People

Meet our research team

Current Team

Silvia Stringhini
Silvia Stringhini
Professor
Rebecca Lawn
Rebecca Lawn
Research Associate
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Dr. Lawn is a Research Associate in the School of Population and Public Health. Previously, she was a Research Associate in the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Lawn gained a first-class BSc (Hons) in Psychology from Newcastle University and received her Ph.D. from the University of Bristol, where she worked between the School of Psychological Science and the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit. Dr. Lawn’s Ph.D. research applied genetic methods such as Mendelian randomization to investigate the causes and consequences of reproductive traits. Her current research focuses on women’s health over the life course and diseases of aging, with a particular interest in the link between experiences of gender-based violence and later life cardiovascular disease.
Zoey Verdun
Zoey Verdun
Postdoctoral Fellow
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Dr. Zoey Verdun is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Stringhini Laboratory at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health. Previously, she was a Research Associate at the Centre for Health Economics & Policy Innovation at Imperial College London, where her work was part of the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease in South Asians. There, she examined income-based inequalities in non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors and preventive care among more than 200,000 adults in the South Asia Biobank, and the role of the built environment in NCD risk, including compliance with tobacco and alcohol zoning regulations around schools. She also designed a school-based behavioural intervention to improve adolescents’ diets and evaluated a community-based health promotion program, both focused on Sri Lanka. Dr. Verdun holds a PhD in Economics from the European University Institute, an MSc in Economics from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and a BA (Honours) in Economics with a Minor in Environmental Studies from the University of Victoria. Her doctoral research examined how people change their lifestyle behaviours after health events such as a heart attack or diabetes diagnosis, as well as household transitions to more plant-based diets.
Amanda Kurowski
Amanda Kurowski
PhD Student
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I am a graduate student in the Genome Science and Technology (GSAT) program at UBC, co-supervised by Dr. Silvia Stringhini and Dr. Michael Kobor. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) from the University of Alberta and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Simon Fraser University. I also work as a nurse at the BC Drug and Poison Information Centre. My current research explores how socioeconomic factors, such as income, and environmental exposures, such as pollution, contribute to biological aging as captured by epigenetic markers. Outside the lab, I enjoy exploring the great outdoors of BC, spending time with my family, and traveling.
Weishen Liu
Weishen Liu
PhD Student
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Weishen is currently pursuing her PhD in Population and Public Health at SPPH under the supervision of Dr. Silvia Stringhini. She received her MSc in Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and her BA in Neuroscience from Bryn Mawr College before joining UBC. Her research focuses on brain aging, with a particular interest in investigating how socioeconomic conditions and environmental exposures across the life course contribute to aging-related cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases. She is also interested in integrating causal inference and machine learning approaches to better understand the mechanisms underlying the health inequities in brain aging.
Kalia Bennett
Kalia Bennett
PhD Student
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Kalia is a current PhD student in Population and Public Health at SPPH supervised by Dr. Silvia Stringhini. She holds a Bachelor of Medical Science (BMSc) specializing in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Western University. Her past research helped to identify factors that affect the efficiency and equity of healthcare quality across different populations. Her doctoral thesis focuses on understanding pathways for how social and environmental conditions impact health and aging outcomes in early-life. She aims to analyze how both individual and neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage becomes biologically embedded through biomarker and omics measures, including estimates of biological age.
Qinlin Yang
Qinlin Yang
MSc Student
Jacqueline Sommer
Jacqueline Sommer
MSc Student
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Jacqueline is an MSc student in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, supervised by Dr. Eva Oberle and Dr. Silvia Stringhini. She holds a Bachelor of Kinesiology from the University of British Columbia and is currently investigating the effects of exercise on ADHD-related outcomes in adults. Her research interests focus on mental health and the potential of exercise as a non-pharmacological approach to symptom management and treatment.
Sunny Wu
Sunny Wu
Practicum Student
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Sunny is a practicum student at the Stringhini Lab and a second-year Master of Public Health (MPH) student at the School of Population and Public Health. She also holds an HBSc in pharmacology from the University of Toronto. Sunny’s current project focuses on the role of social connectedness in mediating the relationship between socioeconomic conditions and functional aging among older adults in Canada. Outside the Lab, she enjoys hiking and watching films.
Lawrence Chen
Lawrence Chen
Research Scientist
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Dr. Lawrence Chen is a Research Scientist with the Stringhini Laboratory at UBC's School of Population and Public Health. He holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of British Columbia and a PhD in Neuroscience from McGill University. His research experience has focused on using large, longitudinal, and international datasets to understand factors that shape health and development across the life course. His doctoral research examined how prenatal maternal mental health and genetic factors are associated with children's mental health and development. His current work examines how socioeconomic conditions and broader societal contexts shape health and aging across populations.
Sarah Park
Sarah Park
Research Scientist
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Sarah is a Research Scientist at the Stringhini Lab. Prior to joining, she completed her BSc Physiology & Neuroscience and MSc Rehabilitation Science at UBC. Sarah supports overall lab coordination and manages the following projects: intimate partner violence and functional aging, and parental leave policy impact on maternal and child health.
Keenan Elliott
Keenan Elliott
Research Scientist
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Keenan is a Research Scientist working with the Stringhini Laboratory at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health. Before joining UBC, he completed his BSc in Molecular Biology and MSc in Parasitology at Simon Fraser University. His work with the Stringhini lab examines the biological and health implications of different exposures across the lifespan to better understand which environments, systems, and behaviours support healthier ageing trajectories.
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Alumni

Name Previous Role / Current Affiliation Started Ended
Shelby Vereecke Research Scientist 2024-10 2026-09
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