Staff & Steering Committee

Marilyn Barr, BIS

Director

Marilyn has worked in the field of child abuse prevention since 1978 and has degrees in Social Work and Communications. She developed one of the first prevention programs on shaken baby syndrome and directed four national conferences and three international conferences on shaken baby syndrome, as well as fifteen state and national conferences on child abuse and neglect.

Marilyn was the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Child Abuse Prevention Center of Utah (1981-2003), as well as the Founder and President of the Board of Directors, Utah Chapter of the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse (1983-1987). Marilyn won the Commissioner's award for Outstanding Leadership and Service in the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (1998, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), and was the National Victims Rights Advocate of the Year in 1998 (United States Justice Department). She was also a psycho-education instructor for adult sex offenders.

Marilyn currently serves as the Director of Prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome BC in Vancouver, B.C. on a consultancy basis and is also the Founder and Executive Director for the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome in Utah, USA.

Claire Yambao, MSc Candidate

Provincial Program Coordinator

Claire received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Victoria in 2005. She previously worked as a research assistant for the Neuropsychology Department at the University of Victoria. After graduation, she worked as a technician at a mood disorders clinic in Vancouver, BC. In 2006, Claire transferred to a research position at the Centre for Community Child Health Research for the clinical trial of the Period of PURPLE Crying program. She developed a strong interest in the prevention of shaken baby syndrome and later joined the Prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome BC team.

In 2007, Claire moved into the position of Program Educator & Information Specialist. Her responsibilities included training and implementing the PURPLE program in the Fraser and Interior Health Regions. She also managed PURPLE implementation through BC community agencies such as pregnancy outreach, infant development, adoption, immigration and child care. As the Information Specialist, she contributed to the development of the program website and the online modules.

Claire currently serves as the Provincial Program Coordinator and continues to provide education and resources to professionals supporting families. She is also the point person for the program's public education campaign. Claire is completing her Master of Science degree in Public Health Management from the University of London.

Fahra Rajabali, MSc

Research Coordinator

Fahra is the coordinator for the evaluation component of the PURPLE program. Fahra has been a researcher with BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit since 2000, following the completion of her Master's degree in Health Information Science at University of Warwick, England. She has experience in injury surveillance and data analyses, conference planning and project management. Primary duties within the unit are to carry out Information/Data analysis for specialized reports and different projects.

Dawn Mount, BA

Program Assistant

Dawn received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Waterloo following obtaining her diploma in Early Childhood Education. Her career experiences include Executive Director with Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver and in administration for a Vancouver elementary school and college. Dawn has also been an active volunteer for over 15 years. Important issues related to children and families have always played a key role in her motivations to improve the lives of others. The Period of PURPLE Crying program is a perfect match to her beliefs in education and prevention.

Mandy Chen, PhD

Post Doc

Mandy is a postdoctoral research fellow working under the mentorship of Dr. Ronald Barr. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of British Columbia in 2009 after completing her bachelor's degree at the University of Toronto in 2003. In graduate school, her program of research focused on understanding the parental characteristics that are associated with non-optimal parenting practices and with behavioral problems in children. After many years of working clinically with both adults and children who have been exposed to trauma, she decided to pursue a career in the prevention of child maltreatment. In addition to working on the evaluation component of the PURPLE program, Mandy is also undertaking several research projects with Dr. Barr that examine how infant crying may be a risk factor for infant shaking.

Mike Kerr, BSc

Neurosurgery Research Coordinator

Mike joined the Prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome BC team in late June of 2010 as part of a collaborative study with the Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery at UBC to conduct active surveillance of traumatic head injury cases in children under 2 years of age in British Columbia. As a clinical research assistant for the UBC Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Mike participates in the management, coordination, and development of several neurosurgery based research projects in the academic research center of BC Children?s Hospital. As a prospective medical school student, he joined the pediatric research group of UBC at BC Children's Hospital to gain experience in medical based research while working towards entrance into medical school. Mike is a member of the alumni of the University of the Fraser Valley where he completed a Bachelors of Science degree with a major in biology and focus on molecular biology.

Linda Pan

Work Study Student

Linda grew up in the prairie province of Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is currently a science student at UBC who is aspiring to pursue a career in health care, specifically pediatrics, a combination of her two biggest passions. As a foundation for her dream, she has volunteered at Victoria General Hospital, Winnipeg Health Sciences Center, and in several educational settings with children.

Linda is mainly responsible for data entry/coding of PHN forms. She admires the goals of the Period of PURPLE Crying Program, and feels extremely fortunate to be a part of the Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention team.

STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS

BC Children's Hospital Steering Committee on SBS

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Leslie Clough, RN, BSN, MSN

Manager, Patient & Family Education - BCW/WHC

Leslie's nursing has given her the privilege of caring for babies, women and their families in the hospital and in various BC community health centres since 1978. Prevention and education has been the focus throughout her career. Currently she manages Patient and Family Education, including the prenatal education program, at BCWH & WHC. She has a strong interest in promoting health literacy and incorporating its concepts so more families can understand and use health information.

Joan Easton

Senior Director, Early Years Policy

BC Ministry of Children and Family Development

Joan Geber

Executive Director

Healthy Women, Children & Youth Secretariat
BC Ministry of Health Services

Jean Hlady, MD, FRCPC, FAAP

Director, Child Protection Service Unit - BCCH

Dr. Hlady is a Clinical Professor in the UBC Department of Pediatrics at Children's Hospital and she also is the director of the Child Protection Service Unit. This unit provides multi-disciplinary assessments for children who have allegedly been abused or neglected. Over her 25 years of experience, Dr. Hlady has seen well over 3500 children for suspected maltreatment. She is regularly involved with professional education providing seminars to physicians, physiotherapists, nurses, paramedics, social workers and lawyers. In addition she continues to practice General Pediatrics at BC Children's Hospital.

Elizabeth Ketterer

Policy Analyst, Early Years Policy, ECD

BC Ministry of Children and Family Development

Ian Pike, PhD

Director, BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit - CCHR

Dr. Ian Pike is the Director of the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit and Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UBC. Previous to this, he has held positions at the Canadian Red Cross, the Healthcare Benefit Trust and the University of Regina. His academic training is in health promotion and injury prevention, with particular emphasis on population health and the workplace. He has some 25 years experience in injury prevention and healthy lifestyle promotion, and has worked in the private, not-for-profit and academic sectors. His current research, which is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), is a national project to develop and validate injury indicators for Canadian children and youth.

The BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit works directly with the BC Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport, Regional Health Authorities, and other organizations, all with the goal to reduce the burden of injury in British Columbia. Specifically, the Unit provides consultation, program leadership, research services and education seminars and workshops in injury prevention and healthy culture promotion. In addition to its BC focus, the Unit also participates in injury prevention initiatives across the country and around the world.

Dr. Pike is a member of the Public Health Network of Canada, Injury Prevention Task Group, and a member of the International Collaborative Effort on Injury Statistics. He has been an invited expert participant and speaker at many health, wellness and injury prevention meetings and conferences, and is published in the academic and professional journals. For his work in developing an industry-wide workplace health promotion and injury prevention program in the health care sector in British Columbia which resulted in significant reductions in long term disability, WCB and sick time loss, Dr. Pike was presented with an Award of Excellence by the Association of Worksite Health Promotion.

Tansey Ramanzin

Medical Reviewer, Coroner

Child Death Review Unit

Barbara Selwood, RN, BSN, MSc

Leader Health Promotion

Perinatal Services BC



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