Research Community

Dr. Andrea Johnson completed her PhD in Social Work in 2022 at the University of British Columbia. She joined Bloomberg Nursing in 2022 as a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Dr. Kim Widger. Dr. Johnson’s research interest is in the quality of life of adolescents who are living with advanced cancer. She recently received a clinician researcher salary award from the ENRICH (Empowering Next Generation Researchers in Perinatal and Child Health) training platform, to lead a project titled “Development of a quality of life instrument for use with adolescents and young adults with advanced cancer” (2022-2024). Dr. Johnson’s research will inform palliative care practice and research with adolescents living with incurable cancer, and ultimately support high quality palliative care for this unique group of patients.

Dr. Aimable Nkurunziza completed his doctorate in nursing at Western University’s School of Nursing in 2023. He completed a Master of Sciences in Nursing at the University of Rwanda and a Master of Public Health from Mount Kenya University. He joined Professor Cindy-Lee Dennis’s research team as a postdoctoral fellow in 2023. His doctoral research explored how perinatal services support adolescent mothers in Rwanda – a marginalized group – to inform the delivery of trauma- and violence-informed care (TVIC). Dr. Nkurunziza will develop and test an intervention to advance equity-oriented care in perinatal care to support adolescent mothers during his postdoctoral fellowship. Dr. Nkurunziza’s postdoctoral research is funded by a University of Toronto Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Dr. Laura Buckley completed her PhD at the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto in 2022, under the supervision of Dr. Kim Widger. She started her work as a Postdoctoral Fellow, under the supervision of Dr. Linda McGillis Hall, in April 2024. Dr. Buckley’s doctoral research was focused on exploring factors that impact work engagement and burnout in paediatric nurses and how this ultimately impacts both nurse and patient well-being. Her post-doctoral work focuses on the assessment of factors, strategies, and interventions impacting nurse retention in the peri- and post- covid period. Dr. Buckley’s postdoctoral research is funded by funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Operating Grant.

Dr. Lin Li completed her PhD in Nursing at McMaster University in 2024. In July 2024, she joined Bloomberg Nursing as a CIHR Banting Postdoctoral Fellow under the supervision of Dr. Kristin Cleverley (primary supervisor) and Dr. Yona Lunsky (co-supervisor, Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, CAMH, & Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto). Her doctoral work utilized qualitative methods to explore family experiences with the transition to adult care for youth with medical complexity. In her postdoctoral work, Dr. Li aims to apply mixed methods to understand care experiences and longitudinal outcomes of youth with neurodevelopmental disorders who are aging out of child and adolescent mental health services.

Dr. Lu Lin completed her PhD in Nursing at Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University in 2020. In September 2024, she began her postdoctoral fellowship at the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, under the supervision of Dr. Martine Puts. In 2019 she was an international visiting graduate student at Bloomberg Nursing under the same supervisor. Dr. Lin’s doctoral research focused on identifying protective and risk factors for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in older adults, as well as developing and evaluating targeted non-pharmacological interventions for older adults with MCI in residential care facilities. Her postdoctoral work centers on assessing the feasibility and efficacy of the “Comprehensive Health Assessment for My Plan (CHAMP)” tool in identifying geriatric issues and developing care plans for older adults undergoing non-oncological surgery, with further exploration of its adaptation for use in the Chinese older population.