PhD Candidate, Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program: School of Population and Public Health, UBC (present)
MSc, Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University (2008)
BSc (Hons), Biology, University of Winnipeg (2004)
Research Interests
- Social determinants of health
- Neglected diseases
- Vector-borne diseases
- Knowledge Translation
- Power dynamics in political and academic systems
- Participatory research methods
- Ethics
- Critical pedagogy
Although the focus of her doctoral work is exploring the social and political determinants of community health, Kendra approaches these through the specific window of mosquito-borne disease. She has worked with Manitoba Health on West Nile virus research and surveillance, and with the Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública of México in Tapachula, Chiapas on Dengue surveillance after the devastation of Hurricane Stan in 2005. Kendra also has an active interest in research ethics, particularly with international collaborations; she was Coordinator and then Co-PI with Dr. Shafik Dharamsi of the Ethics of International Engagement and Service Learning (EIESL) Project aimed at changing the culture of international engagement at UBC to include deeper ethical training and consideration.
Awards
Liu Institute Scholar (2012 – Present)
Frederick Banting and Charles Best Doctoral Fellow (2010 – Present)
UBC Doctoral Fellow (2009-Present)
Select Presentations and Publications
- K Mitchell-Foster, BO Ma, S Warsame-Ali, C Logan, ME Rau and C Lowenberger (2012) The influence of larval density, food stress, and parasitism on the bionomics of the dengue vector Aedes aegypti (Diperta: Culicidae): implications for integrated vector management. Journal of Vector Ecology 37(1): 221-229
- DM Cooper and K Mitchell-Foster (2011) Death for survival: what do we know about innate immunity and cell death in insects? Insect Survival Journal 8: 162-172
- Mitchell-Foster K. Estrategias comunicacionales en proyectos con participación comunitaria. 2ndo Congreso Internacional de Salud Comunitaria con Enfoque Ecosistémico, Machala, Ecuador, August 24th – 27th 2011
- Mitchell-Foster K, Beltrán Ayala E, Arichabala Wilches A, Breilh J, Spiegel J. Manejo innovador basado en la comunidad para la prevención del dengue con enfoque ecosistémico: Resultados preliminarios del Fase 1. 2ndo Congreso Internacional de Salud Comunitaria con Enfoque Ecosistémico, Machala, Ecuador, August 24th – 27th 2011.
- Mitchell-Foster K, Beltrán Ayala E, Arichabala Wilches A, Breilh J, Spiegel J. Network analysis and ethnography as a foundation for community evidence-based Dengue prevention programs in Machala, El Oro, Ecuador. Canadian Conference on Global Health, Ottawa, Canada, October 31st – November 3rd 2010
- Foster K, Tremblay J, Yassi A, Spiegel J. Meeting capacity-building and scaling-up challenges to prevent and control dengue in Ecuador through an innovative multi-level community of practice. Canadian Conference on International Health, Ottawa, Canada, October 25th – 28th 2009.
- Foster K, Morshed M, Bonet M, Spiegel J. The use of community-based scientific knowledge in constructing relevant public health policy: Can an interdisciplinary approach better facilitate effective knowledge translation? 70th Anniversary Conference of Instituto Pedro Kouri, Havana, Cuba, July 1st – 4th 2009.