Lab Members

Lab Members

Principal Investigator and Director

  • Principal Investigator and Director

    Dr. Geoff Bardwell (he/him) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medicine at University of British Columbia and a Research Scientist at the BC Centre on Substance Use. Dr. Bardwell’s research focuses on unregulated drug use and related policies, strategies, and interventions, primarily in small urban, rural, remote, and Indigenous communities. He also has several years of experience working in policy and direct service roles in the areas of HIV/AIDS, gender and sexuality, housing and homelessness, and drug use.

Trainees

  • MSc student

    Lucas (he/him) is in his second year of the MSc program in Public Health Sciences at University of Waterloo. He is interested in how community-based research can uncover barriers to healthcare and contribute to community-informed solutions. For his thesis, he is conducting a rapid ethnography in Sudbury, Ontario, to understand injection drug use and how the closure of the city’s only supervised consumption site has affected access to harm reduction services.

  • MSc student

    Amreetha Jayathilake (she/her) is in the second year of the MSc program in Public Health Sciences at University of Waterloo. Her thesis focuses on the experiences in access to opioid agonist treatment in rural communities of British Columbia and the potential role of technologies in addressing access issues. Outside of her research, she loves spending time with family, being outdoors, and going to McDonalds.

  • MSc student

    Meya (she/her) is in her first year of the MSc program in Public Health Sciences at University of Waterloo. She is interested in the homelessness and overdose epidemics and how these crises intersect. In her thesis, Meya is examining how built environment factors contribute to increased risk of fatal overdose.  

picture of rachel

  • Rachel (she/her) is in her fourth year of Knowledge Integration with a minor in Addictions, Mental Health, and Policy. She is interested in research on substance use, harm reduction, and public health interventions that provide more autonomy to people who use drugs. For her undergraduate thesis, she is exploring the relationship between built environments and overdose via qualitative research.

  • Dane is a PhD Candidate in the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo. His research centers on mental health services, systems and policies with a focus on forensic psychiatry, substance use, and bipolar disorder. He also conducts research on innovative models for integrating mental health services into primary care, publicly funded psychotherapy services, and illicit tobacco markets. In his spare time, he enjoys exercise, listening to podcasts, and reading. He is supported by scholarships from CIHR and SSHRC.

Staff

  • Judy (she/her) is a Graduate Research Assistant supporting Drug Lab’s work on drug possession, decriminalization, and policing. She is also a PhD student working under the supervision of Dr. Chris Perlman. Her research primarily focuses on substance use, mental health, and the complexities which lead to the co-occurrence of both conditions.  Her research has covered topics such as barriers for Canadian police in responding to emergency calls involving severe emotional and psychological distress; experiences of self-medication with both licit and illicit substances to address symptoms of low mood; and the geographic patterns of opioid-related overdose deaths in British Columbia.  Her research often takes an interdisciplinary approach which incorporates psychosocial, criminological, and public health perspectives.  Judy specializes in both quantitative and qualitative research methods, with a high priority placed on incorporating the voices of those with lived experience of substance use and/or mental illness.

  • Erin (she/her) recently completed her Honours Bachelor of Public Health at the University of Waterloo, with a minor in Addictions, Mental Health, and Policy. Her interests lie in health equity, drug policy, and the social determinants of health, particularly as they relate to mental health and substance use. As a research assistant, she supports projects that explore the intersection of drug policy, service access, and community well-being. 

Sudbury Research Assistants: Renee Rochon, Dawn Cameron, Kevin McGregor, Guy Seguin, Janet Michaud, Brooke Legault

Lab Alumni

  • Anna Martin

    BSc (2024)

    Factors driving alcohol use among sexual minority women: A scoping review

  • Magda Kalff-Duschenes

    BSc (2024)

    Exploring the Factors that Improve Provider Experience While Caring for Pregnant People Who Use Substances: A descriptive phenomenology