Seventeen Exceptional Scholars Awarded 2025-2026 Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarships

The Dahdaleh Institute is delighted to announce this year's recipients of the 2025-2026 Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarships, and we extend our warmest congratulations to the following recipients:

"We are proud and elated to support seventeen exceptional graduate scholars whose research will advance impactful scholarly and real-world contributions to global health across a diverse range of faculties and programs at York University," said Professor Mary Wiktorowicz, interim director of the Dahdaleh Institute. "Their inspiring research pursuits build momentum for the vision of the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research to enhance effectiveness, equity, and excellence in global health research through a critical problem-solving approach to 21st-century challenges."

Master's Level

Francis Kolawole

Afro-Centric Conceptualization of Frailty Among Older Adults in Sub Saharan Africa: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Francis is an international student from Nigeria and he holds a Bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy from the University of Benin, Nigeria. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Kinesiology and Health Science at York University. Under the supervision of Dr. Michael Kalu at York University, Francis overarching research interest will focus on strengthening capacity for the care and management of frailty among older adults in Nigeria and SSA more broadly. His research aims to explore the conceptualization of frailty in Sub-Saharan Africa and how it intersects with mobility to shape the experiences and health outcomes of community-dwelling older adults. Through this work, he intends to inform policy and intervention strategies that enhance quality of life and promote healthy aging among older adults in the region. At the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, Francis will collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to advance global health research that emphasizes equity, resilience, and evidence-based care for older populations.

Doctoral Level

Ana Carolina de Almeida Cardoso

Fighting for Tomorrow: Colonization of the Future(s) and International Climate Politics at the End of the World(s).

Ana (she/her) is a PhD Candidate in environmental studies in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC) at York University, with a master’s degree in international relations from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC Rio) and a bachelor's degree in law from Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV Direito Rio). Her research interests lie at the intersections between coloniality, modernity and "nature", with particular focus on alternatives to development, the Anthropocene and decolonial futures. Ana's doctoral research focuses on the concept of “colonization of the future”, the futuristic imaginaries of the climate crisis and their onto-epistemic implications. For this, she has been attending UNFCCC meetings since 2023 and engaging in negotiations with the Women and Gender Constituency (WGC), having also collaborated with Indigenous Climate Action (ICA) and Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN).

Babatunde Odugbemi

The AMR GAP: A comparative analysis of governance, contextual issues, strengths and limitations of implementing One Health national antimicrobial resistance action plans in high income (Canada) and low to middle-income country (Nigeria) settings.

Babatunde is a PhD student in Global Health and a Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar at York University. He is committed to advancing research that aims to enhance the global response to antimicrobial resistance using a One Health lens, with the guidance and mentorship of Professor Mary E. Wiktorowicz. Babatunde earned his MBBS degree from the University of Lagos, followed by a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Sheffield, and a Master of Science degree in Aging and Health from Queen’s University. His professional background encompasses working as a physician and strengthening the capacity of the health workforce as a public health expert in Nigeria. He has actively participated in collaborative research addressing infectious diseases and fortifying health system capacities.

Gaurav Bhardwaj

The transport, fate and impacts of microplastics in wastewater treatment systems.

Gaurav is a PhD candidate in civil and environmental engineering at York University whose research explores how microplastics behave in wastewater treatment systems and how this knowledge can inform safer, more resilient water infrastructures. As a Graduate Scholar in the Dahdaleh Institute’s Planetary Health program, he collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to translate laboratory findings into interventions that advance global water security.

Hillary Birch

The Governance of Surplus and Scarcity: Water quality and the possibilities of urban life in Lusaka, Zambia.

Hillary is a PhD student in Environmental Studies in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University, supervised by Professor Roger Keil. She holds a master’s degree in urban governance from Sciences Po in Paris, France, where she studied the urban governance of Ebola in Monrovia, Liberia. She also holds a master’s degree in political science from McGill University. Hillary has worked in various roles in global health related to sexual and reproductive health and early child development. Her PhD explores how projects of global health intersect with processes of urbanization that shape flows of water in a city and change its quality. Hillary is a Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar in Planetary Health, and her research is supported by a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship and an International Doctoral Research Award by the IDRC.

Joanne Ong

Contextualizing women’s health as a driver of population wellbeing.

