Research and Practice in Health Sciences Conference

April 4, 2025

The School of Public Health Sciences (SPHS) is delighted to be hosting the Research and Practice in Health Sciences Conference (RPHS). The conference will take place Friday, April 4, 2025 in a hybrid format.

Registration is not required to attend the in-person conference at Federation Hall. However, tickets must be purchased in advance if you would like to attend the lunch.

Registration to attend virtually is coming soon!

Logo for the Research and Practice in Health Sciences Conference

About the conference

The aim of this student-led conference is to expose current undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to a range of career paths, including research and practice related to public health. The conference will offer an opportunity for the community to reflect on skills needed for health research and practice and provide graduate students and postdoctoral fellows with presentation experience. 

The conference is open to all UWaterloo graduate students conducting research or working in public health, and all SPHS undergraduate students, faculty and staff.

All undergraduate thesis (HLTH 432) student poster presentations are automatically included in the conference.

If you have any general questions about the conference please email us.

RPHS Presentation Award Winners

Best Overall Graduate Oral Presentation Award Winners

First Place: Karen Hock

Runner Up: Lucas Tucker

Honourable Mention: Anastasia Marquette

Best Overall Graduate Poster Presentation Award Winners

First Place: Lisa L. Blank

Runner Up: Cindy Wang

Honourable Mention: Vlad Shein

EDI-R Presentation Award Winners

Nuzhat Namiha, Amreetha Jayathilake, Helena Godinho Nascimento and Sultan Abdulkarim, Veen Wong, and Ehinomen Oko-Oboh

Organizing Committee

Co-Chairs: Grace Okusanya & Sanaa Hussain

Financial Officer: Helena Godinho Nascimento

Peer Review Coordinators: Makenna Nunes Gomes & Carly Wheelans

Logistics Officers: Nuzhat Namiha & Ifunanya Modebelu

External Communications Officer: Tara Chen

Internal Communications Officer: Elizabeth Wang

Logo Designer: Bea Rivera

Career Panel Coordinators: Ava Kucera, Syntheya Leslie, & Neha Dhanvanthry

Event Co-op Students: Philippa Crerar (F’24), Evelyn Mah and Thanh Le (W’25)

Acknowledgements

Thank you to our generous peer reviewers:

  • Anatasia Marquette
  • Ava Kucera
  • Dane Mauer-Vakil
  • Dipika Shankar Bhattacharyya
  • Emma Littler
  • Karen Hock
  • Kiran Dhuga
  • Labiqah Iftikhar
  • Lucas Tucker
  • Melissa Elgie
  • Seun Adegboyega Adejumo
  • Silver Nanema
  • Taronish Kotwall

Thank you to our Conference Faculty Advisory Committee, Dr. Williams, Dr. Morita, Dr. Kirkpatrick, and Dr. Yessis.

Thank you to Dr. Yessis and Ashley King for assistance with the Careers Panel.

Thank you to the School of Public Health Sciences, the Graduate Studies Endowment Fund, the SPHS Graduate Students' Association, the Health Dean's Advisory Committee on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism, and the Applied Health Sciences Endowment Fund (AHSEF) for their generous support of this event. 

Past conferences

See past conference proceedings and presenters: