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
- Various health care services projects around high service use, end of life care, and primary care and contraceptive care
- Development of Health Data Research Network Canada and SPOR Canadian Data Platform
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)
- Bronte Johnston, PhD student, School of Population and Public Health
- 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
Schummers L, Law MR, McGrail K, Darling EK, Zusman EZ, Dunn S, Kaczorowski J, Gayowsky A, Gozdyra P, Norman WV. Changes in local access to mifepristone dispensed by community pharmacies for medication abortion in Ontario: a population-based repeated cross-sectional study. CMAJ. 2025 Apr 6;197(13):E345-E354. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.241505. Read more
King C, Lavergne MR, McGrail K, Strumpf E; QC-BC Patient Enrolment Project Team. The effect of enrolment policies on patient affiliation to a family physician: A quasi-experimental evaluation in Canada. Health Policy. 2025 Apr 2;156:105313. doi: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2025.105313. Online ahead of print. Read more
Aaltonen M, McGrail K, Raitanen J, Martin-Matthews A. Satisfaction with Life of Older Men and Women in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) and its Association with Formal and Informal Home Care. Can J Aging. 2025 Mar 28:1-12. doi: 10.1017/S0714980825000066. Online ahead of print. Read more
Li SS, McGrail K, Rosychuk RJ, Law MR, Hohl CM; Canadian COVID-19 Emergency Department Rapid Response Network (CCEDRRN) investigators for the Network of Canadian Emergency Researchers. Outcomes for people experiencing homelessness with COVID-19 presenting to emergency departments in Canada, compared with housed patients. CMAJ. 2025 Mar 10;197(9):E236-E243. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.241282. Read more
Sharma K, Cheng L, Dormuth CR, McGrail KM, De Vera MA, Clement F, McCracken RK, Mamdani M, Law MR. The impact of eliminating out-of-pocket payments for medicines on low-income households: a controlled interrupted time series analysis using linked administrative data from British Columbia. Health Policy. 2025 Feb 17;155:105270. doi: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2025.105270. Online ahead of print. Read more
Hamm NC, Bartholomew S, Zhao Y, Peterson S, Al-Azazi S, McGrail K, Lix LM. Minimum elements for reporting a multi-jurisdiction feasibility assessment of algorithms based on routinely collected health data: Health Data Research Network Canada recommendations. Int J Popul Data Sci. 2025 Jan 28;10(2):2466. doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v10i2.2466. eCollection 2025. Read more
Vijh R, Waheed Z, Peterson S, Bunka M, Pang N, Edwards L, Ghanbarian S, Wong G, Cressman S, Riches L, Austin J, Bryan S, Hoens A, McGrail K. Relationship between pharmacotherapy for major depressive disorder and healthcare utilisation in British Columbia, Canada: a retrospective population-based cohort. BMJ Open. 2024 Dec 20;14(12):e078287. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-078287. Read more
Hermansen A, Pollard S, McGrail K, Bansback N, Regier DA. Heuristics Identified in Health Data-Sharing Preferences of Patients With Cancer: Qualitative Focus Group Study. J Med Internet Res. 2024 Dec 17;26:e63155. doi: 10.2196/63155. Read more
King C, Lavergne MR, McGrail K, Strumpf EC; Quebec-British Columbia Patient Enrolment Project Team. Reporting a regular medical doctor index: A new measure of patient-physician affiliation for health administrative data. PLoS One. 2024 Dec 2;19(12):e0314381. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0314381. eCollection 2024. Read more
Hoben M, Shrestha S, Dampf H, Hogan DB, McGrail K, Knopp-Sihota J, Maxwell CJ. Association Between Organizational Context and Resident Pain in Assisted Living: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2024 Nov;39(11):e70005. doi: 10.1002/gps.70005. Read more
McGrail KM, Teng J, Bentley C, O'Doherty KC, Burgess MM. Research data use in a digital society: a deliberative public engagement. Int J Popul Data Sci. 2024 Oct 14;9(1):2372. doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v9i1.2372. eCollection 2024. Read more
Wickham ME, McGrail KM, Law MR, Cragg A, Hohl CM. Re-Exposure to Culprit Medication Following Adverse Drug Event Diagnosis in Canadian Emergency Department Patients: A Cohort Study. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2024 Sep;33(9):e70012. doi: 10.1002/pds.70012. Read more
Dennis BB, Bowles J, Johnson C, De Wolfe T, Mundel E, Fast D, Boyd J, Fleury M, Bach P, Fairbairn N, Socías ME, Ti L, Hayashi K, DeBeck K, Milloy MJ, Felicella G, Morgan J, Eekhoudt CR, McGrail K, Richardson L, Ryan A, Mbuagbaw L, Guyatt G, Nolan S. Road to Recovery: protocol for a mixed-methods prospective cohort study evaluating the impact of a new model of substance use care in a Canadian setting. BMJ Open. 2024 Sep 17;14(9):e090608. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-090608. Read more
Hoben M, Maxwell CJ, Ubell A, Doupe MB, Goodarzi Z, Allana S, Beleno R, Berta W, Bethell J, Daly T, Ginsburg L, Rahman AS, Nguyen H, Tate K, McGrail K. EXploring Patterns of Use and Effects of Adult Day Programs to Improve Trajectories of Continuing Care (EXPEDITE): Protocol for a Retrospective Cohort Study. JMIR Res Protoc. 2024 Aug 30;13:e60896. doi: 10.2196/60896. Read more
Marquis S, Lunsky Y, McGrail KM, Baumbusch J. Fetal alcohol syndrome and population level health care usage in British Columbia, Canada. Disabil Health J. 2024 Aug 14:101684. doi: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2024.101684. Online ahead of print. Read more