Research Report
Faculty Achievements
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Sonja Reichert, Associate Professor for being selected for a 3-year term to the "Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guideline Steering Committee" where she will contribute her expertise in primary care.
In the Media
Dr. Jennifer Johnson, Research Adjunct Faculty Member in the Department of Family Medicine, was featured in the January 8th PSI Foundation Spotlight for her research on “An Essential Workforce: How MOAs Supported Primary Care in COVID-19”.
https://www.psifoundation.org/dr-jennifer-johnson-2025/
“The grant from PSI helped me conduct my first independent study as the PI and research team lead. As a rural community primary care provider geographically distant from any university, it was greatly appreciated that PSI provided the support to conduct qualitative research on MOAs (Medical Office Assistants); an important, but understudied group in health care.” -Dr. Jennifer Johnson
Dr. Maria Mathews was recently featured on the CIHR “College of Reviewers” website, where she shared her perspective on why she volunteers her time as a peer reviewer. “Science does not work without the scientists”: Why researchers volunteer to peer review - CIHR
“Bringing people together on a peer review panel is incredibly powerful” she says. “It’s even more intense and effective than conferences or seminars. It’s like a concentrated espresso shot of professional development”. -Dr. Maria Mathews
CSFM Brown Bag Lunch Seminar
The CSFM Brown Bag Lunch Seminar series has started the year with a well-rounded speaker lineup and a variety of interesting topics. These seminars are scheduled for the second Wednesday of each month from 12pm-1:00pm. The April seminar showcased, Gillian Young, a PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at Western University under the supervision of Dr. Maria Mathews presenting “A Bridge over Troubled Waters: Provider Perceptions of the Primary Care Diabetes Support Program”.
The May 13th seminar will feature Dr. Dawn Gill, Research Manager & Scientist, Centre for Studies in Family Medicine at Western University, who leads operations of Dr. Robert Petrella’s Lifestyle Research Team at Western University and Claire Styffe, Research Manager in the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia (UBC), who leads operations of Dr. Robert Petrella’s Lifestyle Research Team at UBC. They will be discussing “A Community-based Health Promotion Program Leveraging Sport Fandom for Type 2 Diabetes Prevention in Racialized Newcomers to Canada"”.
The June 10th seminar will highlight “Artificial Intelligence in Primary Care”. This will be presented by Dr. Amanda Terry, Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Studies in Family Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Western University.
Please contact Leslie.meredith@schulich.uwo.ca if you would like to be a part of these interesting discussions. A zoom link will be provided upon request.
Visit the CSFM website to view more information about the “2026 Brown Bag Lunch Seminar Series”.
Presentations
Invited presentation by Obesity Canada. Canadian Obesity Conference. March 28, 2026, Montreal, Canada. “Understanding the Pathophysiology of Obesity: Clinical, Research, and Lived Experience Perspectives”, Dr. Sonja Reichert together with Dr. Andre Tchernof and Sandra Elia.
Approved Grant Funding
Congratulations to the following research teams on their recent grant funding.
Title: Frailty and Falls Prevention Research Core*
Granting Agency: Canada Foundation for Innovation – Core Facilities
Principal Investigator: Liu-Ambrose, T
Co-Investigators: Eng, J., Madden, K., Wilson, D., Tam, R., Wu, L., Petrella RJ, Ayas, N., Li, L., Davis, J.
Funding Amount: $3,657,650
Grant Duration: 03-2026
*led from University of British Columbia
Title: Transforming Primary Mental Health Care: Implementing and Evaluating the Collaborative Care Model in London and Southwestern Ontario
Granting Agency: Academic Medical Organization of Southwestern Ontario (AMOSO) - Academic Health Sciences Centre's (AHSC) Alternative Funding Plan (AFP)
Principal Investigators: A. MacDougall, E. Wong
Co-Investigators: S. Jarmain, E. Vingilis, S. Singh, R. Lodhi, J. Francis.
Funding Amount: $209,650
Grant Duration: 04-2026 to 03-2028
Publications
Ashcroft R, Dahrouge S, Lam S, Saluja K, Jessa H, Boudreault A, Rayner J, Dolovich L, Brown JB. Learning from patients about their experiences with early adoption of virtual care appointments in primary care in Ontario, Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study. BMJ Open. 2026 Feb 12;16(2):e111247. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2025-111247. PMID: 41689224; PMCID: PMC12911758. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41689224/
Ashcroft R, Feryn N, Lam S, Hussain A, Owaisi R, Sheffield P, Sur D, Rayner J, Donnelly C, Adamson K, Brown JB. Enhancing comprehensive in primary care: results of a cross-sectional survey of primary care social workers in Ontario, Canada. BMC Prim Care. 2026 Feb 27. doi:10.1186/s12875026-03226-4 .
