| Cheryl Arratoon Cheryl Arratoon is the Knowledge Broker at The Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre, located at the University of Ottawa. Her interests include the communication of science to the general public, sparked by volunteer work in schools and the community. After ten years in basic health research in university and Health Canada departments, she joined the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH). At CADTH she led publications, communications and knowledge transfer teams during a period of intense growth. She also established CADTH’s liaison outreach program across Canada. Currently, as a knowledge broker, she bridges the worlds of practitioners and patients with researchers to increase the understanding and use of Cochrane reviews. |
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| Ahmed Boachie Dr Ahmed Boachie received his medical degree from the University of Ghana before studying psychiatry at the University of Belfast, Ireland. Dr Boachie received the 2005 “Excellence in Teaching” award for Undergraduate Psychiatry from the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children. He is currently the director of the Eating Disorder Program at Southlake Regional Health Care Centre. Dr Boachie also works in the Department of Psychiatry at the Hospital for Sick Children, and contributes to their Eating Disorder Program. He is an assistant professor with the University of Toronto’s Department of Psychiatry and is published in several notable books and journals. Dr Boachie co-authored an article with Dr Grewal in the Ontario Medical Review entitled: Eating Disorders: why we should be careful about how we respond to the "epidemic of obesity". |
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| M. Catherine Cappadocia Catherine is a doctoral student in clinical-developmental psychology at York University, working with Dr Debra Pepler. She is also a research assistant for PREVNet (Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network), a national network of Canadian researchers and non-governmental organizations committed to bullying prevention and intervention. Catherine has studied bullying for almost five years, examining its relationships with other phenomena such as gang involvement and body image. For her master’s thesis research, Catherine focused on risk and protective factors associated with cyberbullying (both perpetration and victimization). |
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| Rachel Colley Dr Colley is a Research Associate in the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group (HALO) at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa, Ontario. She completed her PhD in Human Movement Studies at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia in 2007. Dr Colley’s expertise relates to the objective measurement of physical activity and the application of this methodology to the investigation of behavioural responses to exercise interventions in obese individuals. She is also a Research Analyst on the Canadian Health Measures Survey and works with Active Healthy Kids Canada as the Research Coordinator for Canada’s Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth (2008-2009). |
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| Lisanne Cruz Lisanne completed her Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Health Studies at Queen's University. She is currently an M.Sc. Candidate in the Department of Exercise Sciences at the University of Toronto. For her Master's thesis, Lisanne intends to examine retirement from elite sport as a precipitating factor in eating disorder manifestation. Lisanne has strong research experience, and is presently a volunteer with the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity. Here she is a facilitator for youth leadership workshops which educate and motivate young girls and women to become physically active and to use sport as a foundation for developing important leadership and life skills. |
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| Joanne Dolhanty Dr Joanne Dolhanty is a clinical psychologist in the Eating Disorder Program at the Credit Valley Hospital and at the Mt Pleasant Therapy Centre. She has worked in the field of eating disorders for 20 years. She has been working with Les Greenberg (co-founder of emotion focused therapy) over the past 5 years to develop an application of Emotion-Focused Therapy for eating disorders. |
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Tatiana co-founded POWER Camp in 1995, and has since provided the leadership for POWER Camp's growth and expansion on a national level. In addition to her role in the organization, Tatiana has been involved in various other capacities at the grassroots and national level, including: Board Member of FAFIA (Feminist Alliance for International Action) from 1999-2001, Board Member of ACTUA from 2005-2007, chair of a FAFIA national think tank on the intersections of gender, violence and poverty, NGO representative at the UN Commission on the Status of Women 2000. |
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| Shari Graydon Shari Graydon is an award winning author, media educator and critic. Governor General Michaëlle Jean recently presented Ms Graydon with a Persons Case medal for her social activism on behalf of women. In her work, Ms Graydon draws on her diverse experiences in public relations, journalism, academia, politics and social activism. She produced a TV series for WTN about women and the media while completing a Masters degree in Communications at Simon Fraser University. She performed regular media analysis commentaries on CBC Radio and TV while writing a weekly column for The Vancouver Sun, where she tackled a wide variety of subjects, from political polling and news construction to violence against women. A co-founder of B.C. Media Education, and longtime president of MediaWatch (now Media Action), she has written two best-selling media literacy books for young people, including In Your Face – The Culture of Beauty and You, which won the Norma Fleck prize for non-fiction and Made You Look: How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know, which made a number of Best Of children’s books lists. |
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An award-winning psychiatrist, Dr Grewal’s expertise is in eating disorders and youth mental health. She currently works in Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, where she pursued her Clinical-Research fellowship in the Eating Disorder Program. Dr Grewal has led seminars for paediatric and psychiatric residents about eating disorders, and mental health issues in marginalized and homeless youth. A member of several psychiatric associations, Dr Grewal is the recipient of the “Best Poster Presentation” award, for her poster about early-onset anorexia, at Sick Kids’ Child Psychiatry Day. Dr Grewal is also published in several journals, including Eating and Weight Disorders, and the Ontario Medical Review. |
