Executive Team

Allison Kraby
Past Chair

Allison received her MSc. Physical Therapy from the University of Alberta in 2012. She has since practiced as a physiotherapist across the continuum of care, in public, private, and not-for-profit sectors, in both urban and rural settings of Alberta and British Columbia. Her focus of professional development has largely been in the areas of neurological and vestibular rehabilitation, global health, rural & remote practice and leadership. Allison’s first experience practicing as a physiotherapist in a global health context was in 2017 when she volunteered with Hillside Health Care Clinic in the remote southern district of Toledo, Belize, Central America. Her desire to learn more about social justice, health equity and improving access to rehabilitation services led Allison to the Global Health Division’s (GHD) Mentorship Program. In turn, she became the Secretary and then Chair of the GHD. In 2021, Allison transitioned to the role of Past Chair in order to allow time and space for her newest challenge – motherhood. She remains a member of the Physiotherapy Association of British Columbia’s (PABC) Rural & Remote Committee. She works as a generalist at West Coast General Hospital (WCGH) in Port Alberni. Allison loves getting outdoors, with her main passion being trail running. 

Kendra Jones McGrath
Secretary

Kendra volunteered for the secretary position of the Global Health Division as the COVID-19 pandemic first gripped Canada. Sitting on her couch, unable to work at her job as a private practice physiotherapist, she was inspired by the connectivity of health around the world and wanted to learn more. While she considered jumping into further education in public health, the position of GHD Secretary seemed like a more logical first step.

Kendra has a BSc. in Kinesiology (2006) as well as her MPT (2015) from the University of Saskatchewan. Her interest in equitable access to health care was heightened while her MPT research team, under the direction of Brenna Bath, examined the regional supply versus demand of physiotherapy in Saskatchewan. After graduation, she loved working in public practice in her long-time home of Lloydminster, SK/AB, before family commitments brought her to private practice and B.C.’s Okanagan Valley. She has a knack for working with older individuals and youth as well as dancers of all ages. More than 20 years in Highland dance first opened her heart to Canada and the world. Now, she is looking forward to broadening her understanding of global health surrounded by the members of the CPA’s Global Health Division.

Shelly Yu
Advocacy Officer

Shelly is a neuro physiotherapist based in Vancouver, BC. She has worked with adult and paediatric populations in various neurological settings and is a strong believer in equal access to health care. She has advocated for the role of physiotherapy and exercise in health promotion and has been involved in several public health initiatives targeting access to health care issues in the community, both nationally and internationally. These include setting up a Parkinson’s exercise group for those living on the outskirts of the Metro Vancouver area, setting up a rehabilitation programme for the Silver Lining Foundation in rural China and working with Crisis at Christmas to improve health care access for people who are homeless. In addition to achieving honours in her Physiotherapy degree, Shelly holds a ‘Foundations of Global Health Specialization’ certificate from Johns Hopkins University and hopes to complete a master’s in public health in the future.

Lucy Liu
Education Coordinator

Lucy recently completed her Master’s of Physiotherapy at the University of Toronto in 2019. As a new graduate, Lucy is interested in exploring all aspects of physiotherapy, especially learning more about global health. When she is not practising as a therapist, she is moonlighting as the outreach manager of a non-profit organization providing STEM education to low-income students. In her free time, Lucy enjoys engaging in different fitness classes, such as Zumba and hip hop, as well as thinking about life by the waters and watching airplanes fly by, dreaming of her next vacation. One day, Lucy hopes to work in health policy or for the UN!

Allana Beavis
Indigenous Health Co-Representative

Allana completed both her Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) and Master of Science in Global Health at McMaster University. She went on to complete her Master of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of Toronto in 2014. She considers herself to be a generalist, having worked with clients that have a variety of musculoskeletal, neurological, and cardiorespiratory conditions. She is currently working at Community Therapy Services in Winnipeg, MB, in the Home Care and Northern Outreach programs. Through this agency, she provides fly-in consultative PT services to First Nation communities in northern Manitoba. She is passionate about addressing health inequities and the underpinning unequal power relations in society that create them.

If you have any questions about the Indigenous Health Sub-Committee or are interested in becoming involved, please send us an e-mail at ghdindigenous@gmail.com.

Mona Walls
Chair

Mona is a graduate of McMaster University’s School of Physiotherapy and has worked as a physiotherapist in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta for over 30 years. Her experience includes acute care, rehabilitation, and community health work in all age groups. Her passion is neurology (with a special interest in traumatic brain injury) and paediatrics. Mona currently lives in Red Deer, AB, and her private practice, Up and Running Physical Therapy Services, has her consulting and providing therapy services to children and their families in clinics, schools, homes, and in the community. She is a strong advocate for accessibility and inclusion.

For the past seven years, Mona has been volunteering on the rehabilitation team of A Better World Canada, a humanitarian organization based out of Lacombe, AB. As a physiotherapist on this team, Mona has worked in both Kenya and Rwanda providing leadership and working as a physiotherapist during team travel. When at home, her role includes education, increasing awareness regarding disabilities, capacity building of local therapists/health care workers, and program development. Working with A Better World Canada has been an exceptional opportunity for personal growth in many areas.