Bataineh JN, O'Hagan R, Hand C, Sibbald SL, Pfingstgraef K, Glista D. Well-functioning primary care systems through audiology and speech-language pathology integration: a scoping review. Disabil Rehabil. 2026 Feb;48(3):667-683. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2025.2546559. Epub 2025 Aug 22. PMID: 40844471. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40844471/
Brown JB, Lent B. Knowledge Translation of the Woman Abuse Screening Tool. J Fam Viol. 2026 Mar 3. doi:10.1007/s10896-026-01069-2
Devey-Burry R, Lukewich J, Ryan D, Sivanthan M, Mathews M, Poitras ME, Etchegary C, Asghari S, Antle M. 'Fend for yourself': Nurses' experiences transitioning to Family Care Team practice settings in Newfoundland and Labrador. PLoS One. 2026 Mar 24;21(3):e0345818. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0345818. PMID: 41875204; PMCID: PMC13012503. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41875204/
Li M, Sharma K, Chon JE, Yehia NA, Retnakaran R, Harris SB, Hanley AJ. The impact of COVID-19 illness on metabolic phenotypes underlying type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2026 Feb 26;235:113163. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2026.113163. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41763558. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41763558/
Masucci L, Schwartz K, Ivers N, Bai L, Brown K, Tadrous M, Grimshaw JM, Witteman HO, Friedman L, Langford BJ, Leung V, Gomes T, Garber G, Taljaard M, Shuldiner J, Gushue S, Silverman M, Daneman N, Brehaut J, Presseau J, Leis JA, Lacroix M, Zwarenstein M, Thavorn K. Mailed Audit and Feedback for Antibiotic Prescribing in Primary Care. JAMA Netw Open. 2026 Mar.2;9(3):e261641. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.1641. PMID: 41823966; PMCID: PMC12988446. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41823966/
Mathews M, Hedden L, Lukewich J, Meredith L, Ryan D, Spencer S, Brown JB, Dufour E, Freeman TR, Wong EKW, Young G. Pandemic preparedness lessons for family physicians and other primary care providers. Can Fam Physician. 2026 Mar;72(3):158-160. doi: 10.46747/cfp.7203158. PMID: 41844314; PMCID: PMC12995329. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41844314/
Nash DM, Rayner J, Dixon SN, Bhatti S, Garcia-Feliz S, Kueper JK, Zhang L, Booth RG, Shariff SZ, Pow C, Zwarenstein M. Team-based care within community health centres in Ontario, Canada and the association with emergency department visits: a population-based retrospective study. BMC Prim Care. 2026 Feb 6. doi: 10.1186/s12875-026-03209-5. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41652370. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41652370/
Ratzki-Leewing A, Black JE, Bhatti J, Ryan BL, Zou G, Lin YK, Huang SJ, McCoy RG, Harris SB. Real-world incidence and risk factors of level 3 (severe) hypoglycaemia in adults with type 1 or 2 diabetes (iNPHORM, United States). Diabetes Obes Metab. 2026 Jan;28(1):675-690. doi: 10.1111/dom.70252. Epub 2025 Nov 3. PMID: 41178794; PMCID: PMC12673432. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41178794/
Ryan BL, daSilva M, Brown JB, Freeman TR. Evidence-based clinical encounter vignettes facilitate data collection: In patient-family physician deliberative dialogues. Can Fam Physician. 2026 Feb;72(2):113-114. doi: 10.46747/cfp.7202113. PMID: 41679941. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41679941/
Sedig K, Steele Gray C, Lokko H, Jeffs L, Rivoire E, Sibbald SL. Models of care in Canadian hospitals: an exploration of current practice and future directions. BMC Health Serv Res. 2026 Feb 20. doi: 10.1186/s12913-026-14163-4. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41721361. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41721361/
Wickens, C. M., Stoduto, G., Demir, S., Sanches, M., Ialomiteanu, A. R., Agic, B., Cook, S., Elton-Marshall, T., Hamilton, H. A., Ibsa, S., Vingilis, E., Quilty, L. (2026). Social media use and motivations for use among adults in Ontario, Canada: Exploring prevalence and dimensionality in a cross-sectional survey. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-026-00602-w
