. Clark completed her B.A. Hons at the University of Ottawa in Psychology, her MSc at Acadia University, and her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Dalhousie University. Her research interests were grounded in attachment theory in her university work and have expanded to focus on improvements to mental health services for children, youth, and their families.
Dr. Clark has been leading the implementation of CAPA across mental health services within the IWK and is the provincial clinical lead for CAPA within Nova Scotia. Clinically, she has worked in community outpatient clinics, day treatment settings, intensive overnight services, inpatient services and now is passionate about creating one strong continuum of services for youth and their families. She is particularly interested in how we work together with youth and families to create a mental health system that is inspired by shared-decision making, engaging, and transparent. Dr. Clark facilitates the Choice training clinic at the IWK and believes that a learning healthy system is how we become innovative and excellent. Learning from other mental health colleagues nationally and internationally, Dr. Clark is inspired by the opportunities to continually improve the quality of services we provide.
Outside of work, Sharon enjoys hanging out with her three sons, gardening, cottage time, and travelling with her family.
DR. debbie emberly
Debbie Emberly is a Psychologist with IWK Health where she is the Advanced Practice Leader for Research, Evaluation and Outcomes. She is a clinical associate with the Department of Psychology and an Adjunct (Faculty of Graduate Studies) in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie. Dr. Emberly completed her BSc (Honours) at Dalhousie University and her MSc in Clinical Psychology at Acadia University, before returning to Dalhousie to complete a PhD in Psychology with a focus on implementation science and clinician behaviour change. Her research interests include supporting clinician behaviour change in the implementation of best practices, health system improvement and the use of outcome and progress monitoring tools to support decision making at the clinical and policy level.
Clinically, Dr. Emberly has worked in community outpatient clients, intensive community based treatment, reproductive mental health, inpatient psychiatric services and with the youth forensic population. Her current passions are building a robust outcome and progress monitoring framework within IWK Health Mental Health and Addictions that is supported by an electronic routine outcome monitoring platform embedded within clinical care to support real time clinical decision making with a focus on the voice of the child, youth and family. Measuring outcomes that matter to all stakeholders is the key to success.
Outside of work, Debbie enjoys spending time outside with her young family and spending time at the cottage with family and friends
DR. david lovas
Dr. David Lovas is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University, as well as a staff child & adolescent psychiatrist, and the physician co-lead of the Emergency Mental Health & Addictions Service (EMHAS) at the IWK Health Centre. He is also the Program Director for the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry sub-specialty residency at Dalhousie University.
Dr. Lovas’ research with our team concerns system change and quality improvement in pediatric mental health broadly, and in particular, in emergency mental health care.
Dr. sue mcwilliam
Sue is an Implementation Science Specialist on the Outcomes and Evaluation Research Team for the Mental Health and Addictions Program at the IWK Health Centre. She is also the Research and Evaluation Lead for Trauma Informed Care at the IWK and an Adjunct Scholar at Dalhousie University. Sue completed an Interdisciplinary PhD and Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Health Administration, Health Promotion and Sociology at Dalhousie University. Her research interests include: looking at how best to collect, monitor and regularly report accurate data to inform program decision-making; sex and gender-based analysis; and how to engage patients, families and clinicians in measuring patient reported outcomes. Outside of work, Sue enjoys playing outside with her family, yoga, painting, and music.
DR. SANDRA MEIER
Sandra Meier is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Developmental Psychopathology and Youth Mental Health. Her research focuses on leveraging modern technology to improve mental health care in youth. She is also interested in risk factors (genetics) and long-term outcomes of anxiety disorders.
Miriam Daneff
Miriam has worked at the IWK as a Qualitative Research Assistant since February 2021. She has completed her BSc (Combined Honours) in Neuroscience and Biology at Carleton University and her Master of Applied Health Services Research at the University of New Brunswick.
Miriam recognizes the importance and value of listening to and understanding individuals’ lived experiences and is grateful to have the opportunity to share these perspectives through the research that she has completed to date. Miriam is passionate about equitable healthcare and promoting mental health. In her free time she likes to relax by baking, hiking, listening to music, and much more!
Kaleigh Lang
Kaleigh began working as a research assistant at Dalhousie University in April 2023. She completed her BSc (Honours) in Medical Sciences at Dalhousie. Currently she is pursuing her MSc in Epidemiology & Applied Health Research at Dalhousie.
Kaleigh’s research interests include mental health and health services research. Her thesis is focused on the virtual delivery of MHA services for children and adolescents. Outside of school and research she loves to spend her time sailing!
Allyson Cruickshank
Allyson is a Master’s student in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University. She completed her BSc in Nursing at Dalhousie University. Her research interests include child and youth mental health and mental health services. In her free time, Allyson enjoys reading, dancing, and baking.
youth co-researchers
Our team is fortunate to have a dynamic group of youth co-researchers working with us on our projects. Angelina, Casey, Charlie, and Kayleigh bring fresh perspectives and enthusiasm to our work. These individuals are essential contributors to our research and their ideas help to ensure that the research we are conducting is relevant and engaging to young people. A goal of this group is to create easier, more accessible information for young people and others.
The engagement of our youth co-researchers is generously supported by the Molly Appeal and Stefan Isner Fund. We are incredibly grateful for their support.