PHARE

Supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research

The Public Health and the Agricultural Rural Ecosystem (PHARE) Graduate Training Program is aimed at:

• drawing skills from across the country to responde to changing demographics and technology,

• addressing the challenges facing persons living in rural Canada as they seek a healthy, safe and sustainable lifestyle,

• building capacity in agricultural and health related fields as they pertain to rural Canada utilizing the best of available resources nationally and internationally,

• developing a critical mass of trainees who have a focus on agricultural and rural related issues and who will provide an agricultural/rural perspective to their individual field of study and/ or who will train future trainees.

PHARE Documents

• Brochure (PDF)
• Poster (PDF)
• Application Process

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PHARE Trainees

• Master's

  MASTER Trainees	Time of Participation	Home Institution	Supervisor(s)	Program Discipline	[close] Research Project Title
  Katherine Plewa MSc Candidate	2010 - 2011	University of Western Ontario	James Dickey	Kinesiology	Effectiveness of Industrial Seats in Attenuating Workplace Vibrations
  Ming Ye MSc Candidate	2010 - 2011	University of Alberta	Ambikaipakan Senthilselvan	Public Health/ Epidemiology	Prevalence and risk factors for asthma in young Aboriginal children
  Pascale Blais-Lecours	2009 – 2011	Université Laval	Caroline Duchaine, Yvon Cormier	Microbiology	Evaluation of the exposure to airborne Archaebacteria in agriculture and its inflammatory potential
  Amanda Froehlich	2010	University of Saskatchewan	Louise Humbert	Kinesiology	Supporting the Healthy Development of Rural Children: An Ecologically Based Investigation of Barriers and Facilitators Perceived by Early Year Caregivers in the Promotion of Physical Activity and Health Eating
  Erin Crouchman	2009 - 2010	Queen’s University	Will Pickett, Keyue Ding	Injury Epidemiology/ Biostatistics	Gender as a Determinant of Occupational Health and Safety Practices Among Adolescent Children in a Saskatchewan Farm Cohort
  Gopinath Narasimhan	2008 - 2009	Queen’s University	Will Pickett, Paul Peng	Injury Epidemiology	Machine related factors as determinants of traumatic injury on Saskatchewan farms
  Lewis Baarda	2007 - 2008	University of Lethbridge	Ivan Townshend	Geography	An investigation into the Potential Linkages between BSE and the Spatial Structure of Economic Change in Alberta’s Communities
  Annick Demanche	2007 - 2008	Laval University	Yvon Cormier	Microbiology	Implication of Toll-like receptors on dendritic cells in Extrinsic Allergic Alveolitis cause by inhalation of Saccharopolyspora retivirgula
  Lee Hynes	2007 - 2008	Dalhousie University	Graham Gagnon, Rob Jamieson	Environmental Engineering	An Evaluation of the use of an Oxygen Release Compound (ORC®) for the Aeration of Farm Reservoirs and the Prevention of Algal Blooms
  Afshin Vafaei	2007 - 2008	Queen’s University	Mark Rosenberg, Will Pickett	Geography/ Injury Epidemiology	The impact of income distribution variation on health within and across population defined by rural and urban geographic status
  Geneviève Filion	2006 - 2008	Laval University	Caroline Duchaine	Microbiology/ Biochemistry	Rapid Detection of Bacillus Spores Using Fluorescent in situ Hybridization (FISH)
  Guoxin Li	2006 - 2007	Queen’s University	Will Pickett, Miu Lam	Injury Epidemiology	Major trauma variations in pre-hospital treatment across the rural urban gradient
