NRIG Executive Team
Chair - Elizabeth Straus
Email: NRIG.chair@gmail.com
Dr. Elizabeth Straus (they/she) is a queer, autistic, and disabled nurse scholar and Assistant Professor in the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University. Their program of community-engaged, critical and arts-based research focuses at the intersections of neurodivergence, disability, and 2SLGBTQIA+ well-being and equity. They currently lead the Beyond the Normative Knot project that explores autistic people’s experiences at the intersections of gender, sexuality, and autism and are involved as a co-investigator on Telling Our Stories, a photovoice and co-design project with autistic youth and community partners to address gaps in autism research and services in rural and Indigenous communities in Northern Ontario. In addition, they are particularly interested in neurodivergence in the nursing profession and working with neurodivergent nurses to explore opportunities for more accessible and inclusive spaces that support neurodivergent nurses to thrive in the profession. In addition to their role in NRIG, they also serve as secretary for the Rainbow Nursing Interest Group.
Immediate Past Chair – Amanda McIntyre
Amanda McIntyre is an Assistant Professor at Western University in the School of Nursing, and a Registered Nurse in the emergency department at London Health Sciences Centre. As a clinician-scientist, her long-term goal is to improve heath care policy and practice via rigorous health systems and health service delivery research. Amanda has published extensively in the field of neurorehabilitation, currently holds three grants, and is the recipient of several local and national nursing awards.
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Secretary – Ashwini Veerasuntharam
Email: Nrig.secretary@gmail.com
Finance Officer - Mabeth Placido
Email: NRIG.finance@gmail.com
I am a new grad nurse who graduated from the 2nd-Entry nursing ! I am the founder of the Pan-Asian Nursing Alliance, a club that supports Asian-identifying nursing students at York University.
Membership Officer - Mathumesa Muhunthan
Email: NRIG.membership@gmail.com
Mathumesa is a PhD student at Western University. In addition to her studies, Mathumesa works at a Regulatory College and as a Course Instructor for post-graduate nursing courses. Mathumesa’s primary research examines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) systems are reshaping healthcare work and decision-making, influencing whose knowledge, labour, and experiences are represented or excluded.
Communication Officer - Newsletter - Rylan Copeman
Email: NRIG.newletter@gmail.com
Rylan is a new graduate nurse in Northwestern Ontario working at her local hospital as well as her community’s correctional facility. She is beginning her Masters of Nursing with a research and teaching focus in January 2025 through Athabasca University.
Within the past year, Rylan has had the opportunity to go to the Nurse Practitioner Association of Canada conference in Calgary, Alberta to present one of her research projects involving screening for mercury in the perinatal population. This upcoming November she will be traveling to Gatineau, Quebec to present her most recent research, a Stay Alive Initiative for Suicide Prevention that was launched through Confederation College. Apart from her research focuses, Rylan is heavily involved in The Jaida Project which is a non-profit organization in Thunder Bay, Ontario advocating for suicide awareness. Her future goals after completing her Masters of Nursing include teaching nursing at post-secondary school and further advancing her education with hopes of completing her PhD.
Communication Officer - Website - Unfilled
Email: NRIG.website@gmail.com
Policy and Political Action Officer - Simon Donato-Woodger
Email: policy.nrig@gmail.com
Simon graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in 2020. Since then, they have worked on a variety of General Medicine, COVID-19 Relief, and Critical Care units. Simon currently work on the Intensive Care Unit at Scarborough General Hospital and assists Dr. Charlene Chu at the University of Toronto as a research assistant on the topics of gerontology and Artificial Intelligence. Simon also works in Community Health as a Registered Nurse for the Parkdale Queen West Supervised Consumption Site.
Members at Large - Social Media – Kristina Tsvygun
Email: NRIG.socialmedia@gmail.com
Kristina Tsvygun (she/her) is a first-generation immigrant from Ukraine who completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University in 2021. She is currently pursuing a Master of Nursing degree at the same university. Kristina’s clinical background is in Critical Care Nursing, and she has been actively fostering a supportive culture and improving patient-centered care at North York General Hospital through her involvement in the Nursing Practice Council and the Person-Centered Committee.
As a Bridging Divides scholar, Kristina’s research focuses on healthcare accessibility, as well as the health and well-being of refugees and migrants.
Members at Large - Social Media – Garrison Lin
Email: NRIG.socialmedia@gmail.com
Garrison Lin, RN, is a second-year MScN student at Western University and works as an Emergency/Inpatient nurse in Exeter, Ontario. He is passionate about neuroscience research, with interests in spasticity management in long-term care and spinal cord injury rehabilitation. He is one of the recipients of the Julie Hall Scholarship for Neuroscience Nursing from the Registered Nurses’ Foundation of Ontario in 2025. Outside of work and research. Garrison enjoys fishing and hiking.
Student Representative - Farida Husseini
Email: nrig.studentliaison@gmail.com
Bio coming soon.
Student Representative - Scarlett Ramos
Email: nrig.studentliaison@gmail.com
Bio coming soon