Team Leadership

Dr. Gina Ogilvie, MD, MSc, FCFP, DrPH

As Principal Investigator for the team, Gina is a professor at the University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health and holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Global Control of HPV-Related Disease and Cancer. She is also a Senior Advisor, Research at BC Women's Hospital + Health Centre and Assistant Director of the Women's Health Research Institute, and a Senior Public Health Scientist for the BC Centre for Disease Control. Dr. Ogilvie has been influential in setting and directing health policy on reproductive health, sexually transmitted infections, HPV screening, and the HPV vaccine, both in Canada and globally. Her clinical and research focus is on sexually transmitted infections, human papillomavirus, HIV in women and care for marginalized populations. She provides advice and consultation to national and international institutions, including the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, Public Health Agency of Canada, the World Health Organization (WHO), and Ministries of Health on STI, HIV and HPV vaccine policy and programming.

 

Laurie W. Smith RN(C), BN, MPH

Laurie is the Manager of our Research Program overseeing all projects related to elimination of HPV related diseases and cancer. She has over 15 years experience with HPV related diseases, particularly on secondary prevention of cervical cancer. Her research focus is on HPV-based cervix screening and HPV related communication and counselling. She is a member of a variety of regional and national Elimination of Cervical Cancer and HPV working groups. She is also a BC College of Nurses and Midwives certified practice nurse for STI and contraception management.

Meet the Team

  • Maryam AboMoslim, MS(c)

    GLOBAL HEALTH RESEARCH COORDINATOR

    Maryam completed her BSc in Nutritional Science (2018) and is Master of Science candidate in Experimental Medicine with a focus on Global Digital Health and Ethics from the University of British Columbia. She is passionate about both Health Services Research and Women’s Health, specifically in global settings. Maryam is coordinating the ASPIRE research in Rwanda and Uganda, as well as other global health research priorities.

  • Amy Booth, MPH

    RESEARCH PROJECT MANAGER


    Amy has a Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences (2016) and a Master of Public Health (2018) from Queen’s University, where she focused on access to reproductive healthcare. She primarily supporting the HPV self-collection projects across the province, as well as other research activities within the program.

    Publications

  • Quan Hong, MSc, MA, MPH

    DATA ANALYST


    Quan has a Master of Arts in Applied Statistics from York University (Toronto) and completed an MPH at the University of British Columbia. She has several years of experience analyzing data related to cancer prevention/ treatment. Her research interests include HPV vaccination programming and the long-term efficacy of HPV-based cervical cancer screening in both Canadian and global settings.

  • Ashwini Prabhakaran, BA

    RESEARCH ASSISTANT


    Ashwini has a Bachelor of Arts, double major in Psychology and Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice from the University of British Columbia. She has experience working in research settings as well as non-profit organizations, and has a keen interest in global health, women’s health and promoting access to care. Her last role involved facilitating access to mental health services and resources, across the province of British Columbia. As a Research Assistant, she works on several research projects within the program and provides administrative support.

  • Candice Ruck, MSc

    GLOBAL HEALTH RESEARCH COORDINATOR

    Candice has an MSc. in Experimental Medicine from the University of British Columbia, where her work focused on the development of the infant immune system, particularly in the context of in utero HIV exposure. She has also conducted research into public health policy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of health systems on the pandemic response, focusing on Canada, the Asia Pacific region, as well as several LMIC is Asia and Africa. Her research interests include global health, infectious diseases, and maternal and infant health. She is the coordinator for the ASPIRE project based in Uganda and Rwanda

Students and Trainees

  • Md Saiful Alam, MBBS, MPH, MSc

    PhD STUDENT


    Saiful is starting his Ph.D. at the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. He is part of the FOCAL research team that is fighting against cervical cancer worldwide. His overall research goal is to improve women's health by contributing to the elimination of cervical cancer through the lens of prevention. He completed his Master of Science (MSc) degree from the University of Saskatchewan (USASK). Before that, he completed his Master's in Public (MPH) Health degree (major-Epidemiology) from American International University Bangladesh (AIUB) and a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree (MBBS) from SSMC & MH, Bangladesh.

    Publications

  • Hallie Dau, MPH, PhD(c)

    PhD STUDENT


    Hallie is a Canadian Doctoral Scholar at the at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. Hallie obtained her MPH in maternal and child health at the George Washington University where she researched the impact of the Liberian civil war on maternal and child health. Hallie’s research experience includes cervical cancer, colorectal cancer, breastfeeding, contraception, and mixed-methods research. Hallie is working under the supervision of Dr. Gina Ogilvie to understand the social and economic impacts of cervical cancer on women and children in Uganda.

    Publications

  • Nadia Mithani, MPH

    PhD STUDENT


    Nadia has a Bachelor of Science in Food, Nutrition and Health from the University of British Columbia, and a Master of Public Health with a specialization in Global Health from Simon Fraser University. She has several years of experience developing and managing health projects related to nutrition, obesity, tobacco control, HIV/AIDS and sanitation in Canada, Uganda, Jordan and India.

    Publications

  • Gentille Musengimana, MSc

    PhD STUDENT

    Gentille is commencing her Ph.D. journey at the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She is an integral part of the Global Health Research Team, dedicated to the global fight against cervical cancer. Her primary research objective is to enhance women's health by actively contributing to the worldwide campaign to eliminate cervical cancer, with a special emphasis on prevention. Gentille holds a Master of Science (MSc) degree from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, building upon her foundational education with a Bachelor of Science Honours (BSc Honours) in Medical Bioscience from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Most of her previous research experience has been in the field of HIV/AIDS research in Rwanda.

  • Lin Zhou, BSc (Hons)

    MSc STUDENT

    Lin has an Honours Bachelor's of Health Science from the University of Western Ontario. Her research interests include maternal and children's health, global health, and health policy. Lin is currently a Master's of Science student in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, supervised by Dr. Gina Ogilvie. She will be using qualitative methods to explore the social impact of cervical cancer on women and their children in Uganda.

Partners and Collaborators

Dr. Mark Ansermino is the Director of the Center for International Child Health and a professor, researcher and clinician in the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He leads a interdisciplinary research team of engineers and clinicians who develop and evaluate novel technical solutions (devices and applications) to improve the health outcomes of women and children around the world.

Dr. Julie Bettinger, PhD, MPH, is an Associate Professor at the Vaccine Evaluation Center in the Department of Pediatrics at UBC and at Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar. She is also the epidemiologist for the Canadian Immunization Monitoring Program, Active (IMPACT), and the lead investigator for CIRN’s Canadian National Vaccine Safety (CANVAS) network, which monitors the safety of influenza vaccines each year.

Dr. Lori Brotto, PHD, R PSYCH, is the Director of UBC's Sexual Health Laboratory, Executive Director of Women's Health Research Institute, professor at UBC's Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and one of Canada's Research Chair in Women’s Sexual Health. She conducts research on women’s sexual health and difficulties, develops and tests psychoeducational interventions for women with sexual desire and arousal complaints.

Dr. Jan Christilaw, MD, MHSc, is President of BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre and is a co-leader of the Provincial Women’s Health Network. Jan’s contributions to women’s health services in Canada have been extraordinary. In 2007 she won the Federation of Medical Women of Canada’s national leadership award.

Dr. Andrew Coldman is an Emeritus Scientist based at the BC Cancer Research Centre, and has worked as a statistician at the BC Cancer both as a researcher and as Vice President for Preventive Oncology. He has published studies on breast, cervical, colorectal and prostate cancer screening. He analyzes administrative data collected as part of screening delivery, data collected in the HPV FOCAL randomized control trial, and simulates stochastically population based interventions of cancer control. 

Darrel Cook MSc, SCCM, is a clinical virologist with experience in laboratory operations and management. He provided laboratory consulting support to the HPV FOCAL trial and associated adjunct studies using multiple HPV screening tests. His research and publications have centred on HIV diagnostics, chronic viral hepatitis, and human papillomavirus.

Dr. Simon Dobson MA, MBBS, MD, is a pediatric infectious disease specialist and the current Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases at BC’s Children’s Hospital. His main research focus is in the prevention of infections in the adolescent age group and includes vaccines to prevent hepatitis B, meningococcal infections and human papilloma virus (HPV). Dr. Dobson also heads an immunization clinic for children that have had a previous reaction to a vaccine or have allergies that may require special immunization procedures.

Dr. Robine Donken, PhD, is a postdoctoral research fellow with the WHRI and BC Children’s Hospital Research at the Vaccine Evaluation Center (VEC), collaborating on reduced dosing schedules of HPV vaccination with regard to effectiveness and immunogenicity. She has completed her Master in Epidemiology at Utrecht University, at the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), and a PhD at the VU Medical Center, Amsterdam and RIVM, Bilthoven in the Netherlands.

