Students are encouraged to participate and develop their proposals with one of our partner institutions in participating LMICs. The following graduate students (MA, PhD, and Postdocs) are involved with one of our projects or pursue their own PhD projects under the supervision of our affiliated faculty.
Ria Agustina听is a PhD student in the Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry at 平特五不中. She is conducting research about stigma of psychosis in Indonesia. Her doctoral research examines self-stigma level on people with psychosis and analyzes the effectiveness of an听anti-stigma campaign through a听documentary film about psychosis in reducing stigma in the general community. Prior to starting her doctoral program, she has worked in the NGO and private sector in the field of education, social and behavioral change, and human development in Indonesia for five years. Ria finished her Masters degree in Psychiatry Research at King's College London, UK. During her study in the Masters program, she conducted a thesis project about the ethnic characteristic of first episode psychosis and at-risk mental state patients in South London. Her doctoral and masters research is funded by the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education听Scholarship. Previously, she had the opportunity to gain clinical experience as a clinical intern in Lambeth Early Onset Community Health Team in London. This community team supports people, age 16-35, who are experiencing early onset of mental illness. Ria completed her Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Indonesia. Funding 2017-2018: Indonesia Endownment Fund for Education (LPDP) Scholarship |
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Marie-H茅l猫ne Doucet is a year PhD student in the Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry at 平特五不中. She holds a Master's in Public Health from Universit茅 de Montr茅al, and a Bachelor degree in Nursing Sciences from Universit茅 Laval. She has done an internship at the WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research on the topic of her PhD thesis: female genital mutilation. Her research interests encompass the sociocultural determinants of health behaviors, breastfeeding, women鈥檚 and girls鈥 physical and mental health, gender and racial inequities, global public health, and qualitative research. Marie-H茅l猫ne has 10 years of experience working in public health, more precisely for the implementation of the Baby-Friendly Initiative program (WHO/UNICEF) in the Montreal health-care system. Her clinical practice also includes working in mother and child health with a multicultural clientele. Funding & Awards 2017-2018: (1) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council : Joseph-Armand Bombardier, (2) Fonds de recherche Qu茅bec 鈥 Sant茅 : Doctoral Training for Applicants with a Professional Degree, (3) Travel awards: 平特五不中 Global Health Program: Norman Bethune Award for Global Health; 平特五不中 Graduate Mobility Award 2017-2018; SSHRC Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement, (4) 平特五不中 MedStar Award 2017 in recognition of the excellent research for 鈥淯nderstanding the motivations of healthcare providers in performing female genital mutilation: an integrative review of the literature鈥 (published March 2017). |
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Nicole D鈥檚ouza, is a doctoral candidate听in the Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry at 平特五不中.听Her research seeks to understand the relationship between violence and mental health outcomes for inner-city primary school children living in Kingston, Jamaica who are exposed to daily forms of violence. She has been working in collaboration with a larger evaluation study funded by Grand Challenges Canada (GCC) to identify risk and resilience outcomes of young boys and girls who participated in an early intervention program aimed at evading the problem of violence in Jamaica.听Through participatory ethnographic research, she describes how children living in marginalized inner-city communities negotiate their daily lives and tensions in a social context characterized by high levels of interpersonal conflict, violent crimes, and turf wars. In doing so, Nicole hopes to unpack the meso- and macro-level factors affecting child development that can either produce positive coping strategies or adverse consequences for children. Her fieldwork in Jamaica received financial support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and she is also a recipient of a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, an FRSQ Doctoral Scholarship, and a Doctoral Fellowship from the Global Health Research Capacity Strengthening Program (a CIHR-funded Training Grant). Prior to her doctoral research, she completed a Masters in Psychiatry at 平特五不中, and a Bachelors of Science in Psychology at the University of Toronto.听 Publications 2017: D'souza, N.S., Guzder, J., Hickling, F., & Groleau, D. The ethics of relationality in global health implementation and evaluation research: Reflections from the Dream-A-World intervention in Kingston, Jamaica. Biomedical Central (BMC): International Health and Human Rights. |
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Maya Fennig, is an Israeli social worker and human rights activist, Maya Fennig is dedicated to researching and designing innovative, culturally responsive interventions that advance the well-being of refugees and marginalized people. Maya is currently pursuing a PhD at 平特五不中鈥檚 School of Social Work under the supervision of Dr. Myriam Denov. Maya鈥檚 doctoral research examines the effects of social and cultural factors on Eritrean refugees鈥 mental health with the goal of developing a novel, culturally sensitive adaptation framework for working with Eritrean refugees. This framework is effectively a set of guidelines which will assist researchers and practitioners in creating adapted mental health interventions that reflect Eritrean refugees鈥 unique needs and world-views. |
