NCCEH Staff Bios
Tom Kosatsky
Christina Chociolko
Patricia Fortin
Michele Wiens
Daniel Fong
Luisa Giles
Sophie Verhille
Prabjit Barn
Sarah Henderson
Anne-Marie Nicol
Sylvia Struck
Helen Ward
Catherine Elliot
David Crouch
Karen Rideout
Tina Chen
Lawrence Pernica
Kirsten Mitchell
Updated June 2013
Tom Kosatsky, MD, MPH
Scientific Director
In addition to his role in the NCCEH, Tom is Director for the Environmental Health Services Division at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The focus of his work with the NCCEH involves identifying quality evidence to support environmental public health activities across Canada, assessing program effectiveness, and supporting education and training. Prior to his March 2008 arrival in BC, Tom was a consultant in environmental health for the Montreal Public Health program and Associate Professor of Epidemiology at McGill University. Tom, a trained occupational physician, has also worked for the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and for the World Health Organization (WHO).
Christina Chociolko, MA, PhD
Network Coordinator
Christina is a social scientist with a technical background and a PhD in Communication from Simon Fraser University. She has been involved with the NCCEH since its inception. From conducting the initial needs assessment to her current role, she continues to facilitate knowledge exchange amongst environmental health professionals. She was recently awarded an honourary membership in the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors. Christina specializes in science/technology, risk, and public policy. She worked at several Canadian universities, in an interdisciplinary capacity, conducting case study research on topics such as: multi-stakeholder negotiation; assessment, management, and communication of risk; standard-setting processes; and environmental priority setting. She also designed and delivered courses within science, arts, and engineering faculties on: environmental studies, scientific uncertainty and risk, and theory and practice of sustainability. Christina was a recipient of one of the first Tri-Council (NSERC, SSHRC, MRC {now CIHR}) Eco-research doctoral fellowships.
Patricia Fortin, MLSc, MSc
Information Specialist
Since completing her MSc in Health Informatics in 2005, Patricia has been involved in several projects in chronic disease management, knowledge translation, and information systems evaluation and adoption. While working as Project Coordinator for Health Technology Assessment for the Provincial Blood Coordinating Office, Patricia worked with the Therapeutics Initiative to complete systematic reviews on blood products to support utilization management. She also has conducted several systematic reviews of drug therapies for the federal Common Drug Review administered by the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies for Health and is an author of Cochrane systematic reviews. Prior to this, Patricia pursued a career as a health librarian, both working as a manager and supporting research and clinical care.
Michele Wiens, MA, MLIS
Information Specialist
Michele has completed two master's degrees at UBC, one in Geography and another in Library, Archival and Information Studies. She has several years of research experience in health care and epidemiology. Prior to accepting the Information Specialist position at the NCCEH in May 2010, she was communications director for the Human Early Learning Partnership from 2007-2010. Michele's librarian experience includes reference services with the Vancouver Public Library (Sciences/Business) and she has university teaching experience in geography (medical, physical/environmental, regional, and social). Michele expresses a deep interest in providing information specialist services to the NCCEH, the Environmental Health Services Division, and the BC Centre for Disease Control staff; also, in developing strategic working relationships with other NCCs.
Daniel Fong, BSc, BTech, CPHI(C)
Knowledge Translation Scientist
Daniel has a BSc degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia and a BTech in Environmental Health from the British Columbia Institute of Technology. At the NCCEH, Daniel utilizes his research and technical background to interpret and synthesize information for evidence reviews and ongoing projects. In particular, he has been involved in projects relating to food safety, personal service establishments, alternative antimicrobial products, and the organization of environmental health in Canada. In 2011, Daniel received environmental health officer training with the Fraser Health Authority (BC) and became certified with the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors (CIPHI).
