Welcome!
Meet the team
Dr. Lauren E Kelly
Dr. Lauren E Kelly is a Pharmacologist, Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of Manitoba and Certified Clinical Research Professional. She is a Clinical Trialist at the George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation, Clinical Trials Director and Scientist at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, and the Director at Increasing capacity for Maternal and Paediatric Clinical Trials (IMPaCT). Dr. Kelly received her Doctorate in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Western Ontario and completed two post-doctoral fellowships at the Hospital for Sick Children and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Kelly is the PI for the Clinical Pharmacology Lab and co-supervises graduate students with both Drs. Leong and ‘tJong.
Dr. Christine Leong
Dr. Leong is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy with a Cross Appointment at the Department of Psychiatry, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Leong received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Toronto and her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy degree from the University of Manitoba. She practices as a clinical pharmacist at an interprofessional teaching family medicine clinic.
Dr. Geert t’Jong
Dr. ‘t Jong is a general pediatrician, focusing on the care of Northern, Indigenous, and underprivileged children, running clinics through Children’s Clinic with a dynamic team of colleagues. Dr. ‘t Jong is also a clinical pharmacologist and pediatrician, whose research focuses on pharmacology in pediatrics, including pharmaco-epidemiology and clinical trials.
Trainees
Wanting Ding
Wanting joined the team in September 2024 as a graduate student under the supervision of Dr. Lauren Kelly. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacology from Guangzhou Medical University. Her research focuses on the use of medical cannabis for symptom management in children with autism and contributing to a living systematic review in medical cannabis.
Staff
Zina Zaslawski
Zina joined the team in September 2019 as a Research Coordinator. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Manitoba and a Masters of Arts from Queen’s University. She has several years experience supporting research teams in various disciplines. Currently, she is supporting lab research projects and coordinating communications. In this role, Zina also splits her time as a Knowledge Broker for the Canadian Childhood Cannabinoid Clinical Trials (C4T).
Jessica Overby
Jess joined the team as a Research Coordinator in July 2023. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology from the University of Winnipeg. She has experience as a Research Coordinator in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Manitoba and the Department of Psychology at the University of Winnipeg. In January 2025, Jess began a Master of Science in Pharmacy at the University of Saskatchewan under the supervision of Dr. Holly Mansell. Her thesis is a qualitative study exploring physician and caregiver perspectives on the use of medical cannabis in children with autism.
Jodi Anderson
Jodi recently completed her Master of Science in Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of British Columbia and has now joined C4T and IMPaCT for a term as Research Coordinator. Her master's research project, led by Dr. Rod Rassekh and Dr. Hal Siden, aimed to characterize the prevalence of medicinal cannabis use in children and youth, to describe practices of use and sources of information for families, to understand attitudes and opinions, and to identify any challenges families may face regarding use. Prior to this degree, she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience at the University of Winnipeg.