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Aliza Hunt is a PhD Candidate at Centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University (ANU), Australia. Aliza is also an Endeavour Postgraduate Scholar; this has facilitated a year-long visiting researcher placement at the Center for Public Mental Health (CPMH) at the University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia and a 3-month internship with the Cultural Consulting Service. Her PhD project is a critical look at assessing the mental health needs of older rural Indonesians. She has undertaken a multistage multi-method approach that includes full enumeration of all 60 and over year olds in ten Indonesian rural villages using a survey approach. This was followed-up by a full enumeration of two of these villages and a selection of participants for in depth qualitative interview. Her work aims to explore prevalence, predictors and treatment of older Indonesians suffering from mood and anxiety type symptoms and critically evaluate the suitability of dominant typologies of mental illness (i.e. ICD, DSM and the Indonesian PPDGJ) for use with older Indonesian villagers. Aliza is also working on projects related to diagnosing and treating depression in the general adult Indonesian population and in advocacy work related to the Indonesian anti-pasung (chaining/restraint) reform movement and the community based mental healthcare movement through her work with CPMH. Aliza鈥檚 work is cross-disciplinary, but she has a background in Psychology, Demography and Indonesian Studies.听 Funding 2017-2018: Endeavour Awards, the Australian Postgraduate Award Scheme, the Australian Research Council Centre for Excellence in Aging Research, the Indonesian Project at the ANU, various departmental and travel grants from Centre for Mental Health Research, Australian National University. 听 |
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Vincent Lalibert茅 is a psychiatrist and a PhD candidate in anthropology at 平特五不中, also part of the Clinician-Investigator Program in the department of psychiatry. His main area of study is the neuroscientific discourse in psychiatry and in other areas related to mental health, such as in contemplative practices. Vincent is also conducting research in social psychiatry and is participating in an ethnographic study with homeless Inuit in Montreal, notably interested in temporal and socio-spatial aspects of sleep patterns. He also has a clinical practice in the Welcome Hall Mission in Montreal, where he provides mental health care to homeless people. Vincent is currently funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Resarch (CIHR), the Fond de Recherche du Qu茅bec en Sant茅 (FRQS) and the 平特五不中 Healthy Brain for Healthy lives (HBHL). |
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Helen Martin is a PhD student at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Srividya Iyer. Her interest in research on serious mental illnesses emerged from her Master鈥檚 training in psychiatric social work and my work experiences in India. Beginning as an intern and then an employee, she contributed to research, clinical, and community based capacity-building activities at the Schizophrenia Research Foundation, India, a WHO Collaborating Center for Mental Health Research and Training in Chennai, India. Her doctoral research at 平特五不中 develops a self-help intervention for young people with serious mental illnesses in India to address and bridge the scarcity of mental health professionals. Her work integrates perspectives from neuroscience, cultural psychiatry, and assistive technology-based services with the goal to globally improve outcomes of serious mental illnesses. Helen is the winner of the Duncan Pedersen Award in Global Mental Health 2017. Funding 2017-2018: (1) Duncan Pedersen Global Mental Health award;听 (2) Graduate Research Enhancement and Travel Awards |
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Fahimeh Mianji听is a PhD candidate in Social and Transcultural Psychiatry at 平特五不中. Prior to her studies at 平特五不中, she obtained her PhD in Psychology in Iran. To further develop her interest in global mental health research, intervention, and policy, Fahimeh completed a Doctoral Fellowship in Global Health Research Capacity Strengthening听(a CIHR-funded Training Grant) and a research fellowship听in Health and Social Policy at the 平特五不中 Institute for Health and Social Policy (IHSP). She has also received clinical training at听the Cultural Consultation Service of the Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal on providing comprehensive clinical assessments and evaluations of psychiatric patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. Fahimeh鈥檚 global mental health research focuses on two areas: the globalization of American psychiatry and immigrants鈥 and refugees鈥 mental health. Studying the globalization of American psychiatry, she conducted her doctoral research in Iran to explain the professional, sociocultural, and political uses of bipolar spectrum diagnosis in the country. Pursuing her clinical and research interest in immigrants鈥 and refugees鈥 mental health care, she is the co-investigator of a two-year research project on 鈥淢ental Health Care for听Linguistic Minorities: Improving Access and Quality of Care听for Farsi-speaking Newcomers in Quebec,鈥 funded by the 平特五不中 Training and Retention of Health Professionals Project for the Health Care Access for Linguistic Minorities Network. |
