Digital Health Research

PJ Devereaux

Senior Scientist

PJ Devereaux is Senior Scientific Lead, Perioperative and Surgery, PHRI, Professor and University Scholar in the Departments of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HEI) and Medicine at McMaster University, and Director of the Division of Cardiology at McMaster.

The focus of his clinic research is vascular complications around the time of surgery, leading several large, international RCTs and observational studies addressing this issue. He has published more than 250 peer-reviewed papers and more than 50 book chapters and editorials. He is supported by a Tier 1 Canadian Research Chair in Perioperative Medicine, and holds the Yusuf Chair in Cardiology at McMaster University.

Michael McGillion

Scientist

Michael McGillion is Associate Professor, and Assistant Dean, Research, at the School of Nursing, McMaster University. He is the Heart and Stroke Foundation/Michael G. DeGroote Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Nursing Research, and the International Visiting Professor of Digital Health, at Coventry University in the UK.

He is an internationally-recognized researcher in the area of persistent forms of cardiac pain such as refractory angina and unrelieved chest pain following successful revascularization procedures. He was Chair of the Joint Canadian Cardiovascular Society – Canadian Pain Society guidelines for the management of refractory angina, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). He is Principal Investigator of the largest CIHR-funded, international prospective cohort study to examine social and psychological predictors of chronic post-surgical pain following cardiac surgery. His research focuses on remote automated monitoring and virtual recovery support for people recovering from cardiac and vascular surgery, decision support for people living with RFA, and global-scale, web-based dissemination of new evidence on persistent forms of cardiac pain.

Mike has been recognized for his research and advocacy by receiving the Canadian Pain Society Early Career Award and the McMaster University Arch Award for outstanding contributions to society; and was the first University Scholar (2019) from the McMaster School of Nursing.

Sandra Ofori

Investigator

Sandra Ofori is an Investigator in the Perioperative and Surgery research group at PHRI, an Assistant Professor in McMaster University’s Department of Medicine (cardiology), and a PhD candidate in the Health Research Methodology program under the supervision of PJ Devereaux. Her research interests are in the areas of perioperative care and cardiovascular disease prevention.

Her current research program is focused on perioperative smoking cessation and strategies to improve long-term health in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery. Ofori is actively involved in the conduct of large international perioperative clinical trials coordinated from PHRI and was the project officer of the Post Discharge after Surgery Virtual Care with Remote Automated Monitoring Technology (PVC-RAM) Trial.

Ofori completed her residency training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, where she was an Assistant Professor and Consultant Cardiologist in the College of Health Sciences and its affiliated teaching hospital. She also has a Master’s degree in Preventive Cardiology from the Imperial College, London UK, and was in the third cohort of the World Heart Federation Salim Yusuf Emerging Leaders Program that was focused on the reduction of the global burden of hypertension.

Carley Ouellette

Research Fellow

Carley Ouellette is a PhD student at McMaster University, School of Nursing studying under the supervision of Dr. Michael McGillion (committee: Drs. Maura Marcucci; Sandra Carroll) and is a registered nurse working clinically in the Emergency Department, Juravinski Hospital, Hamilton Health Sciences.

Carley’s research focus is on digital health innovations, wearable technologies, and virtual care with remote patient monitoring. Carley is currently leading with Drs McGillion and Marcucci, the VERDICT-2 study partnering with Cloud DX to complete a verification and user-testing study using the Vitaliti continuous vital signs monitor. This study will include a sample of patients who have undergone surgery, their caregivers, nurses, and physicians.

Carley is also the Nursing Project Officer for the PVC-RAM 1,3, and SMArTVIEW studies.

Valerie Harvey

Associate Program Manager

Valerie Harvey is an Associate Program Manager with more than 12 years’ experience in clinical research at PHRI. She currently coordinates and manages interventional trials and observational studies in Digital Health in the areas of perioperative medicine and cardiac surgery. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (Honours) in Biological Sciences from Brock University.

Ted Scott

Associate Collaborator

Ted Scott is Chief Innovation Officer, and Acting Vice-President, Research, Hamilton Health Sciences. He is Chair of the Synapse Life Sciences Consortium in Hamilton, and was previously Chief Innovation Officer and Dean of Applied Research at Mohawk College, where he studied Radiography and Sonography.

He is an expert digital health strategist and has a wealth of experience in industry relations and procurement, as well as innovation policy. He returned to HHS where he started his career as a sonographer after working at The Hospital for Sick Children and Huntsville District Memorial Hospital. Ted is a lifelong learner who earned his Masters of Applied Science in Medical Ultrasound and his PhD in Diagnostic Imaging from Charles Sturt University of Australia.

Jeremy Petch

Associate Investigator

Jeremy Petch is Director, Digital Health Innovation, Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS), where his team employs machine learning to data streaming from continuous remote monitoring devices to develop improved early-warning systems for patients recovering from surgery. They are also developing a range of patient and clinician-facing applications in the areas of virtual care and improving clinical workflow.

He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, and has a PhD in Philosophy (Health Policy Ethics) from York University.