Luisa Giles, MSc
Knowledge Translation Scientist
Luisa is a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia (UBC); her doctoral research focuses on the health effects of air pollution exposure during exercise. She has an MSc (UBC) and a BSc (Staffordshire University) in kinesiology, and worked as a research assistant in an environmental physiology laboratory at Simon Fraser University (SFU). She has conducted experimental research in areas of environmental physiology that include exposure to air pollution, hot and cold environments, and hypo- and hyperbaria. Luisa has also worked as an instructor at SFU, teaching a graduate level course focusing on air pollution and human health. Luisa’s role at the NCCEH involves synthesizing environmental health literature to produce scientific evidence-based briefs for policy-makers and health practitioners in Canada.
Sophie Verhille, PhD
Knowledge Translation Scientist
Sophie holds a PhD in Microbiology, coupled with a background in drinking water and indoor air quality. She served as a research associate for seven years, working on drinking water quality and drinking water disinfection-related projects in France and at the University of Toronto. For the next five years she was employed as a senior scientist/consultant with private environmental companies in Ontario, dealing with water and indoor air quality issues. Her role at NCCEH is to produce scientific evidence-based documents for environmental health practitioners and policy-makers across Canada.
Prabjit Barn, MSc
Environmental Health Scientist
Prabjit holds a Bachelors degree in Biology and a Masters degree in Environmental Health from UBC. For her Master’s thesis work, Prabjit investigated infiltration of particulate air pollution from residential wood burning and forest fires in homes, along with the effectiveness of air cleaners in reducing indoor particulate levels. From 2007-2008, she completed an internship in Bhopal, India, where she helped conduct a research project investigating exposure to contaminated drinking water among children. Her interests include exposure assessment and health policy analysis. At the NCCEH and at the Environmental Health Services Division, BC Centre for Disease Control, she works on several issues with both environmental and public health relevance, including air quality.
Sarah Henderson, PhD
Environmental Health Scientist
Sarah is an environmental engineer turned environmental epidemiologist. Her skill set is primarily quantitative and she works on data analysis for multiple projects at the NCCEH and the Environmental Health Services Division, BC Centre for Disease Control. Sarah also maintains strong ties to academic research through her adjunct affiliation with the UBC School of Environmental Health. Most of her research activity is focused on the potential for remote sensing data to improve air pollution exposure assessment in population-based epidemiology. Sarah's doctoral thesis (UBC) was on the relationship between forest fire smoke and public health in BC and her post-doctoral work (Menzies Research Institute, Hobart, Tasmania) was on the global burden of mortality due to vegetation fire smoke. Sarah enjoys maps, remote sensing, working with large data sets, and coding in R, SAS, and/or Python.
Anne-Marie Nicol, MES, PhD
Environmental Health Scientist
Anne-Marie began her academic career in the social sciences at SFU (Communications BA) and then developed a strong interest in environmental and occupational health during her Master’s degree at York University (MES). She completed her PhD in Epidemiology at UBC where she currently teaches Risk Assessment and Toxicology in the School of Population and Public Health. Her areas of research span the diverse subjects of human health risk assessment, environmental health and knowledge translation. In particular, she investigates how to improve the communication methods that are used to describe population level exposures to cancer-causing substances, specifically using techniques such as geographic information systems (GIS) and data visualization. Anne-Marie has also produced a number of short videos to promote awareness of environmental hazards such as pesticides (Wash with Care) and tick-borne diseases (the Tick Talk). At the NCCEH, she is excited to be working with like-minded people in the areas of risk assessment and risk communication.
Sylvia Struck, MSc, PhD
Environmental Health Scientist
Sylvia holds a PhD in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her research focused on water access and influences of livelihood, poverty, and policy on access in rural South-western Uganda. Prior to this, she worked for a number of years as an Environmental Engineer and Project Manager in government, consulting, industry, academia, and a non-governmental organization in Europe, the US, Africa, and Asia. These wide-ranging experiences have provided a broad professional network and developed a range of research and analytical skills. Her research interests include: water resource access, use, and policy; equity and social determinants of health and welfare; social and environmental adaptation and innovation; conservation; dissemination of scientific information; and public perception. She holds a MSc in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University, a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, and has trained in epidemiology. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia.
