Our Team

Lori E. Weeks, PhD, is a Full Professor, Director of the School of Health Administration, Coordinator of the PhD Health program, and holds a cross-appointment in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies at Dalhousie University. She has expertise in aging and family studies and uses multiple methods to examine care and support services for older adults and their caregivers and factors affecting the health of seniors. Her research often focuses on the needs of vulnerable older adults both in the community and in residential care homes. One stream in Dr. Weeks’ program of research focuses on the abuse of older adults with a particular focus on supports for older women experiencing intimate partner violence. She has served on the Board of the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and currently and serves on the Board of the Canadian Association on Gerontology.

Cathy Holtmann, PhD, is a professor and chair of the department of Sociology at the University of New Brunswick. Dr. Holtmann's research focuses on gender and religion, family violence and social action. She is the academic lead on the Religion and Violence Research Team at the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research. She is a co-investigator with the Canadian research team on the project Violence Against Women Migrants and Refugees: Analyzing Causes and Effective Policy Response (GBV-MIG Canada Research Program | Saint Mary's University) and is a member of the Expert Advisory Panel for the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability.

Danie Gagnon is the Associate Director of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research (MMFC) and has experience in conducting and disseminating academic & community-based research projects in the fields of supporting older adults, healthy aging, and aging in place. Closely connected to the MMFC for a number of years, Danie is a founding member of the MMFC's Abuse and Neglect of Older Adults Research Team (ANOART) and a steadfast & passionate advocate for the rights of older women who experience intimate partner violence.

Kathleen Allen, MA, is the Research Coordinator for the AIM Study and is employed at the Muriel McQueen Fergussen Centre for Family Violence Research at the University of New Brunswick. She has a Master’s degree in Equity Studies and is passionate about improving the quality of life of women and other vulnerable populations through community-based research. Kathleen has experience conducting qualitative research from the vantage point of individuals who are marginalised within dominant social institutions. More recently, Kathleen has been coordinating randomized controlled trials within the Maritime provinces.

Dr. Macdonald is a Professor, Director JBI Centre of Excellence in the conduct of systematic reviews in the School of Nursing, Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University, theme lead for transitions in care for the Canadian Frailty Network and Co-Investigator SPOR-EA. Dr. Macdonald’s program of research is focused on care and wellbeing of older adults primarily in the home setting, recommending changes in home care delivery, setting priorities for research in this domain, and advancing review methodology and methods.

Colleen MacQuarrie, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Prince Edward Island, is an academic activist whose research, teaching, and service are conceptualized within a critical feminist liberation psychology framework. Using a collaborative action research program, Colleen conducts social justice field research predominantly within the local settler community but also in collaboration with Lnu in the Mi’kmaq Nation and also with the NunatuKavut community in southern Labrador. Active funded projects include a CIHR 5 year project on wellbeing with NunatuKavut, a greenhouse initiative with the Hernewood Elementary school and Lennox Island community in western PEI, and sexual and intimate partner violence policy initiatives that include the perspectives of younger and older survivors in transformation of the justice and health systems. Colleen has studied the multifaceted nature of health and wellness across the lifespan and within diverse community settings and contexts to contribute to an understanding of developmental health with a critical feminist/social justice lens.

Christie Stilwell is a graduate student in the PhD in Health Program at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She also holds a MA and BSc (Hons) in Health Promotion. Her research interests relate to Indigenous Peoples' health and wellbeing, aging and older adults, and violence against women/intimate partner violence. She has been involved in research projects with ANOART since 2017.

Alisson is a registered social worker with a passion for research. Over the past few years, as a research assistant, she has worked on many different projects focusing on community-based initiatives for aging in place, the needs of Francophone minority communities, as well as the victimization experiences of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth and their experiences in receiving services and support.

She is currently pursuing her master's degree in social work at Université de Moncton and is interested in trauma-informed practices and its application in the field. Alisson also practices as a clinical therapist working with children and adolescents and therefore understands the need for individualized interventions and support.

Dr. Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard is a registered nurse with work experience in community health and aging. She is a Professor at the School of Nursing at the Université de Moncton where she holds a Research Chair in Population Aging and is Director of the Centre on Aging. Her program of research focuses on the multiple dimensions of aging in place as well as on issues related to the health of French speaking older adults living in Official Language Minority Communities (OLMC). Dr. Dupuis-Blanchard is a founding member of the MMFC’s Abuse and Neglect of Older Adult Research Team (ANOART). She is currently leading Nursing Homes Without Walls, a provincial program for aging in place that has spread nationally. She is the past Chairperson of the National Seniors Council and past President of the Canadian Association on Gerontology. She co-chaired the development of a strategy on aging for the province of New Brunswick.