Dr. Elizabeth Oddone Paolucci

Biography

Dr. Oddone Paolucci is a Professor in the specializations of Medical Education and Population Public Health in the Department of Community Health Sciences. She holds a joint appointment in the Department of Surgery and is Co-Director of Training and Education for the Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI), Co-Lead of the Transdisciplinary Education Accelerator for One Child Every Child (OCEC), Provincial Lead of the Alberta Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research Unit (AbSPORU), and member of the O’Brien Institute for Public Health (OIPH). 

Dr. Oddone Paolucci completed her PhD in Educational Psychology at the University of Calgary, with a specialization in Human Development and Learning. She has shown a strong commitment to teaching and has taught courses in development, learning, and cognition, as well as measurement, research design and statistical analysis at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels for the Faculties of Education, Nursing, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Medicine for over 25 years. She has been actively involved in the Cumming School of Medicine’s graduate programs and has served as Supervisor and Supervisory Committee Member for numerous MSc and PhD students. 

Dr. Oddone Paolucci’s research program is transdisciplinary and collaborative, focused on applied methods related to the design of research studies, measurement, and assessment. Her current research focus is on developing and evaluating training programs to ensure the competence and effectiveness of future health system leaders. This includes supporting graduate students and medical residents in areas such as lifelong learning, non-cognitive skill development and leadership, clinical decision-making, and mentorship. With over 80 peer-reviewed articles and 9 book chapters in psychology and education, Dr. Oddone Paolucci has contributed significantly to understanding attachment, child and family development, criminality, psychopathology, and adult learning across the lifespan. Her research aims to advance our scientific understanding of human development and learning processes, drawing from cognitive, affective, social, and organizational psychology perspectives. Utilizing primarily quantitative and psychometric methods, along with systematic reviews/meta-analytic approaches and multi-center randomized controlled trials, Dr. Oddone Paolucci's research evaluates educational programs and surgical interventions' success in improving patient health outcomes. Her interests extend to investigating shared cognition and decision-making during complex tasks; understanding medical errors to inform preventive strategies; studying teamwork, group behaviours, and leadership in medicine; and assessing the competency development of healthcare professionals. 

Dr. Oddone Paolucci will consider taking on new students starting in 2026.