Professor and former Chair of Professional Communication, Catherine has her doctoral degree in the area of Rhetoric and Composition studies. She has a general interest in issues related to advanced literacies in the professions and a specific interest in genre theory and healthcare communication. Her work combines qualitative data analysis together with forms of discourse analysis.
In 2000, for her study of insurance writing she won the National Council of Teachers of English award for best article reporting empirical research. She also has completed two Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) supported studies. The first explored the role of case presentations in socializing students in Medicine, Optometry, and Social Work. The second investigated the role of genres such as consult letters, reports and medical records as sites of discursive negotiation between health care professions. She is currently conducting SSHRC supported studies on healthcare team communications. She has numerous publications in journals such as Written Communication, the Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Communication Monographs, and Discourse and Communication