Graduate Student

Meet Sara:

Sara completed her B.Sc. in Forensic Biology at Trent University, where she found her passion for research through the study of ungulates (hooved mammals). Sara’s honours thesis project involved tracing the origins of one thousand-year-old mountain goat teeth using genomic techniques, giving her the opportunity of a lifetime to work in the Ancient DNA Lab at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto! She later became interested in epidemiology and understanding the factors that shape disease burden at the population level. She explored these ideas for the first time by studying social contact networks of white-tailed deer and their implications for chronic wasting disease transmission. Outside of research, she loves finding new coffee shops, restaurants, and viewpoints to enjoy Vancouver’s stunning scenery. And you can bet that she will collect a receipt, sticker, or coffee cup sleeve from every single one. If she’s not out exploring the city, she’s relaxing at home with her calico, Sookie.

More about her work in the Dennis Lab:

Sara brings her background in population genetics and epidemiology to the Dennis Lab, where she is investigating sex differences in the effects of APOE genotype on lipid trajectories and cognitive decline. Her project currently is leveraging data from national and international cohorts.