CSSCF Vancouver Team Members
| CSSCF Vancouver Team Member | Name | Position | About |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Michelle O'Kane | Research Coordinator (UBC-V) | Michelle O'Kane is a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver) and a Registered Social Worker. Her research focuses on child protection systems, judgement and decision making, supervisory neglect as a maltreatment classification, and children in public space. |
 | Inayat Duhra | BSW Practicum Student | Inayat (she/her) is a Bachelor of Social Work student at the UBC School of Social Work and a research practicum student with the Centre for the Study of Services to Children and Families. She holds a BA in Psychology from McGill University, with a focus on developmental psychology, and has supported children, youth, and families across the healthcare, government, and non-profit sectors. Committed to trauma-informed, equity-centred practice, her research interests centre on human development and resilience across the lifespan, and how shifting social and technological landscapes are reshaping how children and youth learn, grow, and thrive. Outside of her studies, Inayat enjoys reading, hiking, jigsaw puzzles, and watercolour painting. |
| Kayla Kenney | Graduate Research Assistant | Kayla Kenney (they/any) is a PhD Student at the UBC School of Social Work. Their doctoral research focuses on social work practice with younger trans and gender diverse people in healthcare. Kayla's research experience includes interviewing, focus groups, and participatory methods alongside trans and gender diverse (TGD) people. This builds on their clinical experience as a behavioural health clinician on a multi-disciplinary pediatric primary care team, providing counselling with TGD youth and families. Kayla maintains registration as a Registered Clinical Social Worker (RCSW) with the BC College of Social Workers. | |
 | Emily Li | Research Assistant | Emily Li is a 4th-year undergraduate student in the Honours Psychology program at the University of British Columbia. She is interested in studying the impact of cultural differences and family dynamics on child outcomes and wellbeing. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, hanging out with her cat, and reading romance novels! |
 | Kolbe Neva | Research Assistant | Kolbe Neva (he/him) is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the UBC Okanagan Campus. He is currently majoring in Psychology and minoring in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. Kolbe has a broad range of research interests and a few of which are child and adolescent development as well as assistance and resources for low-income homes. He has work experience as a summer student working for BGC Canada (formerly Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada) daycares and youth summer camps. Kolbe plans to advance his studies in graduate school in the upcoming years to become a registered Clinical Psychologist. He is a current volunteer for the 2024W Academic year. |
 | Maddie Cathcart | Research Assistant | Maddie (she/her) is a graduate student at the School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University, a former Work Learn student and practicum Student with the Centre for the Study of Services to Children and Families. She holds a BSW from the UBC School of Social Work and a BA in sociology from UBC. Maddie is passionate about interdisciplinary knowledge, structural accountability, systems changes and knowledge mobilization, taking an integrated and critical approach to research, believing that the value of research lies in its application to community contexts and service to interest holders. |
 | Cathy Jiu | Research Assistant | Cathy (she/her) is a current Master of Public Health student at the University of Ottawa, a former Work Learn student with the Centre for the Study of Services to Children and Families, and a contributor to The Knowledge Exchange: A Partnership-in-Action Podcast. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Psychology from UBC. In relation to her work with the Centre, she is most interested in the use of creative and innovative knowledge dissemination in supporting advocacy activities, and the role of community engagement and knowledge exchange and mobilization in shaping policy and programming. |
 | Chelsea Lim | Research Assistant | Chelsea is a current UBC undergraduate majoring in Psychology and minoring in Health and Society. She is passionate about promoting safe, healthy, and positive development for children and adolescents, ensuring their immediate well-being and long-term success as they transition into adulthood. She has extensive experience in social service roles, working directly with children and youth across diverse settings. Driven by a commitment to fostering health equity for young people, Chelsea hopes to pursue further education in social work. |