Dr. Eduardo L. Franco, MPH, DrPH, FRSC, FCAHS, OC, is Professor and Chairman, Department of Oncology, and Director, Division of Cancer Epidemiology, McGill University, Montreal. He is mostly known for his contributions to our understanding of human papillomavirus infection as the cause of cervical cancer and to preventing this disease via vaccination and improved screening strategies. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Preventive Medicine.

Laura Gentile is the Director for the BC Cancer Cervix and Colon Screening Programs. Laura has several years of experience assessing, implementing and evaluating population based cancer screening. Laura has been involved with designing and implementing pilot projects for new initiatives as well as province wide programs and policy changes.

Dr. Mark Gilbert is a Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. His areas of applied public health research include gay men’s sexual health, HIV and STI testing, and the evaluation of digital public health services. Dr. Gilbert is also the Medical Director of Clinical Prevention Services at the BC Centre for Disease Control, a Division which applies a public health and clinical syndemic approach to populations affected by STBBI, TB, mental illness, and substance use.

Dr. Jennifer Gillis, PhD, is an epidemiologist and biostatistician with over 10 years of research experience related to HIV, co-infection, and HPV-associated cancers. Her work will focus on HPV vaccination, examining the long-term effectiveness of different dosing schedules using longitudinal cohort data.

Lovedeep Gondara, MS, is a biostatistician with Data and Analytics, BC Cancer where he has worked with the HPV FOCAL group since 2013. Lovedeep’s research interests include reproducible and interactive analytics using open source tools and privacy-preserving machine learning in healthcare.

Dr. Troy Grennan is currently the Physician Lead for the Provincial HIV/STI Program at the BC Centre for Disease Control, as well as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of British Columbia. His research and clinical work currently focuses on HIV and STI prevention, as well as HPV and anal cancer screening, with a particular focus on HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM).

Dr. Anna Gottschlich, PhD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncology at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine and the Population Science and Disparities Research program at Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute.  She conducts research on strategies to improve cancer screening among diverse populations. 

Dr. Janet Hill, PhD, is a Professor of Veterinary Microbiology at the University of Saskatchewan, co-Editor-in-Chief of ISME Communications, and a past President of the Canadian Society of Microbiologists. Dr. Hill’s research interests are in microbial diversity and ecology, and the role of complex microbial communities in animal and human health. She leads the development of DNA sequence barcoding approaches based on the universal cpn60 gene and her lab is the home of cpnDB, a public database of chaperonin sequences.

Dr. Catherine Hogan, MD,CM, MSc, is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in UBC’s Faculty of Medicine, and a Medical Microbiologist at the BCCDC Public Health Laboratory. She also serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Clinical Virology. She completed infectious diseases training (2017) at McGill University, medical microbiology fellowship at Stanford University (2018) and a global health diagnostics fellowship at Stanford University (2020).

Dr. Warner Huh, MD, FACOG, FACS, is the Margaret Cameron Spain Endowed Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in Birmingham. Dr. Huh focuses on studying the rapidly changing practice of gynecologic oncology including surgery and novel therapies, clinical trial mentorship, subspecialty awareness, alternative payment models, and the role of gynecologic oncologists in benign gynecologic surgery.

Dr. Diana N. Ionescu, MD, FRCP(C), FCAP, is a Clinical Professor of Pathology at UBC, Canadian Anatomic and Molecular Pathology (CAMP) and CAMP pathology Oncology Digital Series (CAMP-PODS) course director. Her specific areas of diagnostic expertise are lung, gynecologic and breast pathology. She is an author of over 60 scientific publications and book chapters. Her investigation interests include oncologic pathology and molecular biomarkers, lung cancer and adult health education.

Dr. Mel Krajden, MD, FRCP(C), is the former Medical Director of BC’s Public Health Laboratory and current leader of its Special Projects Team. He is also a Professor Emeritus, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia.  He is an internationally known virologist, with vast experience in HPV as well as HIV and Hepatitis C.

Dr. Marette Lee MD, MPH, FRCSC, is the Provincial Colposcopy Lead for the Cervical Cancer Screening Program at BC Cancer, and a Gynecologic Oncologist at the Vancouver General Hospital and BC Cancer. She is also completed her MPH at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Her research activities relate mainly to lower genital tract and HPV, and she is involved in guideline and program development for cervical cancer screening and colposcopy in British Columbia.

