Susanne Nicolay, RN, BA, BScN, ACRN

Susanne, Clinical Director with Wellness Wheel, is a graduate from the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Nursing and completed her AIDS Certified Registered Nurse certification in 2012. A part of the WW team since the fall of 2016, she has worked in clinical and community settings as an HIV nurse and gained diverse experience with a focus on medicine and chronic disease; including experience in acute and long-term care, community and public health, research and policy development, management and education.

Susanne’s passions include utilizing a client-centered, harm reduction and strengths-based approach, which is culturally responsive and reflective of Truth and Reconciliation, to work with people living with and at-risk for HIV and HCV, integrating people with lived experience (peer experts) as colleagues into the care delivery model, and working in/with/and for communities, families and individuals.

Dr. Cara Spence

Dr. Spence, Research Director for Wellness Wheel, completed her Ph.D. in Global Health from the University of Saskatchewan with her research work in East Africa and adolescent girls at risk for HIV and pregnancy. As well, Dr. Spence holds a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the faculty of Medicine at McGill University and for over two decades, has worked with vulnerable populations, specializing in the social determinants of health. Dr. Spence has worked with Indigenous communities throughout Saskatchewan since 2001 and HIV and infectious diseases since 2012.

Since joining the Wellness Wheel team in 2017, Dr. Spence has served as a senior administrator at the University of Saskatchewan, providing supervision, teaching and leadership to research staff, trainees, and students. Dr. Spence works with community-based organizations, clinical, and research teams throughout the province to provide culturally responsive primary health and outreach care for Indigenous people in Saskatchewan - leading social, clinical, and biomedical research across the province.

Damian Flegel, B. Admin, P. Eng, eMBA

Damian, Business Director for Wellness Wheel, has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur who has successfully started, grown and divested a number of business. Damian received his B. Admin - Marketing degree from the University of Regina, B.ASc – Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo and his executive eMBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

Having successfully started and grown business in the Energy, Consulting, Recycling and Computer Modeling industries, Damian brings strong business fundamentals to the Wellness Wheel team; including corporate structure and governance, management and strategic planning. His role is to lead the development of a solid business foundation to ensure the long-term sustainability of Wellness Wheel.