Community Members

Meet the Community Members of our Cluster

Najah Adreak, Study Coordinator,

Dr. Najah Adreak is an aspiring heart surgeon and clinical researcher with a Master of Science in Surgery degree from UBC. She earned her medical degree from Tripoli University and trained in the Cardiac Surgery residency program in Libya before moving to Canada for further education and...

Jenalene Antony, Senior Writer, CBC

Jenalene Antony opened a design studio in Saskatchewan with a focus on rural issues. As a designer she has worked on teams with Environment Canada, the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Calgary telling stories about sustainability and social change. She previously worked on a...

Andrea Araujo, Neurofeedback Therapist / Registered Clinical Counsellor, Empower Health

Dr. Andrea Araujo, RCC holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC). Dr. Andrea originally started her career in Psychology earning a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Psychology from the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, Canada. Her training...

Claudia Barth, Researcher, Diakonhjemmet Hospital

Dr. Claudia Barth is a biologist by training who majored in neurobiology. During her PhD studies at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science in Leipzig (Germany), she started working at the front-line of women’s health research by exploring the effects of...

Tamara Bodnar, Research Associate, University of British ColumbiaDepartment of Cellular & Physiological Sciences

Dr. Tamara Bodnar is a Research Associate in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences at The University of British Columbia (UBC), supervised by Dr. Joanne Weinberg. Her research examines the impact of prenatal alcohol exposure and other early-life environmental manipulations on...

Brianna Bristow , Lab Technician, University of British Columbia

She is currently a lab technician in the Cembrowski lab at UBC, where she performs circuit-mapping and molecular techniques on rodent and human brain tissue to characterize new cell subtypes and explore cell-type heterogeneity in regions associated with memory. Before graduating with a BSc...

Santa Chow, Co-chair, Legacy for Airway Health

Santa Chow is the Public/Patient Representative at the Legacy for Airway Health (LAH). LAH is rooted in the philosophy that remediating the huge burden of asthma and COPD requires strategic research to understand and apply evidence-based tactics for prevention and delivery of optimal care...

Kathryn Corbett, Resident Physician, University of CalgaryMedicine
Faculty of Medicine

Kathryn Corbett is a first-year resident physician at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine. She is conducting research in women’s health among nephrology patients under the supervision of Dr. Sandra Dumanski. Specifically, her research is focused on better understanding sexual...

Janet Currie, Co-Founder, Independent Voices for Safe and Effective Drugs

Janet Currie was a founder and principal of Focus Consultants, (Victoria BC), where she completed over a hundred major research and evaluation projects for the federal, provincial and territorial governments. This research addressed women’s health and addictions, regulation of pharmaceutical...

Farah Dehmouni , Founder, IAMENO

Passionate about women's better health and its impact on communities, Farah is an entrepreneur with a mission. Bringing 20+ years of experience in top-level positions in the technology and digital media sectors in Europe and the Middle East, Farah is now the founder of IAMENO, a...

Piper Dickhout, Research Coordinator, British Columbia Centre on Substance Use

Piper graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BSc in Biology in 2021. She is now a Clinical Research Coordinator at The British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, as well as the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Advisor for Shoelace Learning. ...

Lauren Drogos, Director of Operations, University of Calgary

Lauren finished her doctorate in Psychology in 2014. She began working as a Graduate Research Assistant in the Women’s Mental Health Research Program in 2005 and completed her Master’s Thesis in 2009 on “Endogenous Oxytocin across the Menstrual Cycle and with Oral Contraceptive Use: Effects on...

Ashton Ellis, Study Coordinator,

Ashton obtained her BSc from Simon Fraser University. She is a research coordinator with the BC Children's Hospital BioBank where the primary focus is on the collection and storage of maternal samples for use in future research. Examples of these biospecimens include both preterm and full-term...

Nicole Fofonoff, Registered Clinical Counsellor, Simon Fraser University

Nicole completed her MEd in Counseling Psychology from Simon Fraser University in May of 2022. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor in Vancouver.

Elisa García Lara, Neuroscientist, Institute for Research in Biomedicine

I am a Neuroscientist who recently completed her PhD in Biomedicine at the University of Barcelona.

I currently work at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona, in Dr. Salvador Aznar Benitah's lab. Here, I work as a research assistant supporting projects related to...

Hannah Heselton, Research Coordinator, University of New Hampshire

Hannah is a research coordinator for the Dao Research Lab at the University of New Hampshire. She studied community health and environmental science at Tufts University and hopes to begin medical school in the future. ...

Amy Hobbs, Epidemiologist, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Amy Hobbs is a Registered Nurse and an epidemiologist with ten years of monitoring and evaluation experience in maternal and newborn health (MNH) within local, national, and international contexts. She has expertise in clinical and non-clinical research methods, including the development and...

