Meet Our Team
Erin Bigney, MA Experimental and Applied Psychology
Director of Research
Erin Bigney is the Director of Research for Canada East Spine Centre and Canada East Foot & Ankle. She also co-Founded Canada East Foot & Ankle along with Dr. Jacob Matz. Bigney holds a Master’s degree in Experimental and Applied Psychology and has worked in the field of research for the past 15 years. Bigney’s educational and work experiences have focused on experimental design, methodology and program evaluation. She has multiple peer-reviewed publications and has presented at national and international scientific conferences.
Eden Richardson, B.A. Political Science & English, Graduate Certificate-Human Resources Management
Database Manager
Eden oversees one of the largest sites for CSORN (Canadian Spine Outcomes and Research Network) of the 23 participating sites in Canada through the Canadian Spine Society. She also oversees 5 other CSORN sites across Canada. These include The Moncton Hospital, Sault St. Marie Hospital, Sudbury Regional Hospital, and The Ottawa Hospital-Civic Campus. Eden also works for the Canadian Spine Society nationally as the Data Quality Coordinator and Trainer for CSORN because of her fantastic work with CSORN registry. Eden has hosted national training sessions for research coordinators and surgeons on data quality for CSORN. Eden also runs all the sub-studies for CSORN which includes sub-studies on adult deformity, cervical spondylotic myelopathy, and degenerative/idiopathic spondylolisthesis. Eden completed her Bachelor of Arts at the University of New Brunswick, Saint John campus with a double major in Political Science and English and graduated with First Division. She has also completed her Graduate Certificate in Human Resources Management at Seneca College. Eden is also a proud mommy to her daughter Ireland.
Jill Kearney
Operations Manager
Jill Kearney is the Operations Manager for Canada East Spine Centre. She has several years of quality assurance and management experience in a business environment, which translates well to her role with CESC. Jill manages our core staff and manages our Volunteer Mentorship Program. She is also responsible for quality inspection of our systems and processes, and has oversight of our Clinical Trials program. Other responsibilities include coordinating our Research in Medicine (RIM) students, overseeing our social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter, and our maintaining the CESC website. Jill assists with our valuable work with the Canadian Spine Outcomes and Research Network and the Rick Hansen Institute as well. As our main patient contact, she enjoys working closely with Orthopaedic and Neurosurgery patients and their surgeons for consenting and follow-up involvement in our research projects.
Dresden Forshner
Clinical Trials Associate
Dresden Forshner is a Clinical Trials Associate at Canada East Spine Centre. He is a current undergraduate student at the University of Athabasca, where he is pursing his Bachelor of Science with majors in Biological Science and Psychology. Dresden has a background in the medical field from working in various departments throughout the Horizon Health. As a prior Volunteer Research Assistant with CESC, he assisted on several research projects. Dresden is so thrilled to start his new role, as he is very passionate about medical research.
Rory McPhee
Research Assistant
Rory McPhee holds a BA (1st Class, Hons.) in psychology from the University of New Brunswick. He is currently undergoing his Master’s in Experimental Psychology. His Master’s thesis focuses on religious fundamentalism and ideological prejudice, and the subject matter of his previous research has also included lie detection, technology use by students, and research methods. Rory has presented research at the INPACT conference in Hungary in 2017 and has contributed to research presented at a number of international conferences. Rory has also contributed to a number of research projects conducted by CESC as a volunteer. Having volunteered for CESC for over a year, Rory is excited to take on a larger role within the organization.
Meghan Fitzgerald, BN, RN, ONC(c), Nurse Manager
Clinical Research Associate
Meghan graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing from the University of New Brunswick (Saint John campus) in May 2000. In 2006 she was one of the first Registered Nurses to write the CNA certification exam for Orthopaedic Nursing and has maintained this certification through continuous learning credits. After 8 years working as a Registered Nurse on the Orthopaedic inpatient unit at the Saint John Regional Hospital, Meghan accepted the position of Unit Manager. Her analytical mind loves a good clinical chart review so she is thoroughly enjoying her adverse event reporting work with Canada East Spine Centre.
Janice (Loop-D) Kenny RN, BN
Neurosurgery Case Manager
Loop-d graduated with a Diploma in Nursing from the Saint John School of Nursing in 1981, and completed Post-Graduate studies in Neuroscience Nursing from the Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University in 1987. More recently, she completed her undergraduate degree in Nursing from UNBSJ in 2006. Loop-d has held the National CNA Certification in Neuroscience Nursing since 1991. She has served on the National Board of Directors for the Canadian Association of Neuroscience Nurses and was the National President in 1995. She is currently practicing Nursing in the Neurosciences. Loop-D's clinical interests are in Neuro Trauma, and Neuro Critical Care in the management of Brain & Spinal Cord Injuries.