EpiBio Research Day
The EpiBio Research Day is an annual gathering aimed at celebrating research accomplishments and encouraging collaboration within our department. During this event, participants have the opportunity to present their research findings through both oral presentations and poster sessions. Attendees include trainees from a variety of programs, ranging from undergraduate studies to postgraduate programs. We also extend invitations to external researchers to deliver keynote speeches, providing valuable insights from different perspectives. Throughout the day, we acknowledge the outstanding contributions of our researchers with awards for excellence in presentation.
2025
On Monday, April 7th, we were delighted to host the Third Annual EpiBio Research Day in PHFM 1150. Organized by the Western Epidemiology and Biostatistics Student Council (WEBSC), this full-day event brought together students, faculty, and staff to celebrate the exceptional research taking place across the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Statistical & Actuarial Sciences.
The day featured a dynamic mix of oral and poster presentations, showcasing a wide range of innovative projects spanning population health, statistical modeling, and interdisciplinary approaches to critical issues in public health and science.
Keynote Address
Dr. Nicole Redvers
Dr. Nicole Redvers, DPhil, ND, MPH, is a member of the Deninu K’ue First Nation (NWT) and has worked with Indigenous patients, scholars, and communities around the globe her entire career. Dr. Redvers is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and is a Western Research Chair and Director of Indigenous Planetary Health at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University. Dr. Redvers has been actively involved at regional, national, and international levels promoting the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in both human and planetary health research and practice.
Indigenous Health Research: Data and Decolonization
Indigenous Peoples have often been excluded from health research which has led to a data landscape saturated with data that is deficit-based or blaming data, aggregate data, decontextualized data, government priority data, and restricted access data. This presentation will examine these issues, and highlight some of the important nuances that epidemiologist need to be aware of when working with Indigenous Health-related data.
The day was framed by Opening and Closing Remarks from Dr. Kelly Anderson and Dr. Osvaldo Espin-Garcia, whose leadership in psychiatric epidemiology and biostatistics, respectively, helped contextualize the student contributions within broader research frameworks.
We extend our sincere gratitude to all presenters, attendees, and organizers who made this event a resounding success. Your enthusiasm and collaboration continue to strengthen our academic community and advance the frontiers of research at Western.
We look forward to seeing you again next year for another day of connection, learning, and celebration.
2025 EpiBio Research Day Awards
We commend all presenters for their exceptional research efforts and thoughtful contributions to this year’s event. Your dedication and scholarly excellence were truly inspiring.
We are pleased to congratulate the recipients of the following awards:
OVERALL - BEST PHD PRESENTATION
2025 Awardee: Bahareh Kheiri
Poster title: Missing Data in Pragmatic Trials: A Simulation-Based Study
OVERALL - BEST MSC PRESENTATION
2025 Awardees: Yasaman Mohammadi Kamalabadi, Nina Randolph-Koranteng, Edith Otalike, Giuliana Borges
Poster title: The Mediating Effect of Sleep-related Factors and Depression on the Association between Sleep Apnea and Suicide Contemplation: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the 2015-2016 Canadian Community Health Survey
OVERALL - BEST UNDERGRADUATE PRESENTATION
2025 Awardee: Alison Zhang
Poster title: Exploring Bayesian Variational Methods for Survival Data Analysis with R
JUDGES' AWARD - BEST POSTER PRESENTATION
2025 Awardee: Steven Chen
Poster title: Predicting Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number using Heterogeneous Transfer Learning and Multiomic Data
JUDGES' AWARD BEST- ORAL PRESENTATION
2025 Awardee: Alex Esemezie
Poster title: Social Adversity is Causally Linked to Multimorbidity Including Oral Conditions
STUDENTS' CHOICE AWARD - BEST POSTER PRESENTATION
2025 Awardee: Ethan Hesler
Poster title: Structural Determinants of Health, Implementation of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxation, and the Burden of Dental Caries: A Multi-Country Study
STUDENTS' CHOICE AWARD - BEST ORAL PRESENTATION
2025 Awardee: Patricia Nistor
Poster title: Risk stratification algorithms to predict dementia: A systematic review of development and evaluation studies
2024
We were thrilled to host the Second Annual EpiBio Research Day on April 9th in PHFM 1150, where students from our Department showcased their exceptional research. The event, open to both undergraduate and graduate students, featured insightful presentations and discussions.
We're pleased to announce that Dr. Ava John-Baptiste delivered a captivating keynote address, shedding light on economic evaluation to inform Indigenous health policy. Her expertise in health economics and health services research provided valuable insights into this critical area.
