Leadership
Dr. Steven Smith
Vice President, Health Sciences Research, KHSC and President & CEO, KGHRI.
t: +1.613.533.3188
e: @email
Rachael Smith-Tryon
Business Operations Director
t: 613.549.6666 x. 4287
c: 613.217.7001
e: @email
Finance
Danielle Weese
Research Financial Facilitator
e: @email
Madu Rameshan
Research Financial Facilitator
e: @email
Research Support
Wilma Hopman
Research Methodologist - Biostatistician
t: +1.613.549.6666 x. 4941
e: @email
Andrew Day
Senior Biostatistician
t: +1.613.549.6666 x. 4998
e: @email
Patrick Norman
Biostatistician
t: +1.613.549.6666 x. 3019
e: @email
Lisa McAvoy
Associate Director, Health Sciences Research
t: +1.613.549.6666 x. 3344
e: @email
Ronnie Lloyd
Research Operations Officer
t: +1.613.549.6666 x. 8164
e: @email
Heather McFarlane
Administrative Assistant
t: +1.613.549.6666 x. 8171
e: @email
Contracts
Hartley Borst
Director, Research Contracts
e: KGHRIcontracts@kingstonhsc.ca
Executive
Dr. Steven Smith completed his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry at the University of Western Ontario, where he also earned his PhD in 1998. Before joining Queen’s Department of Biochemistry in 2001, Dr. Smith completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Oxford as a Burroughs Wellcome Hitchings-Elion fellow and McGill University as CIHR postdoctoral fellow. Dr. Smith has taken on a number of leadership positions while at Queen’s, including acting as the Director of Queen’s Protein Function Discovery Group & Facility and the Director of Research for the Faculty of Health Sciences. He previously served as the Associate Head for the Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, and acted as Chair for the Undergraduate Biochemistry Program from 2007-2011 and again from 2014-2017.
During his time at Queen’s, Dr. Smith has demonstrated his commitment to students’ learning as an exceptional educator. His numerous awards, include the Faculty of Health Sciences Education Award and Life Science Student Choice Teaching Award, and he has regularly received the Biochemistry 3rd Year Teaching Award since 2004. These awards are a testament to his excellence in teaching and mentorship and speak to Dr. Smith’s reputation as a dedicated professor who is deeply invested in the classroom experience.
As an expert in biochemistry, Dr. Smith has made remarkable contributions to Queen’s and the wider intellectual community through his research. In 2009, Dr. Smith was recognized for his research excellence with the Chancellor’s Research Award. He is the recipient of the Faculty of Health Science’s Mihran & Mary Basmajian Research Award and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award. Dr. Smith’s extensive publications in peer-reviewed journals attest to his status as a prolific researcher. As an invited speaker, Dr. Smith has presented his work nationally and internationally, including in the U.S., Portugal, France, and Israel.
Dr. Smith has established himself as a leader both in the university and on the national stage through his service to the profession. He is currently serving as a member of Senate and as a senator for the Senate Advisory Research Committee. He also currently acts as a University Delegate for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Research Support
Wilma Hopman, MSc
Wilma M. Hopman is a Research Methodologist and biostatistician for the Kingston General Health Research Institute, and holds an Adjunct appointment in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Queens University. She also contributes to teaching in the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing. She is an external reviewer for a number of funding agencies, and a peer reviewer for over 30 national and international medical journals. She currently (April 2022) has just over 400 peer-reviewed publications. Prior to joining the Research Institute, she was the Associate Director of Case Mix Research (Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Queen’s University) and more recently the Director of the MacKenzie Health Services Research Group (also at Queen’s University). She is a graduate of Brock University (BA Psychology) and Queen’s University (MA, Applied Psychology).
Andrew Day, MSc
Andrew Day has been the Senior Biostatistician at Kingston General Health Research Institute for the past 14 years. In this role he supervises a small team of MSc-trained research data analysts and serves as a statistical consultant, collaborator and co-investigator on many clinical trials and other diverse medical research projects. He has directly collaborated with more than 250 faculty, residents and graduate students. These collaborations have led to well over 250 peer reviewed publications (130 as co-author) and more than 50 successful grant applications (30 as co-investigator). Mr. Day holds a cross-appointment with the Department of Public Health Sciences at Queen’s University. He is a graduate of Queen’s University (MSc, Statistics).
Patrick Norman, MSc
Patrick Norman is a biostatistician at the Kingston General Health Research Institute. In this role, he provides methodological guidance and analytical support to KGHRI-associated researchers. Mr. Norman completed his MSc from Queen’s University, where his Master’s project involved creating an artificial neural network-based model to predict survival time in the presence of complex, nonlinear covariate-response relationships. Mr. Norman maintains an interest in the design and analysis of clinical trials and observational epidemiological studies.
Lisa McAvoy, MA, CCRP
Lisa McAvoy is the Associate Director, Health Sciences Research at the Kingston General Health Research Institute. Ms. McAvoy oversees the day-to-day operations of the W.J. Henderson Centre for Patient-Oriented Research and plays a supportive and collaborative role for the research community as well as advocating for patient engagement in research across the Kingston hospitals. Ms. McAvoy supports investigators, research staff, students, and trainees on all study-specific queries, develops and implements educational materials and training programs for hospital-based research, and is a hospital institutional administrator for TRAQ for quality and regulatory assurance. Ms. McAvoy has over 20 years of diverse research experience in social science and clinical research. She has filled roles on several committees and working groups related to the clinical trial industry. She is a graduate of Carleton University (MA, Psychology) and has been SOCRA certified since 2010.
Ronnie Lloyd, MClSc
Ronnie Lloyd is the Research Operations Officer at the Kingston General Health Research Institute, providing support to investigators and their research teams. In this role, Ms. Lloyd serves as a hospital institutional administrator for clinicaltrials.gov registry, CITI Canada, and Queen’s TRAQ. She supports the day-to-day operations of the W.J. Henderson Centre for Patient-Oriented Research, and helps to develop and implement educational programs for hospital-based research. Prior to joining the Research Institute Ms. Lloyd was involved in research project coordination in Queen’s School of Kinesiology and Health Studies and was a professor in St. Lawrence College’s School of Health Sciences and School of Business. Ms. Lloyd is a graduate of Dalhousie University (BSc, Kinesiology), Algonquin College (Paramedic) and the University of Western Ontario (MClSc, Applied Health Sciences).
Heather McFarlane
Heather McFarlane is the Administrative Assistant at the Kingston General Health Research Institute, providing support to the KGHRI team and the day-to-day operations of the W.J. Henderson Centre for Patient-Oriented Research. In this role, she welcomes visitors and research teams to the WJHCPOR, facilitates booking requests, and assists with queries related to the WJHCPOR and hospital-based research. Prior to joining the Research Institute, Ms. McFarlane worked as a Unit and Registration Clerk at Kingston Health Sciences Centre. She is a graduate of KLC College, with a Medical Office Administration diploma.
Contracts
Hartley Borst is the Director of Research Contracts at the Kingston General Health Research Institute. Mr. Borst is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and is a licensed lawyer. He has extensive legal, business and practical experience drafting, negotiating and managing complex agreements (clinical trial and research agreements, funding/transfer payment agreements, technology/cloud contracts, data transfer agreements, non-disclosure agreements, statements of works and tendering documents) in the private and public sectors. Mr. Borst previously created the Contracts Division in an Ontario government agency and was responsible for reviewing and negotiating all of the agency's legal agreements. He has held senior positions within a municipality, school board, government agency, information technology companies and other private sector corporations. Mr. Borst is a graduate of York University (BA) and Osgoode Hall Law School (LLB).