Parker Holman, Research Associate, University of British ColumbiaDepartment of Cellular & Physiological Sciences

My research focuses on investigating social behaviour and its underlying neurobiology during the key developmental period of adolescence. Specifically, I’m interested in understanding the role of oxytocin and vasopressin - two proteins produced in the hypothalamus - in mediating social behaviour...

Muna Ibrahim, Research Assistant, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health

Muna has a BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of British Columbia. She is now a Research Assistant at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health. ...

Shermeen Imtiaz, Research Assistant, University of British Columbia

Shermeen Imtiaz holds a Bachelor of Science in Behavioural Neuroscience from the University of British Columbia and is interested in knowledge translation for sexual health, exploring the mechanisms of the menstrual cycle, and the psychological influences on female sexual health. She currently...

Firat Kara, Research Associate, Mayo Clinic

Dr. Firat Kara has been studying biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease in human and animal models for more than 13 years. He obtained his Doctorate at Leiden University in the Netherlands, in the field of Chemistry where he studied magnetic resonance imaging markers of Alzheimer’s disease in a mouse...

Janny Xue Chen Ke, Anesthesiologist / Researcher, Providence Health Care

Janny Xue Chen Ke, MD, FRCPC, is an anesthesiologist and researcher with an interest in improving outcomes after surgery through patient engagement and analysis of population datasets. She has been involved in research in the development and implementation of a mobile application for women after...

Kira Knight, Community Member, University of British Columbia

Kira Knight (she/her/hers) is a recent graduate from the University of British Columbia in Global Resource Systems focusing on sexual health. Her interests focus on access to sexual health and family planning resources, the intersection of sexual health and the law, as well as systems of support...

Stephanie Koebele, Medical Writer,

Stephanie (she/her) has a Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience in Psychology. Her research interests include the cognitive and neurobiological effects of reproductive hormones in the context of menopause, memory, and aging. This includes the natural fluctuations in reproductive hormones across the...

Erika Lachance, Administrative Support Specialist, University of British Columbia

Erika Lachance, Support Services Assistant II, Campus Planning and Development

Erika Lachance works as a Support Services Assistant II at UBCO and is a passionate ambassador for Women’s Health. She looks to promote awareness in her community by participating, engaging and receiving...

Stephanie Lieblich, Lab Manager, University of British ColumbiaDepartment of Psychology

Sabrina Luke, Epidemiologist, Provincial Health Services Authority

Sabrina Luke is an Epidemiologist in the Research and Surveillance group at Perinatal Services British Columbia. She holds a doctoral degree in public health from the University of South Florida with a focus in perinatal epidemiology and has co-authored publications in the areas of tobacco and...

Stephanie Masina, Research Coordinator, University of British ColumbiaSchool of Nursing

Stephanie has an MSc in Epidemiology from the University of Guelph and currently works as a Research Coordinator for Dr. Marie Tarrant in the School of Nursing at UBC-Okanagan. She supports research activities focused on maternal and child health, specifically in the areas of childbirth...

Karen Mason, Co-Founder and Director of Community Practice, Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research (SOAR)

Karen Mason is co-founder and director of community practice for SOAR (Supporting Survivors of Abuse and Brain Injury through Research), and former executive director of Kelowna Women’ Shelter in Kelowna, B.C. A seasoned and passionate non-profit leader, communicator, and community...

Nicole Moreira, Research Associate,

I am a Registered Social Worker working at VHA Home HealthCare as a Research Associate. My area of research primarily focuses on engaging clients and point-of-care providers in research as partners (rather than participants), as well as investigating the mental health barriers faced by point-of-...

Heather Noga, Research Manager, Women's Health Research Institute

Heather Noga has a Master's Degree in International and Comparative Criminal Justice from the University of Leeds. She works as a Research Manager at the Women's Health Research Institute. ...

Jodi Pawluski , Behavioural Neuroscientist / Therapist, University of Rennes 1

Jodi Pawluski is a behavioral neuroscientist and a therapist. For over a decade her research has focused on the neuroscience of motherhood and the effects of maternal mental illness and antidepressant medications on the mother and offspring. One key theme that has come from her research...

Sydney Penner, Research Assistant, Work Wellness Institute

Sydney works as a Research Assistant at the Work Wellness Institute. She has a BA in psychology from Simon Fraser University. Her focus was in the critical analysis of research methods and theoretical models in biopsychology. In her degree, she studied the the fields of...

Misty Pratt, Freelance Writer / Science Communications, ICES

Misty Pratt is a communications officer in the field of health research and medicine. She is hard at work on her first book about gender bias in mental health care, which explores the bio-psycho-social factors that impact women's mental health.

Harlan Pruden , Educator, BC Centre for Disease Control

Harlan Pruden (Nēhiyo/First Nations Cree), works with and for the Two-Spirit community locally, nationally and internationally. Currently, Harlan is an Indigenous Knowledge Translation Lead at Chee Mamuk, an Indigenous health program at BC Centre for Disease Control and is also a co-founder of...

