Dr. Monika Kowatsch

CAHR Board Trainee Representative

Dr. Kowatsch (she/her) is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia (UBC) with Drs. Murray and Côté. She began working in the HIV sector during her graduate studies at the University of Manitoba with Dr. Keith Fowke. Her research interests are to work hand in hand with community partners to improve care and health outcomes, and to utilize “big data” approaches to understand the relationships between the immune system, social-demographics, and health. Monika’s postdoctoral research focuses on how HIV and hormones affect healthy aging in women living with HIV as a part of the British Columbia CARMA-CHIWOS Collaboration (BCC3) study, a cohort study of WLWH and control HIV-negative women that takes a holistic cell-to-society approach to address questions on healthy aging. Monika has had the privilege of collaborating with several community groups, both in Canada and internationally, as well as with researchers from social, epidemiological, clinical, and basic sciences. She has been involved in several student organizations, including a past member of the Women in Science, Development, Outreach, and Mentoring (WISDOM) trainee group at the University of Manitoba, the International AIDS society mentorship program, and is currently serving on UBC’s Women’s and Children’s Biosafety Committee and Postdoctoral Mentorship program.