Additionally, we were honored to have Dr. Saverio Stranges deliver the Opening Remarks, setting the stage for a day filled with intellectual exchange and collaboration.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all who participated and contributed to the success of this event. Congratulations to the winners of the Judges' and Participants' Awards in the undergraduate, MSc, and PhD categories.
Thank you to everyone who attended and made the Second Annual EpiBio Research Day a memorable experience. We look forward to continuing these enriching discussions in the future.
Keynote Address
Dr. Ava John-Baptiste, PhD
Dr. Ava John-Baptiste is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, where she also serves as Graduate Chair. She is cross appointed to the Department of Anesthesia & Perioperative Medicine and teaches in the Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health. Dr. John-Baptiste applies her expertise in health economics and health services research to inform health policy decisions. She uses a range of methods including evidence synthesis, cost analysis, economic evaluation, modelling, and the linkage of administrative and clinical databases.
Economic evaluation to inform Indigenous health policy
Indigenous people and communities have been working to reclaim Indigenous birth and invest in Indigenous midwifery programs. Persons giving birth who live in First Nations and Inuit communities are required to travel to urban centres at 36-38 weeks gestation to give birth away from home. When seeking to improve perinatal health supports and services, the question posed by Canadian health policy decision makers is, “What is the cost for obstetric evacuation or travel for birth compared to community-based Indigenous-led care?”. Economic evaluation provides a framework for comparing health care options to aid in policy decision making. Mi'kmaq Elders Albert and Murdena Marshall teach the concept of Two-Eyed Seeing, in which we recognize the strengths of Indigenous ways of seeing in addition to the strengths of Western ways. During the keynote address, I will share what our research team has learned while attempting to estimate the costs of obstetric evacuation. A weaving of Indigenous and Western perspectives can help us identify the strengths of economic evaluation and highlight areas for improvement, as we seek to apply this framework to inform Indigenous health policies.
Oral Presentation List
Poster Presentation List
See the photos from the event
2024 EpiBio Research Day Awards
We commend all presenters for their diligent research efforts and outstanding presentations, and extend our congratulations to the recipients of the following awards:
BEST ORAL PRESENTATION
2024 Awardee: Jason Hallarn (PhD candidate)
Poster title: HIV testing among trangender and nonbinary individuals in Canada
Participant’s Choice Poster Award
2024 Awardees: Deepmala Rana Bhat (PhD candidate), Diya Patel (MSc candidate), and Anusha Nair (MSc candidate)
Poster title: Sex Difference in the Association between Sleep and Perceived Stress at Work among Adults in Canada
MPH Poster Award
2024 Awardees: Shaliny Ollegasagrem, Husain Akbar, Xuelan Yang, Netri Kalra, Hannah Shulist
Poster title: The Support Groups for Low-Income Womem Experiencing Postpartum Depression
Undergraduate Poster Award
2024 Awardee: Camryn Kabir-Bahk
Poster title: The Association Between Diabetes Control, Social Class, and Cognitive Function: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA)
MSc Poster Award
2024 Awardee: Marie Lan
Poster title: Systematic Review of Economic Studies Evaluating the Impact of Hypertension Prevention and Modification on Dementia Burden
PhD Poster Award
2024 Awardee: Yhesaem Park
Poster title: Cost-Effectiveness of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV in US Prison Settings
2023
EpiBio Research Day 2023
On April 17th, we hosted our very first EpiBio Research Day, a significant milestone for our Department. The event, which ran from 12:15pm to 3pm, featured captivating poster presentations by both undergraduate and graduate students in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. We were honored to have Dr. Karen Campbell deliver an enlightening keynote speech.
It's worth mentioning that the opening remarks and keynote were relocated to PHFM 3015. Despite this change, the day proceeded smoothly, and the atmosphere was filled with excitement and scholarly engagement.
We extend our sincerest gratitude to all who participated and contributed to the success of our inaugural EpiBio Research Day. It was truly a memorable event that sets the stage for future gatherings.
2023 EpiBio Research Day Awards
Recognizing the hard work and excellent presentations of all participants, especially noteworthy as it's our first EpiBio Research Day, we congratulate the recipients of the following awards:
Judge's Award for Undergraduate
2023 Awardee: Maggie Fong
Judge's Award for MSc
2023 Awardees: Gabrielle Alimorad, Sarah Abdunnabi
Judge's Award for PhD
2023 Awardee: Maitray A. Patel
People's Choice Undergraduate
2023 Awardees: Mariam Park, Cindy Wen, Jenny Zhang, Fatima Zulfiqar
People's Choice MSc
2023 Awardee: Majd Radhaa
People's Choice PhD
2023 Awardee: David Piskin