Joanne's doctoral research explores how political empowerment—both at the individual and national levels—can reduce gender-based health inequalities and serve as a critical pathway toward global health equity. At the national level, she examines women’s access to political decision-making roles, legislative representation, and leadership positions. At the individual level, Joanne studies indicators such as social independence, domestic decision-making, and attitudes toward gender norms. This macro–micro approach allows her to investigate how women’s political empowerment can influence the development, implementation, and enforcement of health-related policies and gender norms, while also being shaped by national, regional, and international commitments to gender equality. Joanne's research is grounded in equity-driven and community-engaged approaches, with a continued focus on rural and Indigenous health contexts through partnerships with the Rural Coordination Centre of British Columbia and the Rural Doctors Network in Australia, advancing the broader goal of socially accountable global health research.

Michael Davies-Venn

Global Health and Environment Governance Regime Restructuring: Protecting Health and Environment Protection in a Transboundary Resource Setting.

Michael focuses research at the intersection global public health and environmental governance. Michael is also an environmental policy analyst and communication professional. He holds an MPP in policy analysis, an MA in communication, and was awarded BSc (Hons) in mass communication and rhetoric. He is the recipient of numerous academic awards from institutions in Europe and North America. Earlier he was Junior Fellow in Ethics of the Anthropocene, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He is also a fellow, Earth System Governance Network. At York University, Michael's project responds to epidemiological developments on certain diseases associated with climate change impacts. Considering climate change impacts as persistent stimuli to societies, an aim is to develop policy recommendations to reduce local vulnerability to impacts specifically linked to human health. Outputs will include, identification of factors to reduce health vulnerability and policy interventions relevant to local communities. Results will also inform recommendations for anticipatory actions to climate change impacts. Results will contribute to broadening scientific knowledge at the nexus of global environmental and public health governance.

Naeema Hassan

Reimagining Institutional Roles in Advancing Equitable Global Health Partnerships.

Naeema is a PhD student in Global Health and a Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholar. Her research focuses on institutional policies and practices that support more equitable global health partnerships. She is particularly interested in addressing systemic barriers faced by researchers across the Global South and North as global health systems continue to evolve. Through systems thinking and design thinking methodologies, Naeema aims to develop practical resources that help institutions build inclusive and collaborative research environments, especially in areas such as digital health and global research governance. With a background in policy and management consulting, Naeema supported cross-sector initiatives in digital health, artificial intelligence, and international health strategy. She brings these experiences into her academic work, using them to inform her research on inclusive policy development, stakeholder collaboration, and the reimagining of institutional approaches to global health research.

Nilanjana Ganguli

Transactional Sex as Climate Adaptation: Exploring its impacts on resilience, health and well-being on vulnerable communities in Malawi.

Nilanjana (Nell) is a Doctoral Candidate at York University’s Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change and a Graduate Scholar at the Dahdaleh Institute of Global Health Research. Her research employs participatory and systems-thinking approaches to examine how climate-related shocks and stressors influence transactional sex dynamics in rural fishing communities in Malawi, with implications for sexual and reproductive health. She holds a Master’s in Environmental Studies and a Bachelor’s in Biotechnology from York University, and brings eight years of corporate experience in mining and executive search. Beyond her doctoral studies, Nell has contributed as a project manager, graduate research assistant, and grant writer with multiple Dahdaleh Institute teams focused on the intersections of climate change and health.

Romeo Joe Quintero

Building Liveable Futures in Camps: Everyday Placemaking Practices of Internally Displaced Persons in the Southern Philippines.

Romeo Joe is a PhD candidate and SSHRC Vanier Canada Graduate Scholar in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change. His dissertation examines the experiences of those living in resettlement and transitory sites for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the areas of the southern Philippines affected by armed conflicts.

Rupsha Mutsuddi

Designing Technologies Which Mitigate Social Isolation and Loneliness in Partnership with People Living with Dementia and those in their Care Circle.

