PHS Insider - Surabhi Velagala

| 10 July 2026

Throughout undergrad, working in healthcare environments and completing an undergraduate thesis, I realized I wanted to understand health from a broader perspective

When Surabhi began graduate school, she expected to spend much of her time focused on research and data analysis. What she did not expect was how much graduate school would also shape her passion for student advocacy, leadership, and creating spaces that helped students feel more connected to each other and the work happening around them.

Currently completing her MSc in Epidemiology, Surabhi previously earned an Honours Bachelor of Health Sciences degree from the University of Ottawa. Although she had long been interested in both clinical and public health research, she says epidemiology ultimately stood out because it offered a way to understand health and to look at it beyond individual patient care.

“Throughout undergrad, working in healthcare environments and completing an undergraduate thesis, I realized I wanted to understand health from a broader perspective,” she explains.

Queen’s also stood out because of the supportive environment she experienced very early on through conversations with graduate staff, faculty members, and mentors in the Public Health Student Association (PHSSA) mentorship program during the application period.

Since entering the program, Surabhi says one of the biggest skills she has developed is a new way of thinking critically about research and evidence. Through her coursework and thesis work, she learned how to evaluate study design, identify potential biases, and interpret data, which helped shape the way she approaches scientific literature and her own research projects. She also developed practical skills in study design, regression modelling, survey analysis, and critical appraisal.

Surabhi’s thesis research, supervised by Dr. Heather Stuart and Dr. Heather White, examines workplace stressors and mental health among Canadian workers using data from the 2022 Mental Health and Access to Care Survey. Specifically, she studies the relationship between job strain and experience of suicidal ideation and/or a major depressive episode. The topic felt especially important because of the major role workplace environments play in people’s daily lives and well-being.

One of the biggest adjustments she had to make during graduate school, however, was learning to become comfortable with uncertainty in research.

“Research rarely goes exactly as planned,” she says. “Sometimes the data is messy, the analysis changes, or your original idea needs to be revised.”

Over time, with the help of her supervisors, she came to understand that adapting to those challenges was not a setback, but a core part of research and one of the most valuable learning experiences of graduate school.

Alongside her graduate studies, Surabhi became deeply involved in student leadership and community building across the university. She served as the MSc Epidemiology student representative, joined the PHSSA events and socials team, and was later elected as the Vice President Graduate for the Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS) for the 2025–2026 academic year. She also founded the PHS Insider initiative, a platform designed to highlight student research and experiences within the department. These roles allowed her to connect her academic interests with advocacy and student support.

For Surabhi, leadership and community-building became just as important as academics during her time at Queen’s. Through her work with SGPS and student representation, she became involved in discussions surrounding graduate funding, student accommodations, housing, and university policy, experiences that gave her insight into institutional decision-making and student advocacy.

At the same time, her involvement with PHSSA focused on helping students build connections outside of academics.

“Graduate school can get busy and isolating, but having opportunities where people can meet each other and build community really helps.”

That same idea eventually inspired her to create the PHS Insider initiative after noticing that students were often curious about the research their peers were working on, but did not always have an easy way to learn about it. The initiative aimed to give students a platform to share their own experiences and research interests while helping strengthen connections within the department.

Apart from school, Surabhi balances her academic work with hands-on clinical experience, working part-time at Lasik MD, where she performs diagnostic imaging tests for patients and is involved in preparing them before surgery. She also partakes in ophthalmology research as a research assistant, contributing to literature review, data collection, and analysis at the Galen Eye Center under the supervision of Dr. Pushpinder Kanda and Dr. Harmanjit Singh.

Looking ahead, Surabhi hopes to continue combining research, advocacy, and clinical interests through work that contributes to public health and health policy.

Outside of academics, she enjoys staying active through the gym, swimming, hiking, and bouldering. She also enjoys gardening and caring for plants, a hobby she has had since childhood. And after a long day of writing or data analysis, her favourite way to unwind is by spending time outdoors, being with friends and family, or taking her motorcycle out for a ride.

Written by Kamalvir Pablay

Interviewers: Anushka Saini and Naomi Kudo

Editors: Isabella Tsan and Surabhi Velagala

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PHS Insider - Surabhi Velagala

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