We are
SPHERU
In the last 10 years, we’ve been busy.
Researchers & Staff
Publications
Students with real-world Experience
Million Funding Dollars Awarded
Our team is an interdisciplinary network of thought leaders.
Doctors, researchers, scholars, clinicians, project managers, administrators, and knowledge translation experts make up our diverse and committed SPHERU team.
Over 150 researchers & staff have made the engine of SPHERU run for 2 decades. We owe our gratitude to their work and commitment, which has paved the path for another 20 years of partnership, impact, and improved health for SK people.
Dr. Cory Neudorf
Superpower: Big Picture Thinker on a Quest for Equity (disguised as a doctor).
Current role at SPHERU: Research Associate
Years on the SPHERU team: 8
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Improving Health Equity
What motivates your work with SPHERU? Hearing about the results from SPHERU research projects gives me hope for a better tomorrow. SPHERU is a network of researchers from 2 universities that bring their diverse backgrounds and interests to tackle population health issues together. This diversity in background and approach gives me new ideas for my own areas of research.
Dr. Tom McIntosh
Superpower: Wisecracking Policy Guru
Current role at SPHERU: Co-Director
Years on the SPHERU team: 18
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Healthy aging, rural health, public policy, history of health
What motivates your work with SPHERU? SPHERU’s commitment to collaboration in all aspects of our work. The interdisciplinarity of our work means I’m always in a learning environment.
Dr. Sylvia Abonyi
Superpower: Shape-shifter across Cultures (cultures are meant to be embodied not just only discussed)
Current role at SPHERU: Researcher
Years on the SPHERU team: 20
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Aging well in place, Indigenous population health
What motivates your work with SPHERU? Our collective commitment to health equity is a major motivator. Every time we meet, talk, or even exchange emails I am inspired by the really innovative and creative ways SPHERU people are tackling population health equity issues through research and knowledge exchange. This always gives me new ideas and perspectives. I am also inspired by the supportive, thoughtful, and generous environment in which ideas are discussed, supported, and advanced.
Dr. Nuelle Novik
Superpower: Enchanted Communicator & Relationship Builder
Current role at SPHERU: Researcher
Years on the SPHERU team: 7
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Older Adults, Dementia, Aging in Place, Rural and Remote Settings, Mental Health, End of Life
What motivates your work with SPHERU? The opportunity to work with, and learn from, experienced researchers and colleagues in such a collaborative way is priceless. SPHERU researchers have an unwavering commitment to population health and to improving the health and well-being of all citizens—the opportunity to work with this group is incredible.
Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine
Superpower: Committed Visionary & Leader
Current role at SPHERU: Director
Years on the SPHERU team: 21
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Population-level intervention research, cities/place and health, maternal and child health
What motivates your work with SPHERU?
SPHERU is a transformative research group. Founded on a vision to transform population health research in Saskatchewan, it has achieved that and has set its sights to do more. SPHERU inspires me. SPHERU conversations are rich and nuanced, inspirational, and laced with humour and witticisms.
Dr. Rachel Engler-Stringer
Superpower: Goddess with a Green Thumb
Current role at SPHERU: Researcher
Years on the SPHERU team: 8
Areas of focus with SPHERU: food environments and child health, nutrition inequities
How does your work with SPHERU motivate you? I like that we all work together to support one another’s research by sharing ideas and resources.
Dr. Bonnie Jeffery
Superpower: Super Supporter AKA Mother of SPHERU
Current role at SPHERU: Researcher
Years on the SPHERU team: 20
Areas of focus with SPHERU: rural and remote health; place based health inequities; older adults; community engaged research
What motivates your work with SPHERU? The opportunity to work with this interdisciplinary group of researchers has enlightened and strengthened my research. SPHERU is truly a ‘team’—a group of people who care for, support, and mentor each other and who all work towards the vision of addressing health inequities for vulnerable people.
