Kim McGrail

Faculty, Centre for Health Services and Policy Research

Scientific Director, Health Data Research Network Canada (and SPOR Canadian Data Platform)
Scientific Director, Population Data BC
Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health

kim.mcgrail@ubc.ca
(778) 998-3821


Profile

Kimberlyn McGrail is a Professor in the UBC School of Population and Public Health and Centre for Health Services and Policy Research and Scientific Director of Population Data BC and Health Data Research Network Canada. Her research interests are quantitative policy evaluation and all aspects of population data science. Kim is Interim Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Population Data Science, the 2009-10 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Associate in Health Care Policy and Practice, 2016 recipient of the Cortlandt JG Mackenzie Prize for Excellence in Teaching, and 2017 recipient of a UBC award for Excellence in Clinical or Applied Research. She was part of the Expert Advisory Group for the pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy and is currently a member of the Global Partnership for AI as part of the Data Governance Working Group.

Research Interests

  • Evaluations of policy interventions
  • Aging, use and cost of health care services, and health care financing
  • Equity
  • Population data science

Current Projects

Affiliations and Awards

  • 2017 recipient of a UBC award for Excellence in Clinical or Applied Research
  • 2016 recipient of the Cortlandt JG Mackenzie Prize for Excellence in Teaching
  • Honorary Research Fellow, Swansea University, Wales, UK
  • Associate, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation
  • 2009/10 Commonwealth Fund Canadian Harkness Associate in Health Care Policy and Practice
  • Founding member, International Population Data Linkage Network
  • Statistics Canada Post-Doctoral Fellow
  • CIHR Post-Doctoral Fellow (declined)
  • CIHR Doctoral Research Award

Current Graduate Students

  • Andreea Bratu, PhD student, School of Population and Public Health
  • Olivia Brooks, MSc student, School of Population and Public Health (with Nadia Fairbairn)
  • Mary Helmer-Smith, MSc student, School of Population and Public Health (with Sabrina Wong)
  • Jackson Loyal, PhD student, School of Population and Public Health
  • Jeffrey Morgan, PhD student, School of Population and Public Health (with Seonaid Nolan)
  • Amanda Sears, PhD student, School of Population and Public Health

Courses Currently Taught

  • SPPH 531 Health Care Systems Analysis

Recent Publications

Morris E, McGrail K, Cressman S, Stewart SE, Austin J. Assessing the impact of psychiatric genetic counseling on psychiatric hospitalizations. Clin Genet. 2024 Feb 11. doi: 10.1111/cge.14493. Online ahead of print. Read more

Marquis S, Lunsky Y, McGrail KM, Baumbusch J. Population Level Mental Health Diagnoses for Youth with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Compared to Youth without Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2024 Feb 8. doi: 10.1007/s10802-024-01174-0. Online ahead of print. Read more

Wickham ME, McGrail KM, Law MR, Cragg A, Hohl CM. Validating methods used to identify non-adherence adverse drug events in Canadian administrative health data. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2024 Feb 6. doi: 10.1111/bcp.16014. Online ahead of print. Read more

Zeitouny S, McGrail K, Tadrous M, Wong ST, Cheng L, Law M. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prescription drug use and costs in British Columbia: a retrospective interrupted time series study. BMJ Open. 2024 Jan 4;14(1):e070031. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-070031. Read more

Cressman S, Ghanbarian S, Edwards L, Peterson S, Bunka M, Hoens AM, Riches L, Austin J, Vijh R, McGrail K, Bryan S. Costs of major depression covered / not covered in British Columbia, Canada. BMC Health Serv Res. 2023 Dec 20;23(1):1446. doi: 10.1186/s12913-023-10474-y. Read more

Ghanbarian S, Wong GWK, Bunka M, Edwards L, Cressman S, Conte T, Price M, Schuetz C, Riches L, Landry G, Erickson D, McGrail K, Peterson S, Vijh R, Hoens AM, Austin J, Bryan S. Cost-effectiveness of pharmacogenomic-guided treatment for major depression. CMAJ. 2023 Nov 14;195(44):E1499-E1508. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.221785. Read more

Paprica PA, Crichlow M, Maillet DC, Kesselring S, Pow C, Scarnecchia TP, Schull MJ, Cartagena RG, Cumyn A, Dostmohammad S, Elliston KO, Greiver M, Nelson AH, Hill SL, Isaranuwatchai W, Loukipoudis E, McDonald JT, McLaughlin JR, Rabinowitz A, Razak F, Verhulst SG, Verma AA, Victor JC, Young A, Yu J, McGrail K. Essential requirements for the governance and management of data trusts, data repositories, and other data collaborations. International Journal of Population Data Science. 20 Sep 2023. https://doi.org/10.23889/ijpds.v8i4.2142. Published online.Read more

Hedden L, Spencer S, Allin S, Contandriopoulos D, Gavin F, Grudniewicz A, Lavergne MR, Leaver C, Lexchin J, McKay M, Mathews M, McCracken RK, McGrail K, Palmer KS, Poitras ME, Rudoler D, Spithoff S, Vanstone M. For health or for profit? Understanding how private financing and for-profit delivery operate within Canadian healthcare (4H|4P): protocol for a multimethod knowledge mobilisation research project. BMJ Open. 2023 Aug 21;13(8):e077783. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077783. Read more

Lavergne MR, Rudoler D, Peterson S, Stock D, Taylor C, Wilton AS, Wong ST, Scott I, McGrail KM, McCracken RK, Marshall EG, MacKenzie A, Katz A, Jamieson M, Hedden L, Grudniewicz A, Goldsmith LJ, Glazier RH, Burge F, Blackie D. Changes in comprehensiveness of services delivered by Canadian family physicians: Analysis of population-based linked data in 4 provinces. Can Fam Physician. 2023 Aug;69(8):550-556. doi: 10.46747/cfp.6908550. Read more

Zeitouny S, Cheng L, Wong ST, Tadrous M, McGrail K, Law MR. Prevalence and predictors of primary nonadherence to medications prescribed in primary care. CMAJ. 2023 Aug 8;195(30):E1000-E1009. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.221018. Read more

Hedden L, McGrail K. The best defence is a good offence: Ensuring equitable access to primary care in Canada. Healthc Manage Forum. 2023 Jul 27:8404704231182260. doi: 10.1177/08404704231182260. Online ahead of print. Read more

Bubela T, Flood CM, McGrail K, Straus SE, Mishra S. How Canada's decentralised covid-19 response affected public health data and decision making. BMJ. 2023 Jul 24;382:e075665. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2023-075665. Read more

Marquis SN, McGrail KM, Lunsky Y, Baumbusch J. The Use of Medically Required Dental Services by Youth with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities in British Columbia, Canada. J Can Dent Assoc. 2023 Jul;89:n7. Read more

Hoben M, Hogan DB, Poss JW, Gruneir A, McGrail K, Griffith LE, Chamberlain SA, Estabrooks CA, Maxwell CJ. Comparing quality of care outcomes between assisted living and nursing homes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2023 Jul 10. doi: 10.1111/jgs.18499. Online ahead of print. Read more

King M, Peckham A, Marani H, Roerig M, Yung S, McGrail K, Young Y, Shaw J, Marchildon G. Gaps in the System: Supporting People Living with Dementia. J Aging Soc Policy. 2023 Jul 2:1-21. doi: 10.1080/08959420.2023.2226341. Online ahead of print. Read more

Older publications