• 2025 - 26 | Emily Crosby
  Emily is a fourth-year BSc Psychology honours student with a minor in Biology. She is from Truro, NS, and plans to pursue a career in medicine after completing her undergraduate degree. In particular, she would like to work in pediatric chronic pain treatment. Emily is completing an honours project with Dr. Azar that focuses on chronic pain in adolescence. More specifically, her pilot project intends to explore how those between the ages of 11 and 18 navigate, accept, and grow through their experiences with chronic pain, with an emphasis on resilience. The study will employ a qualitative approach grounded in the Biopsychosocial model and aims to develop an interview guide for future research with youth experiencing chronic pain.
  
• 2025 - 26 | Maura Leggate
  Maura is a fourth-year Psychology major from Riverview, NB. During her independent study, she will examine the role of mobility training in older adults and its effect on movement and well-being. Maura is interested in the positive impacts of intentional long-term movement and fitness on the brain. Her academic end goal is to obtain a master’s degree and a PhD in Psychology in one of the many fields. She is interested in several areas of psychology and has not yet decided which path is for her.
  
• 2025 - 26 | Riley
  Riley is a fourth-year Bachelor of Arts student with a major in Psychology. She is from Fredericton, New Brunswick, and hopes to have a career in the mental health field after her schooling. Riley is interested in supporting children’s mental health by providing support and structure for navigating challenges. During her independent study this fall, she will analyze the relationship between stress and alcohol use during pregnancy. After graduating from Mount Allison University, Riley plans to earn a master’s degree in either Psychology or Social Work. She hopes to focus on Child and Adolescent Development while completing her postgraduate education.
  
• 2025 - 26 | Trinity
  Trinity is a fifth-year BA Psychology student from Truro, NS. A fun fact about her is that she has spent the past two summers in northern BC and AB planting trees and has planted over 100,000 trees so far. Trinity will be completing a year-long independent study with Dr. Azar, examining the biopsychosocial barriers and facilitators to health care access.
  
• 2025 - 26 | Agnes Grace
  I am a fourth year psychology honours student from Kerala, India. During the 2025-26 academic year, I am studying prenatal maternal depression, inflammatory biomarkers and their relationship with birth weight. Passionate about developmental and health psychology, I hope to pursue a PhD in developmental psychology to explore how early life experiences shape well- being across lifespan.
  
• 2024 - 25 | Veronique Alecia MacKay
  Awaiting update.
  
• 2024 - 25 | Elowyn M’Cloud (Directed Studies)
  Elowyn is a third-year Psychology major from Montague, PEI. During the 2024/2025 academic year she will be studying depression in children under the age of 12. Her research focuses on this age group to better understand the developmental effects depression can have on young individuals. Outside of psychology, her interests include reading, listening to music, going to the farmers market, and taking early morning walks. Elowyn's long term plan is to obtain a PhD in Social Psychology, where she hopes to further investigate the interplay between social factors and psychological processes.
  
• 2024- 25 | Brooke Helen Williams (Directed Studies)
  Brooke is a fourth-year Psychology student from Riverview, NB. She will be examining parental support programs for parents with young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Brooke is especially interested in developmental psychology and hopes to pursue a career assisting children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
  
