Dr. Peter N. McCracken Legacy Scholarship
His greatest passion: his patients
Dr. Peter N. McCracken was recognized for many accomplishments throughout his distinguished career. His greatest passion was the well-being of his patients. His dedication left a lasting impression on patients, their families, staff and colleagues, as well as learners of all disciplines.
Second only to his commitment to his patients, was Dr. McCracken's passion for teaching. He demonstrated great versatility in sharing his knowledge to clinicians of all disciplines. Throughout his many years of practice in Edmonton, he gave much to the advancement of geriatric medicine both in his clinical work and in research, especially in the area of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. It is thanks in large part to his leadership in geriatric medicine that seniors in our province have access to the leading edge care that they do today.
About the Scholarship
The Dr. Peter N. McCracken scholarship is awarded annually to a student in Medicine or a graduate student in another health discipline, with a special interest in geriatrics. Selection is based on academic achievement and the evaluation of the individual as a role model for excellence in clinical care and research.
Applicants must submit a proposal outlining specific achievements that illustrate the competencies of clinical excellence, role modeling, and leadership amongst their peers, as well as research acumen. The scholarship recipient will be announced at the Dr. Peter McCracken Memorial Lecture in September 2024.
Application deadline: August 16, 2024 at 4 p.m. MT
Award RecipientS
Sadaf Murad Kassam (she/her) is a registered nurse with a diverse clinical background in geriatric medicine and surgery, dementia care, long-term care, emergency medicine, ICU, orthopedic/surgical care, and general medicine. She has taught geriatric psychiatry and acute care clinical practice to undergraduate and after-degree students at the University of Alberta.
Sadaf is currently a doctoral student in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta. Her doctoral work examines the hospitalization experience of ethno-racial older adults with dementia and identifies the ways to create culturally sensitive dementia practices in hospital settings. Sadaf is interested in gender diversity and racial equity in ethno-racial communities, most specifically in older adults. She is interested in using an intersectional lens and critical qualitative inquiry to explore how intersecting social identities influence access, health, and well-being.
Olawunmi Olagundoye holds a medical degree, a Master of Science degree in Psychology, and a Master of Philosophy honors degree in Family Medicine. A physician with experience in health data, she piloted a geriatric clinic pilot scheme and implemented an EMR system at the General Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. She is currently a PhD student in the Geriatric Medicine division at the University of Alberta. She has won several awards including the Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship and the Canadian Institute of Health Research's Summer Program in Aging training grant. Her research interests include health services research, epidemiological, interventional, operational and implementation studies, quality improvement initiatives, and the development/validation of standardized tools.
In her doctoral research project, she will synthesize evidence from the literature, perspectives of older men with urinary incontinence (UI), and expert opinions to co-develop an evidence-based, patient-centered, self-management intervention aimed at improving UI-related quality of life, using the intervention mapping framework as a co-creation strategy and a community-based participatory research approach.
Jananee Rasiah is a doctoral candidate under the supervision of Dr. Greta Cummings in the Faculty of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, University of Alberta. Jananee is an experienced educator, creative administrator, and early career researcher. She was recognized as one of Edmonton’s Top 40 under 40 in 2021 for her significant career accomplishments, including co-ownership of production company, FRAME Productions. Jananee also volunteers her time as a board director for the Alberta Registered Nurses Educational Trust (ARNET).
Jananee’s research interests are in frailty, aging, and patient engagement. For her dissertation research, she is examining population-based administrative data to better understand the characteristics of older adults in home care, their frailty status, and their hospitalization patterns in Alberta. This renewed understanding is important because it will inform home care coordination measures to ensure that older adults living with frailty can age in place and help reduce unnecessary hospitalization and associated health care costs. Jananee is committed to developing a vital program of research in gerontology that will translate new knowledge to health care administrators and policymakers in Alberta and enhance the health and wellbeing of older adults.