  Patrina Gunness	2005 - 2006	University of Saskatchewan	Lalita Bharadwaj, Nicholas Ovsenek	Toxicology	Mechanism of 2,4 d induced cytotoxicity
  Xuran Jiang	2005 - 2006	Queen’s University	Will Pickett, Don Li	Epidemiology	National profile of violence, injury and determinants among rural Canadian adolescents
  Vanessa Juneau	2005 - 2006	University of Saskatchewan	Baljit Singh	Toxicology	TLR-4 and angiogenesis in lungs following swine barn exposure
  Erin Laing	2005	University of Saskatchewan	Nazeem Muhajarine	Epidemiology	Determinants of West Nile Virus Transmission and Disease in Rural Settings
  Raegan (Osicki) Skauge	2005	University of Saskatchewan	Kathryn Green	Epidemiology	A Survey of Physicians’ views on the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency’s Follow by Mail Program
  Merry-Lynn McDonald	2004 - 2006	University of Saskatchewan	Lalita Bharadwaj, Marcy Speer	Genetic Epidemiology	Genetic epidemiology Endotoxin exposure and Atopy
  Leah Bartlett	2004 - 2005	Dalhousie University	Judith Guernsey	Epidemiology	Dimensions of Canadian Rural Resource-reliant Communities
  Allison Cammer	2004 - 2005	University of Saskatchewan	Debra Morgan/ Bonnie Janzen	Public Health/ Epidemiology	Exploring issues of access in utilization of Dementia Care Services by seniors in Northern Saskatchewan
  Carla (Shaw) Cooper	2004 - 2005	Dalhousie University	Rob Gordon, Glenn Stratton	Agriculture	E Coli in water systems: developing sampling protocol for public safety
  Pamela Farthing	2004 - 2005	University of Saskatchewan	Donna Rennie	Nursing	A Study of the Relationships between Farming Activities and Respiratory Health in School Age Children
  Claire McGuigan	2004 - 2005	University of Saskatchewan	Lalita Bharadwaj	Toxicology	Genotoxicity of nitrates, arsenic and 2-4RD in rural drinking water
  David Vickers	2004 - 2005	University of Saskatchewan	Punam Pahwa	Epidemiology	Estimating Transmission  Possibilities of Bordetlla pertussis across both Household and Community Levels
  Jessica Meijer	2004	Dalhousie University	Judith Guernsey	Epidemiology	Health risks associated with NO3-N level in drinking water wells in Kings County, Nova Scotia
  Marie-Pier Cayer	2003 - 2004	Laval University	Caroline Duchaine	Microbiology/ Biochemistry	Developmental and application of molecular biology methods in peat moss workers exposure assessment to mycobacteria
  Melissa Girard	2003 - 2004	Laval University	Yvon Cormier	Respiratory Cell Medicine	Toll of dendritic cells in the viral-induced enhanced antigen-sensitization in hypersensitivity pneumonitis
  Natalie Pelletier	2003 - 2004	University of Saskatchewan	Dorothy Forbes	Nursing	Estimating the hours and cost of informal care give for Alzheimer’s patients in rural and urban settings in Saskatchewan, Canada
  Valérie Létourneau	2002 - 2004	Laval University	Caroline Duchaine	Microbiology/ Biochemistry	Correlation between Cellular response markers and contaminants in 4 different agricultural settings
  Jayda Cleave	2002 - 2003	University of Saskatchewan	Philip Willson	Toxicology	Dust, endotoxin, microbial DNA associated with swine facilities
  Karen Marcinkiw	2002 - 2003	University of Saskatchewan	Donna Rennie	Nursing	Stress, social support and mental health in rural and urban postpartum women
  Kathleen Zinszer	2002 - 2003	Dalhousie University	Judith Guernsey	Occupational Epidemiology	Occupational Asthma and Dermatitis in Offshore Drilling Platforms
  [close]