• 2024 - 25 | Sophie Agnew (Directed Studies)
  Sophie is a fourth year BSc Psychology major with a minor in Sociology. She is from Riverview, NB, and after completing her undergraduate degree, plans on obtaining her master’s in psychology. Sophie will be completing a year-long independent study with Dr. Azar on adolescents diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The literature review will focus specifically on the prevalence of anxiety in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes, and which techniques are effective in preventing the onset of anxiety disorders related to the diagnosis.
• 2023 - 24 | Aashni Talati (Directed Studies)
  Aashni is a fourth year Psychology and Marketing student from Mumbai, India. She is studying the various areas of impact on parents of children with complex healthcare needs during the period of transition to adult healthcare. Aashni is particularly interested in health and counselling psychology and hopes to learn more about its intersectionality through her research.
  Project Title: Stress and Anxiety in Parents of Transition-Aged Children with Autism.
• 2023 - 24 | Veronique MacKey (Directed Studies)
  Project Title: Developing and Low-Income Countries: A Literature Review on the Transition from Paediatric to Adult Health Care.
• 2023 - 24 | Alyssa Foster (Honours)
  Alyssa is a fourth year Psychology Honours student from Riverview, New Brunswick. She hopes to study the effects of caffeine consumption during pregnancy on Vitamin D levels in expectant mothers. She is excited to investigate this topic to further expand our awareness of perinatal health. Alyssa hopes to advance her psychology education by obtaining a master’s degree following her graduation at Mount Allison University. Outside of psychology she enjoys reading, watching movies, and spending time with her friends and family (including Brodie and Jax, the best pets ever).
  Thesis Title: Exploring the Potential Impact of Maternal Vitamin D and Prenatal Caffeine Intake on Infant Birth Weight.
• 2023 - 24 | Karolina Zlotska (Honours)
  Thesis Title: Smoking and Mental Health During Pregnancy: The Association among Prenatal Cotinine Levels, Birth Weight, and Prenatal Anxiety and Depressive Dymptoms.
• 2019 - 20 | Evan Matthews (Honours)
  Evan Matthews is a fifth year Psychology Honours student from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He hopes to study depression and anxiety among parents with children experiencing oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder (this is subject to change based on my decided research topic). Outside of psychology his interests consist of drama, music, soccer, as well as politics and history. His long term plan is to obtain PhD in Counselling psychology. Evan is thrilled to be working on this research opportunity for the 2019/2020 academic year.
• 2019 - 20 | Luke Mungall (Honours)
  Luke is a fourth year Psychology Honours student from Ottawa, Ontario. During the summer of 2019, Luke is investigating the impact of interventions that promote resilience in parents of children with complex care needs. He is especially interested in health psychology and the intersection between psychology and philosophy. In his free time, he enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, and travelling.
• 2019 - 20 | Sarah Doak (Directed Studies)
  Sarah is a fifth year Psychology major from Miramichi, NB. She will be studying the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare services in cancer patients. She is very excited to begin her research as her family has been affected by cancer and she serves as a co-chair on Mount Allison's Relay for Life committee. In addition to her studies, Sarah is involved with Habitat for Humanity, is a member of both the Mounties Field Hockey and Curling teams, and enjoys coaching high school track and field in the summer.
  
• 2019 (Summer) | James French (NaviCare/SoinsNavi Intern)
  James French is from Moncton, NB, and is going into his third year at Mount Allison University where he is doing a BSc in psychology. He is a representative for NaviCare/SoinNavi where he will primarily be working on doing some outreach for the program in order to spread awareness of their services. He is very excited as he is interested in the field of health psychology and loves to be able to give back to his community. In his spare time, James also plays basketball striking the right balance between work and physical activity.
  
• 2018 - 19 | Jocelyn Braun (Honours)
  Jocelyn Braun is a fourth year Psychology Honours student from Alberta. She is excited to help improve the lives of children with complex care needs in New Brunswick. In her free time, Jocelyn likes to go hiking!
  
• 2018 - 19 | Paula Arndt (Directed Studies)
  Paula Arndt will be collaborating with the NaviCare/SoinsNavi centre to investigate complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for children/youth with complex care needs. She is the director of Mindful Healing, a complementary health care clinic with offices in Amherst, NS and Sackville, NB. She is a Registered Counsellor, Naturopath and Certified Hypnosis Therapist (Trainer) specializing in complementary medical hypnotism and pain. Her training includes infant massage, Reiki, reflexology (Hand and Foot), emotional freedom techniques, quantum touch and massage therapy. She is presently investigating the effectiveness of emotional freedom techniques on issues around PTSD. Her belief in patient-centred therapy provides space for growth and self-knowledge for her clients, yet allows her to work intuitively, and with experience and heart. Research projects include the effects of relaxation techniques and music on sleep, and death and dying experiences of undergraduate students.
  
• 2018 - 19 | Ryan Doucet (Directed Studies)
  Ryan Doucet is a third-year Psychology student from New Brunswick. He will be studying depression and anxiety in parents of youth with oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder (as types of behavioural complex health conditions). Ryan is excited about the research and about working in partnership with NaviCare/SoinsNavi this upcoming academic year.
  
• 2016 - 17 | Julie Richard (Honours)
  Julie Richard is is a 4th year Honours student in psychology. She will be studying Patient and Family Advisory Councils. In her free time, Julie volunteers at a local nursing home, plays bass guitar and enjoys whittling. She plans to do a Masters of Social Work after graduation.
  
