Sophie Blackmore
Research Assistant
Sophie is originally from Ottawa, ON, and obtained her Honours BA in Psychology from Queen鈥檚 University in 2020. She then completed her MSc in Clinical Psychopathology at the Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam, Netherlands) in 2023, where her thesis focused on the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for people with anxiety and depressive disorders. Overall, her research interests focus on Indigenous health and wellbeing, improving access to healthcare services, and the development of culturally competent psychological interventions and assessment methods.
Her interest in Indigenous and cross-cultural mental health began at Queen鈥檚, where she volunteered with a non-profit organization and taught culturally relevant physical and mental health education to students in Salluit, Nunavik for several months. Following this, she pursued several research and work opportunities to engage more with these topics, including work assessing suicide crisis lines for Indigenous communities in Canada, working with the Nicotine Dependence Clinic at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and research projects on psychosis risk for migrant populations and assessing trauma symptoms in various ethnic and diagnostic subgroups in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Natalia Gala
Research Assistant
聽Natalia joined the lab in May 2022 after moving to Montreal from Winnipeg, MB. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from the University of Winnipeg (2021) and is currently obtaining a BA in Sociology at Concordia University. Natalia's interests compose of Indigenous Health, Substance Use, Opioid Use Disorders (OUD) and improving Access to Care for Vulnerable populations. Natalia hopes to pursue further studies within the field of Medicine and Addictions.
Amanda Shawayahamish
Research Assistant
Amanda is an Anishinaabe woman from Animbiigoo Zaagi-igan Anishinaabek First Nation.鈥�
Having graduated from Concordia University鈥檚 First Peoples Studies Program in 2021, Amanda obtained her master鈥檚 degree from Concordia University鈥檚 Individualized Program, specializing in Anishinaabe storytelling and traditional beadwork in 2024. She was a project assistant at Concordia University鈥檚 Office of Community Engagement, where she co-created the Indigenous engagement guide 鈥淒ewemaagannag/My Relations鈥� for researchers and academics.聽Amanda also has experience in working with persons with disabilities as she was a research assistant on the Nisidotam project and designed the logo.聽 Amanda's interests compose of Indigenous health and wellbeing, and Indigenous research methodologies.聽
Darah Olaogun
Research Assistant
Darah is a senior undergraduate student at 黑料社, majoring in Psychology with minors in Behavioral Sciences and Sociology. She plans to pursue graduate education in counseling psychology, driven by a keen interest in analyzing cultural competence within psychotherapeutic practice. Darah is deeply passionate about enhancing psychological well-being, particularly for at-risk and marginalized populations. She works as a personal support worker (PSW) and volunteers as a crisis helpline responder.
Michelle Kowalska
Undergraduate Student
Michelle is an undergraduate psychology student at 黑料社. They are currently assisting Payton with their research project, and want to pursue graduate studies in psychology later. Being of mixed Polish and Kashmiri Muslim roots, Michelle is interested in community and culturally-sensitive psychology practices, and hopes to someday develop research and practices which better cater to the South Asian diaspora.
