Hera Casidsid

Hi! My name is Hera Casidsid (she/her) and I recently graduated with a Masters in Community Health Sciences from the University of Manitoba. I also hold a B.Sc./B.Sc. (Honours) degree in Psychology from both the University of the Philippines and the University of Manitoba. Throughout my academic and professional journey, I’ve gained diverse research experience. 

I am currently a part-time Vocational Evaluator (Psychometrist) at Manitoba Possible., conducting vocational assessment and evaluation among people with disabilities. In my spare time, I enjoy travelling and exploring new restaurants.

My research interest is in social determinants of health as well as program evaluation or health services research, particularly in the area of mental health. I want to determine how social factors affect mental health and whether the programs in Manitoba are reaching the right individuals, being administered correctly and effectively, and are resulting in positive health outcomes. For my Master’s thesis, I evaluated whether participation in the Healthy Baby (HB) program was associated with a reduced risk of developing postpartum depression among mothers. Under the guidance of my advisors, Dr. Marni Brownell and Dr. Nathan Nickel, from the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP), I designed a rigorous study using the linkable, routinely collected data housed at MCHP.

I applied to become a SPECTRUM fellow because this initiative shows great promise in effectively addressing the needs of Manitobans. I have been a SPECTRUM Fellow since the summer of 2021 and have been learning about the process and challenges of building a collaborative partnership between community, government, and academia with the goal of influencing social policy reform. Aside from that, SPECTRUM provides several opportunities for Fellows to get involved in the partnership such as planning and moderating capacity-building workshops, drafting grant proposals, and writing academic manuscripts. These experiences have been helping me enhance my professional skills and core competencies in social policy research and evaluation, which are valuable to my career aspiration as a Health Policy Research Analyst.