Grace Gillis

Former Research Assistant & Undergraduate Student

Grace was a Master of Public Health student at the University of Ottawa and graduate of the Honours Bachelor of Health Sciences program specializing in Population and Public Health. She completed her Honours project with the OUTLIVE Lab, conducting a content analysis of the framing of food marketing regulations by Canadian news media. Grace has previously worked with the Marketed Health Products Directorate at Health Canada and completed a practicum with Heart & Stroke. Grace worked as a research assistant with the OUTLIVE Lab, supporting a number of projects examining children’s exposure to food marketing in various media/settings and looking at children’s privacy while using food company apps.

 

Soulene Sabir

Former Research Assistant & Undergraduate Student

Soulene holds an Honours Bachelors degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Ottawa. She completed her Honours project with the OUTLIVE lab, where she conducted a media analysis of alcohol marketing by influencers popular with adolescents. Soulene was working with the OUTLIVE Lab as a research assistant where she is analyzed the effects of television food and beverage advertising on children.

 

Cerys Besson

Former Research Assistant

Cerys holds an Honours Bachelor of Health Sciences degree from the University of Ottawa. Cerys was working as a research assistant with the OUTLIVE Lab, investigating how television advertisements promoting food and beverage products affect children.

 

Carolina Soto, RD

MSc Student

Carolina is a Registered Dietitian and MSc Epidemiology student at the University of Ottawa. Her research project aims to examine gendered differences in child and youth exposure to unhealthy food marketing in digital media. Her previous involvement in various research teams has allowed her to explore different research topics including the relationship between dietary patterns and mental disorders, breastfeeding and infant feeding practices in Quebec and Canada as well as physicians’ knowledge and attitude regarding perinatal folic acid supplementation. Outside of the research lab, Carolina also works in the department of clinical nutrition at the Ottawa Hospital. Her prior work experiences also include an internship with the Correctional Service Canada during which she had the role of developing educational resources that regional dietitians could use for nutritional education of inmates; and a placement in community nutrition that focused on identifying and addressing potential barriers leading to undesirable food choices in the adolescent community of the Avenue des jeunes youth center.

 

Giselle Joseph

Former BSc Student

Giselle completed her honours project with the OUTLIVE Lab, where she analyzed the prevalence of unhealthy food, beverage, alcohol, and gambling marketing within televised NHL hockey games and their accompanying ad breaks. With a rich history of collaboration with diverse research labs, Giselle's journey has ignited a profound passion for inquiry and knowledge acquisition.

 

Ashley Amson, PhD

Former PhD Student

Ashley completed her PhD in Population Health at the University of Ottawa. She also worked as Policy Analyst with Indigenous Services Canada. Her research explores the digital marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to adolescents, with a focus on exposure, perception and vulnerability through a gendered lens. 

Her previous research centered on community-based, participatory research with Indigenous populations in Alberta and Ontario. Prior work experiences include: Instructing and Practicum Coordination at the University of Lethbridge; Project Coordination at Laurentian University; Epidemiological analysis with Correctional Services Canada; and an internship at the OECD that focused on economic analysis of obesity prevention interventions.

 

Mariangela Bagnato, MSc

Former research Coordinator and MSc Student

Mariangela is a graduate of the MSc in Epidemiology program and a graduate of the Honours Bachelor of Health Sciences program both from the University of Ottawa. She completed her Master’s thesis with the OUTLIVE Lab, which focused on the effects of fast food advertising on youth across 6 different countries. At the OUTLIVE Lab, Mariangela is doing research on food and beverage advertising to Canadian children and adolescents in digital media and on television, exploring food advertising expenditures, and investigating food and beverage sponsorship in youth sport.

 

Christine Mulligan, PhD

Former Research Assistant

Christine completed her PhD at the University of Toronto in the Department of Nutritional Sciences with a Collaborative Specialization in Public Health Policy through the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Her doctoral research was aimed to measure the prevalence and power of marketing to children on food packaging to inform federal food policy aiming to restrict such marketing. She has also worked as an expert consultant to Health Canada to develop protocols for their national food marketing monitoring strategy. Christine has been involved in several other research areas related to food and nutrition policy for population health, including nutrient profiling, dietary assessment, nutrition labelling, dietary guidelines, food processing, stakeholder involvement in food policy, and more. With the OUTLIVE Lab, Christine lead research projects related to the impact of marketing power and branding on children, as well as issues surrounding children’s privacy in the digital world.

 

Lauren Remedios, MSc

Former Research Coordinator and MSc Student

Lauren completed her Master’s in Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa, where her master’s thesis examined the impact of sugary drink marketing on youth across multiple countries. At the OUTLIVE Lab, she did research on food and beverage advertising to children on digital media. She has previously worked with the Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch at Health Canada, researching the association between environmental chemicals and various maternal and child health outcomes. Lauren is currently an Epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Canada.

 

Chanelle Ayoub, MSc

Former MSc Student

Chanelle completed her Master’s in Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa. At the OUTLIVE Lab, her Master’s research paper examined the frequency and engagement related to social media marketing of energy drinks in Canada, as well as assessed the different marketing techniques used by Canadian energy drink brands to appeal to adolescents. Chanelle is currently a policy analyst at the Public Health Agency of Canada.

 

Adena Pinto, MSc

Former MSc Student

Adena completed her Master’s in Epidemiology at the University of Ottawa, where her master’s thesis focused on unhealthy food and beverage television advertising directed to youth in Canada. Adena is currently an Epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Canada.