• 2016 - 17 | Daniel O'Connor (Honours)
  Daniel is a 4th year Directed Studies student from Chester, Nova Scotia. He is studying confidentiality in clinical rural practice of family medicine and psychology.
  
• 2016 - 17 | Laurel White (Honours)
  Laurel White is a 4th year Directed Studies student from Prince Edward Island. Laurel’s project is focused on neonatal abstinence syndrome. She’s interested in how it can impact the rest of an individual’s life. Laurel swims on the varsity team and tutors with Mounties in Motion.
  
• 2016 - 17 | Kenzie Schlutz (Directed Studies)
  Kenzie Shultz is a 3rd year Directed Studies student from Moncton, New Brunswick. Kenzie is looking forward to seeing the end result of NaviCare/SoinsNavi and how it affects families from across NB. Kenzie enjoys reading, jogging and volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.
  
• 2015 - 16 | Phill Kim (Honours)
  Phill is a fourth year honours student at Mount Allison. His study involves interviews with educational stakeholders in New Brunswick and is called “Very first steps in building the NB Virtual Health Centre for Children: Learning from the stakeholders’ input on the educational needs of children with complex health conditions.” Overall, his goal is to understand the educational needs of children with complex health conditions in NB. Phill is excited to know that his contribution to the NB Virtual Health Centre for Children will better our community.‍
  
• 2015 - 16 | Kate Stymiest (Honours)
  Kate Stymiest is from Fredericton, New Brunswick. She graduated from Mount Allison with a BSc in Psychology and completed her Honours under the supervision of Dr. Azar. She is currently studying medicine at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick.Kate is pleased to maintain her ties with the PSHL team; she is currently conducting interviews with healthcare professionals to inform the NB Virtual Health Centre for Children study.
  
• 2015 - 16 | Sarah MacCallum (Honours)
  Sarah MacCallum is a fourth year B.Sc honours in psychology from Pictou, Nova Scotia. She is examining the social needs of children with complex health conditions in a project titled: Paving the Way for the New Brunswick Virtual Health Centre; Listening to the Stakeholders' Voices on the Social Needs of Children with Complex Health Conditions and their Families. Sarah is looking forward to seeing the project come together and helping the families of children with complex health conditions better address their needs.
  
• 2014 - 15 | Nina Hindrichs (Honours)
  My name is Nina Hindrichs and I am from Lynden, Ontario. I am currently going into fourth year. This year I will be researching "smoking in youth with and without past depression".
  
• 2014 - 15 | Megan Blacquiere (Honours)
  Megan is from Allison, New Brunswick. Beyond my interests in psychology, I also enjoy playing hockey, dancing, and reading. I also have an appetite for learning and speaking new languages, especially my secondary language of French. My work this year will build upon research already done at the PSHL and will be looking at smoking in early pregnancy as it pertains to umbilical cord blood concentrations of C-reactive protein.
  
• 2013 - 14 | Alyssa James (Honours)
  My name is Alyssa James and I am from Moncton NB. I am currently going in my fourth year at MTA. This year I will be working on "Serum levels of pro-inflammatory biomarkers as a function of the severity of depressive symptoms in nulliparous expectant women during early-to-mid pregnancy."
  
• 2013 - 14 | Kate Stymiest (Honours)
  Kate, from Fredericton, NB, enjoys reading and swimming in her spare time. The title of her research project with Dr. Azar is "Depressive Symptoms and Low Vitamin D in Expectant Women".
  
• 2012 - 13 | Mo Santander (Honours
  Mo, from Glenwood Springs, CO, enjoys the hiking, backpacking, and generally discovering the Great Outdoors. In his time at PSHL, Mo studied the occupational satisfaction of correctional officers in Atlantic Canadian institutions. His thesis titled "Job Satisfaction, Managerial Satisfaction, and Turnover Intention in Atlantic Canadian Correctional Officers" is currently being adapted for publication in journal-article form.
  
• 2012 - 13 | Robert Calder (Honours)
  Robert, from Springhill, NS, enjoys building bicycles and developing board games. In the lab, Robert examines the prevalence and patterns related to prescription opiate use among male inmates in Canada, specifically poly-drug use, early-age drug use, and suicide. Robert currently resides in London pursuing career opportunities as well as continuing lab research.
  
