Fellows

Khulud Alharbi is an Assistant Professor specializing in health economics and health services management research. She has been actively involved in various projects aimed at developing tools to screen for frailty in Saudi Arabia, collaborating closely with the Ministry of Health. Additionally, she leads the research unit in the Faculty of Public Health and Health Informatics, where she spearheads projects focused on improving the health of the elderly and caregivers in the country.

Alharbi's dedication to addressing the healthcare needs of the elderly population in Saudi Arabia is evident through her leadership in several initiatives and collaborations with key stakeholders. Her expertise in health economics and management research has positioned her as a valuable asset in advancing the understanding and implementation of effective healthcare strategies.

Furthermore, Alharbi is a member of the Saudi Society of Home Care, showcasing her commitment to promoting and enhancing home care services for those in need. Through her work and leadership roles, Alharbi continues to make significant contributions to the field of healthcare in Saudi Arabia.

Andrew Costa is the Schlegel Research Chair in Clinical Epidemiology & Aging and an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact as well the Department of Medicine at McMaster University (https://experts.mcmaster.ca/display/acosta). He serves as the Scientific Director of the St. Joseph’s Centre for Integrated Care (https://stjoescic.ca/) and is an Associate Scientific Director of the Canada Longitudinal Study on Aging. He is an interRAI Fellow, and member of the Instruments and Systems Development (ISD) Committee. His program of research makes use of health information (‘big data’) to target, develop, and evaluate models of care in home and community care, emergency departments, hospitals, and long-term care (https://bdg.mcmaster.ca/). He also leads work on digital platforms that help patients and their caregivers navigate home and community care services (https://www.yourcareplus.ca). From 2014 to 2022, he has over 100 publications and has held more than $8 million CAD in research funding as the nominated primary investigator.

Kathleen De Cuyper is a scientist/practitioner at the University Psychiatric Center of the University of Leuven (KU Leuven, Belgium). As a clinical psychologist and behavioral therapist, she worked with persons with an anxiety disorder, personality disorder and/or eating disorder. Her clinical expertise includes exposure therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy. Her doctoral research was on the predictive value of directly and indirectly measured perfectionism in students and persons with an eating disorder. She now works as a post-doctoral researcher and coordinator of the Flemish Policy Research Centre Welfare, Public Health and Family. The focus of here policy- and practice-oriented research includes (1) the development, evaluation and implementation of BelRAI instruments in mental health care, elderly care and home care, (2) the prevention of seclusion and restraint in residential mental health and youth care services, and (3) the organization of mental health care at the level of services and regions.

Elton Ferlin is a research engineer at the Biostatistics and Data Analysis Unit at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil. He holds Bachelor of Science degrees in both Physics and Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, and an MBA in Data Science and Analytics from the University of São Paulo. He has developed software and hardware solutions for instrumentation, acoustics, and teaching applications, holding 10 patents in Brazil and 2 abroad. His expertise encompasses a wide range of areas including heart rate variability, hypertension, non-invasive blood pressure monitoring, and the modeling of electrophysiological signals. Research interests include spatio-temporal analysis in epidemiology, big data models and data-driven decision-making.

Professor Jason Ferris is a drug and alcohol epidemiologist and biostatistician with over 20 years of public health research experience. He leads the Global Substance Use and Mental Health Unit and is the Director of the Research and Statistical Support Service (RASSS) in the Faculty of Medicine. University of Queensland. His extensive research portfolio, at the intersection of Substance Use and Mental Health, represents his efforts to increase public understanding of the harmful impacts of substances on mental and physical health. Involved in more than 50 funded research projects (over $50M) as a chief investigator. He is also the Chief Biostatistician for the Global Drug Survey since 2013. 2020 The University of Queensland recognised his contributions to his research field: he was awarded and Academic Leader of the Future Award, and in 2019 The Outstanding Mid-Career Researcher within the Centre for Health Services.

