Meet the OPTIMISE Community Team

Caitlin has over two decades of experience in community-based health research and programming, supported by an MSc in Population and Public Health. She currently serves as a Director at the Multi-lingual Orientation Service Association for Immigrant Communities (MOSAIC) and is the Chair-elect of the Board of the Canadian Public Health Association.

MOSAIC delivers comprehensive services to support newcomers to Canada throughout their settlement journey. Caitlin oversees MOSAIC’s mental health and wellness program, as well as the Burnaby Primary Care Network’s Patient Medical Home – Priority Population Clinic (MOSAIC Community Clinic). This clinic provides essential, longitudinal primary care to newcomers, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit, new parents and infants, individuals with complex mental health needs, and those experiencing homelessness.

Darren Lauscher is a long-standing HIV community advocate and person with lived experience since 1985. He has contributed to HIV research and advocacy for over 20 years, currently serving as Co-Chair of the Provincial Advocacy Network (PAN) in British Columbia. He is the Knowledge Mobilization Lead for the BC/Yukon region at the CIHR/CTN+ Pan-Canadian Network for HIV and STBBI Clinical Trials.

Committed to bridging research and education, he also co-chairs the Patient Advisory Committee at UBC Health, sits on the UBC Health Council as a community partner, and guest lectures on the integration of lived experience and current research in health science education.

Daryl Luster brings lived experience as a person with Hepatitis C Genotype 1a that participated in a phase two clinical trial in 2010 and was cured. He is currently battling Parkinson’s Disease

His work as an advocate and Peer educator is focused around shedding more light on HCV, with people affected, care givers, legislators, and healthcare professionals.

As we know with new treatments, a cure is possible now for all people who are diagnosed and linked to care, and there is a need for improved understanding about the long-term effects of viral infections like HCV and other STBBI. .

As someone who lived with Hep C, he has a keen insight into what the experience can be like. The greatest issue we face now, is access to the supports and resources needed for testing, care and treatment in Canada. He speaks with patients regularly, and it is their voice that drives him in his work.

Member: CIHR- CHASRAC- CAC Triple I, UBC PAC

Jim McLeod believes the Downtown Eastside is brimming with talent the rest of the world overlooks. A self-described functional addict, chemically dependent since elementary school, people are often surprised to learn that Jim has a spotless criminal record.

He is an active community member, working  with Hives for Humanity and has served on the boards of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users and the Drug Users Resource Centre. He is excited about his work with Megaphone Magazine’s Speaker’s Bureau project, working with audiences and participants to help them see people who use drugs as just that — people. Jim is also a cast and research member of the Illicit Theatre project.

Julie has been involved with research in the DTES for many years, both as a long-time research participant in drug use-related research and also as a peer research assistant at the BC Centre on Substance Use. Born and raised in Vancouver, she has lived in the DTES for 20 years. She identifies as a longtime drug user, but most importantly, she identifies as a survivor of childhood trauma.

Jules volunteers on the board of Sex Workers United Against Violence (SWUAV), works as a peer support outreach worker, is an avid writer and poet with many pieces published in Vancouver’s Megaphone Magazine and has a co-authored academic publications in AIDS and Behavior, Opioids A Survivors Guide, Research 101 Manifesto and Informed Consent Cards.. Jules is currently a student at Langara College, in The Fundamentals Of Reporting course.

Nicolas Crier, a Cree freelance writer/co-author, became involved with his DTES community through active participation and faith in his many peer work endeavors. From developing plays about harm reduction to actually collecting used needles in the alleys and from helping Megaphone Magazine change the notions of “drug user” and “public speaker” to being hired as a research assistant at UBC, attending Langara college as a journalism student, and working front desk at the Vancouver Centre for Social and Economic Innovation, Nicolas has been embraced by a collaborative community of creative activism, manifesting major change, and is grateful for all of it.

Samona volunteers on multiple boards of peer-based organizations in the DTES and has had plenty of experience with research in the DTES, both as a participant and more recently as a peer researcher conducting interviews and analyzing data. She is a co-author on three academic articles published in the International Journal of Qualitative Methods, Canadian Journal of Public Health, and International Journal of Drug Policy. Her over 30 years of lived experience as a drug user make her a sought-after research collaborator in her community. She continues to take leadership roles in the community, including at Tent Cities and with her work with VANDU, CAPUD, BC/Yukon Association for Drug War Survivors, and SUAVE.

Mo Korchinski is the Executive Director of Unlocking the Gates Service Society (UTG). Drawing from her lived experiences with substance use and incarceration, Mo has dedicated her life to helping others break the cycle of incarceration by addressing trauma and supporting healing for people who experience incarceration. She is an advocate for policy change and increased resources for her community.