• 2011 - 12 | Sarah Leger (Honours)
  Sarah, from Moncton NB, enjoys volunteering and travelling in her spare time, and is an avid reader for pleasure, even during the academic year. After completing her thesis in the PSHL, she went on to pursue a Master of Arts in Women and Gender Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University studying human sexuality and gender identity and performance. She will be graduating in May 2014 and hopes to continue on to her PhD, hopefully as an international student abroad. Thesis Title: Do Smoking Self-reports and Biomarkers Tell the Same Story?
  
• 2011 - 12 | Adrian Gee (Directed Studies)
  Adrian, from Kitimat, BC spends his spare time playing volleyball, running/hiking, doing naturalistic photography, and going through various series on Netflix. In his time at PSHL, Adrian explored the relationship between childhood obesity and inflammatory markers such as C-Reactive protein. He is currently a student in the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland where he is conducting a spatio-temporal analysis of STIs on the east coast with respect to domestic migratory behaviours. He also is working on an ongoing bone marrow and stem cell databasing project (One Match) with Canadian Blood Services. Report Title: Childhood Obesity & C-Reactive Protein.
  
• 2011 - 12 | Mo Santander (Directed Studies)
  In his time as an Independent Studies Student at PSHL, Mo examined health-psychological theories related to vaccine demand and the psychological aspects of preventative health behaviour in pandemic scenarios. Report Title: H1N1 Pandemic: Lessons Learned.
  
• 2010 - 11 | Pamela Hudson (Honours)
  Pamela, from Cascumpec PEI, spends her time enjoying running, yoga, photography, and spending time with friends and family. In her time at PSHL, Pamela studied the relationships between perceived social support of expectant mothers, fetal growth, and infant birthweight. Pamela continued in the field of health at Dalhousie University, where she completed a Master's Degree in Health Promotion, studying the social determinants of HIV/HCV prevention and risk among Aboriginal youth. Today, Pamela is a medical student at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Pamela hopes to pursue family medicine with a particular focus on holistic health, Aboriginal health, and addiction treatment and prevention. Thesis Title: Perceived Social Support During Pregnancy & Birth Weight.
  
• 2010 - 11 | Sarah Smith - Directed Studies
  Project Title: Mindfulness
  
• 2009 - 10 | Darren Mercer (Honours)
  In his time at PSHL, Darren examined the relationship between prenatal affect and inflammatory markers in the expectant mothers. Thesis Title: Feelings matter in pregnancy: A pilot study to test whether prenatal affect influence 1. Maternal serum pro-inflammatory markers, and 2. Fetal growth.
  
• 2009 - 10 | Annie Richard (Honours)
  In her time at PSHL, Annie studied the effect of smoking on markers of inflammation. Thesis Title: Pilot Study: Salivary C-Reactive Protein as a measure of the effect of tobacco smoke exposure on inflammation.
  
• 2008 - 09 | Laura Stephenson (Honours)
  Thesis Title: Nagivating, surviving...and perhaps enjoying the freshman year: What can we learn from the relations between daily hassles, social support, and anxiety?
  
• 2008 - 09 | Sarah Smith (Honours)
  Project Title: Does Postpartum Maternal Affect Maternal Perceptions of Infant Health or Infant Health Outcome?
  
• 2020 - 21 | Jacqueline Brun (Honours)
  Jacqueline is a fourth-year Honours Psychology student from Mississauga, Ontario. She is studying how parents' expectations in the care of their children with complex health conditions can be met by NB and PEI professional care providers. She is excited for this opportunity as she feels this is an important topic to research. Her long-term goal is to obtain a PhD in Clinical Psychology. When she is not busy studying or researching, she loves reading, coaching gymnastics during the summer and spending time with friends and family.

Postdoctoral Fellows

• 2018 - Present | Dr. Kerrie Luck
  Dr. Luck is currently developing her program around the Research on investment of NaviCare/SoinsNavi.
  
• 2015 - 18 | Dr. Pat Charlton
  Dr. Charlton is a Research Associate with the PEI SPOR PIHCIN Network. Prior to her position, she held a CIHR-NBHRF-funded post-doctoral position in health policy working with Drs. William Montelpare (UPEI) Shelley Doucet (UNB Saint John), and Rima Azar (Mount Allison University.
  
• 2015 - 18 | Dr. Allison Luke
  Dr. Luke is the Senior Advisor and Research Associate at NaviCare/SoinsNavi. Prior to her position (before 2018-19), she held the Crawford/Jarislowsky Post Doctoral Fellow Position in Health Policy.