Appointments and affiliations
Associate Scientist
Ottawa Heart Institute
Director
Social Connections Laboratory
Cardiac Prevention and Rehabilitation
ORACLE Brain and Heart Innovation Hub
Assistant Professor
School of Epidemiology and Public Health
Faculty of Medicine
University of Ottawa
Dr. Bouchard is an Associate Scientist and Director of the Social Connections Lab at the Ottawa Heart Institute (OHI). She is an Assistant Professor in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa.
Her research program involves three intersecting priorities:
- understanding the social factors that drive cardiovascular health and then leveraging these factors to improve health outcomes
- engaging with patients, families, clinicians, and the public to enhance research
- improving the rigor, impact, and training in qualitative and mixed methodologies in the cardiovascular sciences
Background
Dr. Bouchard received a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education, and Master of Education from Queen’s University and a PhD in Education at the University of Ottawa. She trained as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Social Relationships and Health at the OHI, under the supervision of Dr. Heather Tulloch. She is the Co-Chair for Research on the OHI Patient Partnership Council, a member of the Canadian Women’s Heart Health Alliance, the Brain-Heart Interconnectome, the Canadian Heart Function Alliance, the Cardiac Rehabilitation Heart Team, and sits on the OHI - Ottawa Health Science Network Research Ethics Board.
Dr. Bouchard has published widely in leading journals spanning the social, psychological, and cardiovascular sciences, including: Circulation, Journal of the American Heart Association, Health Psychology, Family Process, and the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. Dr. Bouchard was recognized as a “Rising Star” by the Association of Psychological Sciences – an award that globally recognizes 40 “top tier early career researchers” in Psychology. She was also recognized as the 2023 Ottawa Region Cardiovascular Trainee of the Year. She currently holds funding from CIHR, SSHRC, Heart and Stroke, and the Brain-Heart Interconnectome.
Her research has been disseminated widely at local, national, and international conferences, including the European Society of Cardiology – Preventive Cardiology Congress, European Health Psychology Society, the American Psychosomatic Society. She teaches qualitative and mixed methods research within the Faculty of Medicine at uOttawa.