Trina Thorne has been a registered nurse in Edmonton for over 17 years and a Nurse Practitioner for the past 6 years. Her clinical experience spans Family Medicine, Vascular Surgery, Critical Care, Home Living, Supportive Living & Long-term Care. Trina started her PhD program in 2019. Her nursing background helps her understand the factors that affect best practice implementation and how individuals with dementia experience the health system. Her research aim is to develop neuroscience based, trauma-informed interventions that will improve the experience of both providing and receiving care in long-term care settings.
Nick Anthony Millar is an internationally educated nurse from the Philippines, who is currently a PhD in Nursing student under the supervisory of Dr. Kathleen Hunter. He received his Bachelor Science in Nursing at Far Eastern University, Manila, before subsequently completing his Bachelor’s in Nursing at Athabasca University and Master’s Degree in Nursing at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Throughout his career, he has been passionate about the care of older persons with a specific focus in hospital settings. Currently, he is a healthcare leader in his workplace, where he supports the delivery and improvement of care of older persons in acute medicine units.
Nick’s doctoral research aims to understand the transition process that acute care hospitals undergo when adopting senior friendly care (SFC) models. Through the discovery of a framework, he envisions to lay out a blueprint in implementing SFC for other hospitals intending to align their health services with the specific needs of older persons during an acute illness.
Anh Pham is a PhD Candidate in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. She holds a Master of Science in Public Health (Oxford Brookes University) and an MD in Eastern Medicine (University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam).
Anh is interested in supporting community-dwelling older adults by improving quality of primary care. Her doctoral research focuses on using data from primary care electronic medical records to predict dementia development. It is in order to provide appropriate care for people with high risk to avoid or delay dementia onset and to promote healthy aging.
Noelannah Neubauer is a PhD Candidate in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Alberta and is a funded Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) with AGE-WELL NCE. She has a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies and a Bachelor of Human Kinetics. Her interest in aging was sparked by her close relationship with her grandparents. Noelannah's doctoral research focuses on developing a framework that will help care partners and persons with dementia choose home based strategies (i.e. GPS, alarms, signs, door murals, etc) to prevent the risk of getting lost and going missing. Her research interests are diverse and include dementia-related wandering, aging in place, assistive technologies, knowledge mobilization and policy.
Saima Rajabali is a PhD student in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta. She studied medicine at Baqai Medical University, Pakistan and obtained her degree of MBBS with distinction. She then went on to do her MSc in Medical Sciences from the University of Alberta and has subsequently gained certification as a Clinical Research Professional. Her interest in Aging was sparked while working as a Clinical Trials Project Coordinator in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on the impact of peer education and support on healthy aging behaviours in community dwelling seniors and the identification of priorities with regards to the health education needs of seniors. Her research interests include healthy aging, chronic disease self-management, geriatric clinical trials and involvement of older adults as research partners. She currently volunteers as a Senior Service Ambassador with Drive Happiness, a transportation service for seniors with reduced mobility. She is also a student representative for the Canadian Association of Gerontology. In her free time she enjoys live theatre, trying new restaurants and watching Oilers games with her husband.
Stephanie Chamberlain is a second year PhD student with Dr. Carole Estabrooks at the University of Alberta. She holds a BHSc in Health Science (University of Ottawa), and an MA in Gerontology (Mount Saint Vincent University). Stephanie currently works with the Translating Research in Elder Care (TREC), a program of research that focuses on improving the quality of care provided to nursing home residents, enriching the work life of their caregivers, and enhancing system efficiency. Stephanie is the President of the Canadian Association on Gerontology Student Association.
Stephanie's research interests focus on social exclusion, isolation, and social engagement. Her PhD work focuses on potentially vulnerable populations of residents in long-term care. Her project will document the prevalence, health outcomes, and experience of residents who are under guardianship in long-term care. Her goal is to become an independent career scientist in the field of gerontology.
Kimi Khabra graduated from the University of Alberta in June 2013 with a Bachelor of Science with dental hygiene specialization. She worked as an undergraduate research assistant on a scoping review examining the competency of dental hygienists in conducting oral health assessments in long-term care facilities. In August 2013, Kimi co-presented this scoping review in Cape Town. Naturally, this led to her desire in pursuing a master's degree. Currently, Kimi is in her first year of the masters program in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and is a clinical instructor in the dental hygiene program at the University of Alberta.
