Former Post-Doctoral Fellows and Doctoral Students
Leah M Smith (Erin Strumpf, Co-Advisor)
Leah was a doctoral student in epidemiology at McGill from 2010 to 2014. For her thesis, Leah used the regression discontinuity design to assess the impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination on adolescent health outcomes, such as cervical dysplasia, anogenital warts, and indicators of sexual activities. This work was executed under the supervision of Dr. Jay Kaufman (McGill University), Dr. Erin Strumpf (McGill University), and Dr. Linda Lévesque (Queen’s University). Leah also holds an MSc in epidemiology from Queen’s University and a BSc (Honours) in Psychology from Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is currently living in Newfoundland where she is the epidemiologist for the Canadian Cancer Society.
Leah was a doctoral student in epidemiology at McGill from 2010 to 2014. For her thesis, Leah used the regression discontinuity design to assess the impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination on adolescent health outcomes, such as cervical dysplasia, anogenital warts, and indicators of sexual activities. This work was executed under the supervision of Dr. Jay Kaufman (McGill University), Dr. Erin Strumpf (McGill University), and Dr. Linda Lévesque (Queen’s University). Leah also holds an MSc in epidemiology from Queen’s University and a BSc (Honours) in Psychology from Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is currently living in Newfoundland where she is the epidemiologist for the Canadian Cancer Society.
Hailey Banack
Hailey’s dissertation research at McGill was funded by an FRQS doctoral research fellowship, and focused on selection bias in epidemiological research, including conceptual and methodological issues in studying obesity and cardiovascular disease and the "obesity paradox". Her thesis won the two most prestigious awards available at McGill: the Gordon A. Maclachlan Prize which recognizes the most outstanding McGill graduate receiving a doctoral degree in that year in any biological or health sciences, and the Governor General’s Gold Medal which recognizes the most outstanding McGill graduate receiving a doctoral degree in that year across all disciplines. One of her PhD thesis papers also won the Tyroler Prize of the Society for Epidemiologic Research for the best paper published by any student in North America in 2015. She is currently a Banting Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Buffalo.
Hailey’s dissertation research at McGill was funded by an FRQS doctoral research fellowship, and focused on selection bias in epidemiological research, including conceptual and methodological issues in studying obesity and cardiovascular disease and the "obesity paradox". Her thesis won the two most prestigious awards available at McGill: the Gordon A. Maclachlan Prize which recognizes the most outstanding McGill graduate receiving a doctoral degree in that year in any biological or health sciences, and the Governor General’s Gold Medal which recognizes the most outstanding McGill graduate receiving a doctoral degree in that year across all disciplines. One of her PhD thesis papers also won the Tyroler Prize of the Society for Epidemiologic Research for the best paper published by any student in North America in 2015. She is currently a Banting Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Buffalo.
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Tarik Benmarhnia (Nick King, Co-Advisor)
Tarik completed doctoral studies in Epidemiology and Public Health jointly in Montreal (University of Montreal) and Paris (Paris Sud University). His PhD work focused on social vulnerability and the health impacts of climate change. He received an M.Sc in Environmental Toxicology from the Montpellier School of Pharmacy and an M.Sc in Environmental Health Sciences Engineering from the French School of Public Health (EHESP). He worked for one year as environmental scientist at the French National Railway Company (SNCF) in its contaminated soils and sites sector and one year at the French National Institute of Health Education and Prevention (INPES) as health scientist for their national environmental health program. Tarik is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of California at San Diego. |
Patricia Frenz
Patricia was a physician and public health specialist with a Masters and Doctoral degrees in Public Health from the University of Chile. She died on 24 June 2019. Her dissertation research, under the co-supervision of Dr. Jay Kaufman and Dr. Paulina Pino focused on equity of access to health care in Chile using data from national household surveys. At the time of her death she was Director of the University of Chile’s School of Public Health. Her research interests included health inequities, social determinants of health, health reform, health rights and social guarantees.
http://www.uchile.cl/noticias/155001/comunidad-universitaria-despide-a-la-dra-patricia-frenz
Patricia was a physician and public health specialist with a Masters and Doctoral degrees in Public Health from the University of Chile. She died on 24 June 2019. Her dissertation research, under the co-supervision of Dr. Jay Kaufman and Dr. Paulina Pino focused on equity of access to health care in Chile using data from national household surveys. At the time of her death she was Director of the University of Chile’s School of Public Health. Her research interests included health inequities, social determinants of health, health reform, health rights and social guarantees.
