Research Staff

  • Leila Karimi

    Leila Karimi

    she/her

    Research Communications Coordinator

    Leila Karimi is the Research Communications Coordinator for the SHAPE Hub – a pan-Canadian initiative dedicated to addressing barriers to evidence-based information and treatment for sexual difficulties and genito-pelvic pain affecting women and gender-diverse people. Leila brings over a decade of experience in design, branding, and communications, with a strong background in visual storytelling and strategic communications. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Islamic Azad University in Tehran and Management Certification in Design from Emily Carr University and BCIT, respectively. Leila has a passion for crafting impactful content and is skilled in digital media, visual design, and stakeholder engagement to amplify the reach and impact of research initiatives.

  • Julianna Mazur

    Julianna Mazur

    she/her

    Social Media Assistant

    Julianna Mazur is a fourth-year Bachelor of Science student at UBC, majoring in Chemistry, Statistics, and Life Sciences, with a minor in Commerce. She serves as the lab’s Social Media Assistant, where she manages its presence on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Julianna is passionate about knowledge translation and is committed to making complex scientific research accessible and engaging. Her role in the lab allows her to merge her communication skills with her academic background, fostering connections between the lab’s work and the broader community.

  • Samantha Martin-Ferris

    Samantha Martin-Ferris

    she/her


    Research Assistant

    Samantha Martin-Ferris is an award-winning youth activist and Indigenous researcher from the Gitksan Nation in Northern BC. In 2023, she took home first place at the International UN Worlds Challenge alongside fellow lab mate Piper Scott-Fiddler for her culturally based Indigenous health intervention, ‘the Lifegivers Box’. Her research primarily focuses on Indigenous youths’ rights to good health through measuring quantitative data and advocating for them through community-based health reports. She is currently co-supervised by Dr. Sarah Munro and Dr. Aline Talhouk as a part of UBC’s WACH program. Samantha is currently assisting as lead data analyst with the national Indigenous women two-spirit research priority setting survey on sexual difficulties and genito-pelvic pain as a part of the SHAPE Hub. 

    she/her

  • Kaku Lema, MBA

    Kaku Lema, MBA


    Knowledge Mobilization Manager

    she/her


    Kaku Lema is the Knowledge Mobilization Manager for the SHAPE Hub – a pan-Canadian initiative focused on addressing barriers to evidence-based information and treatment for sexual difficulties and genito-pelvic pain that affect women and gender-diverse people. She holds a Bachelor’s degree (Hons) in Human Geography from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver Canada and Master of Business Administration in Project Management from Università degli studi Guglielmo Marconi, Rome Italy.  Kaku has successfully led numerous impactful projects, including the Medical Training & Fellowship Programme, funded by the East Africa Development Bank at the British Council, which trained physicians in the early detection and treatment of cervical cancer.

  • Nisha Marshall

    Nisha Marshall

    Study Coordinator

    she/her

    Nisha is a study coordinator in the lab. She completed her MSc in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences in 2022 and joined the lab shortly after. Nisha has an interest in pelvic pain, sexual pain, gynecological conditions, and intervention-based research. She has been the coordinator for numerous studies testing eSense: a digital health intervention for women with sexual difficulties. Currently, she is the coordinator for eSense-Cancer; a project that aims to adapt eSense to address sexual difficulties in gynecologic cancer survivors

  • Kira McNamee, BBA

    Kira McNamee, BBA

    she/her

    Lab Manager

    Kira has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University and over 10 years of experience in project and team management working on multidisciplinary projects in research and technology. She has held roles in project management, change management, and organizational development. Working on this team gives her opportunity to pursue her interest in women’s health.

  • Bozena Zdaniuk, PhD

    Bozena Zdaniuk, PhD

    she/her

    Research Associate

    Bozena has a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh (1999), a postdoc from Carnegie Mellon university, and she has held multiple roles as a data analyst, methodologist, research associate, and writer. She is particularly strong at aggregating complex sets of data into usable units for analysis, and she has ushered several projects through to completion and knowledge translation. Working on this team gives her opportunity to pursue her ongoing interest in female sexuality research.