• PhD

  PHD Trainees	Time of Participation	Home Institution	Supervisor(s)	Program Discipline	[close] Research Project Title
  Pascale Blais-Lecours PhD Candidate	2011 - 2013	Université Laval	Caroline Duchaine	Microbiology	Evaluation of the exposure to airborne Archaebacteria in agriculture and its inflammatory potential
  Kyungsu Kim PhD Candidate	2011 - 2013	University of Alberta	Don Voaklander	Public Health/ Occupational Epidemiology	A population-based comparison of injuries among farm children to non-farm children in Alberta, 1998-2009
  Amanda Froehlich-Chow PhD Candidate	2010 - 2012	University of Saskatchewan	Anne Leis	Kinesiology/ Public Health	Physical Activity and Health Eating in Saskatchewan Early Years Care Centres: An Intervention Study
  Arcadio Viveros-Guzman PhD Candidate	2010 - 2012	University of Saskatchewan	Michael Gertler	Public Health/ Environment and Sustainability	Socioenvironmental Determinants of Health and Safety of Seasonal Agricultural Works in Saskatchewan: Opportunities for learning sustainability
  Megan Kot PhD Candidate	2010 - 2011	Dalhousie University	Graham Gagnon/ Heather Castleden	Environmental/ Civil Engineering	Promotion of improved drinking-water systems among small communities in Canada
  Brenna Bath PhD Candidate	2009 - 2012	University of Saskatchewan	Punam Pahwa, Bonnie Janzen	Epidemiology	A Physiotherapy triage assessment for people with low back problems referred to orthopaedic surgeons: outcomes and biopyschosocial predictors of success.
  Zhiwei Gao PhD Candidate	2009 - 2012	University of Alberta	Ambikaipakan Senthilselvan	Occupational Health	Effects of genetic and environmental factors on asthma-like symptoms and lung function
  Nichole Garzia PhD Candidate	2009 - 2012	University of British Columbia	Paul Demers, John Spinelli	Public and Environmental Health	A novel pesticide exposure assessment technique to evaluate the risk of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in relation to phenoxy herbicide exposure
  Kerry Anne Hogan PhD Candidate	2009 - 2012	Queen’s University	Jennifer Medves	Nursing	Sustainability of emergency health care services in rural and small town Ontario
  Jack Teng	2009 - 2010	University of British Columbia	Karen Bartlett, Brian Klinkenberg	Resource Management and Environmental Studies	Proximate and distal determinants of human health: how land use and species interactions influence the infection risk to tick-borne zoonoses
  Natasha (Thiessen) Just PhD Candidate	2008 - 2011	University of Saskatchewan	Baljit Singh, Caroline Duchaine	Vet. Microbiology	Microbial characterization of particulate matter from poultry operations and cellular responses to poultry dust extract
  Leah Boutilier	2007 - 2010	Dalhousie University	Rob Jamieson	Biological Engineering	E. coli  fate and transport in constructed wetlands treating rural wastewater
  David Schneberger PhD candidate	2007 - 2010	University of Saskatchewan	Baljit Singh	Vet. Microbiology	Environmental Bacterial DNA and its effects on Lung Immune Response to Endotoxin
  Silvia Vilches PhD Candidate	2007 - 2010	University of British Columbia	Penelope Gurstein	Community Health/ Interdisciplinary Studies	Challenging Social Inclusion/Bridging Contested Space: Aboriginal Early Childhood Initiatives and Northern Health Serving Systems
  Julie Kosteniuk	2007 - 2009	University of Saskatchewan	Carl D’Arcy	Clinical Psychology	Mental illness in general practice
  Sarah Oosman PhD Candidate	2007 - 2008	University of Saskatchewan	Karen Chad, Janet Smylie	Kinesiology	It takes a village: addressing healthy body weights through a culturally sensitive health promoting school program for Aboriginal youth http://blogs.usask.ca/studentnews/archive/2010/08/oosman_promotes.html
  Hope Bilinski	2005 - 2008	University of Saskatchewan	Donna Rennie	Nursing	The Culture of Childhood and its Influence on Healthy Weights in Rural Preadolescent Children
  Chandrashekhar Charavaryamath	2005 - 2008	University of Saskatchewan	Baljit Singh	Vet. Medicine	Mechanisms of lung inflammation and lung dysfunction following exposure to the swine barn air
  Tara-Leigh (Fleming) McHugh	2005 - 2008	University of Saskatchewan	Kent Kowalski	Kinesiology	Coping with body-related emotion: A participatory action research project with young Aboriginal women
  Mikiko Terashima	2005 - 2008	Dalhousie University	Judy Guernsey	Epidemiology	Place-based deprivation: Spatial analysis of rural health determinants in Canada
  Rasha Maal-Bared	2005 - 2007	University of British Columbia	Karen Bartlett	Occupational Hygiene	The distribution of pathogenic bacteria and indicator organisms in biofilms on different surface types in agricultural watersheds: can we monitor biofilms to save lives?
  Julie Kosteniuk	2005 - 2006	University of Saskatchewan	Carl D’Arcy	Clinical Psychology	Mental illness in general practice
  Valérie Létourneau	2004 - 2008	Université Laval	Caroline Duchaine	Microbiology/ Biochemistry	Assessment of the presence of pathogens and drug resistant genes in the air, in the nasal flora of farmers and in the manure of swine confinement buildings using different production systems
  Mark Bruner	2004 - 2007	University of Saskatchewan	Kevin Spink	Kinesiology	Examining the Influence Of Group Cohesion On The Physical Activity Behaviour in Rural Youth
  Shawnda Lanting PhD Candidate	2004 - 2007	University of Saskatchewan	Margaret Crossley	Psychology	Developing an Assessment Protocol to Detect Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Aboriginal Seniors and to Investigate Cultural Differences in Cognitive Aging
  Justin Gawaziuk PhD Candidate	2004 - 2006	University of Saskatchewan	Philip Willson	Toxicology	Genetic response of neonatal swine to inhaled endotoxin
  Chandrashekhar Charavaryamath	2004 - 2005	University of Saskatchewan	Baljit Singh	Vet. Medicine	Multiple exposures to swine barn air: implications for lung function
  Joshua Lawson	2003 - 2007	University of Alberta	A. (Sentil) Senthilselvan	Epidemiology	Effects of endotoxin and tobacco smoke exposure on asthma and asthma-like symptoms in children and adolescents
  Brenda Lindstrom-Bruner	2003 - 2006	University of Saskatchewan	Karen Chad	Kinesiology	Understanding and addressing determinants of unhealthy body weights and type 2 diabetes in rural Aboriginal women
  Karen Rideout PhD Candidate	2003 - 2004	University of BC	Les Lavkulich	Environmental Studies	Agricultural systems and food security: a comparative assessment
  William Midozi	2002 - 2006	University of Alberta	A. (Sentil) Senthilselvan	Biostatistics/ Epidemiology	Asthma and wheezing in rural children in Canada
  [close]

