Who We Are

Our team of physicians, researchers, statisticians, students, foundations, allied health professionals, and members of the general public are a committed group of individuals dedicated to advancing women's health. You can read a little more about the people who make up our team by clicking on the sections below.

Principal Investigators

Dr. Rohan D'Souza Dr. D'Souza is a specialist in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, Clinician-Scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute and Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Toronto. His clinical focus is on medical disorders in pregnancy, particularly heart disease, and his research interests include the conduct of experimental and observational studies aimed at reducing postpartum haemorrhage, increasing the success of labour induction and improving pregnancy outcomes in women with heart disease. More recently, he has been focussing on the elicitation and incorporation of patient-preferences into obstetric decision-making and the development of core-outcome sets for studies on high-risk pregnancies. His recent achievements include a Canadian Operating Grant to address knowledge gaps for the use of tranexamic acid in obstetrics, the International Lee-Lusted Award for his work on patient-preferences and an elevation to the fellowship of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists UK, for his contribution to women’s health. Project Involvement: All COS projects \| Publications: Click here for publications
Dr. Janet Parsons Dr. Parsons research is focused on applying qualitative methodologies to a variety of health care issues. Most recently she has been developing a new film-based method (Brokered Dialogue) with her colleague Dr. Jim Lavery. While working in a variety of topic areas, her main interests include patients’ experiences of cancer and other illnesses, health services delivery, drug policy, health disparities, and the sociology of health and illness. Additional interests include arts-based research, knowledge translation, and public engagement in health care. Theoretically her research is informed by narrative analytic theory, including the work of Arthur Frank and others. Project Involvement: Core Outcome Sets for Obesity in Pregnancy (COSSOPP), Core Outcome Sets for Invasive Placentation (COSIP), Composite Adverse Obstetric Outcome Study (CAOOS) Publications: Click here for publications
Dr. Ann Kinga Malinowski Dr. Malinowski completed her fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto. Since joining the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division at Mount Sinai Hospital in 2011, her clinical activity has focused on haematologic conditions affecting pregnancy. She is Co-Director of the Hematology in Pregnancy Program. Dr. Malinowski also holds the position of Clinician Investigator at Mount Sinai Hospital and the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, with a cross-appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor at UofT. Thematically, her research interests parallel her clinical focus, with an emphasis on haematologic disorders in pregnancy, particularly as it relates to studies addressing the impact of Sickle Cell Disease on pregnancy outcomes. Concurrently, Dr. Malinowski has an interest in research standardization, pursuing the development of COS for several haematologic disorders affecting pregnancy. Project Involvement: COS for Perinatal Iron Deficiency/Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDeA-COS), COS for Perinatal Venous Thromboembolism (COSPVenTE), COS for Perinatal Sickle Cell Disease, COS for Immune Thrombocytopenia in Pregnancy Publications: Click here for publications
Dr. Stephen Lapinsky Dr. Lapinsky is Director of the Intensive Care Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto and Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in 1981, subsequently training in internal medicine and Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Since 1992 he has been based at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, with a clinical and research interest in critical illness and pulmonary diseases in the pregnancy. He currently receives research funding from the Ontario Thoracic Society and the American College of Chest Physicians Foundation. He has published more than 40 research papers, reviews, editorials and book chapters in this field, and has been invited to speak on these topics internationally. He is co-Editor-in-Chief for the journal Obstetric Medicine and sits on the Steering Committee of the Women’s Health Network, of the ACCP. He is Chair of the Research and Academic subcommittee and Secretary-Treasurer for the North American Society for Obstetric Medicine. Project Involvement: Core Outcome Sets for Critical Care in Obstetrics (COS-CO) Publications: Click here for publications

Graduate Students

The following are in alphabetical order

Rachel Dadouch

Affiliation: MSc. (PhD direct transfer 2019) Institute of Medical Science (Collaborative Specialization in Women's Health), University of Toronto
Project Involvement: Core Outcome Set for Studies on Obesity in Pregnant Patients (COSSOPP)

