Our team consists of project leadership, research staff, faculty, and a constantly expanding team of student research assistants!

see who we are

Core Team

Caylee Raber

Director

Otilia Spantulescu

Coordinator

Research & Design Team

Our team is constantly expanding to meet new project needs by bringing on Emily Carr University faculty and research assistants. Most of our research assistants are current students at Emily Carr University — in the Master of Design Program, or one of three Bachelor of Design Program streams (Communication Design, Industrial Design, or Interaction Design). Students bring design skills and new perspectives to each project, playing critical roles as co-design facilitators. On average, our team includes 10-20 Research Assistants on various projects annually.

Jon Hannan

Associate Professor + Project Co-Lead

Leo Vicenti

Associate Professor + Project Co-Lead

Cheryl Li

Non-Regular Faculty + Project Co-Lead

Georgia McWilliams

Design Researcher

Research Assistant Team

Asena Sage Blackwell

Research Assistant, MDes
(Interaction Design)

Asha Calaminus

Research Assistant, BDes
(Communication Design)

Mia Portelance

Research Assistant, MDes
(Interaction Design)

Srividya Suryanarayan

Research Assistant, MDes
(Interaction Design)

Kala Padmashali

Research Assistant, MDes
(Interaction Design)

Cecile Novel Tovar

Research Assistant, BDes
(Industrial Design)

Syd Mercredi

Research Assistant, BDes
(Communication Design)

Anne Seol

Research Assistant, BDes
(Communication Design)

Isabella Tan

Research Assistant, MDes
(Interaction Design)

Winnie Uong

Research Assistant, MDes
(InteractionDesign)

Jumhpha Heinkeo

Research Assistant, MDes
(InteractionDesign)

Past Members

Our Past Members consist of former students, faculty, and staff who have been part of the Health Design Lab spanning all the way from 2017. They have since embarked on new journeys working in Service Design for the BC Government and National Health Service in the UK; enhancing innovation services at the Ministry of Health, Island Health Authority, and Alberta Health Services; and working in user experience design for Vancouver Coastal Health, Tickit Health, and Microsoft.

Ajra Doobenen
Amen Salami
Ara Rattan
Blair Muxiang Yu
Chelsea Burke
Clara Ngie
Eden Luna Goldet
Erin Finnerty
Emi Webb
Emily Ellis
Eugenie Cheon
Eva Egeberg
Garima Sood
Jocelyn Kim
Kamila Bashir
Katie Macdonald
Lariena Kumar
Laura Escueta
Linh Phan

Malika Gill
Marcia Higuchi
Maria Azam
Mark Hanbunjerd
Meaghan Horne
Morgan Martino
Nada Salama
Nadia Beyzaei
Nandita Ratan
Nicole Preissl 
Parnian Anaa
Sarah Hay
Shraddha Kumbhar
Srushti Kulkarni
Steph Koenig
Tyler Hawkins
Vannysha Chang
Yutaan Lin
Zoe Laycock

Audrey Allanson

Ajra Doobenen

Alex Turnbull

Amen Salami

Ara Rattan

Arsh Geekee

Blair Muxiang Yu

Cancan Jiang

Chelsea Burke

Clara Ngie

Eden Luna Goldet

Erin Finnerty

Emi Webb

Emily Ellis

Emily Ellis

Emilie Liu

Eugenie Cheon

Eva Egeberg

Fatemeh Pourseyed

Garima Sood

Jessica Ruffolo

Jocelyn Kim

Kamila Bashir

Katie Macdonald

Kyla Zwack

Lariena Kumar

Laura Escueta

Linh Phan

Linh Phan

Lisa Park

Logan Wilkinson

Malika Gill

Marcia Higuchi

Maria Azam

Mariia Semenova

Mark Hanbunjerd

Meaghan Horne

Morgan Martino

Nada Salama

Nadia Beyzaei

Nandita Ratan

Nicole Preissl

Parnian Anaa

Priyanka Poulose

Saanvi Bhat

Sarah Hay

Shraddha Kumbhar

Srushti Kulkarni

Steph Koenig

Tyler Hawkins

Vannysha Chang

Yutaan Lin

Zoe Laycock

Qianhui Wan

Otilia Spantulescu

Coordinator

Otilia is the coordinator of the Health Design Lab. Some of the responsibilities of this role include: student hiring, managing project timelines and budgets, general project support for new and ongoing research projects, coordination of workshops and research activities— including ethics applications, participant recruitment. 

Otilia holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Outside of her role in the Health Design Lab, Otilia works as a visual artist and designer. Her work has been featured in the Vancouver Art Book Fair, Peach Magazine, SAD Magazine, ROOM Magazine and Poor Quality Press. She has also made projects for the City of Vancouver, City of North Vancouver, City of Richmond, University of British Columbia, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, TRIUMF: Canada’s Particle Accelerator Centre, Vancouver Mural Festival and Public Disco. 

Jon Hannan

Associate Dean, Master of Design
& Associate Professor, Design

Jon is the Associate Dean of the Master of Design program and Associate Professor of Communication Design. He has been with the Health Design Lab since 2015, largely collaborating on our dementia projects, including the co-development and leadership of the Perspectives Program and the Dementia Lab Conference.

He holds a BA and MA in Design & Art Direction from Manchester School of Art, as well a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from Huddersfield University and a Fellowship from the Higher Education Academy.

Alongside teaching, Jon founded and ran Manchester based design studio OWT for 6 years. OWT started as an experimental, collaborative magazine that grew into a fully practicing design studio. Jon’s research has been featured in international publications and on platforms such as IdN, Computer Arts, The Guardian, and CNN, amongst others.

Caylee Raber

Director

Caylee Raber is the Director of the Health Design Lab and responsible for the development, growth and leadership of the lab.  Within this role, she develops collaborative relationships with community partners, related labs and academic institutions, while leading the formation and execution of research and design projects.

Caylee’s research practice is centred in participatory design research methods for collaboration with diverse populations in the conceptualization, development and implementation of new social services, experiences and programs related to health. Through participatory and co-design methods her research seeks to ensure that people have the ability to not only inform, but shape their future experiences. She is interested in further exploring how designers can work collaboratively with community to advance health equity and research engagement by people with lived experience. Past work has included collaboration with: children with learning differences, autism and neurodevelopmental disabilities; older adults and seniors including people with dementia; and Indigenous communities.

Caylee also teaches in the Faculty of Design and Dynamic Media and Master of Design Program as a Sessional Instructor. From a teaching and learning perspective, Caylee is interested in exploring pedagogical approaches that include community-based experiential learning. Caylee holds a Master of Design from Emily Carr University of Art and Design and Bachelor degree in Industrial Design.