Juanita-Dawne Bacsu, PhD
Founding Director, PHARR Centre
Dr. Juanita-Dawne Bacsu is a Canada Research Chair (CRC) Tier II in Nursing and Population Health and an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at Thompson Rivers University. Drawing on a social determinants of health approach, Dr. Bacsu’s CRC focuses on supporting the health equity of older adults living with dementia in rural communities. Her research interests include rural health, gerontology, stigma, dementia, cognitive health promotion, infodemiology, and health policy.
Melba D’Souza, PhD, RN
Research Faculty
Dr. Melba D’Souza, PhD, RN, is an Associate Professor at the School of Nursing and Population Health, Thompson Rivers University, Canada. Dr. D’Souza has been a professional member of the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology, Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology, International Psycho-Oncology Society, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of British Columbia, and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. Dr. D’Souza’s program of research includes psychosocial oncology, rural health, immigrant health, mixed methods, and health policy.
Bala Nikku, PhD
Research Faculty
Bala Nikku, PhD, comes from an agricultural family in India and joined Thompson Rivers University School of Social Work and Human Service as an Assistant Professor in 2018. His academic and grassroots social work experience spans India, Nepal, Malaysia, the UK, and Thailand. From 2005 to 2011, he served as the founding director of the Nepal School of Social Work, helping shape social work education and practice in the region.
Claudia Gonzalez, PhD
Research Faculty
Dr. Claudia Gonzalez is a cognitive neuroscientist working as an assistant professor in the department of Psychology at Thompson Rivers University. Her research interests focus on neurocognitive aging, aiming to understand the neurological and cognitive changes associated with aging and their implications for neurological diseases. For this she employs non-invasive neuroimaging techniques, including functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to link brain function with behavior across the lifespan.
Wendy Hulko, PhD
Research Faculty
Dr. Wendy Hulko is a Professor in Social Work who does interdisciplinary research on aging, dementia, and healthcare. She focuses on equity-denied groups (e.g., Secwepemc Elders, racialized people, rural residents, older women, 2SLGBTIQ people) and often works in collaboration with service providers and decisionmakers.
Dr. Mark Rakobowchuk, PhD
Research Faculty
Dr. Mark Rakobowchuk is an Associate Professor in Physiology in the Department of Biological Sciences at Thompson Rivers University and leads the TRU Health Physiology Laboratory. Mark examines how different stresses like exercise and nutrition change blood vessel and heart function for the better or worse.
Anila Virani, PhD
Research Faculty
Dr. Anila Virani is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at Thompson Rivers University. She is a registered nurse with 20+ years of national and international experience in healthcare, academia and research. Her research interests include health informatics, chronic disease management including dementia, population health and technology-enhanced learning.