Executive Team

Dr. Christopher Mushquash

Director

Dr. Christopher Mushquash, C.Psych., is a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Mental Health and Addiction, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Lakehead University and the Division of Human Sciences at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, and an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. In addition to his academic appointments, Dr. Mushquash is a registered clinical psychologist providing assessment, intervention, and consultation services for First Nations children, adolescents, and adults at Dilico Anishinabek Family Care. He completed his pre-doctoral residency in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba, specializing in rural and northern clinical practice and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Dalhousie University in 2011. His research has been funded by The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canada Research Chairs Program, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, NeuroDevNet/Kids Brain Health Network, the Ontario Mental Health Foundation, Health Canada, the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science. Dr. Mushquash is the recipient of numerous awards for his work, including the Canadian Psychological Association President's New Researcher Award, Lakehead University Outstanding Alumni Award, the Northwestern Ontario Visionary Award, the Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science Early Researcher Award, and the Clinical Psychological Association Clinical Section Scientist-Practitioner Early Career Award. In 2017, Dr. Mushquash was inducted in the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. He is currently the vice-chair of the Institute Advisory Board for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health. Dr. Mushquash is Ojibway and a member of Pays Plat First Nation.

Dr. Mary Ellen Hill

Senior Researcher

Mary Ellen Hill is Senior Researcher at the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research (CRaNHR). A member of an interdisciplinary team of academic and community researchers, she has spent more than 20 years evaluating health services and health human resources issues affecting the rural, remote, northern and Indigenous communities.

Over the past five years, her work has centred on the evaluation of community-based programs helping Indigenous youth and adults achieve wellness and recover from opiate addictions. She also has collaborated with representatives of First Nations Tribal Councils and communities in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, on needs assessments and evaluations of health and education programs.

Educated at Lakehead (MA Sociology) and Vanderbilt (PhD Medical Sociology and Social Psychology) Universities, she has taught courses in political science and sociology, with a focus on health needs, health policy and social justice issues. In her role as a CRaNHR co-investigator and research manager, she also has trained and mentored numerous graduate and undergraduate students and staff, assisting them in acquiring valuable “hands on” research skills.

Dr. Shevaun Nadin

Evaluation/KTE Lead

Dr. Shevaun Nadin has a PhD in social psychology from Carleton University, and holds the Credentialed Evaluator (CE) designation from the Canadian Evaluation Society. As a program evaluator, her main research interests are in needs assessment and program evaluation. Dr. Nadin first joined CRaNHR as a Project Researcher for the Aboriginal Nurses Study in 2012, and most recently in 2015 as an Affiliated Investigator. She has worked on numerous applied health and program evaluation projects that focused on understanding the health needs, and improving health services for people living in rural areas. She also teaches program evaluation, and conducts research on the practice of evaluation itself. Dr. Nadin holds an appointment as an external adjunct professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Lakehead University, and is an active member of the Canadian Evaluation Society and American Evaluation Association.