Integrating research expertise, practice-based wisdom, and lived experience, the Coalescing community participants have a broad range of expertise in women’s substance use and addictions, mental health, woman abuse and trauma, Aboriginal women’s health, prenatal and maternity care and many other areas of women’s health.

The Coalescing team at the Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health includes:

Nancy Poole, Coalescing project facilitator
Nancy is the Director of the Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health (formerly known as BC Centre of Excellence for Women's Health), and the Prevention Lead for the CanFASD Research Network. Nancy is known for her collaborative work on gender-informed health research, training and policy initiatives with governments and organizations on local, provincial, national and international levels. She is involved in research teams and knowledge exchange projects on a range of girls’ and women’s health issues; and has co-edited four books: Highs and Lows: Canadian Perspectives on Women and Substance Use (2007),  Becoming Trauma Informed (2012) Making it Better: Gender Transformative Health Promotion (2014) and Transforming Addiction: Gender, Trauma, Transdisciplinarity (in press). Nancy is also known for leadership in piloting online participatory methods for knowledge generation and exchange on girls’ and women’s health, including virtual networks and online communities of inquiry.

Ginny Gonneau, Alcohol Use By Girls project coordinator

Ginny Gonneau has worked with the Centre of Excellence for Women's Health as a project coordinator for a special project on the prevention of heavy alcohol use by girls and young women. Ginny has a background in women and gender studies, project management and in working with Aboriginal communities.

Tasnim Nathoo Research and knowledge exchange consultant

Tasnim Nathoo is a social worker with a clinical background in mental health and addiction and has worked in the area of girls' and women's health for over 15 years. She has been involved in a number of projects at the Centre of Excellence for Women's Health related to alcohol and pregnancy, trauma-informed practice in mental health and addiction services, and health promotion for girls and young women. Since 2010, as part of her work with the Centre and the Canada FASD Research Network, she has maintained a blog on "Girls, Women, Alcohol, and Pregnancy" (http://fasdprevention.wordpress.com).

Christina Talbot, Research coordinator

Christina has contributed to research studies on girls’ and women’s health promotion, mental health, substance use, trauma, and trauma-informed care with the Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health. She has also contributed to studies on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and traumatic brain injury at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. Before going into research, she worked as a frontline social worker with girls and women, children, and families in school- and community-based programs, as well as child-welfare and mental health settings.

Doug Lambier, Technical consultant

Doug Lambier is a freelance IT and project management consultant who has helped to shape the technology strategy to enable effective collaboration among the members of a variety of communities of practice. Doug has a Master of Science in Education and has worked with groups in K-12 education, medical education, healthcare and the non-profit sector.