PEOPLE

Nichole Fairbrother, Ph.D.

Nichole Fairbrother is the director of the Mother-Infant Wellness Lab at BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre. She received her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of British Columbia in 2002. She subsequently completed a post-doctoral fellowship in women’s reproductive health through the Child and Family Research Institute and the UBC Department of Health Care and Epidemiology. Dr. Fairbrother is currently a research associate with the University of British Columbia’s Departments of Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology and a member of the Women’s Health Research Institute at B.C.’s Women’s Hospital.

Liz Horner, BA

Liz has worked in the Mother-Infant Wellness Lab since 2005. She was the primary research assistant for the Mother-Infant Wellness Project, a study investigating new mothers’ intrusive thoughts of harm related to the newborn. More recently, she has been working with Dr. Fairbrother on a study of the birthing preferences of pregnant women who have a history of sexual assault and/or abuse, as well as a new measure of fear of childbirth.

Liz also works as assistant for the ActNow BC-Healthy Choices in Pregnancy initiative at the BC Center of Excellence for Women’s Health. She is helping to coordinate regional training for health service providers on women-centred care, harm reduction approaches, and motivational interviewing around substance use during pregnancy. In this role Liz collaborates with stakeholders in women’s health care around the province to organize educational sessions in their communities.

Marion MacKay-Dunn, B.Sc.

Marion has recently completed her B.Sc. in Cell Biology and Genetics at UBC. As project manager for the Perinatal Anxiety Screening Study, she is responsible for participant recruitment, managing the project database and performing other administrative duties. Recently, Marion was able to share information about this ongoing project through the Child and Family Research Institute’s Summer Student program. She is an active member of the lab and plays an important role in many of our ongoing projects.  

Maria Watson, M.A.

Maria has been involved in anxiety research and treatment since 1991. She did a B.Sc. in Biopsychology at the University of British Columbia, followed by a M.A. in Clinical Psychology at Queen’s University, Ontario. After gaining further research experience at the University of California, Berkeley, Maria returned to Vancouver where she spent 5 years assessing and treating people with Anxiety Disorders (including Panic Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Specific Phobias) at the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre, UBC Site. As a registered clinical counselor, Maria is now in private practice on the North Shore, specializing in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Anxiety Disorders.

During a 2-year period in the Mother Infant Wellness Lab, Maria interviewed over 100 first time mothers about their anxiety relating to their babies’ health and wellbeing. Maria will also be training therapists for an upcoming research project in the lab. Maria has three lovely girls that fill the rest of her time!