Sandra Krueckl is the Vice President of Cancer Control with the Canadian Cancer Society, BC and Yukon, overseeing health promotion, advocacy, information and support programs. Sandra is a Co-Principal Investigator with the Stop Smoking Before Surgery research project.

Lucy Beck is the Regional Director for Public Health, Population & Protection with Northern Health. Lucy worked in Public Health in Alberta for 22 years, as an Environmental Health Officer for the first 8 years and then in combination field and management role until her move to Northern Health in 2004. Lucy began her work with Northern Health with the Public Health Protection team and then expanded to working with the Population Health team in October 2012. Lucy is the Principal Investigator on the Stop Smoking Before Surgery project.

Catherine (Cathy) is the Vice President, Cancer Control for the Canadian Cancer Society, BC and Yukon. She has overall responsibility for Prevention, Research and Support programs and activity in British Columbia and the Yukon. The CCS prevention portfolio includes a large team of prevention staff throughout the province of British Columbia focused on health promotion and cancer risk reduction in the areas of Tobacco, Occupational and Environmental Carcinogens and Healthy Living (healthy eating, physical activity, healthy weights). Priority initiatives include a growing workplace wellness program, public policy advocacy in tobacco, Tanning is Out in high schools and Community Right to Know public awareness related to asbestos and radon.

Cathy is the Co-Principal Investigator with the Stop Smoking Before Surgery research project.

El Taylor is the Northern Administrator for BC Cancer Agency Prevention Programs and is located in the new Centre for the North in Prince George. She provides support for the northern team of Prevention Education Leaders as well as contributing to Provincial leadership for Cancer Prevention initiatives working collaboratively with key stakeholders and communities.

El has worked in health promotions for over twelve years and was one of BC’s original Tobacco Reduction Coordinators working in BC’s Tobacco Control program. She provided expertise in tobacco cessation, prevention, enforcement and protection. El completed training at the Mayo Clinic’s Nicotine Dependence Centre. She is one of a worldwide group of Motivational Interviewing (MI) Trainers – having received training at the University of New Mexico with Dr. Bill Miller.

She is a Collaborator for the Harmonization Project’s Stop Smoking Before Surgery (SSBS) component.

Dr. Joan Bottorff is a Professor in the School of Nursing, and Director of the Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus. She is also an Affiliate Scientist with the BC Cancer Agency. Her research program focuses on health promotion and health behaviour change in the context of cancer control. Current projects center on developing gender sensitive tobacco reduction interventions for both women and men, and men’s health promotion.

Dr Bottorff is the Program Coordinator for the Harmonization Project. In addition, she is a Co-Principal Investigator on the Stop Smoking Before Surgery (SSBS) project and Co-investigator on the Men’s Healthy Eating and Active Living (M-HEAL) project.

Dr. Cherisse Seaton is the research coordinator for the Harmonization Project and an adjunct professor at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). She holds a Bachelor of Science (Honors) degree in Psychology with a minor in Biology, and a Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Psychology. Her previous research has examined individual differences in resilience by focusing on the role of identity development and positive emotions for socioemotional well-being. As the research coordinator of the harmonization projects, she is responsible for coordinating all activities related to the development, coordination, implementation, and refinement of the two research projects.

Kerensa Medhurst is the Research Facilitator for the BC Cancer Agency.

Kerensa brings over 15 years of experience in health promotion, international, economic, and community development, to this role. Kerensa is a certified yoga instructor and passionate about fitness and nutrition. Kerensa’s back ground is in political science and gender studies with graduate level work in international health and leadership. She loves spending time skiing, hiking, and mountain biking in the northern mountains.

Nancy Viney is a co-investigator for the “Stop Smoking Before Surgery” Harmonization Project. She graduated from the University of Western Ontario with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She is a Registered Nurse with experience in Intensive Care, Labour and Delivery, Cardiac Care, Home Care Case Management, Public Health Nursing and Nursing Education where she noticed the devastating health effects of tobacco use. Nancy is currently employed by Northern Health in Population Health with a focus on tobacco reduction.

Kelsey Yarmish is the Regional Director for Northern Health’s population health team, with a focus on upstream work addressing common modifiable risk factors and the prevention of chronic disease and injury. A nurse by background, with past work in acute psychiatry (University hospital of Northern BC) and tertiary mental health and addiction services, Kelsey has become equally passionate about Public Health.

Kelsey lives and works in Prince George, and embraces the community and living in the North. She is married with two girls. Family is her joy and her kids ensure that home-time is always lively and a lot of fun. When she is not at work, she is with her family and friends, entertaining, working in her gardens, traveling, boating, crafting, cooking, and reading.

Kelsey is a collaborator on the Stop Smoking Before Surgery Project.

Sonia Lamont is the Provincial Director of the BC Cancer Agency Prevention Programs and her particular areas of interest are the prevention of second primary cancers, bringing a cancer lens to chronic disease prevention, and public health education. She has an educational background in the Social Sciences and has a Masters in Business Administration. She has worked in the areas of social science research, health promotion and management. Sonia is a Co-Principal Investigator on the Stop Smoking Before Surgery (SSBS) project, and she is the Principal Investigator on the Men’s Healthy Eating and Active Living (M-HEAL) project.

Nikolai Holm is a research assistant with the Harmonization Project. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Political Science, and a Master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Transformation. His previous research has examined how the relationships between organizations at varying levels influence how they can interact and coordinate to address issues of human security. He is interested in issues of community development, particularly in regards to local actor empowerment and human security programming. Nikolai is assisting the team in conducting a developmental evaluation of the harmonized effort by supporting and documenting the team’s collaboration in the delivery of both of the projects.

Sherri Tillotson is the Regional Evaluation Lead – Integrated Primary Community Care at Northern Health. She holds a Master’s degree in Research and Experimental Psychology from the University of Northern British Columbia. Sherri is leading the developmental evaluation of the team’s harmonized efforts.

Doreen Bond is a Regional Tobacco Reduction Coordinator with Northern Health. Doreen is a collaborator on the Men’s Healthy Eating and Active Living Project.