Graduate & Doctoral Opportunities

Graduates in caps and gowns at a convocation ceremony

Pursue graduate and doctoral research in health communication with SPARC-affiliated faculty.

SPARC's affiliated researchers are currently accepting graduate students across the Centre's core research areas: health misinformation, physician and health advocacy, investigative health journalism, and science communication. Students working in these domains — through Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Temerty Faculty of Medicine or affiliated journalism programs — are encouraged to reach out to discuss supervision, current projects, and fit.

Active areas of supervision include curriculum development and evaluation for advocacy and communication training; qualitative and mixed-methods research on physician advocacy; public understanding of health information, misinformation, and correction strategies; and the design and evaluation of educational innovations bridging medicine, journalism, and public health, including SPARC's Simulated Newsroom curriculum.

  • Head shot of Blair Bigham

    Dr. Blair Bigham

    FACULTY PROFILE

    Research interests: Health advocacy and media engagement; the education science of what makes advocacy effective; freedom-of-information–based research methods; and science communication in low-trust, high-misinformation environments — with a focus on translating this work into better individual, organizational, and policy-level health outcomes.

  • Head shot of Zahra Shakeri

    Dr. Zahra Shakeri

    FACULTY PROFILE

    Research interests: Responsible AI for public health and clinical decision support; natural language processing; information visualization and data-driven storytelling; AI safety; causal inference; and social media analytics — with a focus on advancing health equity through patient-centred digital health solutions.

How to get started

  1. Explore the research areas above and review each supervisor's faculty profile.

  2. Reach out with a short note about your background, research interests and the program you're applying to or enrolled in.

  3. Apply to your graduate program through the University of Toronto. Admission is handled by each program.

Contact us about supervision

Frequently asked questions

  • Students typically come through the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, the Temerty Faculty of Medicine or affiliated journalism programs.

  • Yes. We encourage you to reach out early to discuss fit and current projects.

  • Yes. Contact us to join SPARC's list of affiliated supervisors.

Interested in being listed?