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Zoom HATLab meeting during COVID-19 pandemic
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From Left: Caitlin Blaney, Jordana Sommer, Rachel Roy, Bronwen Grocott, and Gagan Gill outside of Harry Medovy House

Research Areas

The HATlab has three related primary streams of research.

(1) How does mental health impact adverse health events (medical trauma), and what are common psychological outcomes following such events?
Understanding psychological sequelae (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), delirium) of adverse health events such as the onset of a life threatening illness, major surgery and associated complications, admission to the intensive care unit, and COVID-19. Dr. El-Gabalawy is interested in what pre- and peri-event factors might contribute to particular outcomes.

(2) What are feasible interventions to improve health outcomes in adverse health events?
Developing targeted interventions aimed at reducing negative psychological outcomes following adverse health events. For example, Dr. El-Gabalawy is interested in preoperative psychological interventions using medical technologies (e.g., virtual reality) aimed at improving both mental and physical health surgical outcomes.

(3) What is the impact of anxiety and trauma-related disorders on physical health and chronic pain?
Understanding the relationships between anxiety and trauma-related disorders (e.g., PTSD) and physical health conditions including chronic pain. These investigations include understanding co-occurrence, mechanisms that elucidate co-occurrence, and correlates/outcomes of co-occurring conditions (e.g., substance misuse, healthcare utilization).

Research Modalities

Dr. El-Gabalawy conducts both primary clinical data driven studies including randomized clinical trials and secondary epidemiological studies using rich data repositories such as Statistics Canada. She also collaborates on a number of qualitative studies.
Dr. El-Gabalawy's publications can be found on google scholar or research gate.

Funding

As primary investigator, Dr. El-Gabalawy receives generous research support from:
  • University of Manitoba
  • Tri-Agency New Frontiers
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • National Research Council of Canada
  • Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine Academic Oversight Committee
  • Health Sciences Centre Foundation
  • Chronic Pain Network