Helen Ward, MSc, PhD
Environmental Health Scientist
Helen Ward (publishing as Dimich-Ward) is an epidemiologist in the area of occupational and environmental health; primarily relating to respiratory health outcomes. She has a multi-disciplinary background with degrees in Kinesiology (Simon Fraser University), Interdisciplinary Studies (UBC), and has conducted research on environmental tobacco smoke, organic dusts, health care hazards, agricultural injuries, and gender differences in respiratory health. She is the author or co-author of 88 scientific publications.
Catherine Elliott, MD, MHSc, CCFP, FRCPC
Physician Epidemiologist
Catherine is a physician epidemiologist with Environmental Health Services, BC Centre for Disease Control and the NCCEH. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Environmental Science from McGill University. Subsequently, she completed her medical degree, rural family medicine residency, Master’s degree in Health Sciences, and fellowship in Public Health and Preventive Medicine (PHPM) at UBC. She is certified with the College of Family Physicians of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (PHPM). As a resident she investigated the public health burden of air pollution in Interior and Northern British Columbia. She has practiced family medicine in Northern BC with a focus on rural and Aboriginal health. In 2008, Catherine joined the BCCDC and the NCCEH as a Federal Field Epidemiologist with the Public Health Agency of Canada. In the field, she has been site lead for investigations of heavy metals intoxication and tuberculosis. Her current research at the BCCDC/NCCEH includes health effects of air pollution, health impact assessment, heavy metals exposures in population subgroups, and environmental health surveillance.
David Crouch, MSc
Strategic Analyst
David has an eclectic background in biology, biomedical research, computer science, knowledge management, and public health. He has helped a wide range of businesses – from the federal government on down to local businesses -- develop and sharpen their business plans and communications strategies. His particular area of expertise involves analyzing business requirements and converting them into workable web-based products. At the NCCEH, David works with staff and stakeholders to develop networks of practice and to help articulate the role of the NCCEH within the larger context of public health.
Karen Rideout, MSc, PhD
Policy Analyst
Karen is a food systems specialist whose work focuses on the complex interactions between food, nutrition, the environment, and health. She holds undergraduate degrees in music and nutrition/human ecology, as well as a master's degree in environmental health and a PhD in food systems. Her PhD research examined how and why some people are able to resist the highly processed and unhealthy food products that are ubiquitous in western society. Her research interests include healthy food policy, equity and food security, environmental impacts on the food supply, and determinants of food choice. Karen's work has crossed disciplinary and sectoral boundaries to include academics, health, government, and non-governmental organizations, including a previous position as Knowledge Translation Scientist at NCCEH before joining the BCCDC. She is particularly interested in the application of research for health policy and practice.
Tina Chen, BSc, BTech, CPHI(C)
Research Analyst
Tina graduated from UBC with a BSc in 2007 and in 2009 went on to receive a Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health (Public Health Inspection) from the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining the NCCEH in 2009, she completed a practicum at the Fraser Health Authority (BC) and became a certified public health inspector. Tina's role at the NCCEH includes working on research projects relating to environmental public health and public health inspectors, promoting and raising awareness of the organization, coordinating the translation of bilingual products, as well as maintaining the website. Her interests include disease surveillance, food safety, and web communication.
Lawrence Pernica, BMath, MLIS
Research Analyst
Lawrence holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Library and Information Science from UBC. He has experience working with a multitude of government departments in research, information management, and data analysis roles. Lawrence’s librarian experiences include reference services with the Ottawa Public Library and with the Science & Engineering Library at UBC. His role at NCCEH includes research into environmental health topics, promoting and raising awareness of the organization, and maintaining the website.
Kirsten Mitchell
Administrative Assistant
In addition to her role at the NCCEH, Kirsten also works as a published novelist and is completing her BSc in Applied Psychology and Human Science at Waterloo University. Her previous experience includes industrial recruitment, UBC Medical School Admissions, fraud Investigation for a major credit card company, as well as working as an Outreach Counselor for First Nations Street Workers. Her most recent role was at the Fraser Health Authority (BC), assisting in the recruitment of physicians. In the near future, she plans to pursue a Masters Degree in Public Health at UBC.