Dr. Daniel Fuller
Superpower: Super Cyclist with Vision for Healthy Cities
Current role at SPHERU: Researcher
Years on the SPHERU team: 4
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Healthy cities, population health, physical activity, social inequities
How does your work with SPHERU motivate you? My work with SPHERU is exciting because it provides a critical link between research, policy, and the community. SPHERU’s long term commitment to providing public health evidence to Saskatchewan is something I hope to contribute to for the long term.
Dr. Paul Hackett
Superpower: Time-traveller
Current role at SPHERU: Researcher
Years on the SPHERU team: 16
Areas of focus with SPHERU: history of public and population health, and contributions to the healthy aging in rural communities project
What motivates your work with SPHERU? As a historical researcher, SPHERU has provided me with a wonderful environment for carrying out my research. First and foremost, I am thrilled to work with world-class health researchers from a wide range of disciplines. In turn, this allows me to contribute to studying health from a variety of perspectives, something that might not be possible were I working alone. Finally, and building on these points, I am proud to contribute to our goal of understanding and alleviating the unique health challenges of vulnerable populations in the province of Saskatchewan.
Dr. Gabriela Novotna
Superpower: Diva with the Details
Current role at SPHERU: Research Associate
Years on the SPHERU team: 5
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Substance use and misuse in marginalized populations, harm reduction, community-university knowledge development and exchange.
How does your work with SPHERU motivate you? 1) Working with researchers from a broad range of disciplines who have a lot in common: passion for high quality and relevance of research for the wellbeing of groups, communities, and populations. 2) The fact that making health and social conditions more equitable has always been a priority for all SPHERU researchers and associates.
Natalie Kallio
Superpower: Super-connector
Current role at SPHERU: Research Officer
Years on the SPHERU team: 1
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Multi-sectoral partnerships, healthy built environments, COVID-19, social epidemiology
What motivates your work with SPHERU? I am inspired by SPHERU’s commitment to genuinely and meaningfully engage people and communities in collaboration—research for and with, not research about—to address inequities and social and structural determinants of health.
Dr. Michelle Stewart
Superpower: Seeker of Justice for All
Current role at SPHERU: Researcher
Years on the SPHERU team: 5
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Critical disability studies; cognitive disabilities; applied anthropology; public policy and frontline justice practices.
How does your work with SPHERU motivate you? I was first drawn to SPHERU because of the strong commitment to applied research as well as evaluation in research practices. Whether collaborating or working independently, I am always inspired when we come together and can speak across disciplines. This is a strength of our team and pushes our collective capacity to tackle issues of structural inequality from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds. The collaborative and mentoring spirit at the core of SPHERU helps foster and sustain our commitments to bringing about social change in the work we do—that inspires and motivates me.
Dr. Sarah Oosman
Superpower: Compassionate Connector
Current role at SPHERU: Researcher
Years on the SPHERU team: 8
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Implementation research, intervention research, Indigenous health research, health promotion research.
What motivates your work with SPHERU? I value the diverse interdisciplinary perspectives that underpin SPHERU’s collaborative, team research projects, and programs that meaningfully address health inequities persisting in our society. At SPHERU, we inspire one another to think differently about the research questions we explore, and we openly create space for community perspectives to drive our work. I have absolutely benefited from the strong mentorship culture that exists among all SPHERU colleagues and I am grateful and proud to be part of the SPHERU research team.
Dr. Juanita Bascu
Superpower: Patron of the Aged
Current role at SPHERU: Research Associate
Years on the SPHERU team: 11
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Aging and health, Rural and remote health, Dementia, Social isolation, Health policy, Community based-research methods
How does your work with SPHERU motivate you? My work with SPHERU inspires and motivates me to conduct community-based participatory research to address health disparities and improve the quality of life of people with dementia and their care partners in rural and remote communities.
Diana Fedesoff
Superpower: Multi-tasker Extraordinaire!
Current role at SPHERU: Research Officer
Years on the SPHERU team: 18
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Administrative
What motivates your work with SPHERU? All the SPHERU researchers I have worked with, from day one, have showed me that their research is not just something to list on their CV’s. These researchers are passionate about helping people and making their research create change. Year after year, I see how the research is used to build and create meaningful relationships, specifically with the aboriginal communities. I am proud to be a member of the SPHERU team and grateful to have been able to have spent the past 18 years working with such truly passionate and kind researchers.
