大象传媒

Samantha Pollard

Dr. Samantha Pollard is an Investigator and Health Economist at BC Children鈥檚 Hospital Research Institute and Assistant Professor of Professional Practice within the Faculty of Health Sciences at 大象传媒.

Dr. Pollard鈥檚 research program generates patient-driven data and evidence for post-market oncology innovation. Her interests include patient-oriented clinical trial design, clinical and economic evaluation of novel genomic technologies and treatments, as well as decision support intervention development. Dr. Pollard combines trial, administrative, and preference-based data to generate evidence guiding access and uptake decisions.

Dr. Pollard is looking for motivated graduate students with an interest in cancer research.

Applicants must meet minimum requirements for admission to the MSc or PhD program at the Faculty of Health Sciences, have a strong academic track record, as well as excellent communication and organizational skills. Candidates with an interest in qualitative, mixed methods, and health economics are preferred.

Interested applicants can send an email including cover letter (include a brief introduction of yourself, your academic background, relevant experiences and research interests), transcripts, and CV to spollard@sfu.ca

Nicole Catherine

Dr. Nicole Catherine鈥檚 research aims to help leaders in government and public health create and implement programs that prevent problems early in childhood and promote lifelong health and wellbeing. She works closely with communities and service providers to make sure the perspectives of children and families are centered and prioritized. Dr. Catherine employs various research approaches including community-engaged research methods, survey and semi-structured interviews, randomized controlled trial evaluation, and longitudinal data. Her current research explores the following questions:

• What matters most to families who often don鈥檛 get the support they need?
• How can we prevent mental health problems early in life, before they start?
• How can we adapt prevention programs for different cultures?
• What can large datasets tell us about what works best, for different children, and in what contexts?
• How can we monitor and evaluate the success of child health programs and policies?
   

Dr. Catherine invites applications from dedicated and motivated individuals interested in pursuing doctoral studies with a focus on child health and early prevention of adversities. Applicants with demonstrated skills in academic writing and data analysis are preferred. Prospective candidates must satisfy the admission criteria to the PhD program in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Additionally, candidates must have a background in a related field (e.g., health sciences, psychology) as well as expertise in quantitative data analysis preferably using SAS, R or similar; academic writing; a strong academic record; and excellent oral and written communication skills.

Interested applicants can send an email including: a one-page cover letter that clearly describes your child health research interests and relevant experiences, transcripts, and CV to nicole_catherine@sfu.ca

The successful candidates are expected to apply for external funding (such as CIHR, SSHRC, MSFHR doctoral awards), as well as faculty-level graduate fellowships. Please reach out early to talk about your background and child health research goals, and to allow enough time to prepare a funding application.

Stephanie Cleland

The Cleland Lab, based at the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) at 大象传媒 (大象传媒) and the Legacy for Airway Health at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI), is seeking two highly motivated graduate students (MSc or PhD) to join ongoing research projects investigating the chronic health effects of wildfire smoke exposure in Canada.

Students will contribute to ongoing epidemiologic studies investigating the chronic health effects of wildfire smoke in Canada. These research projects are comprised of interdisciplinary teams of scientists from 大象传媒, VCHRI, UBC, the BC Centre for Disease Control, and more.

Each student will lead data-driven analyses investigating the associations between multiyear wildfire smoke exposure and respiratory and neurocognitive health outcomes across the life course.

In addition to analyzing health and air quality datasets and conducting epidemiologic analyses, students will have the opportunity to present their findings in peer-reviewed publications and at academic conferences. 

Prospective candidates must meet the minimum requirements for admission to the MSc or PhD program in FHS and be able to start in September 2026. Special consideration will be given to candidates with the following qualifications:

• Strong interest in environmental health, climate change, & quantitative research
• Demonstrated proficiency in computer or data science. Prior R experience an asset
• Experience working with large datasets & applying epidemiologic methods
• Strong communication & writing skills
• Ability to work independently & in a team
• Resourceful & able to problem solve
   

To apply, please submit a cover letter detailing qualifications and research interests, a current CV, and unofficial transcripts via email to Dr. Stephanie Cleland at stephanie_cleland@sfu.ca. Application packages should be received by November 15, 2025.

Download a PDF of the role description

Kanna Hayashi

Dr. Hayashi is looking for students wishing to pursue an MSc or PhD degree or postdoctoral research in her program of research on substance use. Her research aims to inform public health-oriented and equity-promoting approaches to laws, policies and programs related to substance use and thereby support health and well-being of people who use drugs. Areas of particular interests include harm reduction and anti-carceral approaches to substance use, human rights, substance use treatment, social epidemiology,  community-based participatory action-oriented research and mixed-methods research.

Applicants must meet minimum requirements for admission to the MSc or PhD program at the Faculty of Health Sciences and have a strong academic record, relevant work or research experiences and excellent oral and written communication skills. Preference will be given to those with strong backgrounds in epidemiology or quantitative research on social issues and a record or the potential ability of community-engaged research.

Interested applicants can send an email including a cover letter (including a brief introduction of yourself, your academic background and relevant experiences, and research topics of your interest), transcripts, and CV to: kanna_hayashi@sfu.ca.

