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Dr. Bernatsky is a rheumatologist, a James ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ professor in the Department of Medicine (Divisions of Rheumatology and Clinical Epidemiology) and a senior scientist affiliated with the Centre for Health Outcomes Research at the Research Institute of the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ University Health Centre. Dr. Bernatsky is also affiliated with the ÎÛÎÛ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Environmental Epidemiology Research Group, a network with expertise in pharmacology/toxicology, and environmental sciences. She is a member of the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE), the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC), and the Canadian Network for Improved Outcomes in SLE (CaNIOS).

She is an established leader in research and knowledge translation in her field, having received numerous awards, including the Arthritis Alliance of Canada’s Knowledge Translation Practice Award. Her research primarily focuses on drug exposures in complex chronic diseases and patient outcomes, including morbidity, mortality, and economic impact. She has authored over 300 peer-reviewed articles. An active member of several research networks, Dr. Bernatsky is nominated PI of the Canadian Network for Advanced Interdisciplinary Methods (CAN-AIM) team, a pan-Canadian research network funded by the Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network (DSEN), a collaboration between CIHR and Health Canada. CAN-AIM team’s mandate is to provide new, accurate data on the long-term, real-world outcomes of drug therapies. Her work on drug safety and effectiveness includes a novel DSEN-funded national registry of patients receiving biosimilar agents and their legacy drugs. Dr. Bernatsky is also a mentor within the CIHR Drug Safety and Effectiveness Cross-Disciplinary Training (DSECT) Program, which provides a training environment for future scientists in Canada regarding high-quality post-market research in drug safety and effectiveness.