Head of Psychiatry and Mental Health Department. Complejo Asistencial de Zamora/Zamora Hospital. Head of Psychiatry Research Group of the Biomedicine Research Institute (IBSAL). Associate Professor of the Salamanca University (Dpto. PETRA). Member of the Salamanca Medicine Academy. Secretary of the Ethical Committee for Research of Zamora. President of the Spanish Geriatric Psychiatry Association. Member of the board of Interdem Network (www.interdem.org) and the European Association of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Brant E. Fries, Ph.D. L.L.D. is a founder and President of interRAI, and Professor Emeritus of Health Management and Policy and Research Professor Emeritus of the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Michigan.  He is a principal author of the Resource Utilization Groups system for classifying nursing home residents, used as the basis nationwide to pay over $33 million per year to United States nursing homes under the federal Medicare system, as well as case-mix systems for persons with intellectual disability and inpatients in mental health facilities.  He co-authored the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) used in every US nursing home and the interRAI-Home Care used in half of US states.  Within interRAI, he also has co-authored assessment systems for aging persons, prisoners in correctional facilities, and caregivers.  In his research he has worked with US states and international governments to develop better decision-making, from the clinical to policy level.  He has authored over 40 books (plus over 50 translated into other languages) and over 150 peer-reviewed articles on care of vulnerable populations and quantitative modelling of health care systems.

Dr. Vjenka Garms-Homolová, has PhD in Psychology, is Professor Emeritus for Health Management at the Alice Salomon University, and Honorary Professor for Theory and Practice of Health Services Research at the Technical University of Berlin. She worked as a Health Scientist for most of her academic career. Her research focuses on health care for chronically ill and elderly people and on coping with disabilities in the social context. She is an active member of the State Network for Women's Health (www.frauengesundheit-berlin.de), and member of the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics (https://www.dggg-online.de/). As an interRAI-Fellow she cooperates with a worldwide network of researchers on the development and implementation of standardized assessments for various care settings (interrai.org). She is the author and co-author of numerous scientific and popular publications. Since 2016, she has been writing textbooks for students of social psychology and psychological diagnostics.

Sospeter Gatobu, PhD has progressive experience in research (qualitative and quantitative), monitoring, evaluation and learning, knowledge translation/implementation science, communication (corporate, development, health), strategic planning, project management, resource mobilization, and capacity building. Sospeter has worked with local and international organizations to translate research into practice to improve health, food security, health and general community development especially for the rural poor in Africa. Sospeter has managed large-scale programmes and projects in Canada and in Africa in research, health, education and development, in non-profits, and academics.  Sospeter is a trained teacher with experience lecturing at different levels of education in Kenya and in Canada. He is a member of the Centre for leading Research in Education (CLRiE) of the Wilfrid Laurier University, and the Canadian Association for Global Health. He is also a visiting lecturer/scientist at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, where he is currently developing a gerontology course for the University. He is also the Kenya coordinator of the Pan African Utilization of Lay Assessment Systems (PAULAS) research project on ageing. Sospeter has a PhD in Health Studies and Gerontology from the University of Waterloo, Master of Arts (Communication) from Daystar University (Kenya), and a Bachelor of Education from Kenyatta University (Kenya). He is proficient in English, Swahili, and four other Kenyan languages.

Dr. Goldfarb is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine at Florida State University College of Medicine. She received her Doctorate of Public Health (DrPH) in the Department of Health Care Organization and Policy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health. Dr. Goldfarb’s degree holds a concentration in Maternal and Child Health Policy, and her research is focused on these issues, particularly as they relate to the life course perspective which holds that there are a complex set of risk (e.g., stress, perceived discrimination) and protective (e.g., education, mental health counseling) factors that impact individuals’ health throughout their life span which must be addressed for optimal prevention of poor health outcomes. She is particularly interested in understanding the impact of state health and drug policies on maternal and perinatal populations. She has taught (and continues to teach) undergraduate and master’s level courses related to conducting research, public policy, community-based needs assessments, and program evaluations. She has also been involved in several state and federal contracts in both Florida and Alabama aimed at improving population health through surveillance and assessment. In particular, she has led the evaluation for Florida’s Opioid Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) grants funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Jeffrey Harman, PhD, a health economist, is a Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine at the Florida State University College of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration from the University of Minnesota. His research explores utilization and expenditures of health services, with an emphasis on the impact of health policies on costs and services for vulnerable populations, such as individuals with limited incomes and individuals suffering from mental illness. Dr. Harman currently leads two evaluations of Florida’s Medicaid programs, which provides health insurance for Florida’s poorest residents.  He is an active member of AcademyHealth, which brings together stakeholders to inform health policy and practice, and the interrRAI Network of Mental Health (iNMH). Dr. Harman’s research has resulted in over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles.