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| Gretchen Kerr Dr Gretchen Kerr is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education in the Faculty of Physical Education and Health at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the psychosocial health of girls and young women in sport. She addresses issues of harassment and abuse in sport, as well as eating disorders and retirement difficulties. As an advocate for girls' and women's health, she serves as the Harassment Officer for Gymnastics Ontario and Gymnastics Canada. She also serves on the Research Committee of the Coaching Association of Canada. |
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| Heather Jessop Heather Jessop is the teacher-librarian at Whitehorn P.S. in the Peel District School Board. She completed her Master of Education in 2004, examining the experience of overweight and obese junior grade students. She has worked with the Elementary Teacher's Federation of Ontario since 2002 on the Reflections of Me: The Body Image Project, as a curriculum writer and program trainer/facilitator. She works with the students and teachers at her school to help build the self esteem and positive self images of students from Kindergarten to Grade 5. |
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| Michael Kaufman Dr Michael Kaufman is an educator and writer focused on gender equality, ending violence against women, and improving relations between men and women. He has worked with organizations in almost fifty countries, including extensively with the United Nations, as well as with many universities, high schools, governments, corporations, and NGOs. Michael is the co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, the largest effort in the world of men working to end violence against women. He is the author or editor of six books on gender issues, on democracy and development studies, as well as an award-winning novel. His most recent publication is Man Talk a booklet for young men about dating violence and creating healthy relationships. |
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| Shaila Krishna
Shaila Krishna is an Acting Manager with Toronto Public Health. She brings 18 years of health promotion experience working with the youth population in public health. She has worked in the areas of injury prevention, substance abuse prevention, heart health and sexual health promotion. |
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| Robyn Legge Robyn is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Counselling Psychology Department at OISE/UT. She is interested in issues related to and impacting adolescent girls psychological development. Her research work throughout her Masters and Ph.D. has been focused on a prospective qualitative research project examining adolescent girls and embodiment under the supervision of Dr Niva Piran. Specifically, Robyn has been exploring themes surrounding constructs of femininity, such as the labels used and the messages surrounding what it means to be a girl. She is gaining experience clinically through her practicum at the Hospital for Sick Children in the adolescent eating disorders program. |
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| Randi E. McCabe Dr McCabe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University. She is also Psychologist-in-Chief and Director of the Anxiety Treatment and Research Centre in the Mental Health and Addictions Program at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. She has numerous published articles, book chapters, and conference presentations on anxiety, eating disorders, and cognitive behavior therapy. She has co-authored three books geared to consumers including The Overcoming Bulimia Workbook: Your Comprehensive Step-by-Step Guide to Recovery. She is also co-author of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Groups, a book geared for professionals. Dr McCabe is actively involved in training other mental health professionals and has given many workshops on conducting cognitive behavioural therapy and the treatment of anxiety disorders and eating disorders. She is on the Editorial Board of Cognitive and Behavioral Practice and also maintains a private practice where she focuses on eating disorders. |
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| Traci McFarlane Dr McFarlane is a staff psychologist and clinical team leader at the University Health Network, Toronto General Hospital, Ambulatory Care for Eating Disorders Program. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and Adjunct Graduate Faculty at Ryerson University. She has presented a number of clinical workshops on cognitive behavioural treatment, motivational enhancement, and relapse prevention in eating disorders, and has published chapters and articles in this area. Her research interests include dieting, self-esteem, treatment efficacy and relapse prevention in eating disorders. Dr McFarlane is a member of the Eating Disorder Research Society and co-author of The Overcoming Bulimia Workbook: Your Comprehensive Step-by-Step Guide to Recovery. |
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| Sachiko Nagasawa Sachiko is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Counseling Psychology with a Collaborative Program in Women and Gender Studies at the University of Toronto. She is part of a five year prospective study that examines girls’ experiences of embodiment. Sachiko’s research uses a feminist lens to focus on the decline in physical activity during adolescence and how this disengagement affects girls’ feelings towards themselves and their bodies. Sachiko has presented at numerous conferences and continues to gain further insight into the lived experiences of young women in order to assist in the development of effective prevention programs. |
