Dr. Davina Banner-Lukaris

Researcher. Educator. Nurse.

Davina Banner-Lukaris is a cardiovascular and rural health researcher, nurse educator, and a palliative care practitioner. Davina currently works as an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Northern British Columbia and leads an interdisciplinary program of research exploring cardiovascular care, patient and provider experiences, and rural health service delivery. She has published and presented nationally and internationally and has a special interest in integrated knowledge translation and patient engagement. Davina resides on the ancestral and unceded territory of the Lheildli T'enneh and is a mother of three kids, fitness enthusiast, and serious foodie!

Research and expertise: Cardiovascular, rural, health services, chronic disease, integrated knowledge translation, patient engagement and patient-oriented research.

The Lab

shayna dolan

Research Manager

Shayna Dolan was born and raised in Fort Nelson, B.C., and considers herself a true "northerner". During her undergraduate degree in Therapeutic Recreation and Health Promotion, she fell in love with the research process and began to look for graduate study opportunities. The Community Health Sciences Masters degree program at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) provided the focus on northern, rural, remote and Indigenous community health issues that Shayna was looking for. Her thesis work focused on women’s perceptions of health and well-being in a rural, remote, and resource-dependent community. Shayna graduated in May of 2019 and has found fulfilling and exciting work in the areas of health research and community development at the UNBC. She is involved in several community organizations and is proud to serve on the board of the Northern Health Authority and Prince George's New Hope Society. Shayna's spare time is spent adventuring with her partner and two dogs, Dolly and Reba.

Kiran ghag

Research Associate

Kiran Ghag has been a resident of Prince George, B.C., her whole life and loves it there! She joined the Co-Lab in September 2021 and has a passion for patient-oriented and rural research. She completed her BSc (Honours) Psychology at UNBC and focused her research on cognitive and positive psychology. Immediately after, she began the MEd Counselling program at UNBC and completed a thesis titled “The Link Between Identity Styles and Quiet Ego: The Role of Compassion” in December 2021 and is a Registered Clinical Counsellor. In September 2022, she began her PhD in Counselling Psychology at the University of Alberta. Outside of academia, she likes watching American football, in addition to lighting a candle while enjoying the rain. Her favourite animal is a bear and she strongly likes the colour red.

Ashley-Ann Marcotte

Research Associate

Ashley-Ann grew up in Greenwood NS, and has spent most of her life on the east coast of Canada, never too far from an ocean. During her undergrad at Mount Allison University, Ashley-Ann fell in love with participatory research methods. She further cemented her dedication to enhancing the voices of those not often heard in traditional research during her graduate studies at Wilfrid Laurier University where she received her Master of Arts in Community Psychology. Her early research focused on Queer youth and the experiences of victimization and health care access for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in rural Ontario. After graduating and receiving her degree she found herself back in Nova Scotia working in Community Health & Epidemiology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, where she focused on Older Adult engagement in research practices, Older Adult digital literacy, and access to technology for Older Adults to support their independence, well-being, and quality of life in Continuing Care. She joined the Co-Lab in 2024, ready to continue to engage patient partners to support and elevate their voices in research and beyond. In her spare time, Ash can be found driving around the east coast with her wife, dying her hair bright colors, winning trivia with friends, or being overly competitive while playing video games.

Dr. nassim adhami

Post-Doctoral Researcher

Dr. Nassim Adhami completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing, where using an intersectionality lens she focused on patient experiences of utilizing cardiac rehabilitation programs. In 2022, Dr. Adhami finished a 2 year postdoctoral research fellowship at UBC School of Nursing, where she developed her program of research focusing on innovative methods of improving transitions of care, between acute and community settings, for patients living with chronic disease and who require intermittent acute care services. Currently, Nassim is completing a second 2 year postdoctoral fellowship at UNBC School of Nursing with Dr. Davina Banner-Lukaris. Nassim is passionate about health equity, rural-remote healthcare, transitions of care and person and family-centered care and research involving persons living with chronic disease. She has two children, aged 8 and 11, who keep her on her toes and take her through various daily adventures including hiking, biking, and swimming.

