Meet the class

The coordinators

Iran Seyed-Raeisy

Iran is in her fifth year doing a major in Animal Biology and a minor in Classical Arabic. She has been part of various global health initiatives on the UBC campus for the past few years. Her involvement is extensively with the UBC chapter of Médecins Sans Frontières. Through this course Iran hopes to promote interdisciplinary approaches to studying global health and specifically, health aid. Iran’s other interests include promoting sexual health and doing anti-violence work. Iran enjoys reading, translating, and hiking.

Trisha Taneja

Trisha is entering her third year (BA) doing a major in Political Science and a minor in Microbiology and Immunology. She is interested in the field of global health and hopes to focus her Political Science studies on the political influences in the delivery of health care. She expects her Microbiology and Immunology minor to provide her with a complementary knowledge of pathology and epidemiology of some of the most significant diseases, such as HIV/AIDS. To further her interests she is actively involved with the UBC chapter of Médecins Sans Frontières in the capacity of Public Relations director. Through this course, she hopes to promote the interdisciplinary approach to study global issues in general, and international health specifically.

The class

Blake Abawi
Hi everybody,
My name is Blake, I’m originally form just outside of Toronto (Oakville) but have made Vancouver my home for the past 5 years. I’m a Religious Studies major pursuing a career in medicine. Outside of school I like to windsurf, snowboard, DJ, and try to philosophize about things I don’t really understand. I like people, so if you see me in class, feel free to come chat.

Kylee Lemmons
I was born and raised in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. I had lived there all of my life before moving to Vancouver in 2006 to take Pharmacy. I am currently in third year and am really enjoying the program. I am involved in short term missions and so far I have been to Mexico seven times building houses for the homeless. My most recent trip was in spring of 2008. I am taking this course to learn more about International Health Aid, and what Canada is/is not doing in the world today and why. I enjoy running and am currently training for a half-marathon.

Keely Matheson
Hello,
My name is Keely Matheson and I’m entering my 4th year in the integrated Sciences program. The IS program allows students to combine science disciplines to create their own unique degree and I have chosen Microbiology and Physiology as my major focus because I wanted my degree to be centered on the multifaceted nature of human health and disease.
Outside of school I am very active and love to run, swim, bike and basically be a part of any sport I can fit into my schedule. I completed my first half marathon this summer and plan to do a marathon next year! I am also a member of the Integrated Sciences Student Association and I am part of UBC REC as a member of the Health Promotions team.
I also love to travel and discover the myriad of cultures around the world. I traveled to both Nepal and Peru this past summer and had some crazy adventures and met some amazing people. My time in both these countries also helped fuel my passion for learning more about International Health Aid which in turn led me to apply for this course! I am really excited about the hands-on approach of this seminar and looking forward to some very interesting discussions.

Sarah Elliot
My name is Sarah Elliott and I am a fourth year student in the Global Resources Systems Program. My GRS degree has a resource specialization of health with a Latin American regional specialization. I am originally from Toronto, and but finished my high school diploma in Italy. My passion is travelling and I have been lucky enough to travel around parts of Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Europe. I have been involved with health initiatives, more specifically HIV/AIDS initiatives, in both South Africa and here in Vancouver. I have also had the opportunity to teach in India and to attend a leadership seminar in Brazil. I can speak a little Spanish and Italian but I am not yet fluent in either. I hope one day to work for an international health aid organization such as the WHO, UNICEF of Doctors without Borders. I hope to graduate in April and go on to either intern abroad, or begin a master degree in global health.

Kevin Sauve
I was born in Kitchener-Waterloo and raised in the small town of New Dundee. I graduated from the University of Guelph with a degree in Biological Science and a minor in Neuroscience. Part of my degree was taken as a semester abroad in India where I conducted an independent study on health and environmental issues within the developing nation. During my three months of study in India, I had a chance to work with and observe several NGO’s in practice and developed an understanding of the role and involvement of these organizations in surrounding communities. It was here that I also developed a passion for human rights issues and environmental sustainability. When I returned to my undergraduate studies, I joined the student organization known as STAND (i.e. Students Take Action Now: Darfur) as the media and promotions coordinator, becoming familiar with the current conflict and the involvement of media representation in international aid issues. Currently I am enrolled as a Master’s student with the School of Journalism here at UBC. The specific focus of my studies is the communication of health related research and issues between the general public, practicing professionals, and policy makers. I am particularly interested in integrated media and the influence of digital technology on the development of global communication. I enjoy music and cinema, but am particularly enthusiastic about anything that allows me to get out into the great outdoors.

Nicole Chiang
My name is Nicole Chiang, and I am 22 years old. I was born and raised in a small town (about 36,000 people) called Duncan, located on Vancouver Island, BC. This is my 5th year attending UBC and I am currently a 3rd year student in the Faculty of Pharmacy. I have many hobbies (but a lot of them I cannot do on a regular basis because of all the school work) including tennis, jewelry making, and piano. I also love to travel, and as much as possible, I would like to fullfill my goal this year to become a better Spanish speaker. Currently, I am working part-time as a pharmacy student at Shoppers on Campus.

