Research, Eval. & Policy Affairs

Samara Perez is the organization’s Research, Evaluation, and Policy Affairs Officer. She is a clinical psychologist, as well as co-Founder and Clinical Director of Mont-Royal Psychology. Samara completed her Ph.D. in Clinical psychology at McGill University. Her thesis investigated the processes and views of Canadian parents’ HPV vaccine decision-making for their sons. Her findings were instrumental in helping to improve our understanding of the Canadian HPV vaccine decision-making landscape, and ultimately improving HPV vaccine uptake rates in young boys and girls.

During her graduate studies, she was awarded the Canadian Institute for Health Research Vanier Scholarship, the top doctoral award in Canada based on both her leadership in the field and high standard of scholarly achievement. She completed her clinical internships in Psycho-oncology at the McGill University Health Center and at The Balfour Mount Palliative Care Unit. She has trained in Couple and family therapy, as well as sex therapy. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the department of psychiatry at the Jewish General Hospital where she conducted fertility needs assessment survey among Male Cancer Patients. As an early career scientist-practitioner, she has authored over 35 peer-reviewed articles, including three book chapters, and has presented at national and international conferences.

Publications

Ensuring a Successful Transition From Cytology to Human Papillomavirus

Gabrielle Griffin-Mathieu; Ben Haward; Ovidiu Tatar; Patricia Zhu; Samara Perez; Gilla K Shapiro; Emily McBride; Erika L Thompson; Laurie W Smith; Aisha K Lofters; Ellen M Daley; Juliet R Guichon; Jo Waller; Marc Steben; Kathleen M Decker; Marie-Helene Mayrand; Julia M L Brotherton; Gina S Ogilvie; Gregory D Zimet; Teresa Norris; Zeev Rosberger;

Are healthcare professionals prepared to implement HPV testing? A review of psychosocial determinants of HPV test acceptability in primary cervical cancer screening

Ovidiu Tatar, MD, MSc; Kristina Wade, BSc; Emily McBride, MSc; Erika Thompson, PhD; Katharine J. Head, PhD; Samara Perez, PhD; Gilla K. Shapiro, PhD; Jo Waller, PhD; Gregory Zimet, PhD; Zeev Rosberger, PhD

Using the precaution adoption process model to clarify human papillomavirus vaccine hesitancy in canadian parents of girls and parents of boys

Ovidiu Tatar; Gilla K. Shapiro; Samara Perez; Kristina Wade;  Zeev Rosberger

Cancer!? I Don’t Have Time for That: Impact of a Psychosocial Intervention for Young Adults with Cancer

Samara Perez; Sylvie Aubin, PhD; Zeev Rosberger, PhD; Nada Hafez, MS;Michael R. Noory, BA; Sonja Lehmann, BSc; Gerald Batist, MD; Petr Kavan, MD

Human Papillomavirus Vaccines: Successes and Future Challenges

Samare Perez; Gregory D. Zimet; Ovidiu Tatar; Nathan W. Stupiansky; William A. Fisher; Zeev Rosberger

Factors associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) test acceptability in primary screening for cervical cancer: A mixed methods research synthesis

Ovidiu Tatar; Erika Thompson; Anila Naz; Samara Perez; Gilla K. Shapiro; Kristina Wade; Gregory Zimet; Vladimir Gilca; Monika Janda; Jessica Kahn; Ellen Daley; Zeev Rosberger