Meet the Staff
Ellen Randall
Research Associate
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Research Interests: Primary care delivery and management, mental health services, end-of-life care
Research Methods: Qualitative methods, mixed methods
Current Projects: ECPC, PriSMI, Prac-Man
Additional Expertise: Cat carer, bird and butterfly watcher
Ellen is a qualitative health services researcher. Her research work has encompassed recruitment, data collection, and analysis for a number of qualitative and mixed methods studies, largely in the domains of primary care and trauma care. She has also worked as a research coordinator, managing a CIHR-PHSI grant exploring policy-relevant reporting on trauma system performance as well as being the provincial coordinator for a study on patient and family-focused quality indicators for trauma care. Ellen completed her MPH at Simon Fraser University, and her PhD in Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia.
Ridhwana Kaoser
Research Manager
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Research Interests: Mental Health and substance use services, immigrant mental health, health promotion, harm reduction
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Research Methods: Quantitative, qualitative, research using health administrative data
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Current Projects: PCPC, PriSMI
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Additional Expertise: Dog, turtle, and plant carer, weight training, Sci-Fi nerd
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Ridhwana is a health service researcher with years of experience conducting research using health administrative data and interviewing health providers to understand and improve mental health and substance use services. She holds two Bachelor of Arts (BAs) degrees from McGill University, one majoring in Psychology and one majoring in Geography, and a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from Queen's University. Prior to her work in research, Ridhwana worked as a frontline mental health worker in supportive housing projects all around Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to provide harm reduction support and care to individuals with mental health issues, substance dependencies, forensic history, and unhoused populations.
Sarah Spencer (she/her)
Research Manager
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Research Interests: Health services, social policies, and laws that shape experiences of health for people/communities that experience marginalisation
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Research Methods: Qualitative
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Current Projects: 4H | 4P, In/Reform, EVC, 4C
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Additional Expertise: Coffee, field hockey, waterskiing, enticing dogs to swim, refining fonts and colour gradations in PowerPoint presentations
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Sarah is a qualitative health researcher with an academic background in social policy. She is interested in how laws and policies structure social environments and affect experiences with health and health services. Sarah’s prior research has explored HIV prevention programmes, access to adolescent sexual and reproductive services, provision of gender affirming care, the criminalisation of HIV non-disclosure, and physicians’ mental health experiences. Much of Sarah’s work has involved working with and interviewing health professionals and service providers to understand inequities and barriers in access to essential health services and the impacts of these on communities that experience marginalisation. Sarah has a BA in History and Political Science from the University of British Columbia, an MSc in Social Policy and Development from the London School of Economics & Political Science, and an MPH from Simon Fraser University.
Rachel Thelen-Botejue
Research Associate
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Research Interests: Primary care, mental health, equity
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Research Methods: Qualitative
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Current Projects: In/Reform, EVC, 4C, Papercuts, PriSMI
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​Additional Expertise: Traveling, long-distance friendships, cats, and cooking
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Rachel is a Research Associate. She studied social health and psychology at the University of Ottawa and completed her Master's (MSc) in health systems research at the Telfer School of Management. She leads and supports primary care research projects that aim to solve aspects of Canada’s healthcare crisis through equitable solutions. Rachel has experience working with clinicians, members of the public, and equity-deserving groups. As a skilled qualitative researcher, Rachel seeks to preserve people's voices and ensure they have impact on change.