Elizabeth P. Howard is an Associate Professor in the Connell School of Nursing, Boston College, Adjunct Scientist at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, and Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Howard is a member of interRAI’s Network in Integrated Care and Aging and the Instrument and Systems Development Committee. Dr. Howard has experience examining healthy aging interventions including web-based arts intervention, comprehensive geriatric assessments, and wellness coaching program. She also contributes nursing expertise to development, testing and implementation of geriatric models using interRAI’s national and international data to address risks for common geriatric syndromes such as cognitive decline, falls, and frailty. As a certified adult/geriatric primary care nurse practitioner and an acute care nurse practitioner, Dr. Howard maintains a practice in an internal medicine clinic setting.

Her scholarly activities focus on vulnerable, underserved older adults with 2 intersecting domains. Dr. Howard has experience examining healthy aging interventions including web-based arts intervention, comprehensive geriatric assessments, and wellness coaching program. She also contributes nursing expertise to development, testing and implementation of geriatric models using interRAI’s national and international data to address risks for common geriatric syndromes such as cognitive decline, falls, and frailty.

Naoki Ikegami is Professor Emeritus at Keio University, Tokyo. He was Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Keio School of Medicine, from which he received his MD and PhD. He also received a Master of Arts degree with Distinction in health services studies from Leeds University (United Kingdom). During 1990-1991, he was a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Medical School. He is a founding member of interRAI (a non-profit international consortium of researchers and clinicians focused on care planning instruments), and served as a consultant to the WHO and the World Bank. He has been President of the Japan Society of Healthcare Administration and of the Japan Health Economics Association. He has sat on various national and state government committees, including the Chair of the Investigative Specialist Sub-committee on Case-mix Based Reimbursement for Chronic Inpatient Care and member of the Reforming Elder Healthcare Council and of the End-of-Life Health Care Council. His research areas are health policy, long-term care and pharmacoeconomics. His publications include “The Art of Balance in Health Policy - Maintaining Japan’s Low-Cost Egalitarian System” (Cambridge University Press, 1998) with John C. Campbell, “Japanese universal health coverage: evolution, achievement, and challenges” (lead author) (Lancet, 2011), “Universal Coverage for Inclusive and Sustainable Development: Lessons from Japan” (editor) (World Bank, 2014). He has contributed a chapter in “Regulating Long-Term Care Quality” (edited by Vince Mor et al, Cambridge University Press, 2014) and in “Long-term care reforms in OECD Countries (edited by Chistiano Gori et al, Policy Press, 2016).

Inga Kristinsdóttir is a PhD student at the University of Iceland and an Advanced Practical Nurse at the Home Care Center of Iceland’s Primary Care of the Capital Area. She implemented the interRAI Home Care (HC) assessment in the Home Care Center at the Primary Care of the Capital Area in Iceland. She was a coordinator in Iceland to gather data for the IBenC study, and is using them in her PhD project, in which she has also presented results from studies using interRAI data. She is also in a research group where a doctoral student uses the interRAI ScaN assessment to explore the well-being of caregivers.

Amanda Mofina is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Waterloo. She completed her PhD in Rehabilitation science and MSc in occupational therapy at Queen’s University. Prior to pursuing her clinical degree, Amanda completed a thesis-based MSc in Kinesiology at Wilfrid Laurier University. Amanda has clinical experience across the care continuum in acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, and complex continuing care settings. Her current research interests combine her clinical experiences as an occupational therapist with her previous areas of research. Areas of research interest include health care and care transitions, mental health, primary care, community care, health care in correctional services, health care for adults with multiple chronic health conditions, and use of population-level health data.

Fabrice Mowbray is Assistant Professor & Research Methodologist at the Michigan State University College of Nursing. Dr. Mowbray has extensive clinical experience as a trauma trained Registered Nurse. Trained at McMaster University, Dr. Mowbray is a quantitative research methodologist, with particular interest in prognostication and pragmatic experimental methods. Dr. Mowbray is interested in the design and evaluation of geriatric emergency management models as well as advanced care planning.