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D茅bora Noal is an international Graduate Research Trainee in the Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry at 平特五不中.听She is a听Psychologist graduated in 2004,听specialized in public health (2006) and 听with a master's degree in Human Development and Health (2014) at University of Brasilia (Brazil), where she is currently in the fourth year of her PhD. She听started her practice in 2005 in some of the less developed regions of听Brazil, and since 2008听she听has been working as a psychologist at听M茅decins Sans Fronti猫res听and听United Nations Development Programme听(UNDP)听in different countries of the globe: Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Libya, Kyrgyzstan, Guinea, Dominican Republic and Brazil.听Among some other responsabilities, her job at these countries basically rellied on "Mental Health first aid" situations in听disasters. All over these years she has been assigned to firstly develop mental and primary health care strategies post- disasters, towards the local population, and, secondly, train the local psychosocial staff. In doing so, she tries to adapt the work plans to the culture, religion, education and health systems of each country, population and/or ethnicity. In her PhD thesis she aims听to understand different possibilities for mental health intervention strategies during post-disasters applied to the Brazilian public health system. |
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Katherine Pizarro is a doctoral candidate in the Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry at 平特五不中. Before coming to 平特五不中,听Katherine听completed her Master's Degree in International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and her Bachelor's Degree in Cognitive Science at Carleton College. She听has conducted research to inform听the design and evaluation of public health policies and programs in a variety of international settings.听Her research uses both qualitative and听quantitative methods听to understand the social and cultural aspects of health behaviors, including substance use, nutrition, and newborn care.听Her doctoral research will take a participatory research approach to developing and evaluating a program to address the mental wellbeing of indigenous populations in Guatemala. She is a recipient of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship. Awards 2017-2018: (1) Vanier Scholarship, McBurney Latin America Fellowship; (2) Duncan Pedersen Award 2018; (3) Collaborator on Gates Foundation Healthy Minds for Adolescent Mothers: Achieving Healthy Outcomes for the Family (Round 20) |
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Ram P. Sapkota,听MA (Abnormal Psychology), MA (Rural Development), Diploma (Psychosocial Interventions),听is a Psychologist trained in psychosocial interventions, social and cultural psychiatry and rural development. He is currently enrolled in a PhD program at the Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, 平特五不中. He has worked in the field of psychosocial and mental health care for almost a decade during and after armed conflict in Nepal. His areas of interest include political violence and its impact on mental health and wellbeing, psychosocial interventions, dissociative phenomena including trance and possession in mass, cultural concepts of distress, cultural systems of care and global mental health. His current research projects include, Social and Psychological Correlates of Dissociation, Culture-Informed Community Mental Health Promotion, Impact of Political Violence on Mental Health and Wellbeing.听 Graduation: PhD 2018 |
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Funding 2017 - 2018: (1) Graduate Excellence Fellowships in Mental Health Research, Department of Psychiatry;听 (2) 平特五不中 Graduate Mobility Award |
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Past Students
Alice Menezes was a visiting PhD student from Institute of Social Medicine at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ).Her research focuses on the patients鈥 perspectives on the mental health care provided by primary care health teams.
WilliamAffleck was a PhD candidate in the Dept. of Psychiatry at 平特五不中. His doctoral research examined trauma among Tamil men in Sri Lanka, and recently arrived Sri Lankan immigrants to Canada. His interests include trauma disorders, men鈥檚 mental health, mental health systems, and psychiatric research ethics.
Patricia Guimaraes,听Post Doctoral Fellow,听Department of Psychiatry, GHR/CAPS program. Patricia worked on a project on stigma and social exclusion among mentally ill people in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Carol Zavaleta, PhD candidate,听Geography Department, GHR/CAPS program. Carol worked on the theme of Climate Change and Food Security among Amazonian Indigenous Peoples in Peru.
Beatriz Arias Lopez, PhD candidate,听Faculty of Nursing, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia, worked on a project on political violence and subjectivity: a case study in the municipality of San Franscisco, Oriente Antioque帽o, Colombia.
Anne Marie Chomat, MD, PhD, 平特五不中,听Institute of Parasitology,听was in charge of the study on maternal psychosocial distress, stunting and child health among the Mam, in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.
Tanya Lee, MSc,听worked on a project on听maternal psychosocial distress, stunting and child health among the Mam, in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.
Ana Pranjic, undergraduate student who worked with a cocoa cooperative in issues related to global health in Bagua, Northern Peru.
Morganne Blais-McPherson, undergraduate students who was engaged in mental health and social policy in the Oriente Antioque帽o, Colombia.