Our Team

Principal Investigators

Dr. Jennifer Donnan 
Assistant Professor
School of Pharmacy
Jennifer is a pharmacist and researcher with a keen interest in improving cannabis policy to optimize public health and safety. Some of her research involves examining cannabis purchase behaviours and choices, improving access to supports for medical cannabis consumers, and improving youth cannabis health literacy through harm reduction education strategies. 

Dr. Lisa Bishop 
Professor
School of Pharmacy
Lisa is a pharmacist and researcher, exploring cannabis education needs of healthcare professionals and people across the lifespan. Additional research interests include utilization of citizen engagement to inform the future refinement of cannabis policy. 

Dr. Maisam Najafizada
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Medicine
Maisam's research program focuses on patient-centred care, health policy evaluation, and global health. 

Researchers

Dr. Tom Cooper
Associate Professor
Faculty of Business Administration
Memorial University of Newfoundland

Dr. Greg Harris
Professor
Faculty of Education
(Cross-appointed to University Counseling Centre & Dept. of Psychology)
Memorial University of Newfoundland

Dr. Nick Harris
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Faculty of Science
Memorial University of Newfoundland

Dr. Hai Van Nguyen 
Associate Professor
School of Pharmacy
Memorial University of Newfoundland

Citizen Partners

Lainey Dewling
Citizen Partner (Youth Representative)

Angela Janes
Citizen Partner 

Partners and Knowledge Users

Debbie Curtis
Mental Health and Addictions Consultant
Department of Health and Community Services
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Nicole Gill
Director of Evaluation and Performance Improvement
Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information

Alison Tucker
Manager of Public Health
Department of Health and Community Services
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador   

Staff

Rachel Howells
BSc Psychology student
Research Assistant
Rachel graduated from Memorial University in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Psychology and hopes to pursue a career in Clinical Psychology. She was thrilled to join the CHERP team this Fall, and is excited to be contributing to research that examines cannabis literacy and health outcomees through a harm reducation lens.  

Bethany Torraville 
BSc Psychology student
Research Assistant
Bethany is a research assistant at CHERP for the DECYDE project. She completed her BSc degree in Psychology (Hons) in May and hopes to pursue a career in Clinical Child Psychology. She is a passionate advocate for children's mental health and well-being. She is eager to participate in the DECYDE project to promote accessible, harm-reducation-focused cannabis education to a younger population. 

Nimla Alam
BA Business Administration student 
Social Media Manager
Nimla completed her Bachelor's degree in Bussiness and administration in 2022. Nimla is a social media manager at CHERP. She has an interest in marketing and would like to expand her experince. She is excited to work at CHERP to boarden her knowledge nd to educate others on Cannabis policies through content creation.

Marissa Taylor
BA Psychology
Research Coordinator
Marissa Graduated from Grenfell Campus in 2022 with a Bachelor of Art (Hons) in Psychology, and graduated in spring of 2023 with a Graduate Certificate in Mental Health and Addictions from Dalhousie University, and hopes to pursue a career in social work. She is a passionate advocate for mental health, and is thrilled to be apart of the CHERP team as the research coordinator, specifically working with the DECYDE project!

Postdoctoral Fellows and Trainees

Dr. Dina Gaid
Post-doctoral fellow for CHERP
Dina recently obtained a doctoral degree in Rehabilitation Science from McGill University. She is currently working on cannabis policy evaluation research projects and is the lead of the Cannabis Crossroads webinar series. 

Tanisha Wright-Brown
PhD Pharmacy student
In 2020, Tanisha completed an MSc. in Medicine (Applied Health Services Research) where her thesis focused on disaster resilience and empowerment. She also earned a BSc. in Business Management and has over 16 years of professional experience in policy, research, finance, and logistics. 

Kelda Newport
Master of Public Health student
Kelda is a pharmacist at the School of Pharmacy. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and Biochemistry (Nutrition). She is currently pursuing her Masters in Public Health and is completing her practicum with CHERP to examine the impact of COVID-19 on cannabis consumption in Canada. 

Michael Blackwood
MSc Pharmacy student
Michael completed a Bachelor of Basic Medical Sciences with a major in Pharmacology. He brings experience in retail pharmacy and inventory management and is currently conducting research on the impact of non-medical cannabis legalization on risk perception in Atlantic Canada. 

Queen Jacques
MSc Medicine (Applied Health Services) student
Queen has completed a Bachelor of Science with a major in Neuroscience and Mental Health. Queen’s research interests include the examination of health inequities and exploration of determinants of health. She is currently exploring the impact of  cannabis legalization of cannabis-related  health behaviours.

Sylvia Farooq
MSc Pharmacy student
Sylvia completed her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry Nutrition and Neuroscience and is excited to be working with CHERP to explore cannabis during the perinatal period.  

Catherine Anne Grandy
MSc Pharmacy student
Catherine is a clinical pharmacist in the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's, NL. In her free time she enjoys hiking with her dog. 

Emily Rowe
BSc Psychology student
Emily's goal is to obtain a doctoral degree in clinical psychology with interest in substance use disorders in youth. She is also a student research assistant for CHERP, providing assistance with youth cannabis research. 

Advisory Panels

We are actively engaging with the public throughout the study so that they can
provide advice and direction to our study team. Two advisory panels have been
established:

  • A stakeholder panel includes representatives from public and private organizations impacted by legalization, including representatives from groups such as provincial government, cannabis retail, law enforcement, health, and education.
  • A citizen advisory panel includes members of the public, representing a wide variety of people - some who consume cannabis for medical or non-medical reasons, some who are new consumers of cannabis since legalization, and some who have never consumed cannabis.

Both panels help us understand how people consume cannabis in NL, and the needs and concerns of everybody affected by cannabis legalization.