aiden winkel

Research Assistant

Aiden was born and raised in northern British Columbia and is honored to live and work on the traditional unceded territory of the Lheidli T’enneh people. Aiden is never afraid to try new things and has a diverse résumé that includes work in economics, hospice, and education. Although he holds a BComm in Marketing and is a newcomer to nursing research, he is passionate about community engagement, as well as the interplay between identity and health outcomes. In his spare time, Aiden can be found gallivanting around Prince George with his family (and their cats), enjoying the outdoors, and watching movies.

Past Lab Members

cyan lemoal

Research Assistant

Cyan LeMoal is from Castlegar in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, but moved 12 hours away from home to continue her education at the University of Northern BC on the traditional territory of the Lheidli T'enneh (Prince George). Cyan is beginning her Master’s in Geography in September 2023, focusing on healthy urban planning following her BA Geography graduation in May 2023. Over the course of her education experience, she has become increasingly passionate about community health and well-being and wants to contribute to developing healthier communities. Cyan enjoys the little things in life, which include all the genres of books, long walks and a good cup of coffee.

Jessica Froese

Research Assistant

Jessica Froese is originally from the southern coast of BC, but has been enjoying a true Northern lifestyle since moving to traditional Lheidli T’enneh territory (Prince George) in 2019. Jessica is starting her Master’s in Geography at UNBC in September 2023 focusing on the intersections of community and environmental health, after completing her BA in Geography from UNBC in May 2023. While Nursing is not her area of expertise, Jessica is passionate about health equity, social justice, community-based participatory research, and is learning a lot! Most of Jessica’s work in the Co-Lab has centered around knowledge translation materials; she is very passionate about making research accessible. When her nose isn’t in a book, Jessica can be found riding her horse, swimming in a lake, or downhill skiing (badly).

dr. iva cheung

Post-Doctoral Researcher

Iva Cheung (PhD, MPub, MSc) is a patient-oriented health researcher specializing in knowledge translation and health communication. Her past research has involved co-creating educational materials with people with lived experience, including a suite of communication tools to help involuntary psychiatric patients better understand their rights and video-based modules to help researchers increase diversity and equity in their patient engagement efforts. She is also a certified professional editor, book indexer, and plain language trainer, and she is part of the technical committee to develop a plain language standard for Accessibility Standards Canada. She lives on unceded Qayqayt territory, also known as New Westminster, with her family of two other humans and two guinea pigs.

JOYCE GRIFFITH

Research Associate

Joyce (RN, MEd) is a UNBC Research Associate and a team member of the “Diverse Communities Facing Multiple Barriers to Engagement in Patient Orientated Research” project. Her professional background includes 35 years of experience in Psychiatric Nursing. She has 21 years of experience in nursing education, including curriculum development and evaluation, classroom/online teaching, and community clinical instruction in her role as a faculty member at Douglas College. Her personal and professional experience has shaped her teaching and learning philosophy, which includes addressing social dimensions of health, promotion of social justice and advocacy.

ali elliott

Research Associate

Ali Elliott has been a part of Dr. Davina Banner-Lukaris’ research team since 2019 after completing her MScN. Ali successfully submitted her thesis titled “The Understanding and Management of Stroke Risk in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation in northern British Columbia” to complete her Master of Science in Nursing under the supervision of Dr. Davina Banner-Lukaris in 2019. Soon afterwards, she took home the second prize at the three minute thesis competition, and presented her research findings at the Qualitative Health Research Conference in Vancouver of that year. Ali has nine years of experiencing working as a Registered Nurse in rural northern British Columbia in areas such as medical/surgical, perioperative, emergency and critical care, clinical nurse educator and primary care nursing to name a few.