http://www.uchile.cl/noticias/155001/comunidad-universitaria-despide-a-la-dra-patricia-frenz
Lena Shah (Tim Brewer, Co-Advisor)
Lena Shah was a Steinberg Global Health Postdoctoral Fellow at McGill from 2015 to 2017. She received her PhD in Epidemiology from McGill University and a Master´s of Community Health from the University of Manitoba. Lena spent past three years in Lima, Peru undertaking her doctoral research on the role of household contact tracing in a tuberculosis (TB) endemic area. Previously she was a Field Epidemiologist (2006-08, cohort 32) with the Canadian Field Epidemiology Program (CFEP) of the Public Health Agency of Canada placed at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control in Vancouver. Lena’s collaboration on the investigation of a TB outbreak on Vancouver Island resulted in a co-authored publication in the New England Journal of Medicine (2011). Her areas of interest include field epidemiology, transmission of TB, HIV and sexually transmitted infections, social network analysis and applied public health research. She currently works for Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
Lena Shah was a Steinberg Global Health Postdoctoral Fellow at McGill from 2015 to 2017. She received her PhD in Epidemiology from McGill University and a Master´s of Community Health from the University of Manitoba. Lena spent past three years in Lima, Peru undertaking her doctoral research on the role of household contact tracing in a tuberculosis (TB) endemic area. Previously she was a Field Epidemiologist (2006-08, cohort 32) with the Canadian Field Epidemiology Program (CFEP) of the Public Health Agency of Canada placed at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control in Vancouver. Lena’s collaboration on the investigation of a TB outbreak on Vancouver Island resulted in a co-authored publication in the New England Journal of Medicine (2011). Her areas of interest include field epidemiology, transmission of TB, HIV and sexually transmitted infections, social network analysis and applied public health research. She currently works for Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
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Jeremy Labrecque
Broadly speaking, Jeremy is interested in the relationship between poverty and child health. Methodologically, he is interested in using exogenous variation to identify causal effects. He is also interested in policy evaluation, which is where his two previously mentioned interests intersect. For his thesis work, Jeremy used data from the Pelotas Birth Cohort to measure the impact of Bolsa Família, the Brazilian conditional cash transfer program, on maternal and child health outcomes. He is currently a Research Scientist at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, in collaboration with Sonja Swanson. |
Loreto Villanueva
Loreto holds a Master’s degree in Public Health with specialization in Epidemiology, from the Florida International University. She has developed her career working on socioeconomic and racial inequities in health. She completed a doctoral degree the University of Chile under Dr. Kaufman's supervision on the effect of neighborhood in health, and analysis of geographical inequalities in mortality. The aim was to analyze the distribution of standardized mortality rate in Santiago and the relationship with socio-economic characteristics of each census track using a Bayesian approach for small areas. She is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Promotion for Women and Newborns at the University of Chile.
http://www.uchile.cl/portafolio-academico/impresion.jsf?username=loreto.villanueva
Loreto holds a Master’s degree in Public Health with specialization in Epidemiology, from the Florida International University. She has developed her career working on socioeconomic and racial inequities in health. She completed a doctoral degree the University of Chile under Dr. Kaufman's supervision on the effect of neighborhood in health, and analysis of geographical inequalities in mortality. The aim was to analyze the distribution of standardized mortality rate in Santiago and the relationship with socio-economic characteristics of each census track using a Bayesian approach for small areas. She is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Promotion for Women and Newborns at the University of Chile.