Dr. Jim Daschuk
Superpower: Super Story-teller
Current role at SPHERU: Research Associate
Years on the SPHERU team: 12
Areas of focus with SPHERU: History of health-timeline
How does your work with SPHERU motivate you? I feel really fortunate to have been able to join the team early on in my career. The team provided me with support, guidance, and a spirit of real collaboration. They are also great people!
Dr. Shanthi Johnson
Superpower: Meaning Finder, Meaning Creator
Current role at SPHERU: Research Associate
Years on the SPHERU team: 14
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Rural and seniors health
What motivates your work with SPHERU? My heartiest congratulations to SPHERU on its 20th Anniversary. What inspires and motivates me the most about the work of SPHERU is the people I have had the privilege of working with—talented and committed researchers, trainees, seniors, and community partners coming together to understand and address complex health and societal challenges such as social isolation and to create meaningful impact in the lives of peoples and communities.
Colleen Hamilton
Superpower: Chameleon with a wicked sense of humour (no task she can not do!)
Current role at SPHERU: Administrative Coordinator
Years on the SPHERU team: 18
Areas of focus with SPHERU: As SPHERU’s Administrative Coordinator I worked closely with the Director and Associate Director to oversee SPHERU’s administrative functions, including management of team grant funds, activity reporting, and supervision of SPHERU support staff at the Regina and Saskatoon sites.
How does your work with SPHERU motivate you? I have always been inspired by SPHERU’s community-based research approach, reaching out to individuals and communities to work alongside our researchers to explore areas of interest and relevance to them. Time and again this approach has fostered strong and lasting relationships and an increased understanding of the importance of using research to develop evidence-based policies and actions
Sylvana Tu
Current role at SPHERU: Research Coordinator
Years on the SPHERU team: 4
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Food school programs, food security,
transit and transportation interventions
What motivates your work with SPHERU? Growing up on the west side of Saskatoon, it’s been inspiring to work on projects that will have an impact on my neighbourhood and community.
Erin Thomsen
Current role at SPHERU: Project Coordinator
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Integrated Justice Program (IJP)
Erin Thomsen is the project coordinator for the Integrated justice Program (IJP). In previous years, Erin worked with youth while filling various roles as a mentor, support staff, and caseworker at non-profit organizations. Her research interests relate to how individual behaviour is influenced by the real or perceived presence of others, particularly within the systems of correction.
Akram Mahani
Current role at SPHERU: Evaluation Coordinator for the Dementia Supports in Rural Saskatchewan
Akram Mahani joined SPHERU in October 2020. With more than 18 years of research experience, Akram has a wide-ranging empirical interests and background spanning across multiple public health, health promotion, health policy, and health services research areas. In her new role at SPHERU, she will provide overall development, coordination, and analysis for the evaluation components of the Dementia project.
Daphne McRae
Current role at SPHERU: Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Mozambique-Canada Maternal Health project
Years on the SPHERU team: 4
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Maternal, newborn, and child health research
What motivates your work with SPHERU? I value the high calibre of research being conducted and the supportive team atmosphere. As a Postdoctoral Fellow, I also appreciate the diversity in research expertise, interests, and career stage among SPHERU researchers as this has provided rich and unique opportunities for learning and collaboration.
Michelle Harazny
Current role at SPHERU: Project Coordinator
Area of focus with SPHERU: Dementia Supports in Rural Saskatchewan
Michelle Harazny joined SPHERU in 2019 as Project Coordinator of Dementia Supports in Rural Saskatchewan. She works with Dr. Bonnie Jeffery, Dr. Tom McIntosh, and Dr. Nuelle Novik, and coordinates initiatives with organizations in Yorkton and surrounding communities.
Daniel Adeyinka
Current role at SPHERU: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Years on the SPHERU team: 3 months
Areas of focus with SPHERU: Social contours and MHRC projects
What motivates your work with SPHERU? The SPHERU team supports my vision, which is to address topical health issues among the marginalized population groups through multidisciplinary collaboration and data-driven process.