How did you come to be in your program?
I started an MSc in Epidemiology in the Department of Public Health Sciences in 2016, after completing my BA in Anthropology at McMaster University. During my undergraduate degree, I was always drawn to the science behind how diseases spread in populations, and which biological and social factors contribute to this spread, and focused my degree around classes in diseases, medical anthropology, and biology.
After doing my undergraduate degree on the epidemiology of syphilis in South America, I expanded my interests in epidemiology, and molecular research. Despite an exciting fourth year learning about infectious diseases, I knew I wanted to train in chronic disease epidemiology and eventual use my training to reduce the prevalence of diseases with a large burden in the Canadian population.
After completing my MSc with a cancer and molecular epidemiology focus, I began my PhD in our department at Queen’s in 2018. I have since become more interested in environmental and molecular epidemiology and am studying the effects of air pollution on inflammation biomarkers during pregnancy.
What challenges have you had with the pandemic, and how did you overcome them?
I feel very fortunate to be able to continue my research remotely, as I know other colleagues do not have this option. My biggest challenge during the pandemic has been shifting all communication with collaborators to virtual means. Prior to the pandemic, I would set up many in-person meetings throughout the month. These have all now become either emails or video-call meetings. I felt that some of the sense of collaboration and teamwork had been lost during the initial weeks of the university’s physical closure, but we are all improving our virtual communication skills and now adjusting to this new normal!
What are your hopes and plans?
My aim is to complete my degree and look for an academic position at a university, or scientific institution. I really enjoy teaching and think a career as a professor would be highly rewarding. However, I am also exploring other career options for PhD students. There are so many positions I am constantly learning about for PhD graduates that I didn’t even know existed previously!
Is there anything else that you think would help our readers understand who you are, and what you stand for?
I really enjoy knowledge translation activities. I think it is so important for researchers to try to make their work accessible to individuals outside of their immediate field – whether it’s the general public or researchers in another department. I’ve tried to practice knowledge translation through various talks I’ve given at scientific conferences as well as to the general public. I’ve also had the opportunity to blog about my own work as well as epidemiology news in the media, and volunteer to run science workshops at local high schools in Kingston.
Special Achievements/Presentations
Post-Secondary Awards
- 1st Place Oral Presentation Competition ($500) 2018. 2018 National Student Conference of the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CSEB).
- Canadian Graduate Scholarships-Master’s Award-CIHR ($17,500) 2017.
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship ($15,000) Declined at the University of Toronto 2016.
- Dr. Harry Lymann Hooker Scholarship Recipient ($1,000) 2015. Presented to top 20 students in the Faculty of Social Sciences, based on sessional GPA.
- NSERC-Undergraduate Student Research Award ($5,000) 2015. Scholarship awarded for independent research during a four-month term, based on proposed research application and academic standing.
Financial Awards while in PHS Program
- CGS-D CIHR Doctoral Award ($30,000 + $5,000 research allowance (2020 up to three years)
- Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship in Science and Technology ($15,000) 2019-2020
- Empire Life Fellowship ($6,666) 2018-2019
TA/RA Positions Held
- Intermediate Epidemiology (Graduate course, EPID 804) – Winter 2019
- Introductory Statistics (Undergraduate course, BIO 243) – Fall 2017, Fall 2019
- Introduction to Epidemiology (Undergraduate course, EPID 301) – Winter 2018
Publications
In Press:
Gogna P, King W.D. (2020). The relationship between colorectal cancer risk factors and LINE-1 DNA methylation in healthy colon tissue. Epigenomics.
De La Roche M, Dyer N, Froats M, Bell A, McDonald L, Bolton C, Devins R, Hall R, Leclerc J, Isead J, Miron M, Badowski M, Steinitz T, King N, Gogna P. (2019). A review of the impact of a physician assistant on quality and efficiency metrics at a medium sized secondary care Canadian hospital – A Population Cohort Study. Canadian Family Physician.
De La Roche M, Dyer N, Froats M, Bell A, McDonald L, Bolton C, Devins R, Hall R, Leclerc J, Isead J, Miron M, Badowski M, Steinitz T, King N, Gogna P. (2019). An estimation of the “phantom” LWBS at an urban mid-sized Canadian community emergency department. Canadian Family Physician.
Published:
Gogna P, Narain TA, O’Sullivan DO, Villeneuve P, Demers P, Hystad P, Brenner DR, Friedenreich, CM, & King W.D on behalf of the ComPARe study group (2019). Estimates of the current and future burden of lung cancer attributable to PM2.5 in Canada. Preventive medicine, 122, 91-99.
Gogna P, Narain TA, O’Sullivan DO, Villeneuve P, Demers P, Hystad P, Brenner DR, Friedenreich, CM, & King W.D on behalf of the ComPARe study group (2019). Estimates of the current and future burden of lung cancer attributable to residential radon exposure in Canada. Preventive medicine, 122, 100-108.
Poirer A, Ruan Y, Volesky K, King WD, O’Sullivan DE, Gogna P, Walter S, Villeneuve P, Friedenreich C, Brenner D on behalf of the ComPARe study group. The current and future burden of cancer attributable to modifiable risk factors in Canada: Summary of results. Preventive medicine, 122, 140-147.
Gogna, P (2018). LINE-1 DNA Methylation as a Biomarker of Early Carcinogenesis. Health science inquiry (Student journal), 9: 31-32.
Gogna, P, O’Sullivan D.E, and King, W.D. (2017). The effect of inflammation-related lifestyle exposures and one-carbon metabolism gene variants on LINE-1 DNA methylation in blood leukocytes. Epigenomics. 10(6): 785-796.