Sandra Berzins

Sandy Berzins is an adjunct faculty member in both Psychiatry and Community Health Sciences. She is currently a Research Scientist with Surgery Strategic Clinical Network, Alberta Health Services. Sandy has over 20 years of health care research and program evaluation experience, in areas ranging from primary care, mental health, chronic disease management, health technology assessment, to health promotion. She completed her PhD in epidemiology in 2014, with her dissertation research focused on risk factors for depression in multiple sclerosis. Effective knowledge translation is one of Sandy’s longstanding interests. A missing element of many research programs is the lack of a feedback mechanism between researchers and policy/ decision makers, causing a delay in integration of research findings into clinical practice. Experience working in government, community and academic settings has enabled her to develop a strong understanding of how research findings can be implemented in the ‘real world’.