The ODPRN Student Training Program aims to engage with students to develop capacity in drug policy research in Ontario. Trainees involved in this one-year collaborative program will work towards obtaining a drug policy training research certificate through the ODPRN. Through this program, trainees will have access to online training aimed at providing information around drug policy, patient-oriented research, methodological concepts, and various knowledge translation strategies.
This program will also act as a networking opportunity for prospective drug policy trainees who will have a chance to liaise with scientific academic researchers and ministry representatives, as well as present research findings from their projects to multidisciplinary audiences. Students who have completed the program will have continued access to all online resources and networking opportunities until the completion of their studies. There is no cost to participate in this program.
Applications for the 2026 Student Training Program are now closed
The Main Objectives of the Program Are:
- To provide trainees with knowledge in drug policy research, pharmacoepidemiological methods, patient-oriented research and knowledge translation.
- To establish a multidisciplinary environment that allows students to collaborate and network with individuals, including other trainees, academic researchers, clinicians, patients, and policy-makers.
- To provide trainees with an understanding of real life policy decision-making processes.
Current Students
Chloe Chambers
Chloe Chambers is an MSc student in Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa. She is conducting research in the fields of social epidemiology and community health and is interested in the development of policy and programs to promote the health and well-being of vulnerable populations who use drugs.
Eric Opoku
Eric Opoku is a PhD Health Services Research student (Health economics emphasis) at the University of Toronto. Their research focuses on the impact of preterm birth on the mortality and socioeconomic outcomes of children and families. They are a Health Economist at the PDCI Market Access and a Teaching Assistant at the University of Toronto’s Leslie Dan School of Pharmacy. They have their M.A. in Economics from the Memorial University of Newfoundland and a B.A. from the University of Ghana.
Alexa Muir
Alexa Muir is a MSc student in Pharmaceutical Science at the University of Toronto, interested in the safe and effective use of medications. Her current research is focused on testing the feasibility of evidence-based clinical resources (i.e., guideline, decision-support algorithm) that support statin deprescribing decisions in older adults.
Jacqueline Cheung
Jacqueline Cheung is a PharmD Candidate at the University of Toronto. She has worked on projects analyzing clinical practice and is interested in leveraging real-world evidence to optimize patient care through drug policy.
Amir Imani
Amir Imani is a hospital pharmacist and an MSc student in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Toronto. His research focus is the use of population-based data to inform and improve clinical practice in inpatient settings. His thesis concerns sedative-hypnotic initiation in hospitals and its risks in the community.
Anchanah Jeyamohan
Anchanah is a 3rd year pharmacy student at the University of Waterloo interested in drug policy research that focuses on narcotic supply and prescribing practices, analyzing the population impact of new medications/policies, as well as identifying gaps/optimizing public drug funding.
Yasmeen Ameeriar
Yasmeen Ameeriar is a 2rd year pharmacy student at the University of Toronto with an interest in neuropharmacology, oncology, and drug policy research. Yasmeen is passionate about evidence-based decision-making in healthcare. Through her involvement with the ODPRN, she aims to further explore the intersection of policy, clinical practice, and patient outcomes.
Atefeh Jafari
Atefeh Jafari is a 2nd year PhD candidate in Epidemiology at Western University working under the supervision of Professor Amit Garg. She has a PharmD degree and Certification in the Pharmacotherapy specialty. Her research interests lie at the intersection of pharmacoepidemiology, pharmacovigilance, and drug safety, particularly in the chronic kidney disease population. With over a decade of experience in clinical pharmacy and academia, she is passionate about leveraging real-world evidence to inform clinical decision-making and drug policy.
Zain-ul Abideen
Zain-ul Abideen is a PharmD candidate at the University of Toronto. Zain has great interest in using real-world evidence to inform drug policy making. Zain’s work has recently focused on using real-world trends in rheumatic disease rates in pregnancies in Ontario. Zain hopes to contribute to this environment to influence drug policy and improve patient outcomes.
Yuqi Lin
Yuqi Lin is a 2nd year pharmacy student at the UofT Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. They are interested in learning more about evidence-based drug policy research and its impact on healthcare outcomes from the ODPRN.
