Trainee Spotlight on Dr Lina Al-Sakran

Dr Lina Al-Sakran studies the epidemiology and pharmacoepidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Saskatchewan.

Bio

Dr Lina Al-Sakran is a recent PhD graduate in Pharmacy who worked under the supervision of Dr Charity Evans. She obtained her BSc in Pharmacy and her MSc in Clinical Pharmacy from Jordan. Prior to joining the college, she worked as a clinical preceptor and lecturer at the University of Jordan. During her studies at the University of Saskatchewan, Lina received several fellowship awards and was an endMS Summer School trainee with the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Research

For her PhD thesis, Lina studied the epidemiology and pharmacoepidemiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Saskatchewan. She was involved in validating a case definition of MS using health administrative data, and then using the validated definition to determine the incidence and prevalence of MS in Saskatchewan. She studied the provincial MS cohort to evaluate health outcomes and their potential associations with comorbidities and use of disease-modifying therapies. Lina’s research was highlighted by the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation as well as presented at national and international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals.

Recent Publications

Al-Sakran L, Marrie RA, Blackburn D, Knox K, Evans C. Impact of comorbidity on hospitalizations in individuals newly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis: a longitudinal population-based study. Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders. 2020 Jan 22:101955.

Al-Sakran L, Marrie RA, Blackburn D, Knox K, Evans C. Association between disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis and healthcare utilisation on a population level: a retrospective cohort study. BMJ open. 2019 Nov 1;9(11).

Farha RA, Hammour KA, Rizik M, Aljanabi R, Al-Sakran L. Effect of educational intervention on healthcare providers knowledge and perception towards pharmacovigilance: A tertiary teaching hospital experience. Saudi pharmaceutical journal. 2018 Jul 1;26(5):611-6.

Al-Sakran LH, Marrie RA, Blackburn DF, Knox KB, Evans CD. Establishing the incidence and prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Saskatchewan. Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. 2018 May;45(3):295-303.