We acknowledge that the UBC Vancouver campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam).
August 9 is International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
Four SPPH doctoral students have been named to the 2023/2024 cohort of UBC Public Scholars for advancing collaborative, interdisciplinary research for the public good.
The Public Scholars Initiative (PSI) was launched in 2015 to support UBC doctoral students whose research extended beyond the academy, and beyond traditional disciplinary approaches, to have a tangible impact for the public good through collaborative, action-oriented, and/or creative forms of scholarship in their dissertation work.
With more than 300 Public Scholars accepted into the program over the last eight years, the program has worked with more than 150 different partners in all societal sectors in more than 40 countries.
In 2022, the program was expanded to include doctoral students from the Okanagan campus. And for 2023, in partnership with UBC Health, the PSI program has created a health equity stream for doctoral students.
SPPH Scholars:
Note: ** indicates researcher in the health equity stream.
Project: A One Health approach to investigating the ecology of East African trypanosomiasis in Malawian wildlife
“This project has many collaborators across different disciplines due to the complexity of the disease system under study. As a veterinarian, I work with the Malawi Department of Animal Health and Livestock Development, and I support veterinary student research at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources. In protected wildlife areas I work together with the Malawi Department of National Parks and Wildlife and their wildlife rangers. I also collaborate with wildlife conservation NGOs such as Wildlife Action Group, Conservation Research Africa, and World Veterinary Services.”
Project: The Social and Economic Impact of Cervical Cancer on Women and Children in Uganda
“For my project, I collaborated with the Uganda Cancer Institute to design and implement a multi-method study that surveyed over 350 women being treated for cervical cancer in Uganda. We asked women about the effect of their diagnosis on their children’s education, family’s financial stability, and the amount of time they were required to spend away from their families. The results of this study will be used to demonstrate the far-reaching impacts that a woman’s cervical cancer diagnosis has and advocate for the expansion of global cervical cancer screening programs.”
Project: Co-designing a youth suicide care framework using a learning health systems approach
Katie is interested in evaluating strength-based approaches that improve access and utilization of mental health resources among youth and adolescents. Katie has a specific interest in youth suicide prevention, and looks forward to gaining expertise in the field through the work of her supervisors at the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) at UBC and Foundry.
Project: Pharmacogenomic testing for people with major depression: identifying and developing implementation strategies
“Major depressive disorder (MDD) can impact an individual’s daily activities and overall quality of life, and is considered to be a leading cause of disability worldwide. Antidepressant medication is a common treatment, however, given that there are over 40 antidepressants to choose from, healthcare providers and patients often undergo a trial-and-error approach to selecting one that is both effective and minimizes side effects. Pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing (i.e., identifying variants in specific genes that can affect response to a drug) has shown promising results in helping guide treatment with studies indicating that PGx-guided antidepressant selection leads to improved response/remission rates and reduced side effects… My PhD research will strengthen the evidence base for implementation by identifying and evaluating feasible implementation strategies using an integrated knowledge translation approach and a mixed methods design.”
Read the announcement by the Faculty of Medicine.