Students and Trainees

Carol-Anne Vallée, MD, 

Team: Dr. Sarah Munro, Health Professional Trainee

Family Planning Fellow – Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, working on the youth access to contraception study.

Enav Zusman, MSc, PharmD, PhD Student

Team: Dr. Sarah Munro

Enav Zusman is a PhD student in in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) – Faculty of Medicine. Prior to commencing her PhD studies, Enav obtained a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) and MSc in Experimental Medicine from UBC and a BSc in Medical Sciences from Tel Aviv University (Israel). As a pharmacist, Enav plans to combine her clinical knowledge and experience with her research work to better support medication safety and effectiveness during pregnancy to improve patient care. Enav’s doctoral research is supported by a Killam Doctoral Scholarship.
Research Interests:
  • Pharmacoepidemiology
  • Perinatal epidemiology
  • Reproductive health
  • Mental health during and after pregnancy

Kate Wahl, MSc, PhD Student, 

Team: Dr. Sarah Munro

Research Interests:

  • Knowledge translation in health policy settings
  • Access to abortion and reproductive health services
  • Health equity for people with endometriosis

To learn more about her research and projects, please visit: www.katewahl.com

View Kate’s publications here

Follow Kate

Maple Lei, Biochemistry Undergraduate,UBC

Team: Dr. Sarah Munro (Work Learn Student)

Maple Lei (she/her) is a 5th year Biochemistry student at UBC and a project assistant at CART-GRAC. She designs project websites to support research and manages social media accounts for CART-GRAC. 

Paula Pinzón, MPH, PhD Student, 

Team: Dr. Sarah Munro and Dr. Wendy Norman

Paula Pinzón is a PhD student in the Women+ and Children’s Health Sciences program – Dept. Obstetrics and Gynecology – Faculty of Medicine
Research Interests:
  • Abortion
  • Contraception
  • Family Planning
  • Global Health
  • Health Policy
  • Knowledge Translation

Bronte Johnston, MSc, PhD Student

Team: Dr. Wendy Norman

Bronte Johnston (She/Her) is a PhD Student in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. She previously attended McMaster University in the Bachelor of Health Sciences and the Masters of Health Sciences Education Programs. Bronte’s research at UBC focuses on improving contraception equity, particularly for youth. In addition to her research at UBC, she is a Part-Time Instructor at McMaster where she co-teaches an undergraduate perinatal and reproductive health class and is a Research Fellow in Midwifery and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Research Interests:
  • Contraception Access
  • Reproductive Healthcare Equity
  • Youth Care
  • Perinatal Epidemiology
  • Medical Education

Evelyn George,  MSc, RM(P)

Team: Dr. Sarah Munro

Evelyn George, RM(P), is completing an MSc in the Women+ and Children’s Health Sciences program – Dept. Obstetrics and Gynecology – Faculty of Medicine
Research Interests:
  • Indigenous health
  • Indigenous midwifery
  • Indigenous experiences and approaches to family planning
  • Sexual and reproductive health
  • Knowledge translation

Piper Scott-Fiddler, MSc

Team: Dr. Sarah Munro

Samantha Martin-Ferris, MSc

Team: Dr. Sarah Munro

Zeba Khan, MSc

Team: Dr. Sarah Munro 

Zeba Khan is a Research Trainee with the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences & Contraception and Abortion Research Network

Research Interests:

  • Experiences of Immigrants and Refugees in accessing healthcare services
  • Sexual and Reproductive Health
  • Women’s Health
  • Knowledge Translation
  • Digital Health

Jennifer Zhang, BKin, MD Student

Team: Dr. Wendy Norman

Jennifer Zhang is a MD Student at UBC and a student researcher with the CART-GRAC Research Network. She is working on medication abortion reviews as part of the greater How Far is Too Far project to evaluate the need for access to emergency care following medication abortion.
Research Interests:
  • Abortion and contraception
  • Rural access to healthcare
  • Sexual and reproductive health

Isabelle St-Martin, BSc, MSc Student

Team: Dr. Wendy Norman, Dr. Abdul-Fatawu Abdulai

Isabelle St-Martin is completing her Master of Science in Medical Physics at the University of British Columbia. In addition to her studies, she is passionate about researching educating, and advocating for sexual and reproductive health. She joined the CART Access Project in Summer 2023, where she is reviewing global experiences of contraception and abortion access.
Research Interests:
  • Contraception and abortion
  • Sexual and reproductive health
  • Sexualized violence prevention

