People & Lab Culture
About Us
The Health Policy Impact Lab is a Centre for Research Excellence in applied quantitative and qualitative research. We build partnerships with local provincial and federal government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and public and private universities. Areas of faculty expertise include health services and policy research, health economics, responsible and ethical use of AI, and technology, sustainability, biochemical engineering and Project Management.
Our Team
Dr. Vidhi Thakkar
Health Services and Policy Research
Dr. Thakkar serves as a peer reviewer for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and has experience leading similar multi-methods research projects and has led several grants with CIHR and worked a Consultant with the World Health Organization for a rapid systematic review and as a Senior Analyst with the BC Ministry of Health, where she led policy briefing notes and cost-effectiveness analyses to support evidence informed decision-making for drug funding. She has also won the Gordon Cressy Leadership Award at the University of Toronto for creating the Health Policy Forum.
Dr. Raaj Tiagi
Health Economics
Dr. Raaj Tiagi brings demonstrated expertise in health policy and health systems analysis, with a focus on primary care, health system financing and service delivery models. He has worked as a Senior Health Economist with Doctors of BC, and has strong quantitative and applied research skills, including regression modeling, survey analysis and the use of population-level and administrative datasets to support costing, utilization monitoring, and budget impact analysis.
Dr. Ali Khazraei
Project Management
Dr. Ali Khazraei has extensive experience leading and contributing to applied, quantitative and interdisciplinary research projects across engineering, business, and management domains. He has managed and participated in competitively funded research initiatives, including an NSERC doctoral grant, a Mitacs and a CRITM postdoctoral fellowship, with a strong emphasis on data-driven analysis, modeling and real-world problem solving.
Dr. Amirhossein Zaji
Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Amirhossein Zaji's research spans to time series forecasting, remote sensing and satellite data processing, evolutionary optimization and large language models applied to education and business
He is an active contributor to scholarship on AI-resilient assessment and the responsible use of generative AI in the classroom, and is the author of more than 70 peer-reviewed publications in leading international journals.
Dr. Sherry Abdellatif
Public Policy
Dr. Sherry Abdellatif has extensive experience teaching and supervising MBAR students at UCW. She also brings extensive international and local experience in: Policymaking, Regulations Compliance and Governance. Her focus is spanning academic research, senior government advisory roles, and global policy engagement. Her work focuses on the intersection of: Sustainability, Finance, Ethics and Governance Regulatory alignment to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Dr. Mohsen Ghodrat
Computer Science
Dr. Mohsen Ghodrat holds a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering is a highly accomplished engineer and scholar in the field of: Control Systems, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing. He received his Bachelor of Science (BSc) and Master of Science (MSc) degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Shiraz University in Iran in 2004 and 2008, respectively. Dr. Ghodrat continued his academic pursuits, ultimately earning his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Electrical Computer Engineering from the University of Alberta in 2018.
Dr. Amit Kohli
Digital Transformation and Applied Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Amit Kohli is an Associate Professor at University Canada West. Dr. Kohli brings more than 20 years of combined academic and industry experience in digital transformation, supply chain systems and technology-enabled business innovation. He has successfully completed consultancy projects for organizations in the areas of digital transformation, supply chain optimization, AI adoption and technology implementation.
Dr. Vahideh Baradaran-Rafiee
AI and Marketing
Dr. Vahideh Baradaran-Rafiee is an Associate Professor of Marketing at University Canada West. She holds a PhD in Business Management with a specialization in Marketing and a Master’s degree in International Business from the University of Wollongong.
Dr. Baradaran-Rafiee has extensive experience teaching and supervising MBA research students at UCW.
Subodh Koranmath
Project Management
Subodh is a certified PMI Authorized Training Partner Instructor and seasoned Project Manager with over 17 years of experience delivering high-impact initiatives across the government, higher education, and technology sectors. Currently, he leads a Project Management Office (PMO) for the Government of British Columbia, managing a high-performing team that executes critical IT projects.
Fitri Astuti Antoni
Health Services
Priyanka Sharma
Health Services
Partnerships
When you are looking to establish a professional presence for the Health Policy Impact Lab, please contact:
