Trainee Members

Khadijat is a Ph.D. Candidate at Elaine Marieb College of Nursing. She is committed to helping hospitals and health systems build a culture of excellence that delivers exceptional patient-centered care. Khadijat obtained her Master’s in Nursing from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Her research has focused on understanding the experiences of families experiencing stillbirth to improve health provider-patient communication, after-death care practices for stillbirth families, and social support for families whose babies have died.

Hello! My name is Zahra Shahriyari Afshar. I am a UBC Vancouver Undergraduate student specializing in Clinical, Forensic, and Health Psychology with a minor in Biology. I recently have embarked on my journey towards medical school in hopes of becoming an Orthopedic surgeon in the future. I am deeply passionate about the global health and humanities crisis and have founded and supported my very own Red Cross Club at my high school.

I am a student of Community Health and Epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. My training in global health, community health, and anti-oppressive methodologies allow me to engage respectfully with communities to build respectful, authentic partnerships with an emphasis on equitable outcomes. I draw on my experiences as an immigrant in Canada, while being mindful of my relative privileges and power dynamics in the spaces I navigate– both within and outside academia.

Saiful is starting his PhD at the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. He is part of the FOCAL research team that is fighting against cervical cancer worldwide. His overall research goal is to improve women's health by contributing to the elimination of cervical cancer through the lens of prevention. He completed his Master of Science (MSc) degree from the University of Saskatchewan (USASK).

Melina is an Epidemiology Ph.D. candidate and research assistant at the University of Toronto. She is also a reviewer for the Canadian Journal of Undergraduate Research. Melina previously studied at the University of British Columbia, where she completed her B.Sc. in Biology (2018) and M.Sc. in Population and Public Health (2021). Melina has worked as a research assistant at the UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research and the Human Early Learning Partnership, based at UBC.

Ravia is a second-year Master of Public Health student at the University of Waterloo. She has professional and research experience in health equity, digital health interventions, mental health, user-experience and design. She is also a Project Coordinator in research and development, on the futures innovation team at lululemon.

Sophie Arseneault is a long-standing advocate for health equity. Serving as a Board Director for Fòs Feminista's International Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice, she supports youth-led approaches to regressive policies impeding on the health and well-being of vulnerable communities.

Research keywords: menopause, metabolic health, reproductive longevity, PCOS

Has earned a B.Sc in Midwifery and a master's degree in epidemiology with an endometriosis focus

I am a second year PhD student in clinical psychology at UBC Okanagan, supervised by Dr. Susan Holtzman. Broadly, my research interests include: the role of self-compassion and mindfulness in mental health, emotion regulation, depression, and the impact of trauma and stress on formal and informal caregivers' mental health. In my previous roles as a registered nurse, I have worked extensively in the areas of mental and sexual health. I am passionate about reducing the stigma associated with mental health issues and advocating for increased access to mental health services in Canada.

Ashley A. Balsom is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at the University of Regina. She is also currently a SSHRC doctoral fellow. Ms. Balsom is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Gordon in the Women’s Mental Health Research Unit. She is interested in exploring evidence-based interventions adapted for women experiencing infertility, exploring women’s coping and resiliency when experiencing transitions in their lives, and exploring the influence of infertility on sexual function.

Chinmayi is a student pursuing neuroepidemiology and medical humanities at Columbia University in New York City. She is a researcher at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Stanford Medicine with interests in cognitive neuroscience, brain injury, and stroke.

Kristianni is a PhD clinical psychology student at De La Salle University, Philippines. Her research interests are exploring the Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) experience among young adult Filipino women, resiliency, emotion regulation, and mental health of menstruating young adults with existing clinical disorders and exploring evidenced-based mindfulness for menstruating young adults. Outside of work, she is a photography enthusiast, loves traveling, and prefers coffee over wine. 

Lexia Bao is a fourth year undergraduate student at UBC. She’s currently a member of the Viau Lab researching stress-induced sex differences and will begin her co-op term at the lab in September.  

Eunice is a Founding Member of the Coalition of African, Caribbean, and Black Nurses in British Columbia. As a health care professional (RN) who has worked in a materially under-resourced country in the Global south for several years, Eunice brings a passion for women’s health research. Specifically, she has worked as a counsellor for pregnant women living with HIV/AIDS and their partners which has piqued her interest in issues of nurse/patient empowerment in relation to achieving quality nursing care.

Dr. Benham is an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary in the Departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences. Her research focuses on the interplay between endocrine disease, physical activity and cardiometabolic health. 

She is currently a 5th-year graduate student working towards her PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University under the mentorship of Dr. Heather Bimonte-Nelson. She is interested in the role of ovarian hormone changes across the lifespan in influencing the trajectory of healthy cognitive aging in females. Her current research uses rodent models to evaluate the cognitive and neurobiological outcomes associated with variations in the menopause experience, including surgical alterations of the reproductive tract.

Ayan Biswas is an undergraduate student with a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering at Jadavpur University. Find Ayan on Twitter and LinkedIn.  

Puja Biswas's research interests focus on understanding sex-difference in energy metabolism regulated by insulin-signaling pathway. Using Drosophila (fruit fly), Puja Biswas is doing her PhD study at Rideout Lab to better understand how males and females maintain their stored fat. Puja Biswas completed her BSc and MSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh. She completed her 2nd MSc from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, exploring fat synthesis pathways using mouse cell lines.

Naseeb is an MSc student at the UBC School of Population and Public Health. She previously completed an honours degree in philosophy at UBC, and is interested in questions related to values, justice, and health found at the intersection of public health and philosophy. Her thesis examines different perceptions of healthcare equity in the context of cancer care funding in British Columbia. She is currently assisting with the SSHRC Insight project “Distinct Concepts of Diversity and their Ethical-Epistemic Implications for Science”, lead by Dr. Daniel Steel at the W.

Jessica Booth is an Undergraduate Science student at the University of British Columbia studying Behavioural Neuroscience. She plans on testing and developing medication and medical procedures oriented to the betterment of women's health. Currently, she is investigating impulsivity in bipolar, stimulant users and gamblers to develop procedures for biological treatments. She hopes to continue her investigation in medicine and mental health to improve the standard of treatment for minority groups.

Alana Brown is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Gillian Einstein. Alana strives to use her training in statistics, functional and structural neuroimaging, and neuroendocrinology to understand the effects of ovarian hormones on cognition, sleep microstructure, and brain health. She studies these factors in women with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (surgical removal of ovaries and fallopian tubes) prior to spontaneous/natural menopause.

Anna Brugulat-Serrat is a Ph.D in Biomedicine (mention of Cum Laude) and a Clinical Neuropsychologist. In 2019 she was selected as an Atlantic Fellow for Equity Brain of Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) based in the Memory and Aging Center (University of California, San Francisco). Currently, Brugulat-Serrat is a post-doctoral researcher in the Neuroimaging Research Group in the Alzheimer´s Clinical Research Program at the Barcelonabeta Brain Research Center.

Pia Campagna is a final year PhD Candidate in the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Neuroimmunology Genomics and Prognostics group at the Central Clinical School, Monash University. Her doctoral work aims to improve personalised disease management and long-term outcomes for people with MS using genomics. This involves identifying pharmacogenetic biomarkers, epigenetic prognostic biomarkers, and potential therapeutic targets that stop disease progression by characterising pregnancy-related epigenetic changes in women with MS.

Allison is currently completing her Ph.D. working under the co-supervision of Dr. Anita Cote (TWU) and Dr. Victoria Claydon (SFU). Allison completed a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology at the University of Maryland and Master of Science in Kinesiology majoring in Exercise Physiology at Indiana University.

Danica Chang is a Medical Student at the University of Alberta, conducting clinical research under the supervision of Dr. Sofia Ahmed and Dr. Sandi Dumanski at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on contraception, sexual function, and reproductive health in young women with chronic kidney disease and aims to help improve clinical treatment in this high-risk population. Danica graduated in 2022 from the University of Calgary with a MSc in Medical Science and remains motivated to pursue her goals of becoming a leader in women’s kidney and reproductive health.

Kayonne is currently a first year sociology masters student at UBC, working under the supervision of Dr. Gerry Veenstra. She completed her undergraduate training at McMaster University, where she received her B.Sc. in the Life Sciences and B.A in the Health Studies. Her research interests exist in the nexus between race, gender, class and health. She is largely interested in the social/structural determinants of health, and the interplay between social and health inequities.

Dr. Patricia Clement is a postdoctoral researcher at the Ghent University Hospital in Belgium. Her work focusses on the variability of perfusion of the healthy brain, including age and gender related differences. Currently, she is investigating the physiological fluctuations of perfusion in the female brain, throughout the natural menstrual cycle and when using hormonal anticonception.

Exploring gender, relationship power equity and youth-engagement among young men and women growing up within HIV hyper-endemic settings in South Africa

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 dysfunction in women with chronic kidney disease to inform the clinical discussion and management of these symptoms. Before coming to Calgary, she completed her medical school training at the University of Toronto and earned an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University.

Ravena Cordeiro de Macedo

Undergraduate Student

University of British Columbia

My long-term research goal involve the development of a comprehensive understanding of key brain mechanisms and how their alterations contribute to mental disorders. My academic training and research experience to date have provided me with an excellent background in behavioral neuroscience in both preclinical and clinical settings. As an undergraduate at Sapienza University, I conducted research on the efficacy of novel pharmacotherapies for the treatment of Rett syndrome behavioral and physiological alterations in rodent models, under the supervision of Dr.

Jordyn is a first-year Master's student in Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine awarded a CIHR CGS-M award at the University of Alberta. Working under the supervision of Dr.Taniya Nagpal, Jordyn is passionate about understanding health stigma from lived experiences in pregnancy especially among marginalized populations such as women of colour. Her current thesis will focus on exploring urinary incontinence-related stigma among women of colour and understanding how this may be an unspoken barrier to effective treatment options.

Hallie Dau, MPH is a PhD student at the at the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. Her research focuses on the impact of cervical cancer on women and families in low- and middle-income countries. She is supervised by Dr. Gina Ogilvie. Hallie previously completed her MPH at the George Washington University where she focused on global maternal and child health.

Miguel de la Flor García was graduated in Veterinary Sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid. During his degree, he collaborated with the Departments of Genetics and Physiology and did internships at the “National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research” (INIA) and the “Margarita Salas Center for Biological Research” (CIBMS). Moreover, he delved into the developmental neurobiology field during his final degree project.

Ismália De Sousa is a doctoral candidate in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia, under the supervision of Dr. Sally Thorne, Dr. Sandra Lauck and Dr. Thalia Field.

Holly Anne Dempster, BSc (Hon), MSc, is a medical student at Memorial University of Newfoundland (graduating class of 2021).

Alysha is a first year PhD student in Human Nutrition at UBC under the supervision of Dr. Tamara Cohen. Her research focuses on understanding the role biological sex and gender norms have on teens' dietary habits to create more inclusive food literacy program for youth. By creating more inclusive programs, all teens can be encouraged to adopt and maintain dietary habits that support life-long health. Alysha has a background in health promotion and epidemiology through the training of her Masters. She is also versed in metabolisms and nutrient needs from the training of her Bachelors.

I am a fourth year Behavioural Neuroscience (BSc) student at UBC. I currently work as a research assistant under the supervision of Dr. Daniela Palombo at the Memory & Imagination Lab. We are exploring the lived experiences of women who have gone through IVF treatments and seeking to understand how the memory of negative fertility events can relate to aspects of psychological and relational well-being.  

Aneet graduated with a MSc in Nursing from the University of British Columbia in December of 2022. She is now an instructor at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. 

Becky has worked and developed educational governance frameworks and regulatory legislation at provincial and national levels and currently holds a Manager role in licensing and compliance with Alberta Health. Obtaining her first paramedic credentials in 1980 as an EMT-A followed by Advanced Care Paramedic in 1997 she worked clinical practice in EMS ground, flight, and integrated fire/ems settings, eventually moving into clinical education leadership roles.

I began my education in this field with my Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation degree (First Class Honors). Since then, I have developed my skills and knowledge by getting certified as an Exercise Physiologist (CSEP-CEP), specializing in applied women's physiology, and yoga teacher training. Currently, I am an MSc student at the University of Calgary, specializing in Health and Exercise Physiology. My project focusses on menstrual cycle tracking methods, machine learning/prediction analytics, femtech, and mHealth.

I am in the second year of my doctoral degree at the University of Victoria majoring in clinical neuropsychology. I completed my Master's of Science in Clinical Neuropsychology also at the University of Victoria in the summer of 2021. My interests are primarily in the effects of exercise and sports concussions on executive function, especially with my own personal experience as a university athlete (UNBC Timberwolves Women’s soccer). I hope to examine the role of estrogen and the menstrual cycle in elite female athletes' cognitive functioning throughout a season.

Tarrah is a PhD Student in Translational Medicine (Department of Medicine) at Queen's University. She works in the Ormiston Lab and focuses her studies on understanding the mechanisms behind the sex paradox in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, a deadly disease that implicates the cardiovascular, pulmonary and immune systems. She previously explored sex differences in arterial stiffness for her MSc work in the Cardiovascular Stress Response Lab at Queen's University.

Originally from Nova Scotia, Erin graduated with an Honours degree in Psychology from Dalhousie University in 2020. She is now an MA student in the Clinical Psychology program at UBC. With a special interest in body image, her research largely focuses on discovering novel methods for improving sexual and relationship well-being in couples transitioning to parenthood and promoting evidence-based sexual education.

Elan Fortin-Eglitis

Undergraduate Student

Josephine as a researcher, is interested in broad areas like virtual reality in nursing education and practice, women's mental health, perinatal mental health, father's involvement in immigrant childbearing families, healthy behaviours of school-age children, neonatal pain relief, neonatal hypoglycemia, gender-inclusive language, and promotion of breastfeeding support. She actively takes part in knowledge translation and mobilization through National and International meetings and conferences. She is multi-linguistic and speaks Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and Arabic.

Catie is a medical student at the University of British Columbia. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience from the University of McGill. 

Romina is a PhD student in Neuroscience at the University of Toronto, under the supervision of Dr. Liisa Galea in the Laboratory of Behavioural Neuroendocrinology. Broadly, Romina wishes to investigate reproductive periods and the neurobiological underpinnings that increase stress vulnerability and depression in females, and subsequently their offspring. Her research focus is on postpartum depression (PPD) and whether immune modulations improve antidepressant efficacy in a rodent model of PPD and increase stress resilience in offspring.

I am a second-year MSc student in Community Health Sciences (health services research) at the Cumming School of Medicine, UCalgary. My research focuses on mental health outcomes for caregivers of youth with neurodevelopmental and substance use disorders though the lens of social/structural determinants and health equity. I have lived experience as a caregiver and as a front-line community health worker in a high-acuity setting. 

My primary research investigates the influence of ovarian hormone deprivation on brain health. I study memory, and its relationships to sleep disruption, oxidative stress, and brain structure, in middle-aged women with prophylactic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (surgical removal of both ovaries and fallopian tubes) prior to spontaneous (natural) menopause. This is a group of women who experience an abrupt, early decline in ovarian hormones and are at a high-risk for developing later life Alzheimer’s Disease.

Kelly is a PhD student in the Social and Behavioural Health Sciences program, at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Her research focuses on women’s experiences of the healthcare system, as both providers and receivers of care. As an Ontario Women’s Health Scholar (2022), Kelly has been recognized for her rigorous qualitative research on women first responders, as well as her previous and future potential as a women’s health researcher.

Harman is a second-year Master of Public Health student interested in centering capacity bridging between underserved communities and researchers to reduce health inequities. She is passionate about amplifying the experiences and voices of individuals with intersectional identities in health research so that these folks can meet their health and wellbeing needs.

Nabilah is an MSc student at the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. She recently graduated with a BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on the route of post-menopausal estrogen administration and cardiovascular risk. Nabilah hopes to become a leader in women's cardiovascular health research and improve patient outcomes.

Amané is a first-year M.A. student in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of British Columbia-Okanagan, supervised by Dr. Maya Libben. Her undergraduate thesis, completed at McGill University, examined the effects of voluntary emotion regulation on the postauricular reflex, a psychophysiological measure of the appetitive response. Amané’s Master’s research will investigate the ways that technology and e-mental health can increase accessibility to eating disorder services and treatments.

Sarah Harris is an endometriosis researcher and freelance journalist. She has done her BA in Journalism & Sociology from Cardiff University and is currently completing her Masters in Public Health at the University of Nottingham. She is soon to begin her PhD which will examine factors that contribute towards delayed endometriosis diagnosis. She also regularly writes about issues related to women's health for national and international publications. 

Carina was trained in psychology and holds a PhD from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany, in which she focused on white and gray matter brain alterations in patients with the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, a syndrome associated with a 30% risk to develop schizophrenia in adult life. In this and other projects, she cooperates with the Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory (PNL), Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA.

Dr. Hippman is a postdoctoral research fellow with the BC Women's Reproductive Mental Health Program, the UBC Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and the University of Calgary Faculty of Nursing. Her fellowship is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Michael Smith Health Research BC, the Killam Trusts, the University of Calgary Eyes High Program, and the BC Women's Health Foundation, and her research work is additionally supported by generous gifts from an anonymous donor and iA Financial Group.

I am a PhD student in the UVic Behavioural Medicine Lab. My dissertation is on the promotion of tailored physical activity among postpartum individuals with lumbopelvic pain.

Jodie is a first year PhD student at the University of Roehampton. She is currently studying disparities in the care of Endometriosis patients by comparing sample groups, under the supervision of Dr Astrid Hauge-Evans and Dr Patrick Brady. She graduated in 2019 with a Master of Science. Her aim is to identify where there are gaps in care of Endometriosis patients to improve health related quality of life.

Holly is a postdoctoral scientist with a dual appointment at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI/RFMH). She received her PhD from West Virginia University in Dr. Miranda Reed’s laboratory. There, she studied glutamate’s role in Alzheimer’s disease pathology using novel microelectrode array technology. She is now in Dr. Christine Denny’s laboratory, where she recently received a K99/R00 to study the sex-specific impact of anxiety on Alzheimer’s disease progression.

For the past 20 years I have dedicated my life both in academia and as an activist to deepening my understanding and responsibility to embracing social justice with an intersectionality framework. As a PhD student I hope to continue to address issues of inequity and lack of diversity in the many systems that our world unfairly privileges some groups over others. I plan to do so, by publishing articles addressing intersectionality and social justice as well as provide anti-oppression trainings for systems.  

Faith Jabs is a PhD student in Clinical Psychology at the University of British Columbia. She is also a research study coordinator in the UBC Sexual Health Laboratory and currently works on a randomized control trial for testing the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based group therapy treatment for women with Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder. 

I’m Kiranjot from Prince George, BC and I just finished my BSc Honours in Psychology at the University of Northern British Columbia. Currently, I am an MSc student in the Psychology program at UNBC. My research interests include female behavioural neuroendocrinology, specifically looking at the effects of ovarian hormones on cognition. In addition, I am passionate about advocating for mental health and learning about feminist and clinical psychology.

Amy Johnston is a PhD candidate in the School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, and a doctoral trainee at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. She holds a Master of Science with a specialization in Health Services Research and a Master of Biomedical Technology, both from the University of Calgary. Her doctoral research focuses on women’s cardiovascular health, specifically, long term cardiovascular risk associated with a history of high blood pressure disorders of pregnancy.

Ellen Jopling is a doctoral student in the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Lab at the University of British Columbia. Her program of research examines the impact of stress on wellbeing across the lifespan through the integration of affective, cognitive, and biological measures.

My name is Megan Kadzirange and I am an international Undergraduate student from Zimbabwe, studying Psychology at the University of British Columbia. My interests include global and public health, particularly women's health in rural, low-income and/or Indigenous communities. Additionally, I am passionate about creative and academic writing, and how both can be used to make research more accessible to diverse audiences.

Cindy Kalenga is PhD student within the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary with a focus on women’s cardiovascular health. Her research project investigates the role of the route of administration of exogenous estrogen - in the form of contraceptives and hormone therapy - and cardiovascular risk in women. Cindy serves as the student moderator for Libin Cardiovascular Journal Club and was recently appointed the Lead for the CIHR Sex and Gender Based Analysis in Health Research Trainee Network. 

Jalisa graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BMath in Biostatistics and BA in Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies. She is now a PhD student at UBC in Women+ and Children’s Health Sciences, where her research focuses on endometriosis and infertility.

Dr. Shahin Kassam holds a PhD in Nursing from the University of Victoria and comes from a clinical public health nursing background with focus on women living with emotional, mental, and physical sequelae of forced migration. As the successful candidate for a grant-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellowship within the UBC School of Nursing, Capacity Research Unit, (supervisor: Dr. Vicky Bungay), Dr.

Natalie Kearn is a third year Bachelor of Health Sciences Student at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario with a keen interest in Women's Health. She conducts research in the Department of Medicine and Department of Biomedical Sciences at Queen's University.

Bibiana is a current masters student in UBC's Reproductive and Developmental Sciences program. She works under the supervision of Dr. Lori Brotto for UBC's Sexual Health Lab. She is currently studying how mindfulness and cognitive behavioural therapy can help couples improve their sexual health after prostate cancer. She is also creating patient education materials based on these therapies.

I am a PhD student in the laboratory of Dr. Deborah Sloboda. My research is in the field of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. Specifically, my research investigates how exposure to maternal obesity impacts future immune responses to infection.

I am Sakshi Kharbanda, an incoming graduate student in Medical Sciences. I am passionate about reproductive and sexual health in marginalized communities.

Maya Koblanski is a passionate and motivated undergraduate in her third year of Behavioural Neuroscience at UBC. She has worked in the Viau Lab for the past year and a half researching sex differences in stress coping responses, recently under an NSERC USRA, and is now starting her directed studies research project.  

Marta is a graduate student in the clinical psychology program at UBC. Her research interests centre around understanding processes contributing to sexual well-being in individuals and couples. She is particularly interested in using longitudinal data analytic techniques to better understand factors that influence the development of sexual problems over time, with a particular focus on sexual pleasure and genito-pelvic dysesthesias.

Sydney graduated from Colby College in the spring of 2021 with a B.A. in Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience. While at Colby, Sydney worked in the Glenn Lab, a behavioral neuroscience rat lab, as a research assistant and later conducted a senior thesis examining psychomotor stimulant sensitization as a function of estrus cycle stage and biological sex. Sydney is currently pursuing a PhD in Psychology and Neuroscience at Temple University, studying the effects of early life adversity on maternal behavior under the mentorship of Dr. Debra Bangasser.

Jacynthe L’Heureux is a doctoral student in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia under the supervision of Dr. Wei Zhang focusing on health economics. Her work includes publications on caregiving, labour force participation and the measurement of work productivity loss. Her research centers around the intersection of health and work with a special lens to the role of gender. She is keen on understanding the unique perspectives of women and the challenges they face in their workplaces.

Jesse is a PhD student in Behavioural Neuroscience at Concordia University in Montreal. He is a researcher at the Centre for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology, where he examines the effects of steroid hormones on cognition.

Madison Lackie, a Master’s of Science student in the UBC Reproductive and Developmental Sciences program, working primarily out of the Women’s Health Research Institute at BC Women’s Hospital. Her research interests focus on postpartum depression and the use of technology to support healthcare.

I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to this, I gained a first-class BSc (hons) in Psychology from Newcastle University and a PhD from the University of Bristol, where I worked between the School of Psychological Science and the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit. 

Bonnie Lee is our Events & Communications assistant, Trainee Cluster Lead, and Trainee Member. She is a Neuroscience PhD Candidate at the University of British Columbia studying with Dr. Liisa Galea in the Laboratory of Behavioural Neuroendocrinology.

Kyara is a first year Master’s of Public Health student at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, specializing in the social and behavioural health sciences stream. She is also a research associate at the Artificial Intelligence for Justice Lab in Toronto. She completed her Honours BA in Sociology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC in 2022. Her research interests broadly include women's health, family health, and gender-based violence, and the intersections of the social determinants of health on these areas.

Alex is a second-year MSN student at UBC Okanagan. She is also currently practicing as a Registered Nurse at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver in cardiology and cardiac surgery.  Alex’s research passions include applying technology to improve patient self-care and improving women’s health equity with population-based data. Alex’s thesis research is focusing on improving heart failure patient self-care through gamified education. She is also a recipient of the CIHR Women’s Health Clinical Mentorship Grant.

I am a Ph.D. student in the Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health at the University of Oxford, and I work closely with the Biobehavioral Pain Innovations Lab at Boston Children's Hospital to collect data on individuals with pain. My professional aspirations involve women’s health education and advocacy. I am passionate about exploring the role of stress, trauma, and resiliency on women’s bodies and brains, as proposed in my recently published Pain-Stress Model (PMID: 32273840).

Christie MacLeod is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at McMaster University. Her clinical and research work takes place at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton in the Women's Health Concerns Clinic and Mood Disorders Clinic. Her research aims to explore potential neural mechanisms for the sex-related difference in prevalence of depression. As women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression when compared to men, characterization of sex-related differences in the cerebral cortex can aid in prevention and treatment strategies tailored specifically for women.

My research interests broadly lie in understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of stress resilience and vulnerability, particularly as they relate to neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression. Unfortunately, despite the fact that women are more likely than men to develop depression and other stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders, female subjects continue to be largely excluded from preclinical research.

I am a researcher and activist with a background in Psychology, Criminology, and Health Promotion.  I am originally from Burundi and moved to South Africa as a refugee in the late 1990s.

Kerry (she/her) is a Registered Nurse with certified practice in reproductive health (contraceptive management and sexually transmitted infections). She completed her Masters of Nursing from the University of Saskatchewan in 2019, exploring fertility intentions and family planning experiences within the 2SLGBTQ community. She began a PhD in the School of Nursing at UBC in 2021, under the umbrella of sexual health. Her research interests include gender equity, reproductive justice, sexuality, sexual health, and pleasure.

Rory A. Marshall is a paramedic working with British Columbia Emergency Health Services and a PhD Student at the School of Health and Exercise Sciences in the Faculty of Health and Social Development at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. Rory earned his Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Business at Vancouver Island University and his Master’s degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. He has also had international paramedic experience practicing in New Zealand and Central America.

Magdalena is a Neuroscience Ph.D. student at the Neuroimaging Group of the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón of Madrid, Spain. Her research focus is to unveil the structural and functional plasticity of the human parental brain. Through longitudinal neuroimaging studies, she seeks to characterize the brain remodeling in both women and men during their transition into parenthood and determine how such adaptations can deviate from normality and cause mental health problems.  

Emily McKay is a Registered Nurse pursuing a Master of Science in Nursing at the University of British Columbia. Emily currently works at the Women's Health Clinic at BC Women's Hospital. She is also a Graduate Academic Assistant for Dr. Ojukwu, and works on several research studies centered around HIV care for African/Caribbean/Black women, intimate partner violence, and teenage pregnancy.

Sonia (she/her/hers) is a MA student in the Clinical Psychology program. She has been conducting research in the field of sexuality using psychophysiology and eye-tracking methods since 2016. Her master’s thesis will explore modifiable factors that promote individuals’ and couples’ sexual well-being, with the goal of developing evidence-based interventions aimed at bolstering sexual health and well-being.

Kaylee Misener is a Ph.D. candidate in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) supervised by Dr. Maya Libben. She has been conducting research in the areas of eating disorders and body image for 8 years. Her undergraduate honours thesis, completed at UBCO, investigated whether an implicit measure of disordered eating could be used to assess cognitive distortions among individuals who exhibit eating disordered symptoms as compared with post-symptomatic and control groups.

My interest in human nutrition research started during my undergraduate studies. I completed my MSc in Human Nutrition at the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA), University of Chile, in 2015. The main focus of my master thesis was the comparison of iron and zinc supplementation on anemia in Chilean childbearing-aged women. As part of a Canada-Chile Leadership Exchange Scholarship, awarded 2014, I participated in a collaborative project between Drs Yvonne Lamers and Gilberto Kac (Rio de Janeiro Federal University, Brazil).

Elle's research explores the impact of sex steroid hormones on brain structure and function, leveraging neuroimaging to interrogate how menopause shapes neural circuitry underlying working memory. She is also interested in how reproductive disorders, such as endometriosis and PCOS, influence the brain and cognition. In addition to incorporating aspects of the human condition specific to women in her research efforts, Elle is driven by the critical need for the inclusion of women and other underrepresented individuals as scientists in the field of neuroscience.

Dilnaz is a second-year undergraduate student at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, studying Health Sciences. She is in love with reproductive biology and embryology.

Shawna Narayan is a graduate student researcher with the CREDA Study in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. Her research explores the experiences ethnic minorities have with anxiety and depressive resources to help support the creation of culturally responsive e-mental health services. She has an interest in the development of quality mental health care for marginalized populations.  

My name is Elizabeth Nethery and I am a current PhD candidate in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. I am located in Vancouver, BC, Canada. I completed my undergraduate degree in Engineering Physics (Computer Science) in 1998 (UBC), a Masters in Science (Environmental Health) in 2008 (UBC) and then a Masters in Midwifery in 2016 (Bastyr University, Seattle). I completed the International Midwifery Bridging Program (UBC) and am now certified as a Registered Midwife in BC.

Elaha Niazi is an undergraduate student studying Health Sciences at the University of Calgary. Her passion for improving women’s health led her to join the Ahmed-Dumanski lab, where she is currently investigating the effect of in-vitro fertilization on cardiovascular outcomes, as well as examining period product and contraceptive access across Canada and the United States. Elaha also volunteers with her university's Women’s Resource Center and engages in women’s health-focussed community outreach, dedicated to advocating for women’s cardiovascular, reproductive, and mental health.

Candace Oghide is a 2nd year Masters student in Nursing from McMaster University. She has a clinical background in community women's health, HIV inpatient, and sexual assault/domestic violence. Candace is passionate about health equity and working with marginalized women. Candace's research interest is in sexual and reproductive health, with a focus on African, Caribbean, and Black-Canadian women.

As a maternal and child health nurse and a doctoral student at the University of South Florida College of Nursing, USA, I am currently conducting research to enhance perinatal mental health interventions. My focus lies on exploring the needs, preferences, and access to care among perinatal adolescents in order to create culturally adaptive and sustainable solutions.

I am a Lecturer at Department of Nursing Sciences, University of Nigeria. I am currently in a PhD program at University of British Columbia School of Nursing. My dissertation is focusing on adolescent sexual and reproductive health.

Godwin completed his BSc in Biochemistry in Ghana, and currently in his final year of the MPhil Human Nutrition and Dietetics program. He has a keen interest in maternal and child nutrition, and has extensive experience in community-based interventional studies which seeks to positively impact the dietary behaviours of women and children. Godwin aims to become a dietitian and a professional in any institution where he can utilize his skills in his skills promoting maternal and child health.

Endometriosis is a gynaecologic condition that affects 10% of women, and 50% of those women have deep dyspareunia (pelvic pain with deep penetration during sexual activity). This pain negatively affects sexual function and relationships. Factors that play a role in deep dyspareunia may be peripheral (e.g., location of endometriotic nodules) and/or central (e.g., pathological sensitization at the level of the brain and spinal cord).

Xinru is currently a Master of Food Science student at the University of British Columbia. She also holds an undergraduate degree in life sciences and psychology.

Meejin is currently completing her M.Sc. at McMaster University’s Muraca Perinatal Epidemiology Research Lab (PERL).

I am a research assistant working with Dr. Paul Yong’s Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis research team. I completed my undergraduate studies at UBC majoring in Microbiology and Immunology and recently began my MSc journey also at UBC with School of Population and Public Health. 

Badal is a first-year MSc student in Medical Science at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, under the supervision of Dr. Sofia Ahmed. His research focuses focuses on highlighting the importance of incorporation of sex- and gender- based considerations in hypertension and cardiovascular care. Badal recently graduated in 2022 from the University of Calgary with a BSc in Cellular, Molecular, and Microbial Biology and remains motivated to become a leader in women's heart health research, and utilize his various research skills to improve the quality of care for patients.

Kamala is a third year Ph.D. candidate in Informatics (Human-Computer Interaction) at The Pennsylvania State University. Her research is situated at the intersection of women’s health and technology with a specific focus on pregnancy after loss. Attending to the rising interest in designing interventions for pregnancy and maternal health, alongside the ongoing call to question the stigmatization of women’s bodies, her research centers a common but tabooed experience of pregnancy after loss.

Leah Sarah Peer is a Medical Student, Global Health Fellow and a Graduate with a Specialization in Biology & a Minor in Human Rights. She is the Founder & Executive Director of the Peer Medical Foundation (PMF), an aspiring youth-led international not-for-profit organization advancing health equity, diversity & inclusion. She is also the Host of the Peer Med Podcast, an initiative under PMF intertwining medicine, an ever changing science of diagnosis and treatment with conversations about issues in healthcare where lives are on the line.

I am currently researching the effects of oral contraceptives on autonomic function, specifically investigating physiological responses to reflex activations in healthy women (chemoreflex, mechanoreflex and metaboreflex). I am also investigating the effects of the menstrual cycle and sex differences.

Hi! I'm Danielle. I recently completed my PhD at the University of Oxford, where I studied and phenotyped widespread pain in women living with chronic pelvic pain, and conditions such as endometriosis. As a Postdoctoral Researcher, I use epidemiology to study period pain in adolescence and understand both its causes and impact on chronic pain later in life.

Naomi is an MSc student in the Reproductive and Developmental Sciences program based in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She previously completed an Honours BSc in Neuroscience and Psychology at McMaster University and is interested in reproductive health, mental health, and racial and ethnic disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality. Under the supervision of Dr. Gillian Hanley, her thesis examines the association between maternal depression and treatment with an SSRI antidepressant on early childhood development.    

As a data scientist I value advancements that provide more data to dissect and discover. However, as a biologist I know that it is essential to have a deep understanding of the underlying biology to gain deep insights about the value of this data. With a decade of experience on the bench and five years of experience behind the screen I hope to bring the two together to advance medical research.

Shayna is a PhD student in Clinical Psychology at the University of Manitoba with a background in psychology, biology, and health studies. Clinically, she is passionate about supporting people experiencing mental health challenges during pregnancy and postpartum, including those who have had traumatic birth experiences or a perinatal loss. Beyond her clinical work, Shayna conducts research focused on determining the unmet mental health support needs of women and birthing people experiencing perinatal mental health concerns.

Evelina Pituch is a CIHR Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Health and Society at the University of Toronto Scarborough, supervised by Dr. Hilary Brown. Dr. Pituch is an occupational therapist by training and her program of research aims to improve the perinatal supports for parents with disabilities. She holds a PhD in Rehabilitations sciences and a bachelor’s-professional master’s in occupational therapy from the University of Montreal.

I am currently a 4th-year medical student in Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia, but born and bred in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. I have a keen interest in obstetrics and gynaecology and have plans to sub-specialize in gynae-oncology. I will be planning my specialty training in the U.K. upon graduation. I am a university ambassador for InciSioN MY, currently attending virtual international conferences hosted by WHO, G4 Alliances, Woman In Global Health, etc., to broaden insights on Global Surgery and raise awareness of gender equity around the globe.

Laura Pritschet is a graduate student working with Dr. Emily Jacobs in Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She leverages techniques from network neuroscience and neuroendocrinology to explore how sex steroid hormones impact human brain function across hormonal transition periods. The goal of her research is to improve the utility of sex hormones as markers of vulnerability for neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders that are disproportionately skewed towards women.

Neelam Punjani is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta. She has received her BScN and MScN at Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery from Karachi, Pakistan. Shortly after, she began working actively within the community advocating for young people's sexual and reproductive health and rights. Her current topic of research for her Ph.D. is inspired by seeing countless young girls in her home country unable to express themselves related to their sexuality.

Nursing student, BCIT nursing

Hi! I’m Tanvi Puri, a Ph.D. candidate in the Galea Lab. I’m interested in figuring out how pregnancy, and the hormonal changes that take place during pregnancy, can affect cognition, stress resilience, and neurogenesis across different ages. My projects also investigate the changes in molecular mechanisms underlying neuro plastic changes and behavior, and will allow us to identify possible future targets for precision medicine. I got my B.A. in Neuroscience from Washington University in St.

My thesis investigates the effects of maternal postpartum antidepressant exposure, and how this pharmacological treatment affects both the mother and offspring in a rat model of postpartum depression. And whether there are dietary interventions (such as folate/folic acid) can be an effective treatment for PPD. My expertise includes knowing a lot about the impressionism period of art although I am really bad at painting impressionism and a lot better at painting post-impressionism, Greek mythology, and comics particularly the Batman universe.

Thish is a senior undergraduate student studying Molecular Biochemistry and Philosophy at UBC Okanagan. She is passionate about health equity, policy, and leveraging quality improvement science for the enhancement of women’s health. Her research areas of interest include the study of interpersonal factors affecting smoking cessation in young women and patient reported outcomes-based analyses of clinical interventions. 

Currently pursuing a PhD in Molecular Medicine in Dr. Antoine Louveau's lab, dept of Neurosciences at Lerner Research Institute. Our lab specializes in Parkinson’s Disease in minority populations, specifically in the Latin American population. My thesis investigates the association between female health factors and the severity of Parkinson’s disease in these women.

My research focuses on the effects of diet and metabolic status on learning and memory and sex differences in these effects. I finished my BSc and MSc in Pharmacology at the University of Gothenburg (Gothenburg, Sweden) and completed my PhD at the Institution for Neuroscience and Physiology and the University of Gothenburg in January 2020 under the supervision of Dr. Karolina Skibicka.

Victoria is a MSc student in Medical Science at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine. Under the supervision of Dr. Sofia Ahmed, her research focuses on the association between sex related differences and dialysis adequacy in both peritoneal dialysis and the home hemodialysis population. She recently graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor of Nursing and received her Registered Nurse designation. Her clinical and research experience sparked her interest and drive to improve patient care and focus on patient-oriented research. 

Renee Rietveld

School of Nursing

University of British Columbia

Renee Rietveld

School of Nursing

University of British Columbia

Shie is a PhD student in the Brain Behaviour Lab, under the supervision of Dr. Lara Boyd. Shie's passion for stroke research began while working as an occupational therapist in an inpatient neurological rehabilitation unit in Tel-Aviv. Her doctoral work aims to investigate stroke in women, and specifically, the effect of sex hormones and past pregnancies on stroke risk and recovery in women. Although women account for 60% of stroke-related deaths, they are often under-represented in stroke research.

Dr. Katerina Rnic received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Western Ontario and completed her clinical internship at the Calgary Clinical Psychology Residency. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Joelle LeMoult’s Depression, Anxiety, and Stress (DAS) Lab and in Dr. Raymond Lam’s Lab in the Department of Psychiatry. She is also a Clinical Psychologist at the Vancouver CBT Centre.

Hani Rukh E Qamar is the Founder of Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants (CAWI) and a BSc. Psychology and Neuroscience student at McGill University. She is a research collaborator at University of Regina on the impacts of COVID-19. She is the President of UAEM McGill and she is involved in McGill Global Health Programs. She is passionate about empowering womxn immigrants, providing access to medicine, mental health and global health.

Chantal Rytz is a PhD Candidate at the University of Calgary.

Jinan Saboune is a Ph.D. student in the Cardiovascular Health and Autonomic Regulation Laboratory (CHARlab) at McGill University. Her research looks at the neurovascular changes that occur during a very critical phase in a woman's life: peri-menopause. As women age and transition into menopause, they lose most of their estrogen content, which makes them more susceptible to cardiovascular dysfunction. The goal of her research is to look at these complex hormone fluctuations, that are being exhibited during this phase, and how they contribute to worse cardiovascular outcomes. 

I am a psychology undergraduate from University of Delhi. I have recently completed a research project on COVID-19 and mental health of doctors. I wish to pursue I/O Psychology.

Julia Santana Parrilla (she/her) received her MSc from UBC's School of Population & Public Health in 2020. Her Thesis project “Anxiety and depression during pregnancy: primary antenatal care provider perspectives” provided qualitative descriptions of how anxiety and depression are addressed with pregnant people. Participants (Registered Midwives, Family Physicians, Obstetrician Gynecologists) emphasized the need for perinatal mental health to be integrated in funding, research, policy, and practice priority-setting.

I am a Clinical Fellow in mood disorders in the Department of Psychiatry at University of British Columbia. My research interests include novel imaging methods to visualise brain inflammation and microstructural changes in bipolar disorder. In addition, I am also interested in newer therapies in bipolar disorder.

Sadaf is an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia working as a research assistant at the Pelvic Pain and Endometriosis Lab supervised by Dr. Paul Yong. Her research interests explore the symptoms of endometriosis-associated pain affecting women’s health. Current standard treatments for endometriosis are limited in their effectiveness for pelvic pain, which may be due to the lack of understanding of how endometriosis causes pain.

I am a registered general nurse (major paediatrics) with more than 7 years clinical experience.  Currently, I am academic editor for PLOS ONE. Moreover, I am chair committee member for Global Alliance for Newborn Care (GLANCE).

I am a third-year Biology major at the University of British Columbia and an aspiring cardiothoracic surgeon. I have a broad range of interests, including health care, gender equity, filmmaking, and music. Currently, I am a certified First Responder, hoping to pursue paramedicine. I also recently directed and produced a film for the ConnectHer Film Festival, addressing period poverty, child marriage, and a lack of girls' education. I have a keen sense of curiosity, so my research interests have no bounds!

Anam Shahil-Feroz is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto. She has received her BSc Nursing and MSc Health Policy and Management from Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. Shortly after, she began working actively within the community to address health systems issues of access, affordability and quality of healthcare services particularly in the field of maternal and child health. Her current topic of research for her Ph.D.

My current research interests focus around astrocytes and cognition. These non-neuronal cells, best known for their roles in metabolism, structural support, and glutamate recycling, have been historically understudied. Recently, evidence has suggested they are involved in myriad behaviours and cognitive processes. My particular interests in this area are in the encoding processes of memory formation. Previous to this, my research has focused on sex differences and sex hormones in learning and memory and the underlying mechanisms therein.

Maria is a medical student at McMaster University. She completed her BSc in Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia in 2021. She was a research assistant in the Soma Lab where she was particularly interested in investigating the roles of estrogens in social behaviour. Maria assisted Cecilia Jalabert with her PhD project investigating local sex steroid synthesis in the brain.

I completed my undergraduate work in Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour at McMaster University. Before that, I worked briefly as an analyst at a bank, and completed a degree in English literature.

I have over 25 years of experience in Nursing. Throughout my career, I have advocated tirelessly for nurses’ rights and protections, focusing especially on nurses facing workplace violence. Currently, I am doing PhD in Nursing from the University of Toronto (UofT) with a Collaborative Specialization in Global Health (CSGH). My field of study is “Critical perspectives in health and healthcare” and my PhD research focuses on “Violence in the healthcare sectors”. My PhD study aims to provide a workable, researched-based, implementable workplace violence (WPV) reporting system.

Diverse health professional dedicated to enhancing the lives of those in the queer community. My research interests include broadly, intimate partner violence related traumatic brain injury in the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. I completed my undergrad and masters in concussion based practice at Brock University. I have a rich background in concussion rehab specifically in survivors of human sex trafficking.

Shayda is a graduate student at the University of British Columbia in the combined Doctor of Medicine/Doctor of Philosophy (MD/PhD) program. She has a keen interest in HIV, women’s health, and endocrinology and will be exploring the impacts of HIV infection and social factors on hormonal dysregulation and chronic disease in women living with HIV.

My research interests lie in the field of nutrient requirements, optimal nutrition and identifying populations at increased risk of nutrient deficiency. My project focuses on vitamin B12 in pregnant women and their newborns. Vitamin B12 is important for the healthy growth and brain development in the fetus and newborn, as well as for maternal health.

Guad is a graduate student in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UBC, and her graduate research is based at the BC Centre for Disease Control. Under the supervision of Dr. Inna Sekirov and Dr. Mel Krajden, she is investigating the antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 infections in prenatal women to understand how pre-existing immune responses to endemic coronaviruses can affect their immune response, as well as how these may impact perinatal outcomes. Guad completed her BSc in Biology in 2020, and her undergraduate work involved antibody and herpesvirus research.

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 conducting clinical research at the intersection of sex/gender differences, genetics and cardiovascular disease and is motivated to continue her academic pursuits in research through interdisciplinary collaborations to advance her career in precision medicine.

Ali received her B.A. (Hon’s) in Psychology in 2016 from the University of British Columbia Okanagan and is now a graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Program at UBC. The overarching goal of her research is to better understand resiliency factors related to Major Depressive Disorder in order to inform intervention. She is currently examining the role of emotion regulation strategies in psychological and biological responses to stress in participants with MDD. 

Samantha Trevaskis is a PhD Candidate supervised by Dr Sonya Deschênes. Samantha's research focuses on Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), mental illness and health behaviours associated with the presentation of women's symptoms. Her research will utilise ecological momentary assessment to investigate the presentation of PMDD symptoms for women over the course of their menstrual cycle and use this methodology to identify which health behaviours are beneficial for women with PMDD.

Luzia Troebinger completed her PhD at the UCL Functional Imaging Laboratory under the supervision of Gareth Barnes and Sven Bestmann. While she focused quite heavily on electrophysiological data in her early career, she always had a strong interest in psychopharmacology, neuroendocrinology and their clinical applications. She initially pursued this interest during her first postdoc, which involved projects at the University of Tromso in Norway and at Goldsmiths College in London, where she studied the effects of nicotine on visual attention using EEG.

Sandra Tsoenemawu Sikanku is a Ghanaian Special educator and an advocate for Persons with Disabilities with her specific interest in the education for the Visually Impaired. Currently, she is a first-year Special Education PhD student in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and Special Education in the University of British Columbia which is ranked among the world's best universities.

Keila Turino Miranda is a first-year PhD student at McGill University studying polycystic ovary syndrome and cardiovascular outcomes in transgender men on exogenous testosterone. Keila sits as Chair of the Young Investigator Forum of the 2023 Canadian Hypertension Congress and is active in her role in Hypertension Canada as Student Representative of the Membership Committee and Guideline Committee. Further, Keila is the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Consultant for Can-SOLVE CKD, a CIHR SPOR network. Keila completed her MSc at the University of Calgary supervised under Dr.

I am a third year Ph.D. student in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of British Columbia. My research has focused on forensic psychology issues, specifically focusing on discrimination in the justice system. My clinical work has focused on neuropsychology in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

Makenna Vanegas

Undergraduate Student

University of British Columbia

Dr. Amy Vassallo is a Research Fellow in the Global Women’s Health Program at the George Institute for Global Health and committed to using evidence and innovation to improve population health. Her current research focusses on understanding sex and gender based bias and data gaps in health and medical research; and implementation of evidence based approaches to address this, including policy reform.

Fourth-year undergraduate student at UBC majoring in Microbiology and Immunology. Experienced in clinical psychological research. Currently working on a systematic review of the effect of culture on childhood cancer survivors. Previous work analyzed the correlation between Quality of Life and childhood survivors of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). A self-motivated 1st generation Filipino student with a passion for volunteering with vulnerable populations and advocating for women’s health, permitting unique perspectives essential to research.

Mai Wageh is a second-year Ph.D. candidate in the Molecular Exercise Physiology and Muscle Aging Lab as well as the Protein Metabolism Research Lab, supervised by Dr. Gianni Parise and Dr. Stuart Phillips, respectively. Her M.Sc. work looked at multi-ingredient protein supplementation and resistance training in healthy young men and women, and the stark sex differences in the response to acute exercise led her to investigate sex differences in muscle damage as part of her current Ph.D. work.

Kate Wahl is a researcher interested in new strategies for moving evidence into health policy and practice. As a PhD student in the Reproductive and Developmental Sciences program at the University of British Columbia, she uses qualitative methods to develop and evaluate approaches for sharing research evidence with stakeholders including the public, healthcare providers, and policy makers. Her current focus is on advancing the health of women and gender diverse people, and she is investigating patient decision aids, education programs, and storytelling in this context.

Bhairavi Warke is a PhD Student in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University. Her doctoral work focuses on Designing Interactive Self-care tools for Women experiencing Perimenopause and Menopause aimed towards real-time tracking and management of symptoms which may help in possible early detection or prevention of chronic conditions and promote overall well-being. 

Dr. Lianna Wat’s research interests focus on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying how males and females regulate energy metabolism differently. Lianna completed her PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology in Dr. Elizabeth Rideout’s lab at the University of British Columbia. During her PhD, Lianna identified novel functions for metabolic genes and pathways that contribute to how males and females regulate fat storage differently. This work led to publications in PLoS Biology (Wat et al., 2020) and eLife (Wat et al., 2021). 