Mona has been a Canadian Physiotherapy Association member and a member of the Global Health Division for many years.

When not at work, Mona enjoys spending time outdoors with family and friends, camping, hiking, and finding adventures. She loves meeting new people in new places. Stepping into the Chair-Elect position will be a way to achieve this despite the global pandemic. It will also be an opportunity to give back to the amazing profession and colleagues who give so much of their time and themselves.

Mona looks forward to enriching her understanding of global health and health equity surrounded by a group of exceptional physiotherapists. She plans on supporting the vision of the GHD by being a strong advocate and by providing leadership to a passionate group of physiotherapists in the area of global health.

Lisa Arcobelli
Treasurer

Lisa completed her Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy at McGill University in 2004. She has worked in acute care, in-patient stroke rehab, and out-patient paediatric rehab and spent several years living and working in First Nation Eeyou communities in northern Quebec. She is currently completing a Master’s in Rehabilitation Science at McGill University, where her research is exploring how Canadian PT curricula are changing to reflect the priorities of Indigenous Peoples and their communities. She is also a member of the GHD’s Indigenous Health Sub-Committee.

Susan Czyzo
Communications Officer

Susan is an orthopaedic physiotherapist based in Toronto, where she completed both her undergraduate degree in Physical Education and her Master of Science in Physical Therapy.

Aside from in Toronto, she has worked in private practice clinics in Australia and New Zealand, fulfilling her outdoor adventure dreams while gaining valuable clinical experience. Upon returning from living overseas in 2017, Susan found an opportunity to volunteer with A Better World Canada on a rehabilitation trip to Kenya in 2018, where she and a group of rehabilitation professionals worked alongside local therapists to assess and assign exercise programs to children with a variety of neurological conditions. This trip reminded her of her interest in global health, which had been at the back of her mind for years.

Also a passionate photographer, Susan travelled to Rwanda in 2019 to volunteer her storytelling skills for a local NGO assisting women with disabilities build vocational skills. As the Global Health Division’s communications officer, she hopes to expand her knowledge (and yours) of the scope of global health with respect to physiotherapy and beyond.

Vanitha Arumugam
Knowledge Translation Representative

Vanitha Arumugam is an internationally trained physiotherapist. She graduated from the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University in Chennai, India with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy followed by a Master of Physiotherapy. She completed her PhD at Western University in the field of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (2016) based at the Roth McFarlane Hand and Upper Limb Centre (HULC) at St. Joseph Health Care, London, Ontario. She has worked as a physiotherapist with the Squash Racket Federation of India with professional squash players and is a certified wheel dance classifier volunteering with Wheel Dance, Canada.

       Vanitha currently practices at St. Joseph Health Care, London,Ontario in the chronic pain clinic and is also a certified pelvic health therapist. Her research interests are cross-cultural adaptation and translation of outcome measures in Tamil and evidence-based practice of health care professionals involved in pain management. She actively listens to her patients and believes holistic well-being is crucial to good health. Vanitha is excited to be part of the GHD Executive Committee and to actively engage and be a part of the Global Health Division’s research and initiatives.

Priscilla Flett
Indigenous Health Co-Representative

Priscilla completed her studies in Bachelor of Physical Education at the University of Manitoba in 2015 and continued her education there to complete her Master of Physical Therapy in 2018. Since graduation, Priscilla has been working at Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre (MFNERC) in Winnipeg, MB. This organization provides physiotherapy service to school-age children in Manitoba First Nations communities. From growing up in a northern isolated community, Priscilla shows interest in Indigenous and global health.

Physiotherapy Students

• Anna Asefa, Western University
• Katelyn Brooks, Queen’s University
• Olivia Cardillo, McGill University
• Joel Genyk, University of Manitoba
• Allison Hamilton, University of British Columbia
• Leigh Jeffries, Western University
• Jasmine Kwan, University of British Columbia
• Sophie Laurin, University of Ottawa
• Emily Lyseng, University of Alberta
• Kajal Neto, McMaster University
• Ryan Pinto, Western University
• Claire Romani, University of Toronto
• Matthew Silva, Western University
• Sabrina Tamburri, Western University
• Christine Wang, McGill University
• Ali Afshar Zanjani, University of British Columbia

Indigenous Health

• Priscilla Flett
• Allana Beavis
• Moni Fricke
• Sarah Oosman
• Sarah Brown
• Amanda Fortin
• Simone Gruenig
• Katie Gasparelli
• Lisa Arcobelli
• Robin Roots
• Matthew Bonk
• Joanna Miller
• Susan Czyzo 

Take a look at our 2020-2022 Goals!

Knowledge Translation

• Sara Abassbhay
• Vanitha Arumugam
• Kyle Curtis
• Ryan Pinto
• Isabelle Proulx
• Jennifer O’Neil

Communications

• Sara Abassbhay
• Susan Czyzo