Dylan Herman

Affiliation: First year of MSc. at the Institute of Medical Science (Collaborative Specialization in Women's Health), University of Toronto
Project Involvement: The Composite Adverse Obstetric Outcome Study (CAOOS)

Alexandria King

Affiliation: First year of MSc. at the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto with a collaborative specialization in Women’s Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Project Involvement: Core Outcome Set for Studies Addressing Perinatal Venous Thromboembolism (COSPVenTE)

Susan O'Rinn

Affiliation: University of Toronto, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation; Sunnybrook Research Institute, Department of Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Women and Babies Program
Title: Senior Research Project Manager
Project Involvement: Core Outcome Sets for Invasive Placentation (COSIP)

Collaborators

The following are in alphabetical order

Dr. Jon Barrett

Affiliation: Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Project Involvement: Core Outcomes for Vasa Previa in Pregnancy (COVasP)

Chelsea Hall

Affiliation: Second Year, Medicine, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine
Project Involvement: Core Outcome Sets for Cardiac Disease and Pregnancy (COSCarP)

Tommy Hana

Affiliation: Second Year, Medicine, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine
Project Involvement: Methodologic Issues in COS Development

Dr. Clara Juando-Prats

Affiliation: Clinical Research Specialist at Applied Health Research Centre St. Michael's Hospital
Project Involvement: Composite Adverse Obstetric Outcome Study (CAOOS)

Dr. John Kingdom

Affiliation: Chair of the University of Toronto's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Maternal-Fetal Medicine Physician at Mount Sinai Hospital
Project Involvement: Core Outcome Set for Studies on Obesity in Pregnant Patients (COSSOPP) , Venous Thromboembolism (COSPVenTE), and Core Outcomes in studies on Vasa Previa in Pregnant women (COVasP)

Justin Lim

Affiliation: First year, Medicine, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine
Project Involvement: Methodologic Issues in COS Development

Dr. Cynthia Maxwell

Affiliation: Maternal-Fetal Medicine Physician and Division Head at Mount Sinai Hospital
Project Involvement: Core Outcome Set for Studies on Obesity in Pregnant Patients (COSSOPP)

Ankita Pal

Affiliation: First year, Master's Translational Research, Univeristy of Toronto Institute of Medical Science
Project Involvement: Core Outcome Sets for Cardiac Disease and Pregnancy (COSCarP)

Yenah Seo

Affiliation: First year, Medicine, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine
Project Involvement: Methodologic Issues in COS Development

Dr. Mathew Sermer

Affiliation: Chief of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine Physican at Mount Sinai Hospital and Medical Lead of the Women's & Infants' Centre of Excellence
Project Involvement: Core Outcome Sets for Cardiac Disease in Pregnancy (COSCarP)

Anna Shishkina

Affiliation: First Year Medical Resident, Obstetrics and Gynaecology with the University of Toronto
Project Involvement: Core Outcome Sets for Cardiac Disease and Pregnancy (COSCarP)

Dr. Candice Silversides

Affiliation: Cardiology at Toronto General Hospital, Health of Obstetric Medicine Division at Mount Sinai Hospital and Research Director and the Toronto Congenital Cardiac Centre for Adults
Project Involvement: Core Outcome Sets for Cardiac Disease in Pregnancy (COSCarP)

Dr. Samuel Siu

Affiliation: Professor of Medicine and Cardiology at Schulic School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western Univeristy
Project Involvement: Core Outcome Sets for Cardiac Disease in Pregnancy (COSCarP)

Linda Villani

Affiliation: Second Year, Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine
Project Involvement: Core Outcomes in Studies on Vasa Previa in Pregnant Women (COVasP)

Dr. Rory Windrim

Affiliation: Maternal-Fetal Medicine physician at Mount Sinai Hospital
Project Involvement: Core Outcome Set for Studies on Obesity in Pregnant Patients (COSSOPP)