Our Staff
Dr. Kelli Stajduhar
Research Chair
Dr. Kelli Stajduhar is a professor in the School of Nursing and Institute on Aging & Lifelong Health at the University of Victoria. She has worked in oncology, palliative care, and gerontology for 30+ years as a practicing nurse, educator, and researcher. Her clinical work and research has focused on health service needs for those at the end-of-life and their families, and on the needs of marginalized and vulnerable populations.
Ami Bitschy
Research Coordinator
Ami Bitschy has an undergraduate and masters’ degree in biochemistry from the University of Victoria. She primarily spends her time ‘whispering to budgets’ and coordinating the newest Pan-Canadian CIHR study. In the past, Ami has worked with some amazing leaders and administrators at the BC Ministry of Health, and Island Health, she enjoys collaborating with professors and research staff at numerous Universities here in Canada and around the world.
Carren Dujela
Research Coordinator
Carren Dujela is an experienced Research Coordinator with the Palliative Approaches to Care in Aging and Community Health research program led by Dr. Kelli Stajduhar. She holds a MA in Sociology from the University of Victoria, undergraduate degrees in English and Sociology, and a LPN specializing with adults with severe dual diagnosis. She has spent the last 18+ years engaged in all aspects of the research process and project management. Carren lives in Saanich with her husband and two sons. She loves to travel, support her family in fulfilling their dreams, study the intersections of life and love, and is a proud member of NunatuKavut.
Ashley Mollison
Project Coordinator/PhD Student
Ashley Mollison is a program manager for Dr. Kelli Stajduhar’s work on equity and palliative care at the University of Victoria. She supports a collaborative of people who research, develop and evaluate equity-oriented palliative care approaches, programs, and services across the country. As a PhD candidate, her work focuses on family caregiving at the end-of-life in contexts of inequity such as poverty, homelessness, stigma, criminalization, and isolation. For 15 years, Ashley has held various roles in relation to inner city communities such as volunteer, researcher, front line worker, community organizer, and caregiver. Ashley is grateful to live on Treaty 7 territories home to the Tsuut’ina, Siksika, Piikani, Kainai, and Stoney Nakoda First Nations as well as people of the Métis Nation within Region III (Cochrane, AB).
Spencer Robinson
Knowledge Translation and Administrative Assistant
Spencer (he/him) is a QTBIPOC author-illustrator and researcher specializing in children’s literature illustrating diverse marginalized people and their stories. His work focuses on the importance of education, humility, and a willingness to learn in cultivating community. He is a member of Dignity Seniors Society, where he has contributed to their work supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ seniors and Elders in British Columbia through projects relating to elder abuse and neglect, and what it means for services to be considered “culturally appropriate” for 2SLGBTQIA+ older adults. Throughout his work, he centers accessibility, cultural safety, and active efforts towards decolonization to ensure that no one is locked out of community because of their identity or circumstances.
Lexy Stewart
Research Assistant
Lexy Stewart is a Master of Arts student in the Social Dimensions of Health program at the University of Victoria and a research assistant at the Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health. Her undergraduate research focused on housing challenges faced by older women and their strategies for aging in place. Her current graduate research centers around incorporating palliative approaches to care for populations experiencing homelessness and structural vulnerability. She continues to conduct participatory action research using arts-based methods with the Palliative Approaches to Care in Aging and Community Health Program at the University of Victoria.
Sydney Ambury
Research Assistant
Sydney Ambury is a Master of Social Work student at Lakehead University and a research assistant. Her previous research has explored safer supply programs, addiction-related disability, and client-staff relationships in harm reduction settings. She is currently working on her thesis examining how opioid-related care is delivered and adapted in geographically underserved regions in Northwestern Ontario. Sydney also works as a psychotherapist in Northern Ontario and is committed to bridging community-based practice with academic research to advance inclusive, client-centred systems of care.
Dr. Kris Smith
Post-doctoral fellow
Dr. Kristina Smith is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the School of Nursing at the University of Victoria, and an Ethicist at Vancouver Coastal Health. She completed a PhD under the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education and the Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB) at the University of Toronto. Her doctoral work explored how waiting for an organ/bone marrow transplant or in palliative care was socially experienced as a form of suffering for child transplant candidates, families, and healthcare providers in the home and hospital. Dr. Smith's current research pertains to palliative care, oncology, health equity, and ethics.