Director
Dr. William Montelpare, PhD Professor; Margaret and Wallace McCain Chair in Human Development and Health.
Dr. William Montelpare is a Professor and the Margaret and Wallace McCain Research Chair in Human Development and Health at the University of Prince Edward Island. He graduated with an MSc from the University of Ottawa in Kinanthropology and a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in Community Health specializing in Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Exercise Science. Over the past 38 years, he taught and conducted research at Brock and Lakehead Universities in Ontario, Canada, and at the University of Leeds, UK. In his current position at the University of Prince Edward Island he teaches human health, biostatistics, health services research, and the effects of climate change on health, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr Montelpare collaborates with faculty, researchers, and colleagues from across Canada, the US, and in Europe. As part of his Research Chair in Human Development and Health he includes in his research projects an emphasis on epigenetics, climate change effects, and lifestyle effects on human development and health.
Advisory Board
Dr. Gail Macartney completed her PhD in Nursing from Queen’s University in 2013. She maintains active licensure as a Nurse Practitioner with the College of Registered Nurses of Prince Edward Island and an Oncology Nursing Certification with the Canadian Nurses Association. Dr. Macartney has an extensive nursing background in clinical practice, education and research. She has broad-based nursing expertise with pediatric, adolescent and adult patient populations in the acute, ambulatory and community care settings. Dr. Macartney has been an active participant in nursing practice, education and research activities at the local, provincial and national levels. She has provided clinical mentorship and student supervision to many interdisciplinary health science undergraduate and post-graduate students. Before joining the Nursing Faculty at UPEI as an Assistant Professor in July 2019, Dr. Macartney worked at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, Ontario as a Nurse Practitioner in Pediatric Neurosurgery and Concussion Care. Dr. Macartney was an expert panel member in the development of the Living Guideline for Diagnosing and Managing Pediatric Concussion. Her research interests in concussion care, cancer symptom management and the development of preventive health screening guidelines.
Dr. Margie Burns, BScN (Dalhousie), MN (UPEI), PhD (Saskatchewan) joined the Faculty of Nursing as an Assistant Professor in June 2020. Margie has expertise in critical care nursing and has worked in a number of specialist intensive care units in Canada, Scotland, and Australia. Upon her return to Prince Edward Island, she worked as the Clinical Nurse Educator in ICU and CCU at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and most recently was the Health PEI coordinator for the Critical Care and Emergency Nursing Program and the Transition to Practice Program. Margie’s program of research focuses on families’ experiences of a relative’s critical illness, rurality, and access to healthcare.
Dr. Laurie McDuffee, DVM, PhD, DACVS has been a veterinarian, large animal surgeon and researcher at the Atlantic Veterinary College for 23 years. She did her training at Colorado State University and the University of California, Davis.
At the AVC’s Large Animal Clinic, Dr. McDuffee works with many large animal species, but horses make up the majority of patients. Dr. McDuffee’s past research interest focused on equine bone healing and fracture repair with an emphasis on biomechanics and stem cells in musculoskeletal regeneration. More recently, her research interest has evolved to equine behavior to better understand her equine patients. She applies this knowledge towards improvements in handling and treating veterinary patients in the Large Animal Clinic and teaching equine behavior to veterinary students in the large animal clinic.
Dr. McDuffee, spent a sabbatical year gaining knowledge in learning and motivation of animals as well as in animal cognition with an emphasis on horses and continues to learn in this area. That continued learning led her to research in human horse interactions and certification in the Human Animal Bond
Our Staff
Anja Salijevic (she/her), BSc, CHES, CTE- Anja graduated from the University of Utah in 2012 with a BSc in Health Promotion & Education with an emphasis in Community and became CHES Certified (Certified Health Education Specialist). In 2014, she worked with the PEI Chapter of the Canadian Cancer Society as the Health Promotion Coordinator educating Islanders on Cancer Prevention and Smoking Cessation. During her time with the society, she became a Certified Tobacco Educator (CTE) implementing and evaluating a workplace wellness smoking cessation program. Anja has worked in the Health Centred Research Clinic as a Health Educator and Project Coordinator since 2017 for a variety of projects and programs. As a proud first-generation Bosnian, she is dedicated to applying her expertise through equitable, diverse, and inclusive health research through curriculum development, program implementation and evaluation, and overall engagement of various Island communities, with a focus on marginalized populations. She is a proud co-founder and member of the newly formed Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) health research committee within the clinic which works to uphold EDI practices across all health research activities in collaboration with various community organizations.
Laurie Michael (she/her), BSc., RD, MPH – Laurie has been working as a Registered Dietitian since 2008 after completing the Northern Ontario Dietetic Internship Program following a BSc. in Nutritional Sciences at UPEI (2007). She has also completed the Toronto Metropolitan (formerly Ryerson University) Food Security Certificate (2012) and a Master of Public Health from Lakehead University (2019). She has been privileged to work in a variety of primary care, clinical long-term care, and community practice settings in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. She is a past Board member of CHANCES Family Center and a member of the PEI Basic Income Guarantee Working Group. She also recently served as President for the 2023-2024 year and is now the Past President of the Primary Care Dietitian Association (PCDA) and co-facilitator of the PCDA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. As a proud mixed-race Lebanese Canadian, she has been dedicated to gaining perspectives of diversity, equity, and inclusion in all areas of her professional and personal life. She is also a co-founder and member of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) health research committee within the HRN clinic, which upholds EDI practices across health research activities in collaboration with various Island community organizations. Laurie is honored to have joined the Health Research Network in April 2021 as an RD and project coordinator.
Gemma Shea (she/her), BSc. Kinesiology (Honours) – Gemma graduated in 2022 from the University of Prince Edward Island with a Bachelor of Kinesiology with Honours. Her Honours thesis investigated the impact of exercise on Parkinson’s patients. Gemma has been involved with sports her whole life and is currently working with the HRN Connections Program. During her time at UPEI, she was on the UPEI cheerleading team and track and field team.