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We are pleased to announce that seven of our APHD students received the 2023 CPA (Canadian Psychological Association) award! The CPA award is a Certificate of Academic Excellence that acknowledges top thesis students at the Honours, Master’s, and Doctoral levels.

Below we learn more about our award recipients and their journey in academia.

Masters recipients:
Liyuzhi (Dolly) Dong
Ayda Ferdossifard
Clara McNamee

Doctoral recipients:
Jenna Cripps
Brittni Glenright
Bronwyn Lamonde
Darshan Panesar

Liyuzhi (Dolly) Dong is now a first year PhD student after having completed the Master of Arts (MA) degree in Developmental Psychology & Education at Â鶹´«Ã½ (OISE). Dolly's academic journey began with a HBSc in Psychology and Statistical Science at the University of Toronto, laying the foundation for her passion for developmental psychology and her overall appreciation of scientific processes. Following the completion of the MA degree in Developmental Psychology and Education at OISE, her journey has evolved into a doctoral degree in the same field. Dolly's research interest lies in children's understanding and engagement with academic honesty or dishonesty, with a specific focus on understanding how they respond to their own cheating actions through a behavioural lens.

Ayda Ferdossifard is currently a first year PhD student in the School and Clinical Child Psychology program at OISE. Ayda completed her Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at York University and her Master of Arts in School and Clinical Child Psychology (SCCP) at the Â鶹´«Ã½ (OISE), University of Toronto. Currently in the doctoral program, she intends to focus on understanding language and literacy acquisition and the developmental progression of receptive and expressive comprehension and use of figurative/higher order language among English Language Learners (ELLs), as well as the development and evaluation of interventions to facilitate learning a second language and developing literacy skills in first and second languages. Ayda's career goal is to do research and professional psychological practice with children, adolescents, and families in a variety of settings such as schools, mental health facilities, community organizations, and academia. 

Clara McNamee has her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience and Psychology from the University of Toronto. She then pursured her Master of Arts degree in Clinical and Counselling Psychology at OISE, and us now in her second year of the doctoral program. Clara joined this program with a research interest in plurisexuality – that is, individuals who identify as being attracted to more than one gender (e.g., bisexual, pansexual). She was particularly interested in how societal factors, such as sexual orientation stigma, impact the mental health and self-perception of these communities. For her master’s thesis, she conducted qualitative interviews with members of the plurisexual community and mental health clinicians working with this community. The goal was to gain a greater understanding of the positive and negative attitudes that plurisexual people feel towards their sexual orientations, and to translate these findings into a questionnaire. Clara is now working towards the continued development of this research as part of her doctoral dissertation. Ultimately, Clara hopes to use her research to uplift the voices of people in the plurisexual community and to increase the representation of this large, diverse, and resilient population within the field of psychology.

Dr. Jenna Cripps is a recent graduate from the Clinical and Counselling Psychology program and is currently registered as a psychologist in supervised practice. Dr. Cripps received a B.Sc. in Psychology: Brain and Cognition from the University of Guelph before completing her Master's and Doctoral degree in the Clinical and Counselling Psychology program from the Â鶹´«Ã½ (OISE). "During my time at OISE, I was very lucky to be supervised by Dr. Lana Stermac who is a wonderful mentor and fostered my interest in research on violence against women and technology-facilitated sexual violence", says Dr. Cripps.  In the future, she hopes to continue to pursue her interests in providing evidence-based clinical services and researching technology-facilitated sexual violence from an intersectional and feminist lens.

Dr. Bronwyn Lamond is recent graduate from the doctoral program in School and Clinical Child Psychology from OISE and is currently working at two private psychology practices providing assessments and intervention to children, youth, and families. During her time at OISE, she has been a member of the APHD Student Association, the SCCP Virtual Hub Committee, and the Clinic Steering Committee. Prior to enrolling in the SCCP program, she completed her Master of Arts degree in the Child Study and Education program at OISE and worked in a private psychology practice doing academic intervention and clinical administration, which led her to the realization that she wanted to be a Psychologist. Given this scope of experience and dissertation work on assistive technology, Bronwyn is very interested in how best to support learners within the classroom environment.

Darshan Panesar is a doctoral student in the Developmental Psychology and Education Program. Darshan started his academic journey with his undergraduate H.B.Sc. degree in biology and cognitive psychology. During this period, he became involved in Dr. Kang Lee's lab as a research assistant, and his passion for academic research flourished. Darshan developed a keen interest in infant behavioral, physiological, and neural development. To deepen his understanding of developmental psychology, he enrolled in the Master of Education program in Developmental Psychology and Education at OISE. "During my master's degree, I discovered that my true interests lay in research, leading me to engage in wider range of research projects with Dr. Kang Lee. During this time, I grew increasingly interested in the development of sleep specifically, the immense importance of sleep for health and development", says Darshan. After completing the masters degree, Darshan was fueled with a strong motivation and eagerness to continue in the academic research field, deciding to pursue a doctoral degree. Darshan's current research focuses on sleep health and development, with his ultimate career goal being to continue to contribute to a research-oriented exploration of sleep health and development.