Dr. Aisha Lofters, MD, PHD, is globally recognized as a leader in health equity research. Her research program centres on evaluating and understanding cancer care inequities among marginalized groups, and exploring strategies to address these inequities and improve health outcomes.

Dr. Ruth Martin is a clinical professor at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health. She is also the inaugural director of UBC’s Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education, which was formed in 2006 to facilitate opportunities to enhance the well-being of individuals in custody and reintegration into their communities. Her past roles include chair of the CFPC’s Prison Health Program Committee and co-director of the British Columbia Primary Care Research Network.

Dr. Elisabeth McClymont is a MSFHR and CTN/CANFAR Postdoctoral Fellow in the Departments of Pediatrics and Obstetrics & Gynecology at UBC. She has a focus on viral reproductive infectious diseases and works on a variety of projects including those looking at HPV vaccination in women living with HIV, congenital CMV transmission, and SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy.

Dr. Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH, is the Director of the Center for Healthcare Policy and Research and Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, Davis. She serves on the executive committee for the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is a member of the US Preventive Services Task Force.

Dr. Diane Miller, BSc, MD, FRCSC, is the Division Head of Gynecologic Oncology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UBC and gynaecologic oncologist at VGH. She is also the Provincial Gynecology Tumor Group Chair for the Province of BC, and a member of VCH’s Reserach Institute. She is involved in both clinical trials and in collaboration with translational and basic scientists, and is particularly interested in studying potential screens for early diagnosis and in targeted therapies.

Dr. Sheona Mitchell-Foster, MD, MPH, FRCSC, is an Obstetrician Gynecologist and Assistant Professor with UBC and the Northern Medical Program in Prince George. Dr. Mitchell has a keen interested in reproductive health of marginalized populations and has worked extensively in East Africa on cervical cancer prevention using HPV self-collection for screening. Other areas of current research include perinatal substance use in Northern British Columbia with a focus on aboriginal and underserved populations.

Dr. Deborah Money, BSc, MD, FRCSC, is the Executive Vice Dean in the Faulty of Medicine at UBC, Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and subspecialist in Reproductive Infectious Diseases. She is a globally recognized expert in the field of HPV, and was the Vice President, Research, BC Women’s Hospital. She was the first Canadian President of the Infectious Diseases Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (IDSOG) [a US based organization].

Dr. Joan Murphy, MD, FRCSC, joined the Division of Gynaecologic Oncology in 1988. She transitioned in 2015 from Division of Gynaecologic Oncology at UHN/PMH to Chief and Medical Director of Women's and Children's at Trillium Health Partners. Dr. Murphy achieved Professor rank in 2010 for contributions in the UofT Division to development of gynaecologic oncology including ovarian cancer research and cervical screening and to development of the sub-speciality nationally.

Dr. Carolyn Nakisige is an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist heading the Gynaecologic Oncology department in Uganda Cancer Institute. She pioneered a number of screening clinics in Uganda, and worked on several researches in HPV and cervical cancer prevention. She has trained nurses, midwives and doctors in VIA and cryotherapy, HPV testing and thermocoagulation as well as Colposcopy and LEEP; both nationally and internationally.

Dr. Monika Naus is the Medical Director of the Communicable Diseases & Immunization Service at BCCDC. She is also a professor in the UBC School of Population & Public Health. Her clinical and research interests include planning and evaluation of old and new immunization policy and programs, various aspects of vaccine preventable diseases and implications for future control in the context of immunization, immunization registries, determinants of vaccine uptake and vaccine safety.

Dr. Dirk van Niekirk, MB, ChB, Mmed, FFPath, LMCC, FRCPC, is an Anatomic Pathologist, Medical Leader for the Cervical Cancer Screening Program in British Columbia, and the Director of the Cervical Cancer Screening Laboratory of British Columbia. He is interested in population based screening and the use of primary HPV-based molecular screening for cervical cancer.

Dr. Beth Payne, PhD, is the Digital Health Research Project Manager at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute and a Research Associate in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. Beth is an energetic and focused leader in the digital health research field and an advocate for the equitable use of digital technology as a transformative force in health care.

Dr. Stuart Peacock holds the Leslie Diamond Chair in Cancer Survivorship at SFU. He is Co-Director of ARCC, and Head of the Department of Cancer Control Research at BC Cancer. He an internationally renowned expert in the economics of cancer control and quality of life for those impacted by cancer. He sits of the Board of the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Health and is currently leading several national initiatives on deliberative public engagement in decisions about funding cancer drugs.

