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Pediatric Public Health Psychology Lab

The Pediatric Public Health Psychology (PPHP) Lab conducts scientific studies to promote health and equal health among children and teenagers. The PPHP has a special focus on cardiovascular disease — a family of ailments that affect the heart and blood vessels.

Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) is something you might think only older adults need to worry about, it is an important health issue for children and their parents. In fact, CVD begins in childhood and adolescence, showing up in early warning signs such as changes in a child’s blood pressure, heart rate, or weight before progressing into clinical CVD in adulthood. Early warning signs of CVD, which researchers call precursors, are an important part of our research.  

The PPHP is approaching these issues in two ways. First, the PPHP is investigating how lifestyle behaviors (smoking, physical activity, sleep), psychosocial determinants (stress exposure), and environmental characteristics (neighborhood environment; air quality exposure) increase risk for early disease precursors during childhood and adolescence (obesity, blood pressure) that track into adulthood and lead to the eventual development of chronic diseases. By better understanding how signs of CVD develop, and how they influence the development of disease, we hope to more accurately predict the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in adulthood, and ultimately prevent the disease by helping to create better interventions targeted at children and youth.  Second, the PPHP lab is examining how varying income levels and exposure to stress can impact the health of children and teenagers.  Ensuring that all children are healthy is an important public health issue.  Our research aims to figure out how circumstances in a child’s environment can contribute to their physical and mental wellbeing.

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Healthy Heart Project
AdoQuest
EPOCH

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Jennifer J. McGrath, PhD, MPH - PPHP Lab Director

Dr. Jennifer McGrath is Director of the Pediatric Public Health Psychology Lab. She holds the PERFORM Centre Chair in Childhood Preventive Health and Data Science and is an Associate Professor at Concordia University’s Department of Psychology in Montreal. She studies the impact of unequal incomes on health and how poverty, environment, behaviour, and lifestyle among children and teenagers can lead to heart disease in adulthood. 

Dr. McGrath examines the links between unequal income — rich versus poor — and the impact on heart disease from childhood to adulthood. Her multiple studies have examined sleep, stress, smoking, physical activity, sedentary behavior, diet, and obesity in youth.

An expert in statistical modeling and a strong advocate for interdisciplinary public health intervention research, Dr. McGrath is forging a reputation for excellence in child health and health equity studies. She has an extensive network of collaborators at McGill University, Université Laval, Université de Montréal, the Directeur de santé publique Montréal, and the Institut national de santé publique du Québec. 

Internationally, she conducts research with colleagues from Stanford University and UCLA (U.S.); York University and the University of Warwick (UK); Erasmus University (Netherlands); the University of Helsinki (Finland); Karolinska Institute and Linköping University (Sweden); and the World Health Organization. 

Dr. McGrath is the principal investigator on three grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) that total over $6.7 million in funding — or more than 50 percent of all CIHR funds presently awarded to Concordia. Her grants are ranked within the top 5 percent across Canada and her funding ranks among the top 2 percent at CIHR. Since her arrival at Concordia, Dr. McGrath has received over $11.3M in total funding.

She has published roughly 40 peer-review articles — and counting — in top journals including Health Psychology, Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Psychophysiology, Canadian Medical Association Journal, and Psychoneuroendocrinology. She has presented at 100 conferences — over 50 within the last five years. The authorship of her manuscripts shows Dr. McGrath is committed to graduate students who share bylines on her major studies.

When not busy being a professor, Dr. McGrath is an avid rower with Aviron Lachine and an amateur painter who enjoys experimenting with acrylic gel mediums. She does scent tracking and orienteering with her weimaraners. She and her team recently went curling at the Montreal West Curling Club.

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PPHP Team - Senior Research Coordinators

Healthy Heart Project

Natasha Hunt, BA
Natasha is on the frontiers of research. She is the person you speak to when booking an appointment for the Healthy Heart Project.  She is the go-to person for all things related to PPHP.

EPOCH & Data Oversight

Sabrina Giovanniello, BSc
Sabrina wears two big hats. She keeps us on track by managing all data from our studies. She tracks data provenance and oversees coding. She also oversees the coordination of the EPOCH project.

Physiological Signals

Neressa Noel, BSc, RPSGT
Neressa manages the equipment used in sleep studies. She scores sleep data from EEG machines, which record brain activity in sleep. She also oversees heart rate, accelerometry, and temperature.

AdoQuest

Leanne Langer, BA
Leanne oversees all aspects of final data collection for the AdoQuest project, a long-term study that examines how environmental contaminants, especially secondhand smoke, affect teenagers.

Knowledge Mobilization

Layébé Caroline Ignegongba, MPH
Caroline facilitates knowledge mobilization to key stakeholders. She gets the word out about our recent research findings to parents, school boards, health professionals, policy makers, and journalists. 

