UBC Psychology PhD students Gabrielle Ibasco, Kiarah O’Kane, and Mathilde Rioux receive 2024 Killam Doctoral Scholarships.
Their promising research will deepen our understanding of morality and emotions in intergroup relations, sexual well-being of LGBTQ+ individuals, and cognitive difficulties associated with traumatic brain injuries.
Killam Doctoral Scholarships are the most prestigious awards available to graduate students at UBC. They are provided each year from the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Fund for Advanced Studies and approximately 25 awards are offered each year to the top doctoral candidates in the Affiliated Fellowships competition.
Learn more about Gabrielle, Kiarah, and Mathilde’s research areas and what it means to them to receive this recognition.
Gabrielle Ibasco (she/her/hers) is a social and personality PhD student who works with Dr. Jessica Tracy and Dr. Azim Shariff. Gabrielle’s research focuses on the role of moral emotions and ideologies in shaping important socio-political outcomes, including intergroup relations, institutional trust, and support for social justice movements.
“Receiving the 2024 Killam Doctoral Scholarship is a tremendous honour. I am both flattered and humbled to be considered alongside some of the top doctoral candidates in UBC. With generous support from this scholarship, I am excited to launch a research program on how we can harness feelings of national pride to rally greater support for equality and justice. Here, in Canada, I hope my research can inform ways we can leverage the power of emotions to improve attitudes toward Indigenous reconciliation, and other efforts to address the systemic inequalities we still see today.”
Kiarah O’Kane (she/they) is a clinical psychology PhD student working with Dr. Samantha Dawson in the Sexuality and Well-being Lab. Kiarah’s research interests are twofold: First, to examine the modifiable factors impacting the sexual well-being of LGBTQ+ individuals and couples. Second, to use psychophysiological and eye-tracking methods to explore gender and sexual orientation differences in sexual response patterns.
“I am so grateful to receive the Killam Doctoral Scholarship. This award will support my PhD research focused on examining links between gender euphoria and sexual well-being in individuals and couples. This work is very meaningful to me, so I am incredibly appreciative of the recognition of my research through this award. It will enable me to continue conducting research on the experiences of transgender and gender-diverse people, to broaden our understandings of the role gender plays in our sexual experiences.”
Mathilde Rioux (she/her) is a clinical psychology PhD student interested in better understanding and treating Functional Cognitive Disorder. Mathilde is working with Dr. Noah Silverberg in the Coping with Neurological Symptoms Lab.
“Receiving the Killam Doctoral Scholarship is an incredible honour. Over the next two years, this award will allow me to fully dedicate myself to research on functional cognitive disorder (FCD), a neuropsychiatric condition in which cognitive symptoms cannot be entirely explained by brain injury or disease. My dissertation will focus on identifying the predisposing and perpetuating factors of FCD, which is essential for enhancing our understanding and improving the treatment of this complex condition. This fellowship highlights the importance of my work, and provides the support I need to focus, grow, and make meaningful contributions to the field.”
Join us in congratulating Gabrielle, Kiarah, and Mathilde on this recognition and support for their research!
