Claudia – Care Coordinator Extraordinaire
Claudia is a recent grad from the University of Alberta, with her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. She hopes to pursue a career in medicine in the future. She also volunteers at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. In her spare time, she’s either in the gym, on the volleyball or badminton court, or in the mountains – climbing up them in the summer, or snowboarding down them in the winter.
Becca – Social Supports Navigator and Sr. Care Coordinator
Tasha – Clinic Manager
Tasha developed a passion community involvement and helping people as a volunteer with an inner-city elementary school’s behaviour program. She went on to graduate from Grant MacEwan University’s combined Medical Office Assistant and Health Unit Clerk program, preparing her for a career in a helping field. Tasha had plenty of experience working in customer service before entering the health field, and enjoys translating that experience into compassionate care for patients. It’s a priority of hers to make sure the team at Metro City Medical Clinic provides a caring environment for our patients. Tasha’s dedication to her community extends outside of work hours – she’s a fierce Edmonton Oilers fan. (You might see her in a jersey at work on game days.)
Amber – Social Worker
Amber is a registered social worker and has spent the last 10 years working with Alberta Health Services. In addition to her time with us at Metro City Medical Clinic, she works with the Opioid Dependency Program through Addiction Services Edmonton. She has experience working in children’s mental health, the operational stress injury clinic and public health. Amber can help connect Metro City’s patients with financial resources, housing supports, residential and other addiction treatment referrals and obtaining identification cards. In her spare time she loves to travel the world and experience new cultures. She is an avid animal lover and has 3 rescues at home (and hopes for more!).
Sajida Afridi, MBBS MBA MPH FRCPC DABAM ABPM
Dr. Sajida Afridi is a specialist in Public Health and Preventive Medicine and Addiction Medicine, having completed her residency training at the University of Ottawa. She is a passionate advocate for human rights, health equity for indigenous people, and harm reduction. Fluent in multiple languages (Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Pashtun, and English), Dr. Afridi is regularly involved in outreach to diverse communities in Edmonton.
Raveen Bhalla, MD FRCPC
Dr. Raveen Bhalla is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Anesthesia. He began working at Metro City Medical Clinic in 2016 when he was seeing an increase in the number of patients coming for surgery who had developed problems with opioid use. Through his work at Metro City, he has found it rewarding helping patients with opioid use disorders to achieve improvements in their health and wellbeing.
Lorne Clearsky, MD CCFP FRCPC DABAM
Dr. Lorne Clearsky is a specialist in Public Health and Preventive Medicine and a Diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine. He has worked at Metro City Medical Clinics since 2012. Dr. Clearsky served as the Chief Medical Officer of Health for the Northwest Territories. He was born in the Waywayseecappo First Nation in Manitoba.
Janjeevan Deol, MD CCFP-EM
Dr. Jan Deol is an emergency department physician in Edmonton’s inner city. Through both his work in acute care and at Metro City, Dr. Deol is committed to improving health outcomes for people who use substances. He is an avid medical educator, teaching regularly through the University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.
Josh Fanaeian, MD CCFP-EM DTM/H
Dr. Fanaeian is an emergency physician in Edmonton with a special interest in the health of people who use substances. He has been instrumental in advancing addiction treatment and harm reduction in emergency departments throughout Alberta. Dr. Fanaeian also works in health system quality improvement and global health as a diplomate in Tropical Medicine and Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is also a clinical lecturer at the University of Alberta. Besides work, Josh enjoys staying active, listening to music and walking his dog, Kaja.
Nureen Sumar, MD MSc CCFP
Dr. Nureen Sumar is a primary care oncologist who also works in palliative care and addiction medicine. For her leadership and community service, Dr. Sumar has received several awards including the Murray Stalker award for leadership in primary care and the Terry Fox Humanitarian award. Outside of her work at Metro City and in global health initiatives, she is a widely recorded musician and singer in many languages!
Shainoor Ismail, MD MSc FRCPC
Dr. Shainoor Ismail is a Royal College specialist in Public Health and Preventive Medicine. In addition to her work at Metro City, Dr. Ismail is a national leader in immunization and vaccine preventable diseases with the Public Health Agency of Canada. She has also been the Associate Provincial Health Officer and acted as the Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health for the province of Alberta.
Karine Meador, MD CCFP DABAM
Dr. Karine Meador is a family physician who completed a fellowship in addiction medicine through the University of Toronto. She is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine. In 2014, as the assistant director of the Inner City Health and Wellness program, she helped launch the Addiction Recovery and Community Health (ARCH) Team at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. This multidisciplinary team brings compassionate and evidence-based treatment of substance use disorders, stabilization of social inequities, and harm reduction to acute care medicine. Dr. Meador is also a clinical lecturer with the University of Alberta and an avid educator in the field of addiction medicine.
Jeffrey Pugh, MD MSc FRCSC
Dr. Jeff Pugh is a neurosurgeon. Outside of the operating room, Dr. Pugh’s work at Metro City is an opportunity to provide preventative care and treatment for people who use substances – a clinical practice he finds to be very rewarding.
Kassim Rekieh, MD CCFP
Dr. Kassim Rekieh is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the University of Alberta’s Department of Family Medicine. His practice mainly consists of rural Emergency Medicine. He joined Metro City in 2019, and finds it very rewarding to provide ongoing care to patients outside of the emergency department.
Hakique Virani, MD FRCPC DABAM
Dr. Hakique Virani is a specialist in Public Health and Preventive Medicine, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine. He is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine, and has written about critical health issues in the Globe and Mail, Calgary Herald, Boston Globe’s STAT News, CBC, Huffington Post, and VICE News. He is a committed advocate for First Nations health, healthy public policy, social equity, and compassionate care for people who use substances.
Rizwan Qureshi, MD CCFP
Dr. Qureshi has worked with Metro City since 2020 and has been a key member of the team advancing treatment access for Indigenous communities. Outside of his work with Metro City, he works in primary care oncology at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary.
Zeenat Patel, MD MPH MBA CCFP FRCPC
Dr. Zeenat Patel is a public health and preventive medicine specialist and a family doctor. She completed medical school in Calgary, her residencies at the University of Toronto, and graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University. While she has spent many years of her career working abroad to address health and social inequities at a population level, Dr. Patel finds her clinical practice with patients at Metro City Edmonton to be equally rewarding.