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| Dianne Neumark-Sztainer Dr Neumark-Sztainer is a Professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, both at the University of Minnesota. Dr Neumark-Sztainer’s research interests focus mainly on adolescent nutrition and the prevention of weight-related disorders including eating disorders, unhealthy weight control behaviors, and obesity. Her work aims to help young people feel good about themselves and their bodies, and adopt healthy eating and physical activity behaviors as self-nurturing behaviors. She is interested in exploring the potential for integrating eating disorder and obesity prevention through intervention, epidemiological, and qualitative studies. She has been Principal Investigator on a number of projects aimed at preventing risk factors for eating disorders and obesity in youth including The Weigh to Eat, Free to be Me, New Moves, Very Important Kids, and Ready, Set, Action. Dr Neumark-Sztainer is the Principal Investigator of Project EAT (Eating Among Teens), a cross-sectional and longitudinal study of eating patterns and weight-related concerns in a large sample of adolescents. She has examined disordered eating among youth with chronic illness as part of the AHEAD study (Assessing Health and Eating among Adolescents with Diabetes). She has also examined issues of weight stigmatization among ‘overweigh’ teens. Dr Neumark-Sztainer has written several book chapters and has published over 200 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals. She has presented her work at numerous scientific national and international conferences. She has recently published a book for parents of adolescents that provides a synthesis of her research and guidelines for helping their children have healthy bodies and body images. Her book is entitled: “I’m, like, SO, fat!” Helping your teen make healthy choices about eating and exercise in a weight-obsessed world. Dr Neumark-Sztainer is a member of the Academy for Eating Disorders, a past Board member and currently a member of the Nominating Committee. She serves on the Clinical and Scientific Advisory Council and on the Research Committee of the National Eating Disorders Association. She received the Lori Irving Award for Excellence in Eating Disorder Prevention and Awareness from the National Eating Disorders Association. |
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| Debra J. Pepler Dr Debra Pepler is a Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at York University and a Senior Associate Scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children. Her major focus is on aggression and victimization among children and adolescents, particularly in the school context. Her research identifies bullying as a relationship problem that transforms to other problems of power and aggression over the lifespan. Together with Dr Wendy Craig, Dr Pepler is leading a national network, PREVNet (Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network), a Networks of Centres of Excellence – New Initiative. With national non-government organizations and Canadian research partners, PREVNet’s mission is to promote safe and healthy relationships for all Canadian children and youth. |
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| Niva Piran Dr Piran puts the real lives of girls and women into the forefront of research and prevention.She is aninternationally renowned, ground-breaking researcher, writer and academic in the area of understanding and prevention of eating disorders. Dr Piran explores social transformation and the social context of body image preoccupations and has contributed widely to the academic field including on high risk populations, media literacy and media’s impact on body image. She has consulted with schools, such as the Canadian National Ballet School, about body image challenges, and has published widely on the topic in peer reviewed journals, and co-edited two books on eating disorders, including Preventing Eating Disorders: A Handbook of Interventions and Special Challenges with Michael P. Levine and Catherine Steiner-Adair. Topics that her research has addressed include the association between disordered eating and abuse in women and disordered eating and substance use and abuse in both Canadian women and men. Her work on the Developmental Theory of Embodiment provides key information about enhancing the well being of children and women. Dr Piran is currently a professor and associate chair at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. |
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| Leslie Shade Leslie Regan Shade is an Associate Professor at Concordia University in the Department of Communication Studies. Her research focus since the mid-1990’s has been on the social, policy, and ethical aspects of information and communication technologies (ICTs), with particular concerns towards issues of gender, globalization, and political economy. The research contributions straddle the line between academic and non-academic audiences, including policymakers and non-profit groups. In addition to numerous articles she is the author of Gender and Community in the Social Construction of the Internet, and co-editor of Feminist Interventions in International Communication, two volumes in Communications in the Public Interest, and with Moll For Sale to the Highest Bidder: Telecom Policy in Canada (CCPA, 2008). She is completing the third edited edition of Mediascapes: New Patterns in Canadian Communication (Nelson Canada). She is a board member of Media Action and the former President of the Canadian Communication Association and the former editor of Computers and Society. |
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| Ashley Stirling Ashley is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Exercise Sciences at the University of Toronto. She has conducted several research projects on female athletes' experiences in sport., including disordered eating behaviours and attitudes, and experiences of abuse in sport. In 2007, Ashley received the Thesis Award from the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). In this thesis, she found that the culture of elite sport contributes to the power imbalance between coaches and female athletes, thus leaving females in sport vulnerable to the experience of maltreatment. Ashley has presented at numerous international conferences and is developing a strong publication record. She is presently a representative on the council for the Centre for Girls' and Women's Health and Physical Education (CGHHPA) at the University of Toronto. |
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| Helen Vlachoyannacos Helen Vlachoyannacos works in the Toronto District School Board and presently is the teacher-librarian at Donwood Park Jr PS in Scarborough. As a writer and facilitator for ETFO's Reflections of Me: The Body Image Project, Helen has facilitated the implementation of the body image project on a school-wide level, supporting the work with students and staff. Her present focus is to build community involvement and be inclusive of the voices of parents, families and community members with the issue of body image. |
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