PPHP Team - Postdoctoral Fellows

Muhammed Idris, Postdoctoral Fellow
I am the PERFORM Postdoctoral Fellow in Data Science, Preventative Health, and Health Policy. I also hold a research appointment at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. Trained as a political economist, my research considers the establishment of accountable institutions and equitable markets, with a current emphasis on poverty and health. The common thread throughout my program of research is the application of computer-aided statistical analysis of open-source, socially-generated, "big data" to develop new and better measures of social phenomena. I play a key role in creating the data science initiative at the PERFORM Centre. I teach an advanced undergraduate course in applied statistics. In my spare time, I am trying to explore Montreal

PPHP Team - Graduate Students

Jinshia Ly, MA
Fascinated by the effects of stress and sleep on cardiovascular health, I examined the mediating role of sleep in the association between stress and cortisol as part of my master’s thesis. For my doctoral dissertation, I will validate various child-report stress measures and examine the association between stress and health outcomes in children and adolescents. My master’s thesis was supported by FRQS Master’s Award and Concordia Graduate Fellowships and my doctoral work is currently funded by FRQS Doctoral Award and Concordia Entrance Scholarship. Besides my academic interests, I paddle for three local dragon boat teams to balance my passion for cooking and eating. Jin looks forward to completing her CPA-accredited pre-doctoral clinical internship at CUPIP, Montreal.
Leah Wright, BA
I'm a master's clinical psychology student in the Pediatric Public Health Psychology Lab. I have two bachelors' degrees, one in International Development from McGill University and one an honours in Psychology from York University. My honours thesis was on the use of physical restraints in children in residential treatment programs and was supervised by Dr. Rob Muller. From 2012-2014, I worked with Dr. Russell Schachar in an ADHD lab at Sick Kids Hospital conducting a meta-analysis on a well-used cognitive task in various psychopathological disorders.  I have a wide range of research interests but am largely interested in the interactions of biology and environment on child development. In my free time, I love to bake and read fiction (sometimes simultaneously!).
Amyna Kanji, BA
I'm a master's clinical psychology student in the Pediatric Public Health Psychology Lab. I completed my Bachelor of Arts and Science at McGill University, with a major in psychology and minors in sociology and social studies of medicine. For my master’s thesis, I am curious to better understand how poorer sleep is linked to depression symptoms. In today’s 24/7 society, adolescents stay up late, text-message their friends while they fall asleep, and have chaotic sleep schedules, which can lead to social jet-lag. Adolescents’ internal clock is no longer synchronized with their bedtime or waketime. Sleep changes and depression are also linked to light exposure and Vitamin D. I hope to untangle the complex relation among adolescents’ sleep phase delay, depression symptoms, light exposure, and Vitamin D. When I am not studying, I love dancing and doing choreography!
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PPHP Team - Alumni

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Denise C. Jarrin, PhD
Proudly, I am Dr. McGrath's first doctoral student to graduate!  I received my MA and PhD in psychology at Concordia University. During my graduate training, I was lucky enough to study two things I love: food and sleep.  I began by studying the social influences of food choice and intake, which led me to childhood obesity and one of its risk factor - sleep. I looked at the link between poor sleep and obesity, as well as how the heart reacts to stress, which might explain this link. Currently, I am a post-doctoral fellow at Université Laval with Dr. Charles Morin where I am investigating the potential health benefits of successful insomnia therapy.  Fun (or sad) fact: I love being a student and I am looking forward to always learning.

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Simon Racicot, PhD
I have had the opportunity of completing my entire graduate studies in the PPHP Lab, where I received my PhD (2014) and MA (2008) in the clinical psychology program.  I completed an accredited pre-doctoral internship in health & rehabilitation psychology at the London Health Sciences Center, one of Canada's top training sites for behavioral medicine.  For my doctoral dissertation, I examined how both watching others smoke and being exposed to airborne nicotine put teenagers at a higher risk of smoking cigarettes. My work was generously supported by CIHR, FRSQ, CTCRI, and SPICE (J. O’Loughlin).  After graduating, I took a position as a staff psychologist at St. Mary’s Hospital in Montreal, a McGill-affiliated teaching hospital. When not reinforcing my caffeine addiction, I enjoy working out, traveling to new, exciting cities, and honing my bowling skills.

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Elizabeth Quon, PhD
I received my MA (2010) and PhD (2014) in the clinical psychology program at Concordia University.  My doctoral dissertation looked at the link between socioeconomic status and health in adolescents - focusing on the importance of perceived status and income inequality. My research was supported by scholarships and grants from CIHR, FRSQ, QICSS, and Concordia University. During my graduate studies, I also got to travel to conferences around the world, play on a regional soccer team, and join a book club. I completed my pre-doctoral internship in clinical psychology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, ON. Upon graduation, I moved out to Halifax, NS, where I work as a psychologist at the IWK Health Centre, providing community mental health services to children and adolescents.

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Oren Weiner, MA
Inspired by an overarching interest in the association between child development and cardiovascular health, my Master’s thesis examined methodological and biological factors that moderate the longitudinal psychometrics of pediatric heart rate variability measures. My graduate experience has also provided training in advanced research methods and statistics, and hands-on exposure to clinical work with both adults and children. I received financial support from CIHR and from graduate fellowships provided by Concordia University and the Department of Psychology. Beyond my academic interests, I am a fire poi dancer, I enjoy wilderness camping, and I like to collect and read outdated medical/psychiatric textbooks.