William Hsiao

Dr. Hsiao鈥檚 group combines semantic web technologies with genomics technologies to address infectious disease challenges and improve public health practices. His team is currently leading the data harmonization effort for the national  to ensure genomic data and relevant contextual information are efficiently managed for public health surveillance and for downstream epidemiological and virology research. They apply text-mining, ontology, and other 鈥渒nowledge engineering鈥� technics to achieve this goal. His team also applies high-throughput sequencing technologies to study microbes and their environments. His team is always looking for self-motivated and friendly students and postdoctoral fellows to join their diverse team. Students with backgrounds or interest in public health, infectious diseases, bioinformatics, genomics, microbiology, and computer science are encouraged to apply.

Interested applicants can send an email including a cover letter (introduce yourself, your academic background and interests), transcripts, and CV to wwhsiao@sfu.ca.

Elizabeth King

Dr. King is an Infectious Diseases physician and Assistant Professor with the Faculty of Health Sciences at 大象传媒. She is looking for motivated and enthusiastic graduate students with an interest in quantitative research in women鈥檚 health outcomes. Dr. King鈥檚 research program seeks to understand and diminish health inequities experienced by women living with HIV with a specific focus on aging. Areas of particular interest include menopausal care for women with HIV, including use of hormone therapy, pharmacotherapy of antiretrovirals and impact of aging, and aging-related comorbidities. Applicants must meet minimum requirements for admission to the MSc or PhD program at the Faculty of Health Sciences, have a strong academic record, and have excellent oral and written communication skills.

Interested applicants can send an email including cover letter (include introduction of yourself, your academic background, relevant experiences and research interests), transcripts, and CV to: elizabeth_king@sfu.ca.

Graeme Koelwyn

The Koelwyn lab is looking for motivated and enthusiastic graduate students with an interest in translational research in exercise and disease pathogenesis. Our lab specifically studies how exercise induces adaptations across the metabolic and inflammatory-immune axis to improve outcomes in individuals at risk for, or diagnosed with, cardiopulmonary disease and cancer. We utilize a variety of experimental tools from molecular to systems biology, across mouse models and patients, to determine the mechanisms through which exercise protects from these diseases.  See for a list of publications to date.

The lab is uniquely positioned across the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation (HLI) and 大象传媒 to maximize translational impact. HLI, where our lab is located, is situated within Providence Health Care鈥檚 St. Paul鈥檚 Hospital, a UBC teaching hospital in downtown Vancouver. HLI is a world-leading research centre that connects basic science and clinical research across heart, lung and critical care disease. The lab also has access to 大象传媒 and UBC鈥檚 research and educational infrastructure, enabling cutting-edge approaches, specialized coursework, and diverse collaborative opportunities for trainees.

Applicants should demonstrate strong critical thinking ability and communication skills. Special consideration will be given to applicants with previous experience in immunology, preclinical model systems, exercise physiology and/or computational biology.

Interested applicants can send an email including a brief introduction of yourself, academic background and research topics of interest, as well as transcripts and CV to: gkoelwyn@sfu.ca

Helen McTaggert-Cowan

Dr. McTaggart-Cowan is a Scientist at BC Cancer and Assistant Professor of Professional Practice within the Faculty of Health Sciences at 大象传媒. She is looking for enthusiastic and motivated graduate students with an interest in mixed methods research to improve the health and well-being of people living with, and beyond, cancer. Her program of research focuses primarily on new models of cancer survivorship care, patient-reported outcomes, health equity, and patient engagement.

Applicants must meet minimum requirements for admission to the MSc or PhD program at the Faculty of Health Sciences, have a strong academic record, and have excellent oral and written communication skills.

Interested applicants can send an email including cover letter (include introduction of yourself, your academic background, relevant experiences and research interests), transcripts, and CV to: hmctagga@sfu.ca.

Ralph Pantophlet

The Pantophlet Laboratory invites applications from dedicated and driven individuals seeking to undertake graduate studies in the field of vaccine immunology, with a focus on SARS coronaviruses, HIV-1, and influenza. Prospective candidates must satisfy the entry criteria for the Doctoral program within the Faculty of Health Sciences. Additionally, candidates should have a robust background in microbiology, immunology, or an adjacent field and possess practical research experience in a laboratory setting, extending beyond that acquired in routine laboratory coursework. Some preference will be given to candidates who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada. 

Hui Xie

Dr. Xie鈥檚 research group focuses on the development and application of advanced statistical methodologies for the design and analysis of clinical and population-based studies, particularly in the areas of arthritis and cancer. The group鈥檚 research spans a range of topics, including:

• Statistical methods for missing data and causal machine learning methods
• Policy evaluation
• Applications in eHealth and mHealth
• Integration of social and health behavior data from multiple sources
• Disclosure control and data privacy techniques

These research advances enhance the evaluation of treatment, programs, and policies; improve identification of risk factors for chronic diseases such as cancer and arthritis; and increase the usability and accessibility of large medical and administrative databases.

Group members benefit from collaborations with Arthritis Research Canada () and have access to large health administrative data sources for research.

 Dr. Xie is currently seeking highly motivated MSc and PhD students to join the research group. Ideal candidates should have strong quantitative and analytical skills with prior exposure to statistics, biostatistics, or related quantitative training; and excellent written and oral communication skills. Previous trainees from the group have gone on to secure faculty positions and postdoctoral fellowships in universities, and positions of statisticians in government, pharmaceutical companies, and consulting firms.

Interested applicants should send the following materials by email to xiehuix@sfu.ca

• A cover letter outlining relevant experience and research interests
• Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Academic transcripts