Ashley is a Master of Public Health student at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health and an Honours Bachelor of Health Sciences graduate from Queen’s University. As someone with lived experience with mental health struggles and barriers to healthcare, much of Ashley’s work and interests focus on health equity, patient education, and community-based support.
In 2023, she cofounded the Unsilenced Movement, a grassroots organization dedicated to raising support and awareness around trauma stemming from a pediatric urological procedure called voiding cystourethrogram, most often performed on young girls. As a former patient herself, Ashley is well-acquainted with the extensive impacts associated with the trauma, though as of now, the trauma is not typically acknowledged by the medical field. As this is slowly changing, however, Ashley is collaborating with urologists and researchers across the United States to produce the first-ever qualitative studies examining long-term psychological impacts, medical post-traumatic stress symptomatology, and healthcare avoidance and distrust associated with the procedure. She hopes to continue research on this overlooked topic, as well as other qualitative research at the intersection of bioethics, healthcare access, children’s rights, and women’s and girls’ health.