CeMCOR

The Community Advisory Council for CeMCOR was established to provide a connection between the scientific and educational objectives of the Centre and the interests and needs of women in the community. The roles of the Advisory Council are to:

• facilitate collaboration and coordination between CeMCOR and the wider community of women;
• to identify needs and assist in setting of research priorities;
• to participate in the development of strategic directions;
• to highlight opportunities for community participation and involvement in research;
• to consult and cooperate with national community and research organizations.

Elana Brief received her doctorate in Physics from the University of British Columbia where she developed MRI methods to measure concentrations of brain chemicals. Dr. Brief has also worked as one of the Research Directors of the Women's Health Research Network where she co-authored "Our Common Ground", a guide on how to engage in community based research. She currently works as a Research Scholar at the National Core for Neuroethics.

Mavis Dixon, graduated from the University of Waterloo with an honors degree in Psychology and a specialization in non-profit administration. She has worked in a management role and as a communications and fund development specialist in non-profit organizations for 13 years. She is currently a communications and government relations consultant working in the private sector.

Allison Macbeth has been a sexual health educator since 2003 and has worked for non-profit organizations in positions such as telephone helplines and program evaluation. She has specialty training in HIV/AIDS, contraception, and working with families. For her Masters of Applied Science she studied parents' and young people's attitudes to sex education at home and in schools.

Judy Norsigian is the Executive Director of Our Bodies Ourselves (OBOS). Also known as the Boston Women's Health Book Collective, OBOS is a nonprofit, public interest women's health education, advocacy, and consulting organization. Since joining this group in1971, Judy has been editor and contributing author on all the editions of Our Bodies Ourselves, the landmark book on women's health and sexuality.
She is an internationally reknowned speaker and author on women's health concerns - from abortion and contraception to midwifery advocacy and health care reform - appearing on Oprah, the Today show and NBC Nightly News.

Basia Pakula graduated with a Master in Public Policy from Simon Fraser University in 2006. She has worked in various aspects of health policy and research pertaining to mental health and addictions, gender and sexuality. Her volunteer efforts have focused on AIDS initiatives in Vancouver and Victoria.

Tricia Yu is the librarian at the Eric Hamber Library, a branch of the UBC Library located within the BC Children's and Women's Hospitals in Vancouver. She obtained her Masters in Library and Information Studies (MLIS) from the University of British Columbia in 2000. Before joining the UBC Library in 2004, she previously worked at the Neil John Maclean Health Sciences Library at the University of Manitoba, and the Gerstein Science Information Centre at the University of Toronto.