Staff
Dr. Tasca is the Research Director of the Centre for Eating Disorders Research. Dr. Tasca is a registered psychologist and clinician researcher at the Regional Centre for the Treatment of Eating Disorders at The Ottawa Hospital. He is also an Associate Professor in Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine, a Clinical Professor in the School of Psychology, and has an appointment with the Faculty of Graduate and Post-Doctoral Studies at the University of Ottawa. He has a research appointment in Psychology at Carleton University, and is affiliated to the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa Institute for Mental Health Research. Dr. Tasca is the Research Chair in Psychotherapy Research at the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Hospital. He is the fellow of the Canadian Group Psychotherapy Association, and he sits on several journal editorial boards. His primary areas of research in eating disorders include: attachment theory, psychotherapy process and outcome, group psychotherapy, binge eating disorder, psychometrics, and the application of multilevel models to group treatment research. Contact: gtasca@toh.on.ca
Hany Bissada, M.D., FRCPC.
Dr. Bissada is the Director of the Regional Centre for the Treatment of Eating Disorders at The Ottawa Hospital. Dr. Bissada is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He is the recipient of the 2009 C.A. Roberts Award of the Canadian Psychiatric Association. This national award was given to him in recognition for his work in establishing the eating disorders treatment program at The Ottawa Hospital, and for providing superior quality psychiatric care to his patients. Dr. Bissada completed the first randomized controlled trial examining the effects of Olanzapine, an atypical antipsychotic medication, to promote weight gain and to reduce obsessive symptoms among women with anorexia nervosa. The results of this trial were published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. His research interests include treatment outcomes, and medication treatment trials for eating disorders. Contact: hbissada@toh.on.ca
Ann Barber is the Program Evaluator for the Regional Centre for the Treatment of Eating Disorders at The Ottawa Hospital. Contact: abarber@toh.on.ca.
Joan MacDonald, Ph.D., C.Psych.
Dr. MacDonald is a registered psychologist and clinician researcher at the Regional Centre for the Treatment of Eating Disorders at The Ottawa Hospital. Her research interests include program evaluation of mental health services, needs assessments, psychotherapy process and outcome, and readiness for change and relapse prevention in eating disorders treatment. Contact: joamacdonald@toh.on.ca.
Dr. Demidenko is a registered psychologist and clinician researcher at the Regional Centre for the Treatment of Eating Disorders at The Ottawa Hospital. She is a Clinical Professor in Psychology at the University of Ottawa. She supervises undergraduate students in their honours research work and provides clinical supervision of individuals in their doctoral and post-doctoral training. Her research interests include: eating disorders and co-morbid mental health problems; trauma; individual and group psychotherapy process and outcome; and adult attachment processes. Contact: ndemidenko@toh.on.ca.
Livia Chyurlia is the Research Coordinator for the Regional Centre for the Treatment of Eating Disorders at The Ottawa Hospital. Contact: lchyurlia@toh.on.ca.