Public health researcher Dr. Marco Zenone, just announced as one of nine individuals to receive the prestigious Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship for research at UBC, will be joining the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions (CSDI) here at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs in September 2024.
In pursuit of his interest in health misinformation advocacy, Zenone’s research focuses on the exploitation of cancer patients online—an area he notes is “understudied and requires urgent public health attention.” Particularly, he wishes to examine how terminally ill cancer patients are vulnerable to “predatory alternative cancer clinics” that convey false promise from non-evidence-based treatments. He will be working with SPPGA faculty members Prof. Heidi Tworek and Prof. Veena Sriram.
The Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship provides federal government funding, $70,000 per year for two years, to individuals who are considered part of Canada’s next generation of research leaders. A total of 69 fellowships were recently announced with nine here at the University of British Columbia—more than any other Canadian university.
When asked about choosing UBC over other institutions, he said the following:
“SPPGA’s Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions (CSDI) is a world leader in platform and media research. The CSDI has completed important, exciting, and innovative research which I’m excited to contribute to during my fellowship.”
Congratulations to Dr. Marco Zenone, whose timely research aims to protect cancer patients and their families. We look forward to welcoming you to the SPPGA community.