Sabrina Lee, MD, MSc

Team: Dr. Wendy Norman

Sabrina Lee (she/they) will be starting the Advanced Training in Family Planning at the University of British Colombia in July 2024 following the completion of their Obstetrics and Gynecology residency at the University of Manitoba. She has completed an MSc Reproductive & Sexual Health Research at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and an MSc Health Services Research with an emphasis in Health Policy at the University of Toronto. She aspires to build a clinical practise safely serving marginalized populations and performing research focusing on reproductive rights using anti-oppressive frameworks.
Research Interests:
  • Abortion care
  • Contraception
  • Healthy sexuality
  • Health policy
  • Health equity

Clare Heggie, MA, PhD Student

Team: Dr. Martha Paynter

Clare Heggie is a PhD student at the University of New Brunswick – Interdisciplinary Studies
Research Interests:
  • Reproductive health and criminalization
  • Abortion and contraception
  • Rural health

Agnes Kyamulabi, MA, MSc Student

Team: Dr. Wendy Norman

Agnes Kyamulabi is a student at University of British Columbia doing MSc. in Population and Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine. She is a researcher and committed social & health development professional with experience in child protection, adolescent health, policy analysis, designing strategies and implementing development activities that aim at addressing both social, health and economic needs of children (adolescents), youth and women. She is a ToT of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. Agnes holds a PGD in Monitoring and Evaluation from Uganda Management Institute; M.A in Development Studies with a major in Children and Youth Studies from Erasmus University Rotterdam – Netherlands, and a BA in Development Studies from Makerere University (Uganda). Agnes wishes to further interact with forces that may stop adolescents and women from realizing their potential of which access to SRH services and menstrual health education is one. Agnes has keen interest in using research to inform practice as well as documenting learnings from practice to make progress.

Research Interests:
  • Adolescent Sexual & Reproductive Health
  • Abortion & Contraception
  • Knowledge Translation
  • Digital Health/Health Promotion
  • Violence & Injury Epidemiology
  • Trauma-Informed Care
  • Social Exclusion & Inequality
  • Community Engagement

Victoria Paller, BHSc, MSc Student

Team: Dr. Sarah Munro and Dr. Laura Schummers

Victoria graduated from the University of Ottawa with an Honours Bachelor of Health Sciences Degree in 2022. She is currently completing her MSc in the WACH program at UBC under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Munro and Dr. Laura Schummers. Victoria’s research focuses on qualitative data and using existing literature to improve sexual and reproductive health access, policy, education, and delivery in Canada.

Research Interests:
  • Abortion and Contraception
  • Sexual and reproductive health care access
  • Education, policy, and delivery.

Dr. Nafis Rahman, MBBS, MPH Student

Team: Dr. Wendy Norman

Dr. Rahman is a practicum student at CART GRAC. She completed her M.B.B.S. (Bachelor in Medicine and Surgery) and an MPH (Major in Epidemiology) in Bangladesh. She has 3 years of experience working in different public health organizations, including Jhpiego Bangladesh (Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics), where she worked as a consultant (National Coordinator) to implement the Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) project in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Research Interests:
  • Contraception and Abortion Access
  • Substance use and mental health
  • Health policy
  • Climate change and reproductive health

Temulun Bagen, MSW Student

Team: Dr. Stephanie Begun

Temulun Bagen is completing her Master of Social Work at University of Toronto Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. She is currently completing her work placement at St. Michael’s Hospital in the outpatient gynecology clinic. She is a research assistant for projects with Dr. Stephanie Begun, including Sharing in the Healing Journey, researching expressive arts-based group therapy for families who have experienced intimate partner violence, and also The CART Access Project on advancing abortion access for underserved populations, as part of the Youth Wellness Lab research team.
Research Interests:
  • Reproductive health and intimate partner violence
  • Abortion for underserved populations

Sarmitha Sivakumaran, HBSc, Research Trainee

Team: Dr. Stephanie Begun

Sarmitha is a Research Trainee at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. She also recently completed her Honours Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences from the University of Toronto.