Patty Wilson
Patty Wilson is a Nurse Practitioner and Doctor of Nursing candidate at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto. Based in Treaty 7 territory she specializes in substance use care with a focus on prescribed safer supply. Her research explores how prescribers implement safer supply practices, examining both internal and external factors that shape clinical decision-making. Patty aims to identify strategies that support and sustain this critical intervention.
Tasha Penney
Tasha Penney is a registered nurse and PhD candidate in Policy Studies at Toronto Metropolitan University. Her research focuses on drug policy and harm reduction, critically examining how political ideologies and power structures shape supervised consumption services (SCS) in Ontario.
Ubaid Ur-Rehman
Ubaid is a 3rd year PharmD student at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto. He’s interested in learning more about the role of ODPRN data in policymaking in Ontario and how real-world evidence can be used to support public policy decision making.
Sara Awak
Sara is a registered pharmacist practicing in Ontario’s community pharmacy setting and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Toronto. She is interested in exploring how real-world evidence can inform drug policy and contribute to improving healthcare systems in Ontario.
Abdallah Alami
Angela Bains
Cher Li
Christopher Adanty
Cynthia Nohra
Denis Lim
Erica Choi
Isaac Chan
Jordyn Sheldon
Kevin Wang
Lauren Borders
Lydia Wadie
Martina Gouda
Rachela Smith
Shahab Sayfi
Simon Chin
Siobhan O’Connor
Ubaid Ur-Rehman
Vedant Shukla
2024 Cohort
Abdullah Al-Saffar | Christine Vaccaro | Clara Chen | Freddy Shogry | Jessica Mor | Katharine Mackett | Kelsey Mar | Martin Ho | Rita Iskandar | Sara Moradi | Sarah Clarke | Shi Jie Zhou | Shiva Shahabi | Suhani Patel | William Hanna | William McFarlane | Yuna Choi
2023 Cohort
Aliyah King | Andrea He | Anna Dion | Anna Hofstra | Autumn Chen | Karla Ghartey | Lauren Tailor | Lynn D’Souza | Nicholas Bakewell | Samir Barghout | Sanskruti Patel | Shari-Lee Smith | Tyler Schneider | Amy (Xuejun) Liu | Lauren Cadel | Maria Alix Co | Ria Garg | Shakiru Alaka | Yhesaem Park
2022 Cohort
Shanzeh Chaudhry | Catherine Deng | Tara Dumont | Galo Ginocchio | Robin Gunning | Susan Ha | Janet Jones | Jessica Kent | Benson Law | Shaleesa Ledlie | Sara Ling | Linda Liu | Liam Michaud | Rafael Neves Miranda | Olivia Nwaokocha | Katherine Saunders | Alyssa Yang | Samantha Yau
2021 Cohort
Anna Rzepka | Anna Wong | Bassem Toeama | Candace Rapchak | Daniel Harris | Fatemeh Ahmadi | James Keech | Kaitlyn Brethour | Marlene Haines | Mary Elias | Mayur Tailor | Michael Cristian Garcia | Natalia Konstantelos | Pavanjit Bagri | Ronald Zahoruk | Tara Farquharson | Tiffany Ho | Tolulope Ojo | Vanessa Koo | Yousef Labib
2020 Cohort
Shreedhar Acharya | Oluwakemi Aderibigbe | Valentina Antonipillai | Laura Bennett | Sarah Cullingham | Kaley (Kaleen) Hayes | Aliya Jaffer | Kadesha (Kay) James | Asvini Keethakumar | Lauren Killin | Kristen Morin | Laura Murphy | Abdelhady Osman | Indhu Rammohan | Nigar Sekercioglu | Inthuja Selvaratnam | Ahmad Shakeri | Nima Tourchian
Older Cohorts
Laila Abu Esba | Mandana Amini | Anees Bahji | Kristina Ellis | Sadaf Faisal | Kelly Farrah | Yichang Huang | Kang-Wei Liu | Benard Miregwa | Frederick Morfaw | Behdad Navabi | Yasir Rehman | Stefanie Rezansoff | Ali Shajarizadeh | Ayesha Siddiqua | Narthaanan Srimurugathasan | Abhimanyu Sud | Fan Xia | Samantha Young | Harsukh Benipal | Araba Chintoh | Michael Fralick | Qi Guan | Carina Iskander | Alanna McEneny-King | Flory Tsobo Muanda | Mei Wang