QES Project Contribution Towards Mental Health Research
On 24th November, six members of the Aga Khan University’s School of Nursing and Midwifery (SONAM), Pakistan presented their research experiences as recipients of the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship at the University of Calgary. The faculty members are Kiran Shaikh, Marina Baig, Sadia Abbas Ali, Shahnaz Shahid, Shireen Shehzad Bhamani, and Sharifa Lalani, three of whom share their experiences with us. Their research was centered around mental health in relation to pregnancy and childbirth in which they were given the opportunity to collaborate with scholars across Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.
One of the faculty members, Shireen Shehzad Bhamani, Assistant Professor at AKU-SONAM, conducted her research under Dr. Nicole Letourneau, professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary. Her research titled Resilience, Depression, and Anxiety among Pregnant Women in Pakistan: Development and Testing Intervention was broken down into two phases to evaluate, validate, and develop SM-ART training modules where SM-ART stands for Safe Motherhood ART: Accessible Resilience Training.
Shireen giving her mentor the first
printed copy of her developed module to her
mentor & QES supervisor, Dr. Nicole.
About the QES experience, Shireen said it went beyond just being about research. The opportunity gave her a chance to “build strong connections with knowledgeable and expert scholars, nurses, researchers, mentors, and communities around the world who belong to diverse backgrounds and are open in terms of exchanging ideas at various international platforms.”
Sharifa Lalani also recounts her experience as a recipient of the scholarship, “as part of studying study pregnancy-specific anxiety, stress and depression in expecting mothers and its relationship with epigenetics, I was given a great opportunity to extract DNA from the blood samples of pregnant women and transport it to the University of British Columbia, which is widely known for gene analysis.” Sharifa was also under the mentorship of Dr Nicole and worked closely with Dr. Shahirose Premji. Her paper is titled The Relationship between changes in Pregnancy-related Anxiety, Perceived Stress, and Antenatal Depression and their Relationship with Preterm Birth.
Kiran Shaikh was not only a part of the team working with Sharifa on her research, she wrote her own research paper titled Ethnicity and Exposure to Prenatal Supplements Rather than Adverse Childhood Experiences is Linked to Preterm Birth in Pakistani Women. She said, “An important aspect of the QES was to engage in activities to develop networking, leadership and community engagement skills. These included working with different leaders, presenting at different forums, and attending workshops, all of which helped me improve my networking skills.” Being the principal investigator in a research project, she was able to meet with various stakeholders to learn about preinatal mental health and its consequences.
Sharifa and Kiran with their research team
The aim for creating similar opportunities includes enhancing critical and analytical thinking, leadership and mentorship skills, and strengthening research skills. In addition to these, the AKU scholars underwent reciprocal cultural learnings, which added to their research.
Click here to read the six research abstracts presented by AKU-SONAM faculty.
