News

Congratulations to Joan Kaburia on receiving the Flight 302 Legacy Award! This award honours the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 tragedy by supporting students whose work demonstrates a commitment to global impact and service.

A PhD student in Geography at the University of Waterloo and member of the GoHelp Lab, Joan’s research focuses on food security and promoting equitable, sustainable food systems. Guided by the values of equity, dignity, and global solidarity, she views this recognition as both an honour and a responsibility—strengthening her dedication to purpose-driven research and community engagement.

Abraham Nunbogu has co-authored a United Nations University report examining the gender gap in Africa’s water leadership. This informative paper highlights current challenges and outlines strategies to foster more inclusive and equitable leadership across the sector. 

We're proud to celebrate Susan Elliott, who is one of 5 University of Waterloo researchers to be recognized as Royal Society of Canada (RSC) fellows and a member of the RSC College.

We’re excited to celebrate Rodrigo Curty Pereira, who has officially joined our alumni community! Rodrigo recently defended his PhD with great success and is now heading to British Columbia to begin his next chapter.

GoHelp member Julius Jebuni is shining a light on the link between water access and women’s empowerment in Ghana. His work, recognized within the Faculty of Environment and beyond, demonstrates how WASH programs and cash transfers improve health, safety, and decision-making for women and girls in rural communities.

Congratulations to Rodrigo on his presentation at the inaugural Graduate/Post-doc Students Teaching in Higher Education Conference! Rodrigo’s workshop, focused on practicing critical allyship in the classroom and inspired by Stephanie Nixon’s coin model, showcased his innovative teaching approaches based on his research during the Certificate in University Teaching program. With over 450 participants and numerous presenters, his contribution stood out as an excellent example of early career educators driving meaningful dialogue and sharing practical strategies to support student learning.

Congrats to Satveer Dhillon for her latest publication in the Canadian Geographies! The article draws attention to a growing yet often overlooked demographic in global health: older adults living with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). By 2050, the population of adults aged 50 and older in SSA is projected to increase fourfold—from 46 million to 165 million. Despite this growth, global HIV/AIDS policies and programs have largely ignored the specific needs of this group. In fact, the number of older adults living with HIV/AIDS in SSA is expected to rise by 190% by 2040, yet they remain underrepresented in health planning and research. 

A new study co-authored by Dr. Susan Elliott from the University of Waterloo highlights how geographic and socio-economic factors shape health outcomes in Canada, particularly in relation to opioid use. The research, conducted through the School of Pharmacy, reveals significant income-based disparities in opioid prescribing patterns across the country. Despite a national decline in prescriptions over the past decade, people living in lower-income areas receive opioids at three times the rate of those in wealthier regions.

The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program is designed to help Canadian institutions attract and retain world-class doctoral students. The scholarship is awarded based on three equally weighted criteria: Academic Excellence, Research Potential, and Leadership. This year, one of GOHelP Lab’s very own, Satveer Dhillon, was awarded the prestigious Vanier CGS for her doctoral research, which examines the impacts of climate change on health and well-being in Uganda—particularly in regions that are highly susceptible to resource scarcity. 

Pascal Meho-Akakpo recently successfully defended his master’s thesis at the University of Waterloo. His research focused on barriers to gender-transformative policymaking in Ghana’s health and WaSH sectors. Through his defence, Pascal demonstrated deep expertise in applying a Feminist Political Ecology of Health framework to advance gender equity and policy solutions.