• Post Doctoral Fellows

  POST DOCTORAL Trainees	Time of Participation	Home Institution	Supervisor(s)	Program Discipline	[close] Research Project Title
  Zimu Yu	2010 - 2012	University of Saskatchewan	Huiquing Quo	Agricultural Engineering	Development of a livestock farm site selection system based on an odor dispersion model and GIS
  Valérie Létourneau	2010 - 2011	University of Saskatchewan/IRDA	Stéphane Lemay	Microbiology/ Bioresource Engineering	Virus Filtration by an innovative air cleaning system developed for animal housing
  Rasha Maal-Bared	2010 - 2011	University of Ottawa	Syed Sattar	Biochemistry/ Microbiology/ Immunology	Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in food and water in two Aboriginal communities
  Xiangfei Meng	2010 - 2011	University of Saskatchewan	Carl D’Arcy, Debra Morgan	Public Health/ Psychology	Being Mindful: Depression and Dementia among Rural and Urban Seniors-Epidemiological Studies
  Julie Kosteniuk	2009 - 2011	University of Saskatchewan	Debra Morgan	Clinical Psychology	Indentifying Strategies to Support Quality Dementia Care in Saskatchewan Family Practice
  Chandima Karunanayake	2007 - 2008	University of Saskatchewan	Punam Pahwa	Biostatistics	Rural Canadian Seniors Mental Health
  François McNicoll	2006 - 2008	Laval University	Caroline Duchaine	Biochemistry/ Microbiology	Transport and detection of airborne viruses using enzymatic markers
  Yongxin Li	2005 - 2007	University of Saskatchewan	Huiqing Quo	Agricultural Engineering	Setting community acceptability criteria for livestock odours and development of setback distance for intensive livestock operations
  Benjamin Nehme	2005 - 2007	Laval University	Caroline Duchaine	Microbiology/ Biochemistry	Airborne contaminants of modern large production swine buildings: biodiversity, sources and health effects
  Jacob Bonlokke	2004 - 2007	Laval University	Yvon Cormier	Respiratory Medicine	Effects of bioaerosols of swine confinement buildings on workers respiratory health
  [close]

PHARE Mentors

We have a strong group of dedicated mentors with expertise that spans the spectrum of disciplines that collectively comprise public health and agricultural-rural ecosystem policy and research. Each of the key mentors is committed to being a member of the program, providing support to the provision of the PHARE course and seminar series, the annual conference and providing mentoring to trainees.

