911吃瓜

Mikayla Mbogga (Health Sciences)

What is the focus of your research project?
My project is to support an intervention mapping study where we are integrating different sources of data to inform the development of an implementation plan that will support general pediatricians in using a clinical tool to address the pain experience of children with severe neurological impairments in community care. This work is part of a larger project led by Dr. Sharon Hou, Dr. Stephanie Glegg, and Dr. Hal Siden at BC Children's Hospital.

Why is this research important?
This research is important because children living with health complexity, such as those with severe neurological impairments, are considered an equity-denied group who often face barriers to accessing timely and specialty care. This work will support greater capacity building of clinicians who can support these children and families.

What will you be doing in the project?
This summer, I will review and integrate multi-modal data (scoping review, interviews, survey responses) collected from a multi-phased project to create a "map" of the implementation plan. I will also help create an infographic or presentation to help translate some of the findings from this work to clinicians, researchers, and families. 

What do you hope to gain from this experience?
During my time working on this project, I hope to gain skills in knowledge translation, advocacy, and health equity. This project will aid me in pursuing graduate studies in clinical research, public health, or a related field.

Hazel Oh (Psychology)

What is the focus of your research project?
My project is part of the Striving for Wellness in Partnerhood (SWell) study. Swell focuses on developing an accessible digital mental health program to support non-birthing parents, including fathers and 2SLGBTQIA+ partners, during the postpartum period. The project aims to understand the emotional, parenting, and social support needs of non-birthing parents and design a digital program that promotes non-birthing parent well-being and overall family health.

Why is this research important?
The transition to parenthood is an emotionally and physically demanding period marked by significant life changes. Yet non-birthing parents鈥� mental health is often overlooked in healthcare systems and broader societal narratives around parenting. Mental health challenges in either parent impact infant and child development, with long-term effects if parental mental health is left untreated. This research is important to me because it helps create more inclusive and accessible support that recognizes the role of non-birthing parents and promotes healthier outcomes for families. Everyone deserves access to care and support.

What will you be doing in the project?
In this project, I am excited to support the development of the SWell program by assisting with research activities, including literature reviews, data organization, program development, and knowledge mobilization. I will also collaborate with the research team and patient partners to help ensure the program is accessible and responsive to the needs of non-birthing parents.

What do you hope to gain from this experience?
I hope to gain hands-on experience in research and program development while deepening my understanding of interventions, perinatal support, and inclusive, family-centred care. Through this experience, I aim to strengthen my research skills while also growing in my ability to contribute to work that feels both impactful and grounded in real community needs. This opportunity closely aligns with my long-term goal of pursuing a master鈥檚 degree in counselling and building a career in mental health and family support.

Abdirahman Mohamed Hassan (Psychology)

What is the focus of your research project?
My project focuses on understanding the migration journeys of refugee youth and their families from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Specifically, it involves a scoping review of existing literature examining the experiences of refugee youth before, during, and after forced migration and resettlement in Canada.

Why is this research important?
Refugees who have experienced forced migration face distinct challenges when resettling in Canada. Their experiences are sometimes captured under broad immigration literature which can overlook the unique challenges of forced migration from voluntary immigration. Understanding these experiences is essential for developing more responsive interventions and services for refugee youth and families. 

What will you be doing in the project?
I will be leading a scoping review, including writing the study protocol, pre-registering the review protocol, conducting title and abstract screening of identified literature, completing full-text review of eligible studies, and extracting relevant data. I will also contribute to synthesizing and disseminating the findings, including presenting this work, creating an infographic of a summary of findings, and contributing to writing the manuscript.

What do you hope to gain from this experience?
I hope to build my skills in research, strengthen my ability to synthesize research literature, and deepen my understanding of the experiences of refugee youth across the migration journey. These experiences will help me prepare for my graduate studies, as well as strengthen my capacity and interest in contributing to the development of culturally responsive mental health services for refugee populations in Canada. 

Yicun (Amy) Jin and Chunhong Liu (Faculty of Education)

What does your award-winning paper examine?
This paper examins the emotional dimensions of language learning among immigrant adults in Canada through a case study of a community-based EAL literacy program. Drawing on the framework of 鈥渆motions as entanglements鈥� (Sah et al., 2025), we examine how a multimodal pedagogy integrating visual, textual, and embodied forms of expression could create space for hope, agency, and resilience.

What motivated you to pursue this research?
Canada is a major destination for immigrants, many of whom face linguistic, cultural, and emotional challenges during integration. While policies emphasize employability and language acquisition, they often overlook affective experiences. This study explores adult immigrant learners鈥� emotionality in Canada, using multimodality to support expression and promote a more humanizing, affectively attuned approach to education.

What are the main contributions of the study?
This study reveals how emotions circulate across bodies, materials, and discourse, transforming the classroom into a site of emotional relationality. The findings of this study advocate for care-oriented English-as-an-additional-language practices that recognize emotion as central to literacy development. By engaging emotional entanglements through multimodal pedagogy, educators can cultivate inclusive learning environments that support identity formation, resilience, and belonging.

What does receiving this award mean to you at this stage of your doctoral journey?
Amy: As a third-year PhD student, this recognition really feels like both encouragement and a reminder that the community work I鈥檝e been doing matters. Alongside my doctoral studies, I鈥檝e been working as an instructor and program lead in a community-based literacy program, where I work closely with adult learners from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This experience has really shaped how I understand affectivity in adult language learning.

Chunhong: This award is especially meaningful to me as it recognizes the value of multimodality and diverse literacies in the broader scholarly community. It also reflects my ongoing commitment to working with marginalized groups and supporting their participation in linguistic environments that are often unfamiliar and challenging.