Lab Members
Lab Director
Kieran O’Doherty
Kieran O’Doherty is a professor in applied social psychology at the University of Guelph. His research focuses on the social and ethical implications of science and technology. In this context, he has published on such topics as data governance, human microbiome science, vaccines, human tissue biobanks, salmon genomics, and genetic testing. Kieran’s research also emphasizes public engagement on science and technology. In this regard, he has designed and implemented public deliberations in which members of the public engage in in-depth discussion about ethical aspects of science and technology and collectively develop recommendations for policy. Recent edited volumes include Psychological Studies of Science and Technology (2019) and The Sage Handbook of Applied Social Psychology (2019). Kieran’s research has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Research & Innovation, Genome Canada and Genome British Columbia. He is editor of Theory & Psychology.
Postdoctoral Researchers
Dr. Mylène Tantchou Dipankui
Mylène Tantchou Dipankui is working under the supervision of Dr. Kieran O’Doherty on “Using Social Media to Address Misinformation about HPV and Influenza Vaccines: An Intervention on Facebook”, a project funded by Mitacs and the Canadian Public Health Association. She holds a Ph.D. in Community Health from Université Laval. Her fields of interest include vaccine hesitancy, patient and public involvement, women’s and children’s health, health technology assessment, sharing health information on social media.
Graduate Students
Alexis Fabricius
Alexis Fabricius (she/her) is a PhD candidate in the Applied Social Psychology program at the University of Guelph. Her research principally focuses on data and AI and considers questions such as, What kinds of demands does a big data paradigm make on psychologists? What kinds of ethico-political issues emerge if we understand data from a relational-material ontology? In what ways should ethics codes be expanded and/or updated to offer meaningful guidance to researchers working with data and AI? How do emerging human-data relations pose important philosophical and theoretical problems for psychology? How is the Data Revolution challenging notions of humanness, social ontology, and even historically ‘human’ activities like care provision? To answer these kinds of questions, Alexis draws insights from a range of disciplines and theoretical lenses (e.g., data ethics, critical and theoretical psychologies, feminist theories, STS, critical data studies, philosophy and history of science, philosophy of data, new materialisms, posthumanism). Alexis has received several prizes and scholarships for this work, including the ISTP’s Sigmund Koch Award for best student paper and presentation in 2022 and SSHRC’s CGS-D.
Riya Sharma
Riya (she/her) is a PhD Candidate in the Applied Social Psychology program and the present lab manager of DSP lab. Her research interests are dis/ability justice, inclusive education, and health equity. Her work is largely critical qualitative in nature, and she emphasizes reflexivity and power-related concerns in the research process. She pursued her Master’s in Developmental and Social Psychology from University of Delhi (India). Her master’s thesis was an ethnographic case study of a disability-integrated school, conducted while she was teaching high school classes on gender, sexuality, and disability. Her PhD thesis explores how neurodivergent high-school youth and their parents navigate the Ontario education system, a project that received support from the Dean’s Graduate Research Fund. As a research assistant in the DSP lab, she is working on ongoing research on microbiome stewardship. Outside of her academic work, she enjoys painting, dancing, and exploring quirky corners of Reddit.
Nikita Gaikwad
Nikita is a second year Master’s student in the lab whose research focuses on how artificial intelligence is shaping dating culture. Her thesis examines how the integration of AI-based chatbots and platforms in dating apps may influence dating practices and relationships, their possible implications and effects on how people connect. Broadly, her research interests include technology and social behavior. Her undergraduate honors thesis explored students’ perceptions of academically dishonest behaviors using ChatGPT by testing the theory of planned behavior. Previously, she assisted in a project exploring occupational therapists’ experience with large language models to alleviate charting responsibilities and is currently also involved in the lab’s ongoing microbiome projects. Outside of research, she enjoys trying new cafes, reading, making crafts, journaling, and trying out new recipes.
Serena Bunin
Serena is a first year Master’s student in the Applied Social Psychology Program at the University of Guelph. Her undergraduate research examined patterns of eye movement (oculomotor inhibition in particular) as an indicator of distraction under varying conditions of cognitive load. She also collaborated on a thematic analysis of interview transcripts housed on the feminist voices digital archive (https://feministvoices.com/). She is excited to begin working on her thesis this fall, which will focus on microbiome stewardship. When she is not in the lab or doing coursework, Serena enjoys hiking, listening to music, and spending time with friends.
Undergraduate Students
Rhiannon Colibaba
Rhiannon (she/they) is a fourth-year B.A. Psychology student, minoring in sociology. Currently doing their honours thesis under Dr. Kieran O’Doherty’s supervision, her project will explore neurodiverse identity and how those who self-identify as such without a diagnosis make sense of their own identity. Rhiannon is passionate about applying psychology to contribute towards positive social change and aspires to pursue graduate studies with the ambition of becoming a professor. Outside of research, Rhiannon enjoys creative writing, going to drag shows, and spending time with her cat.