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Lisa Kakinami, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow)
My PhD is in Epidemiology from the University of Rochester and my BA is in Psychology from UCLA. I was a postdoctoral fellow in Epidemiology at McGill for three years before joining the PPHP lab. My doctoral dissertation was in the risk of heart disease for people with HIV (with or without Hepatitis C infection) and my postdoctoral work was focused on obesity and the risk of heart disease in children and adults. My graduate and postdoctoral work was supported by CTSI, NIH (T. Pearson), FRSQ, and CIHR (L. Séguin & G. Paradis). I am now working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Math and Statistics in collaboration with the PERFORM Centre at Concordia University.
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Sivan Rotenberg, PhD
I completed my MA and PhD (2014) in clinical psychology at Concordia University.  I completed my MA at Concordia University and my BSc, a double major in biology and psychology, at McMaster University. I study stress response in children and adolescents. For my doctoral research, I measured heart rate variability and cortisol while children were at home or school. This line of research aims to extend our understanding of the relationship between stress and health and their links for increased risk for health problems.  After completing my pre-doctoral clinical internship at Geisinger Medical Center in Pennsylvania, I decided to continue there to complete my post-doctoral fellowship.

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What our talented Concordia undergraduates have published
Findings from recent undergraduate theses conducted in the PPHP.

  • Parents who understand nutritional food labels have kids with lower body fat
    Kakinami L, *Houle S, & McGrath JJ. (April 2014) Psychosomatic Medicine, 76(3), A51.
  • Adolescent exposure to airborne nicotine increases expectations of cigarettes Racicot S, *Sharma M, & McGrath JJ. (April 2014). Psychosomatic Medicine, 76(3), A35.
  • More smokers in the household leads to poorer sleep in teens
    *Edwards D, Racicot S, & McGrath JJ. (March 2013). Psychosomatic Medicine, 75(3), A52. 
  • Youth with sleep problems tend to worry before going to bed and have anxiety *Kennedy-Turner K, & McGrath JJ. (March 2013). Psychosomatic Medicine, 75(3), A81. 
  • Perception of social status may not “get under the skin” until young adulthood Rotenberg S, Quon EC, *Van Becelaere L, & McGrath JJ. (March 2013). Psychosomatic Medicine, 75(3), A162. 
  • Parents who believe their neighbourhood is unsafe have trouble sleeping at night, even if they live in a well-off neighbourhood  
    Jarrin DC, *Aloi A, & McGrath JJ. (June 2012). Journal of Sleep and Sleep Disorders Research, 35(Suppl.), A348.

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Media Coverage - PPHP in the News

Globe & Mail (March 2013)  
Globe & Mail (September 2012)
Montreal Gazette (March 2006) Montreal Gazette (March 2013)
National Post (April 2013)
Concordia Journal (April 2009)  
Concordia Journal (February 2015)
Concordia Magazine (Fall  2015)
Mark Bittman, Food Matters (April 2013)
UK Daily Mail (July 2011)
Conduit (June 2010)

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Funding & Support

Research conducted in the PPHP is made possible thanks to the generous support of these organizations.

  • Concordia Centre for Clinical Research in Health (CCRH)
  • Concordia PERFORM Centre
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
  • International Network for Research on Inequalities in Child Health (INRICH)
  • QUALITY Collaborative Group
  • Institut National de Sante Publique du Quebec (INSPQ)
  • Quebec Inter-University Centre for Social Statistics (CIQSS)
  • Harvard University Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS)

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PPHP Opportunities

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Volunteer Opportunities
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Letters of Recommendation
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Undergraduate Supervision
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Graduate Applicants
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Positions Available
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PPHP Portal
PPHPLab

Pediatric Public Health Psychology Lab

The Pediatric Public Health Psychology (PPHP) Lab conducts scientific studies to promote health and equal health among children and teenagers. The PPHP has a special focus on cardiovascular disease — a family of ailments that affect the heart and blood vessels.

Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) is something you might think only older adults need to worry about, it is an important health issue for children and their parents. In fact, CVD begins in childhood and adolescence, showing up in early warning signs such as changes in a child’s blood pressure, heart rate, or weight before progressing into clinical CVD in adulthood. Early warning signs of CVD, which researchers call precursors, are an important part of our research.  

The PPHP is approaching these issues in two ways. First, the PPHP is investigating how lifestyle behaviors (smoking, physical activity, sleep), psychosocial determinants (stress exposure), and environmental characteristics (neighborhood environment; air quality exposure) increase risk for early disease precursors during childhood and adolescence (obesity, blood pressure) that track into adulthood and lead to the eventual development of chronic diseases. By better understanding how signs of CVD develop, and how they influence the development of disease, we hope to more accurately predict the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in adulthood, and ultimately prevent the disease by helping to create better interventions targeted at children and youth.  Second, the PPHP lab is examining how varying income levels and exposure to stress can impact the health of children and teenagers.  Ensuring that all children are healthy is an important public health issue.  Our research aims to figure out how circumstances in a child’s environment can contribute to their physical and mental wellbeing.