Meet the QI Team

Tara Kiran is the Fidani Chair in Improvement and Innovation and Vice-Chair Quality and Innovation at the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto. Much of her research has focused on evaluating the impact of Ontario’s primary care reforms on quality of care. More recently, she is focusing her efforts on quality improvement research including initiatives to improve patient experience including access to care, increase cancer screening rates, treat Hepatitis C, reduce high-risk opioid prescribing, measure and reduce care disparities, and support physicians to learn from data. She practices family medicine at the St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team where she led the quality improvement program from 2011 to 2018. She is a Scientist in the Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital and an Adjunct Scientist at ICES. 

Noor Ramji is the Practice Improvement Program Director in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. In this role she supports DFCM clinical teams to work together to improve quality–finding common priorities, facilitating sharing of best practices, and organizing resources that makes improvement work easier and more impactful. She also helps to advance several DFCM strategic priorities including data driven improvements, patient and community engagement, and equity initiatives. Noor is currently a family physician and Lecturer at the St Michael's Hospital Academic Family Health Team (SMHAFHT) and UofT DFCM. She has been the SMHAFHT Quality Improvement (QI) Director since 2018 and has led QI initiatives in a variety of areas including preventative health, chronic disease management, timely access, patient experience and understanding and improving equity.

Margarita Lam Antoniades is the Quality Improvement Education Lead in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. In this role she supports QI education for both learners and faculty in the department as well as in the context of international collaborations. She is a practicing family physician at the St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team, where she is also the patient safety lead. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. Her area of research interest is in patient safety education for medical residents, with a focus on learning from patient safety incidents.

Eleanor Colledge is the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Program Director in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. In this role she leads the development and implementation of CPD offerings that are responsive to the needs of patients and communities, evidence-based and data-informed, and designed to support primary care providers in integrating practice changes that improve patient care and outcomes.  She is an Assistant Professor in DFCM and practices family medicine in the East Toronto community where she is one of the founding physicians of the family practice group now comprising the South East Toronto Family Health Team. 

Denis Tsang, MSc, MAN, RD, CHE, LSSBB

Denis Tsang is the interim Quality & Innovation Program Manager at the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto. He is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator at Woodbridge Medical Centre Family Health Team. Denis was elected as the Board Chair of the College of Dietitians of Ontario in 2024. His professional interest focuses on the impact of data-driven digital health interventions on clinical outcomes, health equity and cost-effectiveness in health care. He is dedicated to  supporting equitable patient care and team-based primary care with his clinical experience and technological knowledge in several digital health solutions and electronic medical record systems.  

Dana Arafeh, MHI

Dana Arafeh is the Patient & Family Engagement Specialist, Quality and Innovation Program at the Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of Toronto. Dana is passionate about involving patients and their families in every aspect of their care. Her goal is to promote patient and family voices as a key driver in all DFCM activities, and look for opportunities for meaningful patient and family engagement. Dana brings a diverse background of skills, including working in paediatrics and mental health at organizations such as SickKids and the Women’s College Hospital, and experiencing managing a national paediatric research network. She also holds a Master’s degree in Health Informatics from the University of Toronto and, as someone living with a chronic condition, serves as a patient partner on multiple projects and committees.

Vanesa Berenstein

Vanesa Berenstein is the Research Officer, Quality and Innovation Program at the Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of Toronto. With a background in sociology, she has extensive experience coordinating large-scale quantitative and qualitative research projects. Her work has focused on research on the social determinants of health, particularly in the areas of intimate partner violence and the effects of precarious employment on health and well-being. She has also led stakeholder engagement initiatives, fostering collaboration between researchers and community-based organizations. Vanesa’s motivation lies in advancing equitable access to care for everyone.