Centre for Health Policy welcomes new director, policy and strategy

The Centre for Health Policy at the O’Brien Institute for Public Health is pleased to welcome Kathleen Mather as director, policy and strategy.

Mather brings experience spanning research, health policy and clinical practice, with a focus on collaborative approaches to addressing population health challenges.

She joins the University of Calgary from the Newfoundland and Labrador SPOR SUPPORT Unit, where she worked with research teams to incorporate patient, provider, decision-maker and community perspectives into their work, with the goal of improving the uptake of research into policy and practice.

Mather also contributed to the social determinants of health work underpinning the Health Accord NL report, which set out a 10-year plan for health transformation in Newfoundland and Labrador. Alongside her research work, she continued to work as a clinical dietitian, primarily in rural long-term care settings in Alberta and Newfoundland, maintaining a connection to patient care.

Mather holds a bachelor of applied science from the University of Guelph and a master of science in applied human nutrition from Mount Saint Vincent University. She is currently completing a doctor of public health at the University of Toronto, where her research focuses on using existing data to support public health planning for populations vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Mather says the opportunity to contribute to collaborative approaches to complex health challenges drew her to the Centre for Health Policy.

“We are facing complex health challenges that require collaborative efforts to address,” she says. “The opportunity to work with and champion people leading initiatives with the potential to positively impact population health is very meaningful to me.”

In her first year, Mather is looking forward to getting to know researchers, partners and others working across the health policy community, and identifying opportunities for the Centre to support their work.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know the incredible people working in this space and how the Centre for Health Policy can support and amplify their work to maximize impact,” she says.

She is particularly interested in the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of health policy and the opportunity to help move evidence into action.

“Health policy work is inherently interdisciplinary, and I love working in a collaborative environment,” Mather says. “I’m excited for the opportunity to positively impact population health through the implementation of contextually relevant, evidence-based policies.”