Our Mission
The overarching aim of the multi-disciplinary research program developed at the Centre for Research in Aging is to generate, disseminate, and translate knowledge for evidence-informed medical and nursing practices in long-term care. Our studies seek to develop (or redefine) risk assessment tools and quality of care indicators, and to assess the implementation and validity of long-term care clinical care guidelines. Our research covers a range of topics within the fields of dementia and its associated behavioral and psychological symptoms, delirium prevention, pressure ulcer risk assessment and prevention, inappropriate transfers to acute care, elder abuse, infection prevention/management, and appropriate prescribing for the institutionalized elderly - particularly those with advanced dementia.
Our Team
Research Staff
Dr. Machelle Wilchesky, Director of Research
Machelle Wilchesky is an Assistant Professor within the Department of Family Medicine and Division of Geriatric Medicine at McGill University and a Scientist at the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology of the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research (Jewish General Hospital). As Director of Research at the Donald Berman Maimonides Centre for Research in Aging, she has established an independent research program that focuses on improving the medical and nursing care provided to vulnerable elderly patients residing in long-term care facilities. Before obtaining her PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from McGill University, Dr. Wilchesky worked for many years as a health economist in both Canada and Israel. Dr. Wilchesky is the Principal Investigator of the ‘PREvention Program for Alzheimer’s RElated Delirium’ (PREPARED) Trial.
Contact: 
machelle.wilchesky@mcgill.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3
Dr. Ovidiu Lungu, Senior Researcher
Ovidiu Lungu obtained his PhD in social psychology from Al.I.Cuza University in Romania, and went on to pursue his postdoctoral training in neuroscience in Minneapolis (Brain Sciences Centre, University of Minnesota) and Montréal (Université de Montréal). Currently, he is a research professor associated with the Psychiatry Department of the University of Montréal, and is Senior Researcher at the Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric Centre for Research in Aging. His research interests include the neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with neurocognitive disorders, social determinants underlying various disorders and their management, neurophysiological mechanisms in dementia and schizophrenia, and the bio-psycho-social changes induced by the healthy vs. pathological aging process. Dr. Lungu is also a co-investigator on the PREPARED Trial.
Contact: ovidiu.lungu@ssss.gouv.qc.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3
Stephanie Ballard, Research Coordinator
Stephanie Ballard holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences and a Master of Science degree in Family Medicine from McGill University. In 2016, she obtained a Fonds de la recherche du Québec-Santé (FRQS) Masters Level Training Award to pursue graduate studies in the field of elder mistreatment. Under the supervision of Drs. Machelle Wilchesky and Mark Yaffe, her graduate thesis centered on adapting the Elder Abuse Suspicion Index© (EASI), a six question elder abuse suspicion tool previously validated for use in the ambulatory setting, into a nine question long-term care index (EASI-ltc©) (https://www.mcgill.ca/familymed/research/projects/elder). She is presently the Trial Coordinator for the PREPARED Trial in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University and the Research Coordinator at the Donald Berman Maimonides Geriatric Centre for Research in Aging. Her research interests focus on issues affecting the geriatric long-term care population, with a particular focus on elder abuse screening instruments and delirium prevention programs.
Contact: stephanie.ballard@mcgill.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3
Anna Feindel, Research Nurse
Anna Feindel is the PREPARED Trial research nurse. Anna is a registered nurse with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from McGill University, as well as a diploma in Human Relations and Family Life Education. Anna’s clinical background includes neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, ophthalmology, geriatrics and physical rehabilitation. Anna has been a research nurse within McGill University and its affiliated hospitals and centres conducting research with human participants for over 10 years. She has worked in vision and migraines in the Department of Psychology, in a clinical trial with patients with Alzheimer’s disease (Phase IV with Aricept), in a pain threshold investigation in the Department of Anesthesia, Faculty of Medicine with ALS patients from MNI/MNH, and in a cardiac pain investigation at the Montréal General Hospital Research Institute.
