About

Were I to provide a short chronological biography of myself, I would begin by telling you that I was born in Iran and come from two Indigenous nomadic peoples: the Bakhtiari and the Qashqa’i. I would also tell you that I have been a travelling scholar. Before beginning my doctoral studies, I completed my Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering, followed by a Master’s degree in Anthropology.

I am currently a PhD Candidate in Sociology at Concordia University. During the 2024–2025 academic year, I held a Doctoral Fellowship at the Consortium on Analytics for Data-Driven Decision-Making (CAnD3) at McGill University. I am also an Emerging Scholar with the Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN).

My doctoral research has been supported by Concordia University, the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et Culture (FRQSC), the Quebec Interuniversity Centre for Social Statistics (QICSS), and the CRDCN.

My research program builds on contemporary critical scholarship to explore the ways in which intersecting systems of oppression influence mental health. I primarily work across two research strands:

First, I draw on Black feminist theory and intersectionality to examine how racism, sexism, and other forms of social inequality intersect and shape mental health outcomes. I am particularly interested in the epistemological implications of intersectionality for population health research, especially in relation to mental health outcomes.

Second, drawing on critical Indigenous studies and Black feminist thought, I examine settler colonialism as a fundamental cause of health disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. In particular, I explore how population health surveillance and healthcare systems reproduce colonial logics—not only in how data on Indigenous health is collected and governed, but also in how it informs policy in ways that marginalize Indigenous knowledge systems.

Research Interests

• Settler Colonialism, Health, and Mental Health
• Racial Capitalism and Health
• Black Feminist Thought
• Indigenous Health
• Critical Public Health
• Social Statistics
• Quantitative Research Methods
• Social History of Statistics and Psychiatry