Christine Daum is a PhD Candidate in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Alberta. She has a Masters of Science in Health Promotion and a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy. Her doctoral research focuses on the intersection between older adults, neighbourhood environments, and activities. More specifically, her purpose is to explore how living in inner city neighbourhoods shapes older women's participation in everyday activities. Christine's research and teaching interests are diverse and include occupational therapy theory, occupational justice, ageing well, and qualitative and community-based research methods.
Nicole Dalmer, a graduate student at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta, has won the 2011 Dr. Peter N. McCracken Legacy Scholarship. This scholarship recognizes Dr. McCracken's contributions to geriatric medicine and to his mentorship of students. The scholarship enables a University of Alberta student registered in a graduate (Masters, PhD, or MD) program with a focus on geriatrics, gerontology or aging to participate in research activities. This scholarship is awarded on the basis of academic merit, research plans and commitment to the field of geriatrics/gerontology. Nicole's research focuses on older adult health information. More specifically, she explored the information seeking behaviours of unpaid caregivers who use the Internet to access health information about the older adult in their care. Nicole will be completing her Masters in Library and Information Studies this spring and plans on pursing her PhD in Health Information Sciences, focusing on the information needs of Canadian older adults and their caregivers.
Peggy McFall is the 2010 scholarship recipient. Peggy is a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alberta. Peggy already has an extensive track record of research, teaching and the application of new knowledge in the field of aging.
Peggy's research will focus on how specific combinations of health risk and protection factors can exacerbate or buffer the effects of common aging-related diseases on cognitive changes among older adults. In particular, how much of the cognitive changes of aging are due to the basic biological state of growing older (normal aging) and how much are due to other factors such as preclinical neurological health conditions, other co-morbidities, environmental influences, and psychological.
Scott Kendall is working towards a specialization in aging research in his second year of the Master's of Science in Rehabilitation Science program (MSc-RS) at the University of Alberta, under the supervision of Dr. Tammy Hopper. His interest in gerontological issues was sparked during a 16-month undergraduate internship in the research unit of the CapitalCare long-term care organization. His main research interest is in cognitive rehabilitation for individuals with dementia, with a related secondary interest in the evaluation of clinical service delivery in geriatric rehabilitation and long-term care.
The specific goal for his thesis research project is to examine the effect of an individualized, language-based, psychosocial intervention (Reminiscence Therapy) on the memory function of long-term care residents with dementia.
Scott states that it is an honour to be chosen as a recipient of the Dr. Peter McCracken Legacy Scholarship, and thanks the Foundation, the Glenrose staff, and of course, Dr. McCracken for their dedication to rehabilitation.
Helen Gough is enrolled in the doctoral studies program in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Alberta. She has a Masters in Clinical Occupational Therapy and a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Psychology. The purpose of Helen's doctoral research is to explore the impact of combat-related late-onset stress symptomatology in elderly community dwelling Canadian War Service Veterans. She has already completed a number of studies in this area as sole investigator or collaborator. Helen also submitted her proposal to the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs who have referenced her work and entered it as evidence for the Standing Committee on National Defense. With Helen's record, she has tremendous potential to make significant contributions to rehabilitation research and practice.
2009 Summary of Research: Older Adult Veteran: Health, Well-being & Occupation
Tiana Rust is the recipient of the 2007 Dr. Peter N. McCracken Legacy Scholarship. Ms. Rust is a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology, University of Alberta. Her research is on the role of caregiver beliefs about aging and Alzheimer Disease. Tiana's future goal is to work in a continuing care or geriatric rehabilitation setting with the role of conducting research and evaluation to guide best practices for the care of older adults.
Be a Part of the Legacy
You can make a profound and lasting impact on the next generation by contributing to the Dr. Peter N. McCracken Legacy Fund. For more information, please contact:
Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation
10230 - 111 Avenue
Edmonton, AB, T5G 0B7
Email: GlenroseFoundation@albertahealthservices.ca
Phone: 780-735-6024
Fax: 780-735-8227