Research Interests:

  • Abortion
  • Community-Based Participatory Research
  • Health Policy
  • Knowledge Translation
  • Spinal Cord Injuries

Gajathree (Gaja) Ananthathurai, MSW Student

Team: Dr. Stephanie Begun

Gaja is a MSW student at the University of Toronto, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work.
Research Interests:
  • Reproductive Justice
  • Gender-Based Violence
  • Trauma-Informed Mental Healthcare
  • Health Policy & Experiences of Equity-Deserving Groups in Accessing Healthcare

Ayla Arhinson, BSW Student, Youth Research Assistant

Team: Dr. Stephanie Begun

Ayla is a BSW student at York University and a Youth Research Assistant at The Youth Wellness Lab
Research Interests:
  • Sexual & Reproductive Health
  • Abortion & Contraception
  • Trauma-informed Approaches to Health Care

Hajar Seiyad, BSc, Youth Researcher

Team: Dr. Stephanie Begun

Hajar Seiyad studied Mental Health Studies and Political Science at the University of Toronto. She is a research assistant with Dr. Stephanie Begun at the University of Toronto’s Youth Wellness Lab and also works with Dr. Sarah Munro at the University of British Columbia, investigating national youth access to contraception. Hajar is passionate about amplifying youth voices and building an equitable future for all, by all.

Research Interests:

  • Youth Access to Contraception
  • Health Policy and Equity

Cam Bautista, BCYC Student, Youth Lab Coordinator

Team: Dr. Stephanie Begun

Cam Bautista is a Child and Youth care student, completing their Bachelor of Child and Youth Care at Humber College.

Research Interests:

  • Abortion
  • Reproductive Justice
  • Queer and Trans Affirming Healthcare

CARSI Students

The Contraception Access Research Student Initiative (CARSI) is a medical student collaboration within CART-GRAC. This group was founded by UBC medical students interested in reproductive health and family planning. Sharing the same goals developed by CART-GRAC, CARSI hopes to support women’s equitable access to high-quality family planning knowledge, methods, and services.

Students involved in CARSI have the opportunity to develop and execute their own research questions under the guidance of expert scholars within CART-GRAC. This experience encourages medical students to develop both clinician and scientist skills through managing independent projects, and collaborating with community, academic and healthcare experts. In addition, involvement with CARSI promotes the CanMED competencies of Medical Expert, Communicator, Collaborator, Health Advocate, Scholar, and Professional.

Lingsa Jia (CARSI Team Co-Lead, UBC Faculty of Medicine)

Ann Hsu-Lin (CARSI Team Co-Lead, UBC Faculty of Medicine)

April Lu (CARSI Team Co-Lead, UBC Faculty of Medicine)

Elisabeth De Marchi (UBC Faculty of Medicine)

Jennifer Clune (UBC Faculty of Medicine)

Sara Lynskey (UBC Faculty of Medicine)

Ruphen Shaw (UBC Faculty of Medicine)

Trainee Alumni

Ali Fuchshuber, RN, MPH/MSN student (School of Population and Public Health, School of Nursing, UBC)

 

Andrea Carson, PhD (MA, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Nursing, Dalhousie University)

 

Claire Styffe, BA &Sc., MPH student (School of Population and Public Health, UBC) 

 

Dahn Jeong, MSc, PhD Student (School of Population and Public Health, UBC)

 

Emma Cameron, B.Sc (Hons), MA Health Promotion Candidate (Dalhousie University)

 

Kira Knight, BSc. (Work Learn Student, Global Resource Systems, UBC) 

 

Lauren Kean, BSc, Medical student (University of British Columbia) 

 

Madeleine Ennis, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow (Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, UBC)

 

Mahan Maazi, BSc student, (Work Learn Student, IntSci, Faculty of Science, UBC) 

 

Michaela Shulman, Medical student (University of Montreal) 

 

Mika Ohtsuka, BSc, MPH, PhD Student (School of Population and Public Health, UBC)

 

Ziwa Yu, MScN (Dalhousie University)

 

Past Summer Students:

Natalia Malagon (BCCHR Institue, Mini Med Summer Student //  SFU Faculty of Science)

Eric Blachut (McGill University Faculty of Arts, Summer Student)

Suhani Thakore (UBC Faculty of Medicine, Summer Student)

Carmen Wong (UBC Faculty of Science, Summer Student)

Angie Xiong (UBC Faculty of Medicine, Summer Student)

Adriana Mejia-French (UBC Faculty of Medicine, Summer Student)

Sandeep Chatha (UBC Faculty of Medicine, Summer Student)

Emily Teng (University of California, Los Angeles Faculty of Economics, Summer Student)

Marek Blachut (University College London Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Summer Student)

Hannah Rahim (University of Calgary Faculty of Health Sciences, Summer Student)

Marabeth Kramer (UBC Faculty of Medicine, Summer Student)

 

Past Volunteers:

Brian William Vickers 

Mani Asgharpour

Sofia Villarreal

Tina Gao (UBC Faculty of Science)

Winnie Lee (UBC Faculty of Medicine)