We have not just one…two…but three student researchers from St.Amant Research Centre lined up to share their brand new disability research.
Join us for a student showcase of disability research where you’ll hear from three graduate students from the University of Manitoba about the different projects they are involved with. This session will include video presentations to introduce each of their research topics, as well as a panel discussion about the importance of disability research and how to make it more inclusive.
- Maria Baranowski will talk about the community engagement process with families with lived experience she used to improve her PhD research project plan.
- Rob Jeffrey will share what he’s learned through his MA research about how staff are supporting people to find and maintain authentic relationships.
- Mahnoosh Matlabi will provide insights into the experiences of people living in the community during the Covid-19 pandemic related to their health and quality of life.
Don’t miss out on this knowledge mobilization opportunity with the world-renowned St.Amant Research Centre.
Maria Baranowski is a mom to 3 boys. She is also a dietitian, PhD candidate at the University of Manitoba, volunteer at StAmant, and parent advocate for inclusion. In her presentation she will talk about the process she followed to meet with parent and caregiver research partners to plan some aspects of her PhD research project. First, she met with parents and caregivers of children born with Down syndrome to share with them her ideas about a research project about nutrition and children born with Down syndrome. She also shared with them that she too is a parent of a child born with Down syndrome. Then, she asked parents and caregivers for their feedback about some parts of the research project such as: 1) what nutrition-related topics were most important to them and their child, 2) how they would like to participate in research, and 3) if they had any ideas about how to reach other caregivers about this research. Together, this research team came up with some good ideas about how to plan a meaningful nutrition research project about children born with Down syndrome living in Manitoba.
Rob Jeffrey is a current Masters student at the University of Manitoba and is being supervised by Dr. Toby Martin. His research examines how staff that support people with disabilities can help to find and maintain authentic relationships for the people they support. In addition to research, Rob also works as a Behaviour Analyst supporting Jordan’s Principle through St.Amant Psychology Services. In this position he has been able to travel to First Nations all over the province and help care givers with children that display challenging behaviours. Outside of research and work, Rob spends his free time playing sports, cuddling with his cat, and enjoying local theater.
Mahnoosh Matlabi is a third-year M.Sc. student in Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. She holds a master of educational management from Azad University of Mashhad in Iran (2018), and a bachelor of nursing from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, also in Iran (1997). Mahnoosh has been a nursing leader for over 20 years in clinical and administrative roles, demonstrating expertise as a nurse educator in the cardiovascular field.
She has been a trainee in the Manitoba Training Program (MTP) for Health Services Research since September 2023. This program enables her to gain in-depth insight into learning about health systems, implementation science, and program evaluation. She worked with the evaluation and measurement teams at Shared Health during the summer of 2024 as part of the MTP program.
Currently, she serves as a research assistant at St.Amant Research Center, focusing on the health and well-being of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as their access to timely primary healthcare. Recently, she started conducting research on the experience and perspectives of caregivers of people with IDD during the COVID-19 pandemic, studying its impact on the health and quality of life of people with IDD. Her contribution continues to impact the lives of individuals with IDD, shaping a more inclusive and supportive healthcare system. Outside academia, she enjoys reading historical and novel books and practicing Pilates for a healthy lifestyle.
