Smita Pakhale is a pulmonologist (respirologist) and a senior-scientist at The Ottawa Hospital, leading The Bridge Engagement Centre (The Bridge), a research centre conducting community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) projects under the auspices of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Her primary research focus and collaborations includes research on health inequities, lung diseases, tobacco and cannabis dependence, and Sickle Cell Disease, both locally and globally. She is also the Founder and Principal Investigator of the Canadian Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Registry in collaboration with the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada and CanHeam. The Bridge projects employ intersectoral approaches supported by interdisciplinary collaboration of health care practitioners, allied health professionals, community practitioners, community peer researchers (People with lived/living experience of marginalization and poverty), and academics. The aim of the centre is to co-develop and co-implement sustainable solutions to persistent health inequities with marginalized populations and the health system alike, as realized through the Bridge ModelTM, an innovative comprehensive compassionate community-based health care model.
Smita Pakhale, MD, FRCPC, MSc (Epi &Biostat)
Clinical Research Chair in Equity & Patient Engagement in Vulnerable Populations, Senior Scientist - Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Associate Professor - University of Ottawa, The School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Staff Respirologist- Division of Respiratory Medicine, The Ottawa Hospita