Contact
Professor, Faculty of Nursing
- smacdon@ualberta.ca
Overview
Area of Study / Keywords
Immunization Vaccine Child health Public health
About
My program of research focuses on supporting immunization best practice and policies. I have a particular interest in addressing system-level barriers to achieving high immunization coverage, especially in under-served populations.
My research training is in epidemiology, public health, and nursing, including a post-doctoral fellowship in the Alberta Ministry of Health. My clinical background is in pediatric intensive care, having worked in pediatric ICUs in Newfoundland and North Carolina, before I changed my focus more toward public health and preventive care. I subsequently taught in schools of nursing in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia and participated in various international maternal-child health projects. My primary interest continues to be child health/pediatrics, although I also study adult immunization.
My areas of interest and expertise include:
- Immunization
- Infectious disease
- Child health, particularly under-served populations such as children in the child welfare system and Indigenous child health
- Public health
Research
My methodological strengths are in quantitative research, epidemiology, administrative health data, and survey methods. I also include qualitative methods in many of my research projects, working with colleagues with expertise in this approach. I often collaborate with multi-disciplinary clinicians, policy-makers, and program administrators at the Alberta Ministry of Primary & Preventative Health Services (formerly 'Alberta Health') and Primary Care Alberta (formerly 'Alberta Health Services') to answer questions of practical importance to immunization policy and clinical practice.
RECENT GRANTS
- Impact of publicly-funded HPV vaccination: Vaccine coverage trends with expanded age eligibility, and long-term population impact and effectiveness on cancer outcomes. CIHR-Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), PI, 2025-2027 ($147,825)
- Reducing vaccine-preventable STBBIs among First Nations youth: Leveraging community-owned data to catalyze collaborative solutions. CIHR Catalyst Grant: STBBI Research in Canada – Beyond HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, PI, 2024-2026 ($99,732)
- Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) Renewal. CIHR, Co-PI, 2024-2027 ($15,000,000)
- Long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on routine childhood vaccination. CIHR-Canadian Immunization Research Network, PI, 2023-2026 ($159,825).
- Evidence-based immunization policy: Public health interventions to reduce the burden of vaccine preventable disease. Alberta Ministry of Health, PI, 2023-2028 ($450,000).
- Vaccination in a pandemic: The impact on routine vaccinations and future COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. CIHR COVID Rapid Funding Grant, PI, 2020-2024 ($335,000)
- Vaccination in a pandemic: Perspectives of equity-seeking groups and healthcare providers on COVID-19 vaccination. CIHR CIRN, PI, 2021-2024 ($179,000)
- Estimation of long-term COVID-19 health state utility values. CIHR CIRN, Co-PI, 2021-2025 ($115,165)
- Nishtoohtamihk la michinn avik aen nijhwii (Understanding vaccination): HPV vaccination coverage and experience among Metis in Alberta. CIHR CIRN, PI, 2021-2026 ($182,848)
- Optimizing adult vaccination outcomes under public health budgetary constraints. Co-PI. CIHR Catalyst Grant: Impacts of financial/organizational restructuring of public health, Co-PI, 2019-2022 ($139,850)
- Canadian Immunization Research Network: COVID-19 Vaccine Readiness. CIHR, Co-PI, 2020-2024 ($3,500,000)
Teaching
Courses currently teaching:
- NURS 589 & 590 (Community of Inquiry)
Courses
NURS 696 - Doctoral Community of Inquiry I
This seminar offers an introduction to doctoral student roles and responsibilities, doctoral nursing program outcomes, and planning of personal milestones and timelines for development as a nurse researcher and scholar.
NURS 697 - Doctoral Community of Inquiry II
The seminar explores strategies for doctoral nursing students to develop their scholarly profile, build academic networks, and communicate effectively with diverse audiences. Prerequisite: NURS 696
NURS 698 - Doctoral Community of Inquiry III
This seminar focuses on forms of engagement in scholarly communities, such as peer review, research collaboration, and strategies for intellectual exchange. Prerequisite: NURS 697.
Featured Publications
2022 January;
King KD, Bartel R, James A, MacDonald SE
Canadian Journal of Public Health. 2022 January; 10.17269/s41997-021-00603-7
Sell H, Assi A, Driedger SM, Dubé E, Gagneur A, Meyer SB, Robinson J, Tunis M, MacDonald SE
Vaccine. 2021 December; 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.08.044
Humble RM, Hannah S, Dubé E, MacDonald NE, Robinson J, Driedger SM, Sadarangani M, Meyer SB, Wilson S, Benzies KM, Lemaire-Paquette S, MacDonald SE.
Vaccine. 2021 December; 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.10.002
Rafferty E, Reifferscheid L, Russel ML, Booth S, Svenson LW, MacDonald SE
European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases. 2021 July; 10.1007/s10096-021-04298-z
MacDonald SE, Palichuck A, Slater L, Tripp H, Reifferscheid L, Burton C
Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics. 2021 March; 10.1080/21645515.2021.1935169