I am taking this course because I don’t know much about international health aid, and interested in learning more about it. Once I graduate with my pharmacy degree, I would like to do some sort of international health aid work but I am not too sure about the possibilities, and thought that enrolling myself in this course would help spark some ideas.

Hans Wu
First generation Chinese Canadian. I am in my 4th year, and graduating this year. The program I study in is called Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science. I began as a first year science student, moved into biochemistry then into my current two year program. After this year, I hope to be in UBC Medicine, after UBC Medicine, a doctorate in International Health. This summer I traveled to Bangladesh to teach a portion of the Medical-Surgical Curriculum for nurses at IUBAT, a private university located in Dhaka. I have had my compass pointed at Global Health Care, but this recent experience definitely cemented the direction. I love to play sports, I work as an Residence Advisor at Totem Park, and I believe my fourth year will be a great year. I have traveled to China, Bangladesh, Switzerland, Singapore, and Korea, the world is diverse and I love it. From time to time I love to play devil’s advocate, so bear with me. I look forward to this SDS course and getting to know all the diverse people in it. This course will help me pursue my goals further.

Natalia Gurga
My name is Natalie Gurga. I’m a fourth year political science student. I grew up in the United States and have lived in France and Singapore. I have a strong interest in traveling and studying cultures, art, music, languages, history. I have had a general interest in public and global health, however, since attending lectures by Jeffrey Sachs, Stephen Lewis, representatives of the Global Fund, Peter Piot, Bill Clinton, Ban ki-Moon and also volunteering at the International AIDS Conference in August has increased my interest in the aspect of ‘aid’ to and in developing countries.

Joshua Dehaas
I’m doing a Master of Journalism degree and I’ll be reporting on health as my beat next semester. I’m well aware of issues in the Canadian system but pretty ignorant of global health issues. In the summer I worked at Canadian Family Physician, a medical journal for Canadian FPs. I’m from Northern Ontario and I’ve lived in Jasper, Alberta as well as London, England. My interests include the quickly changing role of citizens in the media, as well as film and music, traveling and the outdoors.

Sonja Babovic
After spending her childhood and early youth bouncing between war zones (Gulf War 1990, Yugoslav wars ~1991-2001), Sonja wandered over to Canada in search of new experiences and possibly a more mellow lifestyle. She now finds herself in her third year of her BSc program in Combined Honours Chemistry and Biochemistry and is terrified at the thought of graduating in a few years. She identifies as a chemist and her future aspirations include working on the total synthesis of medicinal molecules, especially drugs needed by the world’s most vulnerable citizens.

A summer spent working in a research lab convinced Sonja of the great value of an interdisciplinary approach to solving problems. She is taking this seminar specifically to learn about social and political issues surrounding the administration of international health aid, and she feels that this knowledge will be a valuable complement to her background in the life sciences and will help her elucidate her plans for the future. The ultimate goal is to use science to improve the quality of life of other inhabitants of this planet. Other academic interests include Aboriginal health and BC First Nations languages. In her free time, Sonja enjoys volunteering for UBC Orientations programs, the Science Undegraduate Society, cycle touring and yoga.

Lindsey Lenters
Lindsey is a fourth year student, studying Dietetics. She is half-Canadian, half-American but spent several years of her childhood overseas because of her father’s work. In high school she was involved in with Amnesty International as well as the Lower Mainland Red Cross. At University she continues to be involved with the Red Cross Humanitarian Issues Program and also coordinates a nutrition education program for elementary schools. Lindsey spent her past two summers volunteering in Uganda, and hopes to return once she has finished her degree. Lindsey likes cooking, photography, doing arts and crafts with children, and taking afternoon walks with no destination

Negar Omidakhsh
It would probably take too much time to try and write exactly what it took for me to become interested in issues surrounding international health. It might have had to do with where I am originally from, which is Iran. My first vacations I can remember took place in that country, and that was also where I had my first encounter with poverty. This started a huge turning point in my life, and I wouldn’t see the effects of it until much later on when I took a university course that addressed issues such as poverty and I had all this past experience to look back on. This led me to the Red Cross, where I spent over a year volunteering and facilitating topics that focused on the effects of poverty, gender inequality, and HIV/AIDS. I soon found that I had a hidden passion for advocating for HIV/AIDS, I made a sudden decision to volunteer overseas at and AIDS clinical laboratory, and one month later I was in Uganda. During this time I also changed my degree to focus on my new interests of Infectious Diseases and International Health. The experiences I gained will prove to be valuable throughout my life. I had the opportunity to strengthen my beliefs, to challenge my morals, but also to learn from a different culture and apply those teachings to my own life. I enjoy advocating for issues that I’m passionate about, and because of that I’ve had the opportunity to do an immense amount of public speaking. This is one of the skills I am so glad I was able to gain; I think the power of speech has the ability to change lives and because of that I spend a lot of my time running conferences and doing talks that are specific to HIV and AIDS. My future career hopes are still uncertain. I had always wanted to do laboratory research that was specific to HIV but I’ve recently had the opportunity to find out that HIV is not simply a biological disease it’s a disease that is so strongly shaped by social forces that until these factors are addressed no real progress on the issue can be made.