Reins R, Transformation Strategist, National Health Service (NHS)

Leadership group to establish a culture of co-production at all levels of commissioning and influence provision of mental health care and support across North West London.
Advise the North West London Mental Health and Wellbeing Transformation Board of Commissioners.
Challenge,...

Stephanie Ragganandan, York University

Stephanie has completed an Honours Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Health Science from York University. She is passionate about public health, tackling health inequities, as well as exploring the biological, psychological, and social aspects of women's health.

Rebecca Rechlin , Research Assistant, University of British Columbia

Rebecca Rechlin is a research assistant in the Galea Lab. She recently completed her B.Sc. in Behavioural Neuroscience at UBC. She is currently working on a project with Dr. Galea to examine the inclusion of sex based analysis in neuroscience literature.

...

Amber Ruigrok, Research Associate, University of CambridgeDepartment of Psychiatry

Amber Ruigrok is a researcher at the Autism Research Centre, Dept of Psychiatry. Amber's PhD research investigated how testosterone and variation in the androgen receptor may be involved in the development of sex differences in human brain white matter in the typically developing population....

Sergio A. Silverio , Academic Psychologist, King's College London

Sergio A. Silverio is an academic Psychologist with a research interest in women’s mental health over the lifecourse. He first read for a Masters in Psychological Sciences at the University of Liverpool, where he specialised in Clinical and Health Psychology. His work at the University of...

Mary Stern , Physiotherapist, Women's Hospital

She works as a physiotherapist clinician at Women's Hospital in the area of obstetrics. They support women's health at a critical time in their lives from both a biomedical and psychosocial perspective. As a provincial resource we aim to expand our capacity to treat vulnerable mothers...

Yana Svatko, Research Assistant, University of British ColumbiaDepartment of Psychology

Yana completed her BA (Hons) in Psychology at the University of British Columbia. She is currently a research assistant at the UBC Sexual Health Research Lab investigating cultural differences in sexual function and disordered eating. Yana's research interests include sexual function and...

Emilie Theberge, Clinical Research Coordinator, University of British ColumbiaFaculty of Medicine

Emilie completed her Medical Genetics MSc. at UBC in 2022 and is currently a clinical research coordinator. She is affiliated with the departments of medical genetics and cardiology under the faculty of medicine, co-supervised by Dr. Anna Lehman and Dr. Tara Sedlak. She is...

Reena Titoria, Epidemiologist, Provincial Health Services Authority

I am an epidemiologist with a master’s in Clinical Epidemiology from the School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia. With a thorough knowledge of epidemiological principles and research methodology, I identify knowledge gaps and support scientific evidence...

Sarah Towle, Research Associate, McGill University

iMPACTS is a multi-year project to address sexual violence on university campuses across Canada and internationally. Sarah began working with iMPACTS in 2019, researching patient representation and trauma-informed gynaecology practices. She continues to serve as an equity...

Danielle Watson, Founder, The Mother Doctor

Dr. Danielle Watson is a naturopathic doctor & creator of The Mother Doctor. In her private practice, she treats mothers from preconception to pregnancy & through to the postpartum. Dr. Watson has made it her goal to change the dynamic in healthcare so that new mothers feel supported as...

Charlie Waugh, Research Associate, University of British ColumbiaDepartment of Physical Therapy

My research interests lie in the broad area of musculoskeletal health and rehabilitation and focus on 1) the adaptability of the system to mechanical and biological stresses, and 2) optimizing the system for movement outcomes and injury prevention.

Research Areas: Biomedical, Clinical,...

Margarita Zachariou, Associate Scientist, Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics

Dr Margarita Zachariou is an Associate Scientist at the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics. She holds a BSc in Applied Mathematics from the University of Cyprus and a PhD in Mathematics (focus in Mathematical Neuroscience) from the University of Nottingham. Her research lies in the...

Sandy Zhang, Public Health Researcher, Women's Health Research Institute

Sandy Zhang is a public health researcher with the Global Control of HPV Related Diseases and Cancer team at the Women’s Health Research Institute (WHRI). She completed both her Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences (2016) and Master of Public Health (2019) at Simon Fraser University. Her...

Yinshan Zhao, Senior Statistician, Population Data BC

Accomplished scientist with solid theoretical foundation, strong analytic skills, and astute ‘data sense’. Expert in health care research with broad experience in complex study design and data analysis. Collaborative problem-solver, with abiding curiosity for health science and a keen interest...

Natasha Zippan , Research Assistant, University of British ColumbiaDepartment of Psychology

Natasha has a BA in Psychology (Critical Studies in Sexuality minor) from UBC and is working towards becoming a clinical psychologist specializing in sex research. Her clinical interests are sexual health, sexual dysfunctions, compulsive sexual behaviour, paraphilias, chronic illness, body...

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