Recognizing student excellence at SPPH

Sabine El-Halabi (PhD)

Sabine is a doctoral student in SPPH, where her research focuses on improving the classification of ultra-processed foods using machine learning methods to address dietary inequities in Canada. She has an MSc in Women+ and Children’s Health Sciences from UBC, where she worked with large administrative datasets to validate epidemiological uterine cancer risk models in a Canadian population for the first time.

The John Snow Prize commemorates the pioneering epidemiological research of Dr. John Snow in nineteenth century London, leading to the understanding and control of cholera. This prize is supported by donations from faculty members in the School of Population and Public Health, and is awarded to the student with the highest standing in the Epidemiology course SPPH 502.

The S. Stewart Murray Prize was established through donations from the Health Officers of British Columbia in honour of Dr. S. Stewart Murray, who contributed greatly to the development of public health services in British Columbia and assisted in the establishment of the Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine. The prize is awarded for meritorious scholarship in the field of public health, preventive medicine, or epidemiology.

Pierce Gorun (MSc)

Pierce Gorun is a recent graduate of the University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health, where he completed a Master of Science in Population and Public Health under the supervision of Dr. Mark Gilbert. His thesis examined the longitudinal utilization of GetCheckedOnline, British Columbia’s free and confidential internet-based testing service for sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections, with a focus on the concept of over-recommendation.

During his graduate studies, Pierce worked under Dr. Danièle Behn Smith and Dr. Kate Jongbloed at the Unlearning and Undoing White Supremacy and Indigenous-Specific Racism Lab for Population and Public Health, and under Dr. Eshan Karim to explore data simulation methods and the use of artificial intelligence in academic research.

Pierce currently serves as the Lead, Quality Improvement and Patient Safety with the Indigenous Health team at Fraser Health, where he supports Indigenous patients in navigating care and advances system-level recommendations to address Indigenous-specific racism, reduce harm in healthcare, and improve cultural safety.

The Donna Gibson Memorial Prize was established by family, friends and colleagues of Donna Gibson who, at the time of her death, was a Research Associate in Health Care and Epidemiology. The prize is awarded to a graduating MSc student for demonstrated excellence in core coursework.

Maria Mulder (PhD)

Maria (they/them, immigrant settler) is a second year PhD candidate. Their research sits at the intersection of information science and public health. Maria completed their Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) at the University of British Columbia iSchool, having come to information science with an interdisciplinary BA and several years’ professional experience in various forms of education- and healthcare-adjacent roles. Their current research interests include mis- and dis-information relating to transgender and gender expansive healthcare experiences and the health information behaviours and needs of systemically marginalized populations. Maria’s work is informed by social justice-oriented frameworks including queer theory, critical disinformation studies, and critical disability theory.

The Professor Anne Crichton Prize was established by friends, colleagues, and former students to honour Dr. Anne Crichton, who served with distinction as Professor in the Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, now known as the School of Population and Public Health, and as Director of the MSc Program in Health Services Planning and Administration. The Prize recognizes an outstanding presentation of research to the SPPH Thesis Screening Panel.