Our Team

Dr. Emily Jenkins

Dr. Emily Jenkins is a Registered Nurse and Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia. She is the Scientific Director of Wellstream and holds a Canada Research Chair in Population Health Approaches to Mental Health and Substance Use. Emily is at the forefront of youth- and community-engaged mental health and substance use scholarship. Her work has informed substantial policy and practice impacts promoting mental health and preventing substance use harms among youth and their communities, including invited testimony to the Senate of Canada during the study of Bill C-45 (the Cannabis Act) and serving as a special advisor to a provincial inter-ministerial committee working to reduce the harms of substance use among youth. She also contributes international leadership, including through her role with the International Union for Health Promotion and Education – Global Working Group on Mental Health Promotion.

For a list of publications see Google Scholar.

Liza McGuinness

Liza McGuinness is the Managing Director of Research Operations at Wellstream. She brings extensive experience in project oversight and administration within public health and community-based research settings, including partnership development and intervention implementation and evaluation. For the past 6 years, she has led programming and resource development to strengthen mental health and substance use outcomes for youth and their communities through the coordination of Agenda Gap and other Wellstream initiatives.

For a list of publications see Google Scholar.

Sherri Moore-Arbour

Sherri Moore-Arbour is a co-founder and Principal of BUNYAAD Public Affairs. Partnering with Wellstream for Schools, she leads K-12 Partnerships and Outreach. She is an award-winning communications expert with extensive experience in the K-12 education systems in British Columbia and Ontario. A former elected school trustee, Board of Education Vice-Chair, and Director of Communication for the BC School Trustees Association, Sherri has worked closely with education professionals and brings a nuanced understanding of change management in this sector. Sherri is a proud member of Métis Nation and is fluently bilingual in English and French.

Ashraf (Ash) Amlani

Ash Amlani is a co-founder and Principal of BUNYAAD Public Affairs, an award-winning strategic communications and public affairs firm. Since 2021, BUNYAAD has led the ABCs of Youth Substance Use, a K-12 knowledge mobilization initiative funded by the BC Ministry of Health to promote comprehensive school health and evidence-based approaches to youth substance use across the province. Partnering with Wellstream for Schools, Ash leads the Engagement Strategy. She brings over 15 years of experience working with communities, governments, and civil society organizations to improve people’s quality of life. As the former harm reduction epidemiologist at the BC Centre for Disease Control, she has worked closely with public sector partners and regulatory bodies across the country to expand access to take-home naloxone for opioid overdose response.

For a list of publications see Google Scholar.

Dr. Chris Gilham

Dr. Chris Gilham is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at St Francis Xavier University. Chris has been working in education for over 25 years. He taught grades 3 to 9 and was a school board consultant. He enjoys working with others to create, implement, and evaluate practical, school-based mental health programming for educators and students. Chris teaches courses on inclusion, mental health literacy, critical research literacy, and the philosophy of education. He is currently researching effective ways to increase the mental health literacy of educators.

For a list of publications see Google Scholar.

Dr. Johanna Sam

Hunelhyad? Sid Dr. Johanna Sam sets’edinh. Sid Tŝilhqot’in xaghiyah. Sid Musqueam nen ŝidah as. Dr. Johanna Sam is a proud citizen of Tŝilhqot’in Nation. Johanna currently lives and works on the traditional lands of the Musqueam People. She is a Michael Smith Health Research BC Scholar and Assistant Professor in the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Education, Indigenous Teacher Education Program and Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and Special Education. Johanna leads a strength-based research program that is rooted in a life course perspective. As a developmental and educational psychologist, she is interested in Indigenous knowledges to promote developmental wellness among children and adolescents, especially in a digital world.

For a list of publications see Google Scholar.

Dr. Anne Gadermann

Dr. Anne Gadermann is an Associate Professor at the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) in the School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia (UBC), and Scientist at the Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes, Providence Health Care Institutes. She holds a Canada Research Chair in Bio-Eco-Social Determinants of Child and Youth Mental Health. Anne’s research examines how risk and protective factors at different ecological levels (i.e., family, school, neighbourhood) are associated with mental health and well-being in children and youth. A major purpose of this research is to identify modifiable factors of mental health disorders to inform prevention and interventions strategies. This research draws from large-scale linked datasets, including student- and teacher-reported survey data as well as administrative health and education data.

For a list of publications see Google Scholar.

Bryn Shaffer

Bryn Shaffer is a Program Coordinator and Facilitation Lead for Wellstream. She is also a Masters student at the UBC School of Information with research interests in community information accessibility, science information literacy, and mental health information dissemination.

Dr. Corey McAuliffe

Dr. Corey McAuliffe is a former Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Health Systems Impact Fellow and Wellstream Research Associate. She brings over 15 years of experience in global and public health practice and training with academic, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations. Her research program examines the structural and systemic barriers that impact young peoples’ wellbeing as well as the policy-oriented solutions that support social change and equity.

For a list of publications see Google Scholar.

Trevor Goodyear

Trevor Goodyear is a PhD candidate in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia and a Wellstream trainee. His research interests focus on 2SLGBTQ+ youth homelessness and substance use utilizing community- and arts-based methods.

For a list of publications see Google Scholar.

Zachary Daly

Zachary Daly is a registered nurse with extensive experience working in child and adolescent mental health settings. He is currently a PhD student in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia and a trainee with Wellstream. His interests centre on understanding the interplay between climate change and mental health among youth using participatory and strengths-based approaches.

For a list of publications see Google Scholar.

Taylor Hill

Taylor Hill is a PhD student in Experimental Psychology at Dalhousie University and a Wellstream trainee. Her interests include translational research rooted in wellbeing science with the goal to generate psychosocial and community resources that contribute to positive mental health and healthy communities.

For a list of publications see Google Scholar.

Shivinder Dhari

Shivinder Dhari is a PhD student in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia and a trainee with Wellstream. As a Registered Nurse working in child and youth mental health, she is committed to utilizing a strengths-based perspective to support positive mental health of individuals and groups who face systemic marginalization. 

Michelle Carter

Michelle Carter is a clinical nurse specialist in mental health and a PhD student in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia. Her research interests focus on systems transformation to enhance wellbeing among birthing parents and their children. Michelle is the clinical lead for Wellstream’s perinatal mental health initiatives.

Ava Chaplin

Ava Chaplin is a MSc student in the School Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia and a Youth Engagement Specialist with Wellstream. She has a background in One Health, a field focused on the interconnections between human, animal, and environmental wellbeing. Ava brings a particular interest in upstream approaches to mental and substance use health, including for youth, women, and gender-diverse people.

Ouni Liao

Ouni Liao is completing her Master of Public Health degree at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. She is a trainee with Wellstream and is contributing to various initiatives focused on wellbeing. As a Registered Nurse, she brings years of experience in child and youth mental health care. She is passionate about youth mental wellness and mental health promotion, particularly collaborative, upstream approaches that involve working with schools and families.

Dr. Tany Halsall

Dr. Tanya Halsall is a Scientist at the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research at the Royal and an Adjunct Research Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Carleton University. Her primary research areas are related to child and youth development, evaluation and upstream prevention, which she explores using participatory approaches and interventions that support system change for child and youth well-being.

Falak Somani

Falak Somani is a dual-degree undergraduate student studying psychology and pursuing a master’s in management at UBC. She is contributing to Wellstream as a Youth Engagement Specialist facilitating the Agenda Gap Program. As an experienced facilitator, she is eager to support the well-being of youth and their communities. She is passionate about mental health promotion programs in the education system, as well as access to inclusive health services with a focus on minority women and youth.