Anna was also a volunteer coordinator in palliative care for six years from 2011-2017, and was a member of the McGill Council on Palliative Care from 2011-2017 and a member of the Planning committee, presenter, chairperson, and poster author for the International Palliative Care Congress in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
Contact: anna.feindel@ladydavis.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3
Fatema Johara, Biostatistician
Fatema Tuj Johara is a Biostatistician at the Donald Berman Maimonides Centre for Research in Aging. Fatema recently completed her MSc in Biostatistics at Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health (EBOH) of McGill University. Her MSc thesis focused on evaluating the performance of propensity score matching (PSM) based approaches to estimate treatment effects in the context of individual-patient data meta-analysis (IPD-MA), and in particular in the context of IPD-MA of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).
Fatema received a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Applied Statistics at the Institute of Statistical Research and Training (ISRT) from the University of Dhaka. Her research interests include the development of methods for analyzing individual-patient data meta-analyses, causal inference, multilevel models, and the estimation of time-dependent exposure effects (in longitudinal or survival analysis).
Contact: fatema.johara@mail.mcgill.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3
ResearchGate Link:
www.researchgate.net/profile/Fatema_Tuj_Johara
Doctoral Students
Deniz Cetin-Sahin
Deniz Cetin-Sahin is currently in her second year of her PhD studies in Family Medicine at McGill University, under the supervision of Drs. Machelle Wilchesky and Isabelle Vedel. She joined the CRA team as a research fellow in 2014, to synthesize the knowledge regarding interventions aimed at reducing potentially avoidable acute care transfers from long-term care facilities. The goal of her PhD project, awarded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS), is to engage frontline medical and nursing staff members in order to start planning a future intervention to improve hospital transfer patterns from long-term care facilities in the CIUSSS Centre-Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal. In a two-phase mixed-methods study, she will identify patterns and determinants of potentially avoidable hospital transfers and discuss them with frontline staff members at each facility to identify potential solutions.
Trained as a physician, Deniz received her MSc degree in the Experimental Medicine Family Medicine Option program at McGill in 2012. Her work with Dr. Jane McCusker at St. Mary’s Research Centre on large projects on delirium in nursing homes, depression self-care in community-dwelling older adults with physical chronic diseases, and elder-friendly emergency department care led to her general interest in interdisciplinary geriatric research in the context of family and community.
Contact: deniz.sahin@mail.mcgill.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3
Elena Guseva
Elena Guseva is an art therapist in her first year of doctoral studies in Family Medicine at McGill University. She received her BFA in Art Education and Psychology and MA in Creative Arts Therapies from Concordia University in 2017. Elena is a member of the American Art Therapy Association. Her interdisciplinary background stems from her continued interest in therapeutic work with the dementia population. Working under the supervision of Dr. Machelle Wilchesky, Elena aims to establish art therapy as an effective and safe non-pharmacological option for the management of neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia patients. Cognitive decline is accompanied by visual pathologies specific to the Alzheimer’s type of dementia, which restricts the range and effectiveness of therapeutic interventions that can be employed for people with advance stages of the disease. Elena’s research involves the development and assessment of visually enhanced dementia adapted art therapy interventions by collecting neuropsychological data using wearable devices. The communication challenges inherent to participants with advanced dementia are such that it is difficult to objectively quantify the effects of art therapy interventions. In focusing on quantifiable data, this project will overcome a well-documented limitation of past studies on this population.
Contact: elena.guseva@mail.mcgill.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3
Masters Students
Catherine Bélanger
Dr. Bélanger held a MSc in neurological sciences before going on to become a family physician. Her clinical rural practice is varied and includes long-term care patients. She is currently enrolled in an MSc program in family medicine, under the supervision of Dr. Machelle Wilchesky, to pursue her research interests in medication use in the long-term care setting. She has a special interest in the use of cardiovascular preventative medications in the very elderly with advanced dementia.
