Trainee Research Presentation

Helen Okoye, Ph. D., University of British Columbia

Presentation Title: Intersecting social statuses, structural drivers, and power dynamics in adolescent girls’ and young women’s sexual and reproductive health risks and vulnerabilities in sub-Saharan Africa

Bio: Helen Okoye is a third year Ph.D. student at the University of British Columbia School of Nursing. She is a registered nurse, midwife, and public health nurse educator. She holds a B. Sc and M.Sc. degrees in nursing. She is an experienced clinical nurse practitioner and nurse educator. She has contributed to the advancement of nursing for many years, both in diploma and baccalaureate nursing programs. She is a fellow of the West African College of Nursing and has been involved in outreach programs of the college in southeast, Nigeria. Her research interests are in the areas of maternal, child and adolescent health. She has published articles, presented conference papers, and attended several conferences locally and internationally. She has a passion for making significant contributions in nursing, locally and globally.

Sabrina Ge

Presentation Title: Adolescent Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Reward Processing

Bio: Sabrina obtained her B.Sc. in Integrated Science (Psychology and Microbiology) from UBC. Her interests lie in investigating factors that may confer vulnerability to depression, including changes in sex hormone levels, deficits in hedonic and reward processing as well as perfectionistic personality traits and interpersonal behaviours.

Cara Anne Davidson, MSc

Presentation Title: MPOWER: Impacts of COVID-19 Physical Distancing on Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence at Home in Canada

@CaraADavidson

Bio: Cara attended Western University from 2016-2020, where she got her Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences and developed an unfortunate dependency on coffee. Her research interests revolve around women’s health, including topics like breastfeeding, maternal-infant health, and intimate partner violence. The thesis of her MSc examines the influence(s) of income on experiences of intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is also working on side projects regarding maternal decision making regarding a COVID-19 vaccine for children and the unique health impacts faced by women with disabilities who experience violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cara is supported by the Ontario Graduate Scholarship and again, copious amounts of coffee.

Laura Pritschet, University of California Santa Barbara

Presentation Title: Applying dense-sampling to reveal dynamic endocrine modulation of large-scale functional brain networks across a human menstrual cycle.

Bio: Laura Pritschet is a graduate student in Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She leverages techniques from network neuroscience and neuroendocrinology to explore how sex steroid hormones impact human brain function across hormonal transition periods. The goal of her research is to improve the utility of sex hormones as markers of vulnerability for neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders that are disproportionately skewed towards women. Additionally, Laura is passionate about women’s health research and is an advocate for women’s representation in STEM.

Natalie Brown, Ph.D., University of British Columbia

Presentation Title: Assessing Different Presentations of Low Desire: An Eye-tracking Investigation

Bio: Natalie Brown is a PhD student in the UBC Clinical Psychology program, working under the supervision of Drs. Lori Brotto and Alan Kingstone. She completed her MA in Clinical Psychology at UBC, and her thesis explored the cognitive mechanisms underlying sexual attraction and desire, with a specific focus on asexuality and Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder. She is also involved with IMMERSIVE, a study investigating women’s subjective sexual responses to virtual reality (VR) erotica, and she plans to evaluate VR as a clinical tool for the treatment of genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder (GPPPD) in her PhD. Natalie is also one of the coordinators of the COVERS study, which investigates the short- and long-term impacts of COVID-19 related social changes on sexual and reproductive health. Overall, her research program aims to improve our understanding of sexual difficulties and develop evidence-based interventions for individuals with distressing sexual concerns.