http://www.uchile.cl/portafolio-academico/impresion.jsf?username=loreto.villanueva
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Corinne Riddell (Sam Harper, Co-Advisor)
Corinne graduated with a BMath degree with Honours in Statistics from Waterloo, followed by an MSc in Statistics with a Biostatistics Option from University of British Columbia. Her masters thesis on an adaptive clinical trial design for multiple sclerosis research was awarded the Marshall Prize in 2011. As a doctoral student in epidemiology at McGill, Corinne was supported by fellowships from both NSERC and CIHR, and earned her PhD in Epidemiology in 2016 with a thesis that examined hospital-level factors that impact risk of cesarean delivery in first-time mothers and mothers with previous cesarean delivery. She is completed a post-doctoral fellowship at McGill studying time-trends in racial mortality disparities in the US and Canada, with an emphasis on decomposition and data visualization. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at UC Berkeley. |
Michelle Dimitris (Robert Platt, Co-Advisor)
Michelle obtained her PhD (epidemiology) student under the co-supervision of Dr. Jay Kaufman and Dr. Robert Platt. Previously she completed her MSc (epidemiology) at Queen’s University, and was a Data Analyst within the Centre for Global Child Health at the Hospital for Sick Children, as well as an Analyst at the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Michelle’s research interests include process evaluation of policies/interventions in resource-poor settings, data science/organization, and measurement error/information bias as they pertain to comparisons of culturally diverse settings. Her PhD thesis focused on methods for studying on gestational weight gain among twin pregnancies. She was awarded an FRQS doctoral award in May 2018. Michelle is a devoted Toronto Maple Leafs fan, and survived being outnumbered in Montreal. She is currently a post-doctoral fellowship under the supervision of Deshayne Fell at the University of Ottawa.
Michelle obtained her PhD (epidemiology) student under the co-supervision of Dr. Jay Kaufman and Dr. Robert Platt. Previously she completed her MSc (epidemiology) at Queen’s University, and was a Data Analyst within the Centre for Global Child Health at the Hospital for Sick Children, as well as an Analyst at the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Michelle’s research interests include process evaluation of policies/interventions in resource-poor settings, data science/organization, and measurement error/information bias as they pertain to comparisons of culturally diverse settings. Her PhD thesis focused on methods for studying on gestational weight gain among twin pregnancies. She was awarded an FRQS doctoral award in May 2018. Michelle is a devoted Toronto Maple Leafs fan, and survived being outnumbered in Montreal. She is currently a post-doctoral fellowship under the supervision of Deshayne Fell at the University of Ottawa.
Oduro Oppong-Nkrumah (Ari Nandi, Co-Advisor)
Oduro was a Queen Elizabeth II Common Threads through the Commonwealth (QES-CTC) Scholar who obtained a a PhD in Epidemiology under the supervision of Drs. Jay Kaufman and Ari Nandi in December 2019. He is a physician and holds a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University. He previously served as a clinician and medical director in a rural hospital in Ghana, where he focused on maternal health, infectious diseases and quality improvement. His interests include epidemiological methods, public health ethics and the evaluation of large-scale interventions. His PhD thesis focused on causal inference techniques applied to rural-urban health disparities in maternal and child health outcomes in Ghana. He plays the bass guitar and dreams of forming his own jazz band some day. He is currently a Research Analyst at Analysis Group in Montreal.
Oduro was a Queen Elizabeth II Common Threads through the Commonwealth (QES-CTC) Scholar who obtained a a PhD in Epidemiology under the supervision of Drs. Jay Kaufman and Ari Nandi in December 2019. He is a physician and holds a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University. He previously served as a clinician and medical director in a rural hospital in Ghana, where he focused on maternal health, infectious diseases and quality improvement. His interests include epidemiological methods, public health ethics and the evaluation of large-scale interventions. His PhD thesis focused on causal inference techniques applied to rural-urban health disparities in maternal and child health outcomes in Ghana. He plays the bass guitar and dreams of forming his own jazz band some day. He is currently a Research Analyst at Analysis Group in Montreal.
Former Research Assistant (and Designer of this Web Page)
Lena Dolman
Lena holds a Master's in Human Genetics from McGill University. At McGill she worked on systematic reviews and analysis projects on the contribution of genomic research to the understanding and explanation of racial disparities in health. Currently she is Operations Manager for the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health in Toronto, Ontario (www.genomicsandhealth.org). In July 2018, she began medical school at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
Lena holds a Master's in Human Genetics from McGill University. At McGill she worked on systematic reviews and analysis projects on the contribution of genomic research to the understanding and explanation of racial disparities in health. Currently she is Operations Manager for the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health in Toronto, Ontario (www.genomicsandhealth.org). In July 2018, she began medical school at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.