Dr Ng Wai Chong is the Founder and CEO of NWC Longevity Practice, a start-up providing aged care consultancy, training, and research, as well as direct clinical services. For more than 20 years, Dr Ng has worked as a community aged-care physician in a non-profit organization in Singapore. He currently consults and trains for international and regional organisations, government agencies, healthcare institutions and universities. His areas of expertise are person-centred care, frail care, dementia care, end of life care, healthy ageing, and population health, spanning clinical work from policy formulation and implementation to care system design. Dr Ng has also been the chair and member of various government committees. Dr Ng received the Minister for Health Award 2018 from Singapore’s Ministry of Health and The Courage Fund Healthcare Humanity Award 2016 and was named the Global Ageing Influencer by Ageing Asia in 2018.

Dr. Lina Spirgienė has a PhD in Nursing, and is associate professor in nursing at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing (https://lsmuni.lt/). Her areas of expertise are patient safety, geriatric nursing, patients, and caregivers’ need. She is a principal investigator in international of the Baltic-German University Liaison Office project, as well as national projects. She cooperates with an interRAI worldwide network of researchers on the development of standardized assessments for long term care and home care settings (interrai.org). She is a member of Editorial board of the journal Nursing Education, Research and Practice – NERP. She is the author and co-author of 153 scientific and popular publications, textbooks, learning materials and other articles.

Dr. Stewart is a Full Professor and Clinical Training Director at the School and Applied Child Psychology Program at Western University, Faculty of Education, London, Ontario Canada. Additionally, she is an Adjunct Assistant Professor within the Department of Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Division at Schulich School of Medicine at Western University.  She is also an Associate Scientist at the Children’s Health Research Institute (CHRI), interRAI Research Fellow and Associate Editor for the Canadian Journal of School Psychology.  Dr. Stewart is leading the international development and implementation of the interRAI suite of instruments for children and youth with mental health needs within a variety of service sectors (e.g., education, health).

Katarzyna Szczerbińska, MD, PhD, Professor of Geriatrics with expertise in Long-term Care and health promotion among elderly people. Head of the Research on Aging Society Laboratory at Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Medical Faculty, Jagiellonian University Medical College in Kraków, Poland; a specialist in geriatric medicine and long-term care at the Geriatric Clinic in the University Hospital. A principal investigator in several high-budget international research projects (FP5 CLESA, FP7 PREDICT, FP7 PACE; SPRINT-T. Currently, in I-CARE4OLD and NAVIGATE funded from HORIZON.  Since 2004 a Fellow of InterRAI, and ISD member. Since 2019 the Secretary General of the ExCom IAGG-ER; a Board member in the Polish Society of Gerontology and the Collegium of Geriatrics Specialist in Poland. A member of the EUGMS task for FRIDs and the EAPC RG on Aging and Palliative Care. Author of over 250 scientific publications available on JU Repository, and on Scholar Google.

Gilbert Tremblay is a Clinical Psychologist at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal Quebec. He specializes in the assessment and treatment of complex disorders as well as co-occurring mental health and substance-related disorders, including as an expert witness in juvenile courts assessing parenting skills of parents with substance use disorders and young people in difficulty. He also serves as the interRAI mental health assessment coordinator for the Douglas Mental Health University Institute. He has a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and has served as project manager in research and development of mental health technologies and intervention methods since 2011.

Prof. Dr. Chantal Van Audenhove is full professor at Department of Public Health and Primary Care, KU Leuven (Belgium). She teaches psychology and applied communication for medical students and for students in dentistry. She is the director of LUCAS, Center for Care Research and Consultancy of the KU Leuven. As an expert in practice- and policy-oriented research her focus is on mental health and the care for people with dementia. Previous research projects dealt with – among others – the relationship between informal caregivers and patients, the quality of the living environment, Expressed Emotion in the professional and informal care relationship, vocational rehabilitation, stigma and discrimination, prevention of depression and suicide. She is an active member of international networks, such as: the European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD), the interRAI Network of Mental Health (iNMH) and INTERDEM, a pan-European network of researchers focusing on psychosocial interventions in dementia.

Dr. Vetrano is a geriatrician and epidemiologist, and works as an assistant professor at the Aging Research Center of Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. His main research focus is to investigate the longitudinal trajectories of multimorbidity and frailty in older adults, understanding their determinants and their impact on survival, quality of life and healthcare use. He is currently the PI of three projects on multimorbidity and frailty funded by the Swedish government, and WP leader in two Horizon2020 projects on multimorbidity (one of which is based on interRAI data). Dr. Vetrano is author of more than 170 articles published in peer-reviewed journals (H-index 33) and several book chapters. He is currently main supervisor of two PhD students, two postdoc fellows, and several research assistants.