Heather Pedersen, MPH, is the Online Sexual Health Manager at the BCCDC, where she manages two digital health services, GetCheckedOnline and SmartSexResource. She also collaborates on a variety of projects related to the implementation of alternative testing modalities such as self-collected sampling and point of care testing.  She has supported projects related to sexual and reproductive health British Columbia and in sub-Saharan Africa for 9 years.

Dr. Lily Proctor is a surgical gynecologic oncologist at the BC Cancer Agency and at VGH and serves as the Provincial cervical cancer colposcopy lead and the Medical Director of the Cervical Cancer Screening Program through the BC Cancer agency. She obtained her Fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at UBC followed by a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology and Public Health at the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health. Research interests include HPV associated malignancies of the lower genital tract including vulvar cancer and cervical cancer.

Simona Powell, MEd, is the Coordinator at Global Health Office & Neglected Global Diseases Initiative at UBC’s Faculty of Medicine at SPPH. She also has experience working as an Associate Director, Global Health and International Relations at UofT’s Faculty of Medicine. Simona has spent 10 years working with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)/ Doctors Without Borders in leadership positions in headquarters in Canada and on overseas field missions in both Asia and Africa.

Dr. Sarai Racey completed her Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto in 2017. Her current research focus includes the implementation of a digital health platform for HPV self-collection in women under-screened for cervical cancer and a tailored messaging intervention to improve uptake of HPV vaccination in BC. Sarai’s research interests include sexual health, infectious diseases, and rural and remote populations

Dr. Angeli Rawat, MPH, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher in Integrated Health Systems for the Global Control of STIs and HPV at UBC. As a health system researcher, she specializes in integrated and decentralized service delivery in low and middle income countries. She is currently assisting with the design, evaluation and scale up of the ASPIRE project in Eastern Uganda.

Dr. Stephen Rulisa, Ph.D., M.B., is a senior lecturer and Head of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at University of Rwanda, School of Medicine and the department of clinical research at University Teaching hospital of Kigali. His primary interests are in Clinical care, Teaching and research and is active in a number of different organisations. Following global health training at Yale he has a passion for strategic problem solving within the health system with the aim of improving clinical care.

Dr. Manish Sadarangani is Director of the Vaccine Evaluation Center at the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute and an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, UBC Department of Pediatrics. He completed his undergraduate medical training, pediatric residency and a DPhil in the UK , and a Fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases in Vancouver. He is involved in pre-clinical vaccine development, multi-center clinical trials and infectious disease epidemiology.

Dr. Inna Sekirov is a Medical Microbiologist in the Public Health Lab at BCCDC and the Program Head for the TB/Mycobacteriology Laboratory. She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor at UBC. She obtained her BSc in Microbiology and Immunology and MD/PhD degrees at UBC. Additionally, she completed her Medical Microbiology Residency at UBC. Her professional interests include the Public Health-related aspects of medical microbiology, clinical applications of microbial genomics and TB/mycobacteriology diagnostic methods.

Jonathan Simkim, MPH, PhD, is the Scientific Director of the BC Cancer Registry at BC Cancer, Provincial Health Services Authority. He is also the Co-Chair of the Canadian Council of Cancer Registries. Jonathan previously completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health, as well as his Master’s of Public Health, at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on applications of geospatial methods to cancer surveillance and population oncology research.

Dr. Joel Singer, PhD, is a professor in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, and is the Programme Head of the Canadian Institute for Health Research, Canadian HIV Trials Network. He is an epidemiologist and statistician who specializes in clinical trials methodology and clinical trials in HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Gavin Stuart, MD, FRCSC, is a Professor in UBC’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He served as the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at that institution from September 2003 through to September 2015 and UBC’s Vice-Provost Health from 2009 to 2016. Dr. Stuart presently remains as an active teacher, clinician and researcher at UBC. He is leading the Gynecologic Cancer Initiative Research Cluster for the Province to improve outcomes for women at risk of or affected by gynecologic cancer in British Columbia.

Dr. Marianne Vidler is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at UBC. Her research focus is on pregnancy complications and maternal mortality in resources constrained settings. Marianne received a MPH at SFU and a doctoral degree in Reproductive and Developmental Science at UBC. Marianne is dedicated to positioning Vancouver as a leader in global maternal and child health.

Other partners:

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