Rupsha is a Doctoral Researcher at the School of Global Health at York University and a Graduate Scholar at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, where her work focuses on Participatory Design Methodologies to improve experiences of loneliness and social isolation through technology in partnership with people living with dementia and those in their care circle in global communities. She is a recipient of the Canada Graduate Scholarships Doctoral Program (CGS-D), one of Canada’s most prestigious and competitive doctoral awards, granted to top-ranked applicants across the country. She is also a Connected Minds Scholar, part of an interdisciplinary research initiative supporting innovative work at the intersection of technology, society, and equity. Her Master of Design thesis focused on building supportive technologies in augmented reality to help people living with dementia with their daily rituals. Rupsha has worked for a diverse array of clients in government, healthcare, non-profit, and clean beauty sectors, including The Detox Market, Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region, and the Ontario Public Health Association. With an interdisciplinary approach and an empathetic mindset, she develops meaningful solutions and strives to shape a better future through design education, research, and practice.

Tareq Al Khalaf

Caregiving and Pathways to Resilience among Family Caregivers of Racialized and Minority Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Tareq is a PhD student in Health at York University under supervision of Prof. Farah Ahmad. His research examines the lived experiences of family caregivers of racialized and minority children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Canada. His work focuses on how collaborative community-centered approaches, particularly those aligned with Social Prescribing (SRx) models, can enhance caregivers’ health and well-being through equitable partnerships between healthcare providers and community organizations. His study aims to facilitate knowledge translation that informs and strengthens systems of care in Canada, with broader applicability in glocal context. His research interests include social prescribing, autism, caregivers’ health, interprofessional collaboration, primary health care, and healthcare quality improvement.

Yuliya Chorna

Moral, Conceptual and Practical Considerations of Resource Allocation for the Global Tuberculosis Response.

Yuliya is a PhD candidate in social anthropology at York University. Her research supervisor is Dr. Margaret MacDonald, a medical anthropologist and Associate professor in the Department of anthropology at York University. Dr. Alexandra Widmer and Dr. Amrita Daftary serve on her dissertation committee as faculty members in anthropology and global health. Yuliya's PhD research is aimed to advance understanding on how the allocation of financial resources for the global Tuberculosis (TB) response is conceived, organized and delivered. She hopes that knowledge produced by the research can be applied for a better understanding and reforming global health philanthropy and international aid/development for the global TB response and global health. Yuliya has an academic background in social work, with a Master of Social Work degree from Syracuse University. She has extensive work experience in the field of global health policy and practice, including senior leadership positions for not-for-profit NGOs focused on social equity and rights in the fields of TB and HIV/AIDS. She has been serving as a contributor of the Social Science and Health Innovation for Tuberculosis (SSHIFTB) since its inception in 2020. During 2019-2023 she served on the WHO Civil Society Taskforce for TB.

Yvette Nkurunziza

Assessing the association between socioeconomic status, intersectionality and Tuberculosis treatment outcomes among people living with HIV in Rwanda.

Yvette is soon joining York University as a PhD student in Global Health. Her research will assess the association between socioeconomic status, intersectionality and Tuberculosis treatment outcomes among people living with HIV in Rwanda. Yvette has a Masters in Global Health Delivery, Gender and Sexual Reproductive Health track from the University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda and a Masters in Public Health from the University of Warwick, in the United Kingdom. Her previous work involve clinical work in Rwanda, and served Rwanda Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance in areas of women cancer screening. Her prior research experience includes a research that explored socio-ecological factors that contribute to intimate partner violence among people living with HIV in Kayonza district, Rwanda, and another done with Partners In Health which assessed the effect of nurturing care intervention provided by expert mothers on maternal depression and parenting confidence in rural Rwanda.

Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarships were also renewed for PhD students Alexandra Scott, Brian Waters, and Kathirvel Soundappan.

The Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarship was created to attract exceptional incoming and continuing domestic and international graduate research students to the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research. These scholarships will support graduate research and related scholarly and creative activities in line with the three themes of the Institute—planetary health, global health and humanitarianism, and global health foresighting. The scholarship will be granted annually to graduate students who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement in global health research. The scholarships will be granted to new or returning students based on research excellence or promise of excellence, and applications will be evaluated using the student’s past performance and potential in their graduate program.

Scholarship recipients will:

• be designated as “Dahdaleh Graduate Global Health Scholars” at the Dahdaleh Institute;
• attend and participate in the Dahdaleh Institute’s weekly global health graduate seminars;
• present their graduate work at least once per year, preferably at the Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholars Symposium, or at other suitable venues;
• receive occasional invitations to participate in workshops and special events at the Dahdaleh Institute; and
• have access to the Dahdaleh Institute open workspace.

For more information, please visit the Dahdaleh Global Health Graduate Scholarship Program webpage.

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