Leah Garvie
Leah is a final year BA Psychology student. She began her initial research in the lab working on a project examining how conceptualizations of health and disease have changed over time. She will be starting an internship in the lab Fall 2025, and she will focus on policy and the microbiome. She is particularly interested in health and psychology, One Health and epidemiology, along with meta-research. Outside of the lab, she enjoys learning about history, shortwave radio, and drawing.
Research Program Coordinator
Mikaela Beijbom
Mikaela (she/her) is a Research Program Coordinator for the Discourse, Science, and Publics lab. She completed her MA in Applied Social Psychology in 2022, during which time her research in the lab focused on how parents navigated decision-making on behalf of their children during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in relation to back-to-school decisions. As research program coordinator, Mikaela is involved in the microbiome stewardship project as well as blood genomics 2.0 in collaboration with Carleton University and Canadian Blood Services. Outside of research, she can be found reading, rock climbing, running, on the yoga mat, or trying out a new recipe.
Alumni Lab Members
Postdoctoral Researchers & Graduate Students
Vivian Harbers (nee Nelson) works for the Privy Council Office as a Challenge Fellow embedded at the Canadian Space Agency. She leads an innovation funding program to develop novel healthcare solutions that meet the needs of remote communities in Canada and astronauts on long-duration deep space missions.
Dr. Kim Chuong was a Postdoctoral Fellow and a graduate research assistant in DSP. She received her PhD in Applied Social Psychology at the University of Guelph. Her post-doctoral work focused on the food environment, inflammatory bowel disease, and human microbiome project. Previously, she had completed two research projects with Dr. O’Doherty on the learning health care system and ethical, legal and social implications of human microbiome research. Kim also has research interests in sociocultural issues, specifically on health, health inequities, and immigration.
Jessica White completed her Master’s degree in the Applied Social Psychology program at the University of Guelph in 2021. Working under the supervision of Dr. O’Doherty, her Master’s thesis explored women’s experiences of contraceptive use, with a focus on intrauterine devices (or IUDs) and how contraception fits into women’s daily life experiences. Jessica also completed her undergraduate honours thesis in the DSP lab, where she employed discursive psychology to examine how participants in the Ontario Vaccine Deliberation used descriptions of non-vaccinating parents to make rhetorical claims. Currently, Jessica works in Employment and Social Services at Halton Region.
Jenna Vikse was a researcher and Project Manager on a COVID-19 project. She also conducted her MA research in Health Policy and Equity at York University. Her Master’s research is a critical comparative policy analysis of three countries’ response to COVID-19. Before the COVID-19 project, she was researching patient navigation of health systems. Prior to studying Health, Jenna worked in museum exhibit design where she developed methods for communicating complex ideas with generalist audiences. Her undergraduate degree in Knowledge Integration focused on the theory and practice of inter- and trans-disciplinary collaboration. Jenna’s research interests include feminist theory, social determinants of health, and critical policy studies.
Dr. Amanda Jenkins was a graduate student in the DSP research group and completed her PhD under the supervision of Dr. Kieran O’Doherty. Her dissertation research explored women’s use and practices of vaginal cleansing products (douches, deodorants, wipes, powders, washes) and the broader marketing of these products to women from a critical feminist perspective. Amanda is now a Research Coordinator for OA-INVOLVE, a cross-national AGE-WELL funded project that establishes models of best practices for the active involvement of older adults in technology and aging projects.
Dr. Oriana Vaccarino was a graduate student that worked with the DSP lab group and completed her PhD under the supervision of Dr. Jeff Yen. Her dissertation research focused on coming to collective understandings of aging for older adults through public deliberation, and discussing potential practical implications of these understandings. She was involved in the OA-INVOLVE project (part of the AGE-WELL network) with Dr. O’Doherty, which aims to establish models of best practice for the active involvement of older adults in aging and technology projects. Her passion lies in working with and engaging diverse communities, understanding their strengths and needs, and focusing on systems-level change.
Kristie Serota completed her Master’s degree in Applied Social Psychology at the University of Guelph in 2018. Her Master’s thesis focused on a public deliberation project examining funding for cancer drugs in Canada. During her time in DSP, she was a research assistant on several public deliberation projects, in Canada and the US, discussing a range of issues related to health and ethics. Kristie completed a practicum placement in bioethics at Toronto Western Hospital where she led a media analysis on alcohol-related liver disease requiring liver transplantation. Currently, Kristie is the administrative coordinator for the Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research (CQ) at the University of Toronto and she is a PhD student in Public Health Sciences at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Her dissertation work focuses on ethical issues related to medical assistance in dying.
Dr. Karla Stroud was a graduate student in the DSP research group and completed her PhD in the Applied Social Psychology program in 2018. During her time with DSP, Karli worked on several projects and topics including AGE-WELL, public deliberation on science and technology, and social and ethical implications of biobanking eggs and embryos. She completed her PhD thesis on the topic of Filial Caregiver Experiences Supporting their Parents during the Transition from Hospital to Home in Ontario. Karli now works at Taylor Newberry Consulting as a Researcher and Evaluation Consultant.
Dr. Sara Crann was both a graduate student and a postdoctoral researcher with DSP. During her time with the research group, Sara contributed to several studies relating to social and psychological aspects of the vaginal microbiome and women’s motivations underlying use of vaginal cleansing products. She also worked on the Ontario Vaccine Deliberation. Sara completed her PhD thesis on the topic of Gendered Subjectivities Among Girls and Young Women Attending a Girls’ Empowerment Program in a Rural Canadian Community. Sara is now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Windsor.
Dr. Claudia Barned was a graduate student in DSP for several years. Claudia completed her PhD in the Applied Social Psychology program at the University of Guelph in 2017. Her dissertation was entitled “Not fat, maybe thick, not too skinny”: Resisting and Reproducing Health and Beauty Discourses in Urban Jamaica. During her time with DSP, Claudia worked on a Genome Canada funded project on the illness experience of youth with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and their perspectives on being involved in biomedical research. Based on her work in DSP, Claudia pursued further training in bioethics as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Pragmatic Health Ethics Research Unit at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montreal (IRCM). Claudia is now a Clinical and Organizational Ethics Fellow with the Centre for Clinical Ethics and Unity Health Toronto.
Dr. Apurv Chauhan is a Senior Lecturer in social psychology at University of Brighton, UK. At Brighton, he holds the Chair of Applied Social Science research ethics and integrity and leads a successful psychology and sociology joint honours degree programme. Apurv was a postdoctoral fellow with DSP. During his time with the group, Apurv worked on public deliberation and science policy and on the Ontario Vaccine Deliberation project.
Dr. Jennie Haw was a postdoctoral fellow with DSP. Jennie worked on several projects relating to the social and ethical aspects of human microbiome research and illness experiences of individuals with asthma. Jennie is a Research Associate at Canadian Blood Services focusing on donor recruitment, engagement and policy
Dr. Emily Christofides completed her PhD in the Applied Social Psychology program and was a postdoctoral fellow in the DSP research group. Emily worked on several projects during her time with the group and published on privacy implications of direct-to-consumer genetic testing, the ethical implications of involving children in biomedical research, the motivations of patients with cystic fibrosis being taking part in research, and the unintended future uses of health data collected for research.
Dr. Jennifer Reniers (née Dobson) was a graduate student and post-doctoral researcher with the DSP research group. During her time with the group, Jenn worked on projects relating to the social and ethical implications of involving children with cystic fibrosis in biomedical research, and public deliberation on hydraulic fracturing. Jenn is now an Educational Analyst working in the Office of Teaching and Learning at the University of Guelph
Dr. Shannon Cunningham was a postdoctoral fellow with the DSP research group for several years. During her time with the group, Shannon worked on several projects, including illness experiences of individuals with asthma, public concerns regarding the storage and secondary uses of newborn bloodspots, health psychological and behavioural implications of research on the vaginal microbiome. Shannon is now a Senior Research Evaluator at Alberta Innovates
Undergraduate Students
Joseph Bachar, Sarah Cappellaro, Vaidehi Patel, Mariangela Del Monaco, Miranda Hiu Ching Chan, Daniella Mayer, Angela Delodder, Emily Patterson, Kyra Bruce, Zahra Husein, Merna Tawfik, Madelyn Cassola, Alexandra Boeriu, Laura Sutton, Cheau Yuan Foo, Hannah Goodman, Ryan Kerrigan, Kristina Pagliaro, Catriona Downie, Emma Conway, Sauvanne Julien, Stephanie Liscumb, Jessica Gibson, Stephanie Figliomeni, Kaitlin Snell, Janet Amos, Christine Smith, Alexandra Dainow, Erin Fearon, Mackenzie Smyth, Tiffany Scurr, Joshua Davies, Esha Sharma, Kristie-Lynn Serota, Danielle Nerenberg, Amy Mireault, Megan Campaigne, Stephanie Hache, Leah Horzempa, Leanne Bird, Kristen Dawson, Samantha Vinson, McKenzie Seasons, Olivia Zaroski, Kevin Kilarski, Krista Bullock, Clarissa Cheong, Katherine Ste Marie, Betty-Anne Ouellette, Laura Parrott