Contact: catherine.belanger@mail.mcgill.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3
Ellie Wakabayashi
Ellie Wakabayashi is currently in her first year of graduate studies in Family Medicine at McGill University with a specialization in Bioethics, under the supervision of Dr. Machelle Wilchesky. She completed her B.Sc. in Life Sciences (Honours) and minor in Religious Studies from Queen’s University in 2018. Her research interests include Dementia, Euthanasia, and Bioethics as related to family and patient care and in patients with or developing Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. For her Masters, she will be investigating participant recruitment processes for frail elderly individuals with dementia living in long-term care.
Ellie developed a greater understanding of the complexities related to aging through the volunteer work that she performed in geriatric wards through-out high school and university. She is a recipient of the Queen’s Entrance Scholarship, the I.O.D.E. Award, and the Banff Mineral Springs Hospital Award. Although new to the field, she is also a member of the Canadian Bioethics Society. Ellie will be working alongside researchers in Quebec to include older and vulnerable populations in the research process, and to ensure that they have full representation when it comes to decisions relating to long-term care patient intake.
Linkedin: Ellie Wakabayashi
Contact: ellie.wakabayashi@mcgill.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3
Research Assistants
Brandon Azimov, Research Assistant
Brandon Azimov is currently in his second year at McGill University studying to complete a Bachelor of Science degree in physical therapy. Brandon has worked at the Donald Berman Maimonides Centre for Research in Aging as a research assistant for the past two years. As part of a study led by the University of Sherbrooke, his work to date has focused on understanding the end-of-life care experiences of clinicians and families in long-term care facilities. He is presently working on two studies: one investigating resident transfers from long-term care to acute care, and the other investigating art therapy interventions.
Contact: brandon.azimov@ssss.gouv.qc.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3
Vanessa Carbonneau, Research Assistant
Vanessa Carbonneau is a Social Services graduate with a passion for helping others. Specifically, she is interested in investigating how to improve quality of life for the elderly with a special interest in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Her personal life, internships and education have allowed her to become familiar with how to help and interact with vulnerable populations. Vanessa is currently working as a research assistant under the direction of Dr. Machelle Wilchesky for the PREPARED Trial. Her main roles include recruiting trial participants, conducting delirium evaluations, and participating in research meetings.
Contact: vanessa.carbonneau@ladydavis.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3
Jennifer Chan, Research Assistant
Jennifer Chan is a Psychology graduate with a passion for enacting change. She has experience working within a multidisciplinary team, and is interested in learning about prevention and global health as it pertains to elderly residents with dementia living in long-term care centres. Her responsibilities include recruiting trial participants, conducting delirium evaluations, and participating in research meetings. Jennifer is excited to be able to work with Dr. Machelle Wilchesky on the PREPARED Trial.
Contact: jennifer.chan2@mcgill.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3
Tina Farshadgohar, Research Assistant
Tina Farshadgohar is currently a research assistant for the PREPARED Trial. She is also in the process of submitting her PhD thesis at Université de Montréal, under the supervision of Dr. Kieron O’Connor. Her research focuses on measuring the effects of a mindfulness-based treatment on stress and cerebral activity in people suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Tina is particularly interested in assessing the change in cortisol (the major hormone of the adrenal glands) levels pre- and post-intervention.
Tina received her Master’s degree from the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Montréal. Under the supervision of Dr. Linda Booij, she investigated the role of the HTR2A and TPH2 gene in the development of trajectories of anxiety in childhood/ adolescence. She received her BSc in Medical Biology from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières while she was doing her internship in Medicine in Turkey at the University of Uludag. Her responsibilities include recruiting trial participants, conducting delirium evaluations, and participating in research meetings.
Contact: tina.farshadgohar@mcgill.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3
Galina Pogossova, Research Assistant
Galina Pogossova is a McGill graduate with a passion for research. Her previous experience working in a lab specializing in Alzheimer’s disease, as well as volunteering for the Quebec Association of Aphasic Persons, has helped her become familiar with working within a multidisciplinary team. She is currently working as a research assistant for the PREPARED Trial. Her responsibilities include recruiting trial participants, conducting delirium evaluations, and participating in research meetings.
Contact: galina.pogossova@mail.mcgill.ca
5795 Ave Caldwell, Montréal (QC), H4W 1W3