• Program Mentors Since 2002
  • Dorothy Forbes, University of Alberta, College of Nursing (formerly University of Saskatchewan)
  • Les Lavkulich, University of British Columbia, Agroecology
  • Rob Gordon, University of Guelph, Ontario Agriculture College (formerly Dalhousie University, Resource and Environmental Studies)
  • Glenn Stratton, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Environmental Resources (formerly Dalhousie University, Biological Engineering)
  • Bonnie Janzen, University of Saskatchewan, Community Health and Epidemiology
  • Nazeem Muhajarine, University of Saskatchewan, Community Health and Epidemiology
  • Kathryn Green, University of Saskatchewan, Community Health and Epidemiology
  • Philip Curry, Saskatchewan Health
  • Dongguang Li, Queens University, Community Health and Epidemiology
  • Nicolas Ovsenek, University of Saskatchewan, Anatomy and Cell Biology
  • Carl D’Arcy, University of Saskatchewan, Applied Research, Department of Psychiatry
  • Donna Rennie, University of Saskatchewan, College of Nursing/CCHSA
  • Karen Chad, University of Saskatchewan, College of Kinesiology
  • Kevin Spink, University of Saskatchewan, College of Kinesiology
  • John Gordon, University of Saskatchewan, College of Vet Medicine/CCHSA
  • Andrew Potter, University of Saskatchewan, Vaccine Infections Disease Organization
  • Bruce Reeder, University of Saskatchewan, Community Health and Epidemiology
  • Shelley Kirychuk, University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine/CCHSA
  • Debra Morgan, University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine/CCHSA
  • Lalita Bharadwaj, University of Saskatchewan, College of Nursing
  • Punam Pahwa, University of Saskatchewan, Community Health and Epidemiology/CCHSA
  • Baljit Singh, University of Saskatchewan, Western College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Tasha Epp, University of Saskatchewan, Western College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Lisa Lix, University of Saskatchewan, School of Public Health
  • Ambikaipakan Senthilselvan, University of Alberta, Department of Public Health Sciences
  • Judith Kulig, University of Lethbridge, Nursing
  • William Pickett, Queen’s University, Emergency Medicine/Community Health & Epidemiology
  • Caroline Duchaine, Université Laval, Centre de recherche
  • Catherine Laprise, University of Quebec at Chicoutimi, Basic Sciences
  • Martha MacLeod, University of Northern British Columbia, Nursing
  • Laurie Chan, University of Northern British Columbia, Community Health Sciences, Aboriginal Environmental Health
  • Karen Bartlett, University of British Columbia, School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
  • Judith Guernsey, Dalhousie University, Community Health and Epidemiology

PHARE Partners and Collaborators

Ten participating universities from across Canada provide the current foundation for the PHARE training program. We also have international academic collaborators as well as support from various collaborating agencies.

• Collaborators
  • University of Saskatchewan
  • Université Laval, Québec
  • Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia
  • Queen’s University, Ontario
  • University of Alberta
  • University of British Columbia
  • University of Northern British Columbia
  • University of Lethbridge, Alberta
  • Université du Québec à Chicoutimi
  • Jishou University, Jishou City, Hunan Province, China
  • Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumuqi, Xinjiang, China (Jiang Pingan)
  • Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
  • Inner Mongolia Agricultural University (IMAU), China
  • Mongolia State University of Agriculture, China
  • Institute of Agricultural Medicine, Lublin, Poland
  • National Agricultural Institute of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
  • International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya, Africa
  • Public Health Agency of Canada
  • Federated Co-operatives Ltd.
  • Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI)
  • Founding Chairs Program of the CCHSA