My research focuses on global health challenges for women and vulnerable populations. I have published three national level articles and two national patents. I am currently the Fellow of Royal Academy of Medicine and the Royal Society of Public Health. I am also a member of the Global Health Institute of Northwestern University, USA.

Elise completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Miami in Exercise Physiology. She is currently in the final stages of completing her MSc in Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University under the supervision of Dr. Ada Tang. Elise’s research interests include examining sex-and gender-based differences in physiological and psychosocial markers of cardiovascular health in individuals with stroke.

I am a clinical cardiovascular physiologist, currently a postdoctoral fellow at UBC’s Faculty of Medicine and the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD). Although spanning a range of different conceptual approaches and methodologies, my research is increasingly focused on the investigation of sex-based differences in the autonomic control of the heart in health and disease. At ICORD, with supervisors Dr. Chris West and Dr.

Jennifer Williams is a PhD candidate in the Kinesiology department at McMaster University. She belongs to the Vascular Dynamics Lab, supervised by Dr. Maureen MacDonald, and focuses her research on women's cardiovascular health. Her primary research examines the short- and long-term impact of hormonal contraceptives on vascular function and structure, along with underlying regulatory mechanisms.

Sophia Witterick-Laskin

Undergraduate Student

Sarah is currently a medical student at UBC and continues to advocate for women's health through medical student initiatives including the Women's Health Initiative and the Community Women's Initiative. Sarah completed her BSc in Behavioural Neuroscience at UBC and worked in the Galea lab (2015-2019) throughout undergrad and prior to medical school. In her free time she enjoys being outdoors rock climbing and hiking!

Maggie Woo Kinshella (@MaggieWooK on Twitter) is the Global Health Research Coordinator with PRE-EMPT (PREgnancy Evidence, Monitoring, Partnerships and Treatment), IMCHA (Innovating for Maternal and Child Health in Africa) and BEMEQ (Burden Ethnographic Modeling Evaluation Qaujilisaaqtuq) projects in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Pathology at UBC.

Madeline is a PhD student working under the supervision of Dr. Jennifer Rabin at University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Research Institute. Her doctoral research aims to understand how sex differences risk and protective factors contribute to female vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease. Madeline's research leverages sensitive neuropsychological measures, mutlimodal neuroimaging, and longitudinal modelling to characterize early cognitive and brain changes in Alzheimer's disease.

My name is Tessa Woodside, and I am an undergraduate student going into my third year of life sciences at Queens University! I am spending my second summer as a research trainee working with Drs. Sandra Dumanski and Sofia Ahmed in their lab at the University of Calgary, with the Libin Cardiovascular Institute. My primary research focus is on chronic kidney disease and its complications. However, I am especially interested in women's health and am keen on learning more!

Melissa is an IMH Marshall postdoctoral research fellow working with Dr. Honer in the Department of Psychiatry at UBC. Her project focuses on the impact of nonfatal overdose on the brain for individuals living in precarious housing in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and the use of both retinal and brain imaging to assess microvasculature damage associated with hypoxia. Women in this cohort may be particularly at risk due to a variety of pharmacological, biological, and social factors. She completed her PhD in Neuroscience at UBC under the supervision of Dr.

Stephen is an exercise physiologist with expertise in integrative cardiopulmonary physiology. His research program focuses on cardiopulmonary hemodynamics, their relationship to exercise capacity and tolerance, and the modifying influences of sex, normal ageing, and chronic disease. Current work aims to elucidate mechanisms that regulate left atrial, pulmonary vascular, and right ventricular function, and understand how heart failure impacts lung function and contributes to dyspnea on exertion. @TheWrightHeart

Sandy completed her Bachelor’s degree in Cellular, Anatomical and Physiological Sciences with Honours at the University of British Columbia. She then worked for a couple of years as a research coordinator at BC Children’s Hospital before heading back to UBC to pursue her degree in medicine. Sandy’s current research focuses on sexual pain and distress in patients with endometriosis.  

Joyce Xi is a Biomedical Engineering student at the University of British Columbia. She is passionate about developing sex-specific treatments in biomedicine and applications of genetic engineering. Currently, Joyce works in Dr. Elizabeth Rideout's lab on several projects to investigate sex-linked differences in metabolism and fat storage using fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) as a model organism.  

Overall objective of my research project will focus on sex difference and the effect of estrogens on adult neurogenesis and hippocampus-related cognition in rodents. Firstly, I am looking at sex differences in cognitive flexibility and the effect of estrogens on the ability of memory encoding with examining neural plasticity and learning related cell signaling pathways. Secondly, I am looking at sex differences and the role of estrogens on adult-born neurons in the dentate gyrus of hippocampus.

Julia Yates is a first year PhD Student at Western University whose research focuses on health-promoting behaviours of equity-deserving populations, such as women experiencing gender-based violence. As an equity researcher, my methods are grounded in an intersectional lens wherein I focus on how the various mechanisms of marginalization impact health and wellbeing.   

Kendra is in her second year of the combined Master of Physical Therapy and PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences program supervised by Dr. Kristin Campbell. Kendra completed her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology at the University of Victoria in 2018, and her Master of Science in Rehabilitation Sciences with the Clinical Exercise Physiology Lab. Her current research focuses on how to minimize the prevalence of upper limb dysfunction after breast cancer surgery using physiotherapy.

Dr. Kaitlin M. Zaki-Metias is a fourth-year diagnostic radiology resident and incoming chief resident at Trinity Health Oakland Hospital/Wayne State University School of Medicine in Pontiac, Michigan. Originally from Winnipeg, MB, she currently resides in Windsor, ON with her husband and dog Henry. Following residency, Dr. Zaki-Metias will join the Breast and Abdominal Imaging fellowship program at Western University, after which she plans to return to Winnipeg for practice. Dr.

Angela has finished her third year in honours Cellular, Anatomical, and Physiological Sciences at UBC. She is currently a research assistant in the Cembrowski lab at UBC, where she's using highly multiplexed fluorescent in situ hybridization to map the anterior thalamic nuclei at a single-cell, single-molecule resolution. She will be working as a data scientist during her co-op year, analyzing state-of-the-art “Big” transcriptomic data in mouse models of traumatic brain injury, and using this analysis to identify susceptible genes, pathways, and cell types.

Jennifer is an undergraduate student at UBC currently completing her BKIN. She is currently a research study coordinator at UBC Sexual Health Research for the JUNIPER project, which is examining the differences in neural correlates of sexual response between women with and without sexual interest and arousal disorder (SIAD). She hopes that findings from this project can be utilized to inform targeted and effective treatments for SIAD. Jennifer is also a research assistant at the UBC Centre for Rural Health Research on the Rural Surgical and Obstetrical Networks project.

Natasha received her BA in Psychology with High Distinction from UBC and is currently a clinical psychology grad student at Queen’s University, working under the supervision of Dr. Meredith Chivers. She 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 dysmorphia, and depression/suicide.

Dr Rebecca Zivanovic is a mother, mental health clinician and clinical researcher. She works primarily in the areas of concurrent disorders and reproductive mental health - with particular interest in how reproductive health, sexual health and supported parenting can be improved for those with mental health and substance use disorders.