 | Yucheng Liu | Research Assistant | Yucheng is a UBC undergraduate student majoring in Neuroscience. He's currently interested on translating research on Asian Child welfare. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing and cooking. |
| Sanjana Karthik | Research Assistant | Sanjana Karthik is a UN advocate and a social work student. She has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Top 25 Under 25 Awards and the Service Above Self Awards (SASSY). She has dedicated over a decade to working with older adults, women who have experienced abuse, neurodiverse people, and more. She has also co-created a mental health app and a TV show called The Reality Is, which was streamed on Shaw Multicultural Channel. She is currently a case manager at a counseling clinic and is researching domestic violence against men with the University of British Columbia. | |
 | Xuan Zhao | Research Assistant | Xuan is a fourth-year undergraduate student at UBC Vancouver, majoring in Sociology and minoring in Psychology. With a research interest in the sociology of health and illness, she is passionate about engaging in applied research that contributes to evidence-based policy and addresses social inequalities. Through her work with CSSCF, Xuan hopes to further explore the field of social work and is committed to supporting the wellbeing of children and families. |
 | Elva Ly | Research Assistant | Elva (she/her) is an undergraduate student at UBC pursuing an integrated major in Immunology and Child Development. Her academic interests focus on pediatric health, early developmental outcomes, and immune-related factors that influence child wellbeing. She is passionate about reducing barriers to healthcare access for underserved families as well as promoting education for aquatic safety. |
CSSCF Vancouver Graduate Students
| CSSCF Vancouver Graduate Student | Name | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
 | Shabnam Milani | MSc Student, UBC-V School of Dentistry Supervisor: Dr. Barbara Lee Shabnam Milani is a graduate student of pediatric dentistry at UBC. Currently as a part of her studies, Shabnam is engaged in a master's project focused on financial barriers to accessing pediatric dental care in British Columbia under the supervision of Dr. Barbara Lee. Her research aims to shed light on the financial challenges faced by families in obtaining essential dental services for their children. |
 | Kristi Pinderi | MSW Student, UBC-V Social Work Supervisor: Dr. Barbara Lee Kristi is a registered social worker, a child welfare practitioner, and a former pioneer activist for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in Albania and queer refugees in Canada. He is completing his MSW at UBC in Vancouver. Kristi is a co-founder of Tirana Pride, and of STREHA, the first residential shelter for LGBTQ+ unhoused youths in all the Southeast Europe. His research areas of interest, highly influenced by his own lived and professional experience, include queer migration, the experience of queer youths in the child welfare system, the role of social workers in relation to surrogacy, and the experience of queer families with surrogacy. |
 | Rebecca Hargreaves | MSW Student, UBC-V Social Work Supervisor: Dr. Barbara Lee Rebecca (she/her) is from a Canadian/Australian settler family background. She currently resides at UBC, Vancouver with her family on traditional, ancestral and unceded Musqueam territory. Rebecca has worked in social work healthcare roles in Australia for around 10 years with infants, children, adults, and families. She has also worked in health practice areas such as perinatal care, mental health and substance use, critical care, disaster recovery, mortuary services and emergency care. Recently, Rebecca has been working in the Downtown Eastside in a social work role engaging with folks experiencing substance use, mental health and aspects of marginalization. Rebecca has interests in practice ethics, cultural safety frameworks, and attachment theory, brain development and the experience of trauma. Rebecca is currently working on a Master of Social Work thesis project supervised by Dr Barbara Lee about social workers' experiences of using cultural safety frameworks when engaging with Indigenous service users in healthcare. |
 | Qian Zhou | PhD Student, UBC-V Social Work Qian is originally from Southwest China and earned her Master's degree in Social Work from Peking University in 2020. Her research focuses on child welfare, particularly children with disabilities. Previously, Qian focused on child welfare policy in China and spent two years volunteering and interning with NGOs, providing services to women and children with disabilities. Now based in Vancouver, she continues to explore new research and practice topics in the child welfare field. |
(Last Update: July 4, 2025)