Assistant Professor
phone: TBD
megan.m.macpherson@ubc.ca
Profile
I am an Occupational Therapist, first-generation academic, and a woman with lived experience of anxiety, which has deeply shaped my approach to research, teaching, and knowledge translation. I know what it feels like to be overlooked in systems that weren’t always built for us, and that perspective guides my work which sits at the intersection of virtual care, knowledge translation, and equity-oriented health services research.
I completed my Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology at the University of British Columbia, my Master of Occupational Therapy at Queen’s University, and my PhD in Health and Exercise Sciences at UBC Okanagan. Rather than pursuing a traditional postdoctoral pathway, I joined Fraser Health Authority as an embedded researcher in its Virtual Health Department, where I built a program of applied, system-integrated research focused on improving how evidence is developed and used in real-world care.
My academic work is deeply shaped by that embedded experience. Working alongside clinicians, patients, and health system leaders in one of the most ethnically diverse regions in British Columbia, I became increasingly interested in how research, lived experiences, and cultural ways of knowing can be better integrated into everyday clinical and health policy decisions. This perspective now anchors my work in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at UBC, where I focus on developing and translating research to make health systems inclusive, responsive, and grounded in community priorities.
Outside of work, I am happiest when I am spending time with my young daughter, partner, and our chocolate labrador. You can also find me engaging in my grandma activities: reading a book with a cup of tea, knitting, or crocheting.
Research
My research program focuses on transforming how health systems generate, share, and use knowledge, particularly in the context of virtual and digital health. I draw on implementation science, knowledge translation, and participatory research to co-design tools and processes that help health systems move from evidence to action in ways that are timely, equitable, and clinically meaningful to those who use them.
A central pillar of this work has been the development of Fraser Health’s Virtual Health Rapid Review Program, which I founded in 2022. Rapid reviews are streamlined evidence syntheses designed to provide timely, high-quality answers to pressing health system questions. Through this program, I have led more than 25 rapid reviews in 3 years that have informed regional policies, clinical pathways, patient education resources, and digital care frameworks across services such as Hospital at Home, Tele-Rehabilitation, and Remote Patient Monitoring. My current research extends this work into a scalable, research-informed platform that includes training tools, student mentorship, and evaluation of how evidence is actually taken up and used in practice.
Alongside this, I lead and collaborate on a range of equity-focused virtual care initiatives, including partnerships with South Asian communities, older adults, and caregivers to co-design culturally responsive digital health tools and care models. I am also co-leading the development of a “living library” of patient narratives with the Fraser Health Patient Experience team to understand how stories can inform quality improvement, onboarding, and service design. Across all of these projects, my goal is to ensure that virtual care and digital innovation improve access, safety, and dignity for diverse communities, while also making evidence more accessible and actionable for clinicians in real-world practice.
Teaching
My teaching is grounded in experiential, community-engaged learning and a commitment to equity, reflexivity, and real-world relevance. I am particularly interested in teaching related to:
- Virtual and digital health
- Knowledge translation and implementation science
- Patient- and community-engaged research methods
- Chronic disease self-management
I aim to create learning environments where students can connect theory to practice, work with real health system partners, and develop the skills needed to lead change in complex care environments.
Graduate and Postdoctoral Research Opportunities
Future Research Graduate Students
Please contact Megan directly to inquire about current opportunities.
Affiliations
- Fraser Health Authority
- Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
- International Behavioural Trials Network
- BC Diabetes Research Network
Select Publications
My publications can be found on my Google Scholar page.