Our Passion
We believe that all people should have equitable access to health and social services that support their physical, mental, social and, spiritual wellness and personal growth. We are passionate about using evidence to support this vision – including evidence from scientific research, clinical expertise, and lived experience. We work in meaningful collaboration with stakeholders at all levels to drive change and build capacity for health equity in the organizations and communities we serve.
VIRGO Core Team
Executive Lead
Brian brings over 40 years of experience as a mental health and substance use services and public health researcher at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health(CAMH), Canada’s largest mental health teaching hospital. Since retiring from CAMH, Brian continues to be an active researcher and mentor through his ongoing appointment as Emeritus Scientist at CAMH, his appointment as Professor at both the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and Senior Scientist at the Homewood Research Institute. He has highly sought expertise in population health, needs-based planning, and evaluation of mental health, substance use and other health, social, educational and community services. Through VIRGO, he has conducted evaluations and major system reviews across Canada and internationally and has received several grants and/or contracts with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Health Canada, the Canadian Centre of Substance Use and Addiction, the Mental Health Commission of Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Health, and various health authorities across Canada. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed papers as well as several book chapters and monographs. He has taught Program and Policy Evaluation at a graduate level at the University of Toronto and has developed and implemented training materials for the World Health Organization with a focus on performance measurement and health system planning and evaluation in developed and developing countries.
For further details click Here for Brian’s CV
Project Manager
April Furlong has worked for over two decades in the mental health and substance use sectors. As a consultant, April has been involved in over 25 projects related to program development, system planning, performance measurement and evaluation at the national, provincial, regional, and agency levels in jurisdictions across Canada. She has particular expertise in stakeholder engagement, qualitative analysis, and knowledge exchange. April’s early training and experience as an occupational therapist, working with marginalized youth and violent offenders, has afforded her with an important lens through which to view and understand practical realities faced by health and social services that are relevant for effective evaluation, research, system planning and knowledge exchange work. April holds a Professional Project Management (PMP) certification and has been a part of the VIRGO team since 2008.
Research Analyst
Niloofar holds a Master degree in International law. She has been working as a Research Analyst at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) since 2012. She has more than 5 years of experience in qualitative and quantitative reseach. She has strong project coordination skills and proficiency with analytical softwares (SPSS, NViVO).
She has worked on different projects on mental health and addiction with qualitative and quantitative qualifications. Apart from clinical research experience, Niloofar has more than 5 years of experiences working in policy making researches.
Research Analyst
Jonathan Ramirez-Lara has over a decade of experience in the mental health and substance use
sector. He has coordinated both investigator-initiated and industry-led clinical trials for
individuals with a variety of mental health disorders. Jonathan has also led projects focused on
system planning and capacity building in mental health and substance use services, particularly
in Latin America.
His extensive experience working directly with clients and engaging community stakeholders
has fueled his passion for driving systemic change to address inequities in mental health
services.
As a social worker and consultant, Jonathan has contributed to system planning, policy
development, performance measurement, and evaluation initiatives at provincial, regional, and
agency levels across Canada. He is skilled in literature reviews, knowledge translation, data
management, and analysis, applying these abilities to improve service delivery and outcomes.
Jonathan has been part of the VIRGO team since 2017.