CASN is pleased to announce that Dr. Julia Hews-Girard is the recipient of the 2025 Pat Griffin Research Grant
Dr. Julia Hews-Girard would like to acknowledge Dr. Kirnvir Dhaliwal, Dr. Lira Yun, Tyler Burly and Fadumo Robinson all of whom are Co-Investigators on this grant.
Dr. Hews-Girard is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary. She completed her PhD at Queen’s University (Kingston) and her post-doctoral training in Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary.
Julia’s research program is divided into two overarching streams. The first focuses on measurement, in particular how common mental/physical health screening tools function in diverse young adult (age 15-25 years) populations – including post-secondary students, individuals with chronic disease and women/girls/individuals who menstruate. This stream includes work examining how measurement tools are integrated into care, how they impact engagement with care, and what the impacts are on health assessment, evaluation of treatment/care plans and youth outcomes.
The second stream of her research focuses on increasing access to appropriate and effective care for young adults. This stream includes program evaluation, examining efficacy and appropriateness of alternative health care delivery options (AI, digital health) for young adults, advocacy for expanded nursing roles globally and implementation and evaluation of a novel nursing education program. The Pat Griffin Research Grant will support work associated with the latter.
Julia has expertise in multiple methods, advanced quantitative methods and analysis, population-level data analysis and qualitative analysis. Julia is currently leading several national and international studies with colleagues from across Canada, in California, Europe and the UK.
Julia is a member of the Mathison Center for Mental Health Research and Education, The Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute. She is on the board of INGID, an international nursing organization, and is a founding member of the INGID research subcommittee. She regularly presents at national and international conferences on youth mental health, the health of women and girls, and nursing practice.
