Aging Innovation in Perioperative Medicine and Surgery (AIMS)

Emily Hladkowicz

MA.Ed, CCRP, PhD Candidate
Clinical Research Associate

Emily is the PREPARE Trial Coordinator. Emily has been working at the OHRI since she completed her Psychology degree in 2011. Emily completed her Masters in Counselling Psychology at the University of Ottawa and is currently a PhD student in the Aging & Health program at Queen’s University. With the AIMS research team, Emily helps to coordinate several clinical trials and is involved in various knowledge synthesis projects as well. Her PhD research will focus on synthesizing how successful postoperative transitions have been defined in the literature and to understand whether these definitions align with the needs and values of older adults with frailty and their caregivers.

Brittany Warren

BA Psych
AIMS Research Ethics and Regulatory Coordinator

Brittany has close to ten years of experience working at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in clinical research. She brings a strong history and extensive knowledge about regulatory processes to ensure our studies are in compliance with GCP and TCPS-2 standards. Brittany works to support the team with study start-up activities and with keeping their active clinical studies organized and running efficiently.

Karina Branje

MSc
Clinical Research Coordinator

Karina recently completed her Masters of Science in Kinesiology degree at Dalhousie University where her research focused on children's movement skills. With a passion for health and wellness Karina is keen to be expanding her research scope to include improving the lives of older adults with the AIMS Research Team.

Keely Barnes

MSc, PhD student
Clinical Research Assistant

Keely first joined the AIMS team after she completed her Masters in Human Kinetics in 2019. She rejoined the team in 2020 after gaining some clinical experience as a Kinesiologist in a rehabilitation setting. Keely currently works as a research assistant while completing her PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Keely has a strong passion for exercise rehabilitation, prehabilitation, and adherence.

Joanne Hutton

MSc
Clinical Research Assistant

Jo has an MSc in Nutrition from the University of Alberta, and a background in clinical oncology research. With a keen interest in evidence-based health promotion, she is excited to be a member of the AIMS Research Team in working to improve care and postoperative outcomes in older adults with frailty.

Noha Khalil

MBBCh, MSc
Clinical Research Assistant

Noha has joined AIMS Research Team as a research assistant. Since then, she has been playing an active role in the TRACTION Trial at the two sites of the Ottawa Hospital’s academic health sciences network. Noha has obtained her medical degree from Ain Shams university in Egypt, in 2011. She has also completed her formal training in Anesthesia, Intensive care, and pain management where she was deeply involved in anesthesia research. With her former training in anesthesia, she was able to be a key member of the perioperative and anesthesiology research program at the University of Ottawa.

Mariam Al-Bayati

Mariam earned her degree as a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Jordan in 2021. Throughout her time of direct interaction with patients and experience in research, she developed a strong appreciation for the power that research holds in improving healthcare outcomes, especially in vulnerable populations. She is thrilled to be a part of AIMS working on multiple studies with the shared goal of improving each patient's quality of life.

Juliette Gaudreault

Clinical Research Assistant

Juliette has a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from McGill University. With a passion for physical activity and prehabilitation, she aspires to enhance her expertise and embark on further educational endeavours within the field. On the AIMS research team, Juliette helps to support adults preparing for surgery as their “prehab coach”.

Marta Berrio Valencia

Clinical Research Fellow

Marta obtained her Medical degree and Anesthesiology residency from the University of Antioquia in Colombia. She earned her Master's in Epidemiology in Colombia and completed her Cardiac Anesthesia and Transplant Fellowships at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. She is certified in Point-of-Care Ultrasound by the American College of Chest Physicians. She is elated to join the AIMS team as a clinical research fellow, bringing her work experience from different countries (Canada, Colombia, and Spain) to this position, and to pursue a journey in prehabilitation and patient engagement to improve postoperative outcomes.

Bhagya Lakshmi Ramappa Tahasildar

Clinical Research Assistant

Dr. Bhagya Tahasildar, is a medical graduate from India who specializes in Public Health and Preventive Medicine. During her residency she developed a keen interest in public health research. She has published and presented several research papers on communicable and non-communicable diseases. Bhagya has also been a part of many public health activities involving various groups of vulnerable populations.

Bhagya previously worked as a Research Assistant at Peri-operative program (POP) with Dr. Francesco Carli and team in Montreal. She worked in several domains at the POP clinic including clinical assessments, project management and data management. As a Research Assistant at AIMS she will continue to contribute her vast research experience to work on various perioperative clinical trials.

William Wang

Clinical Research Assistant

William is a graduate from the University of Ottawa with an Honours Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science degree. His role as a research assistant in the emergency department at CHEO has equipped him with valuable insights into patient-centered care in clinical research. He is excited to apply his knowledge in interventional research and skills in patient interaction to our dynamic team. William’s commitment to improving healthcare outcomes aligns seamlessly with our mission, and we are excited to see the impact of his contributions as a clinical research assistant and a prehab coach to our research endeavours.

Lucas Mellaci Bergamascki

Clinical Research Assistant

Lucas is an International Medical Graduate from Brazil, where he had experience in working as a generalist practitioner, telemedicine physician and clinical emergency doctor during three years before coming to live in Canada. With keen interest in Acute Care and Anesthesiology, and in pursuing a professional medical career based on the triad: research, assistance and academic, he is excited to be a member of the AIMS team as a Clinical Research Assistant and be part of multiple projects on research that may provide a positive impact on the postoperative course and quality of life of older adults with frailty.