UBC Graduation. Photo by Paul Joseph, UBC Brand and Marketing.
Tuum Est. It is yours.
Join us in congratulating our doctoral students who are crossing the stage at UBC’s spring 2026 graduation ceremony on May 22. We celebrate the accomplishments of our graduates and wish them well in their next steps.
Their research spans a range of topics—from studying the cognitive and brain basis of dyslexia in children, to examining how social connection affects cardiovascular health, to exploring how prosocial behaviour relates to health and well-being in daily life. Together, their work addresses complex challenges that affect individuals and communities.
Meet the graduating class of 2026 and learn more about their work.
Dr. Zahra Kheradmandsaadi
PhD Dissertation: Behavioral and neural correlates of reading difficulties: cognitive profiles, resting-state connectivity, and intervention outcomes.
Citation: Dr. Kheradmandsaadi investigated dyslexia, a reading disorder, by studying its cognitive and brain basis in children. She found that reading difficulties arise from differences in the brain’s language, attention, and visual networks. Her work advances our understanding of dyslexia and highlights the need for multifaceted reading interventions.
Dr. Julia Sharon Nakamura
PhD Dissertation: Prosociality “in the wild”: understanding prosocial engagement in everyday life.
Citation: Dr. Nakamura studied how prosocial behaviours, or actions we take to help others, are associated with health and well-being in daily life. She found that the benefits of helping others may depend on other daily activities and the recipients of prosocial acts. Her work informs evidence-based guidelines for promoting well-being through prosociality.
Dr. Charlotte Roddick
PhD Dissertation: Biobehavioural and psychophysiological pathways linking social disconnection to cardiovascular health.
Citation: Dr. Roddick studied how social connection affects cardiovascular health. Her research linked increasing social ties to lower blood pressure, and loneliness to weaker parasympathetic regulation of the heart. Her work helps explain how social experience becomes biology and informs individual and public health strategies to protect heart health.
The entire psychology community is proud of you and wishes you the best!
