Canada’s Only Endowed Research Chair in the Area of Perinatal Mental Health
Dawn and her team are passionate about helping women and their families have the best start to life by improving maternal mental health. She is Canada’s only endowed research chair in perinatal mental health. She also holds the prestigious national New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Her research focuses on improving perinatal mental healthcare by developing and evaluating approaches for screening and treating women who struggle with depression and anxiety during pregnancy. She and her team are leading the field in using e-technology for screening and therapy in pregnant women so that women can get help whenever they need it, wherever they are.
Dawn’s work also aims to understand the consequences of early adverse childhood experiences, particularly poor perinatal mental health, on child mental health and development. She and her team are currently studying resiliency in children to answer the question of why some children are quite affected by adversity (such as prenatal and postnatal depression and anxiety) and others are less so.
Dawn Kingston, RN, PhD
Professor
Faculty of Nursing
CIHR New Investigator
Lois Hole Hospital for Women Cross-Provincial Chair in Perinatal Mental Health
Associate Certified Coach (ACC)
Meet Dawn’s Team
Dr. Dawn Kingston’s team works behind the scenes assisting Dawn in executing her vision of screening and support for women with depression and anxiety in pregnancy. By conducting research studies, the team builds the tools and creates the resources necessary to help women own their emotional health in pregnancy and beyond.
Marie
Marie is the Research Manager for our HOPE team. She manages studies, staff, budgets, and administration across multiple projects. Although she has a Master’s in English Literature from the University of Western Ontario, she came to research coordinating later in life after homeschooling her four children. Marie works remotely from her home office in a small town in Ontario and is the link for our Ontario research team and sites.
Lindsay
Lindsay is a Research Coordinator for the HOPE project, working with the program manager on various perinatal research projects. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music and a minor in English literature from Western University and went on to pursue her passion for teaching piano at The University of Ottawa, where she received a Graduate Diploma in Piano Pedagogy Research.
Nikki
Nikki is the Research Assistant for our HOPE project. She coaches participants in the IMPACT study and interviews women about their prenatal mental health experiences. Nikki originally studied art and graphic design at OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design), and later studied social services after homeschooling her children. Nikki has a great love for people, and especially enjoys interacting with new mothers in the study.
Arshad
Arshad is the Bioinformatician for the HOPE Project. He uses advanced computing resources to analyze mental health data obtained from our participants. Arshad’s research interests include studying mental health-related topics to understand and offer solutions to mental health problems. In his spare time, Arshad enjoys travelling, going on road trips, trying new restaurants, and getting involved in sports.
Ling
Ling has worked for our team from the time she was a high school student until her graduation in nursing this year (2018). She continues to support the team through data entry and participant communication. Ling believes that research is what makes this world a better place.
Katherine
Katherine is a Doctoral student in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary. She supports the HOPE team by inviting women into our studies and conducting interviews. Katherine is completing her Ph.D by exploring Mental Health Disorders in Women, Men, and Couples Undergoing Fertility Treatments.