 

Nwadi Ekeh

Former Undergraduate Student

Nwadiuto was a fourth-year Honours BSc in Biomedical Science student at the University of Ottawa during her time with the lab. As an Honours Project student with the OUTLIVE Lab, she investigated the parental perceptions of unhealthy food and beverage sponsorship of hockey teams in the Ottawa region.

 

Selvia Yousef

Former Undergraduate Student

Selvia is a fourth-year student in the Health Sciences program at the University of Ottawa. She worked on a study that examined the promotion and impact of corporate social responsibility initiatives by food and beverage companies on television in Canada. 

 

Alyssa Grant

Former Student Volunteer

Alyssa was completing a Master's in Epidemiology during her time with the lab. At the OUTLIVE Lab, she worked on a study examining the frequency and healthfulness of food and beverage advertising on television in the cities of Toronto and Montreal over time.

 

Yara Yakoub

Former Student Volunteer

Yara was a third-year student in the Health Sciences program at the University of Ottawa during her time with the lab. She was involved in a study examining the frequency and healthfulness of television food & beverage advertising in the cities of Toronto and Montreal.

 

Fariha Alam, MPH

Former Student Volunteer

Fariha was a 4th year undergraduate student studying Neuroscience and Mental Health at Carleton University during her time with the lab. As a volunteer at the OUTLIVE Lab, she worked on a study looking at energy drink advertising on television in the cities of Toronto and Montreal over time.   

 

Stanley Wong, MD

Former Summer Student and Volunteer

Stanley was a first year medical student at the University of Ottawa during his time with the lab. Having spent time working as a cook, Stanley learned the importance of healthy eating on a community scale. As a volunteer, Stanley was involved in a study investigating food and beverage marketing in movie theaters across Ottawa. 

 

Myeesha Begum

Former Student Volunteer

Myeesha was a fourth-year Health Science student at the University of Ottawa during her time with the lab. She worked on a study examining whether food and beverage companies who have pledged to limit unhealthy food advertising to children are complying with their voluntary commitments.

 

Rachel Mutata, MSc

Former Interm

Rachel was in her last year of a Master's degree in Human Nutrition and Public Health at Paris 13 Sorbonne Cité University in France during her time with the lab. Her research project at the OUTLIVE Lab examined food and beverage advertising to Canadian children on television.

 

Odera Ekeh

Former Undergraduate Student

Odera was a fourth-year Honors Biomedical Science student at the University of Ottawa during her time with the lab. She completed her honour’s project with the OUTLIVE Lab. She investigated unhealthy food and beverage sponsorship of children’s sports teams in Ottawa. 

 

Christine Czoli, PhD

Former Postdoctoral Fellow

Christine was a Postdoctoral Fellow funded by the CIHR Health System Impact Fellowship, working with the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the University of Ottawa during her time with the lab. Her post-doctoral research addressed critical evidence gaps relating to fiscal measures and marketing restrictions for sugary drinks.

 

Darrell Vandenbrink, MD

Former Summer Student

As part of the Faculty of Medicine Summer Studentship program, Darrell completed a qualitative analysis of correspondences between Health Canada and various stakeholders (including companies, industry organizations and health-related NGOs) regarding healthy eating policies.

 

Kevin Guo, MD

Former Summer Student and Volunteer

Kevin joined the OUTLIVE Lab after being awarded the Faculty of Medicine Summer Studentship Award. He collected data for a project examining the impact of nutrition labeling policies. As a volunteer, Kevin also worked on a study examining the corporate social responsibility activities of food and beverage companies in Canada. 

 

Olivia Cheng-Boivin, MD

Former Research Assistant

Olivia was involved with the OUTLIVE Lab for several years and participated in research examining food and beverage marketing in schools, on food packaging, on children’s television stations, and on social media websites. She was a medical student at the University of Ottawa.

 

Nomi Berfeld

Former Student

As an undergraduate student in Health Sciences, Nomi volunteered for the OUTLIVE Lab and was involved in research on food and beverage marketing in schools. She also collected data on food and beverage advertising on social media websites.

 

Mariana Lòpez Santiago, RD, MPH

Former Intern

Mariana is a registered dietitian in Mexico and has a Master’s degree in Public Health. As an intern at the OUTLIVE Lab, she collected data on food and beverage advertising on social media and on children’s specialty stations.

 

Élisabeth-Anne Roy

Former Research Assistant

Elisabeth-Anne was involved in research at the OUTLIVE Lab for several years. As an undergraduate student, she conducted research on food and beverage advertising to Canadian children on television. More recently, she worked as a research assistant and collected data on children and youth’s exposure to food marketing on mobile devices.

 

Nicholas De Billy

Former Student

As a student in Health Sciences, Nicholas completed an honours research project with the OUTLIVE Lab on children’s exposure to food and beverage advertising in gaming applications used on smartphones and tablets. He was involved in participant recruitment, data collection and data analysis.

 

Kai-Lee Gibeault, JD

Former Volunteer

Kai-Lee has an undergraduate degree in Health Sciences from the University of Ottawa. As a volunteer, she conducted a literature review on food and beverage marketing in hospital settings and was involved in research on the impact of nutrition labeling policies and on food marketing policies in schools. She is now pursuing a law degree at McGill University.

 

Madison Borsella

Former Student Volunteer

Madison is a graduate of the Health Sciences program at the University of Ottawa. Her previous research experience has focused on women’s reproductive health and rights in Canada. At the OUTLIVE Lab, she worked on a study that aims to assess the impact of nutrition labeling policies. 

 

Andrea Bisnaire, RD

Former Student Volunteer

Andrea was a fourth-year student in the Nutrition Sciences program at the University of Ottawa. At the OUTLIVE Lab, she worked on a study assessing the impact of nutrition labeling policies. She is now completing her dietetic internships.