Ospina

Dr. Maria Ospina

Position(s)

HSPRI Associate Faculty

Contact Info

Dr. Maria Ospina is a perinatal and social epidemiologist, Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, and Canada Research Chair in Life Course, Health Development at Queen’s University. She also holds a cross-appointment in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Previously, Dr. Ospina was an assistant professor at the University of Alberta, where she held the CRC in Life Course, Social Environments, and Health. In 2020, she received the Martha Cook Piper Research Prize, honoring her reputation for innovative research and exceptional promise as an emerging academic leader.

Originally a registered psychologist in her native Colombia, Dr. Ospina earned her PhD in Public Health Sciences with specialization in Epidemiology (2013) and an MSc in Clinical Epidemiology (2004) from the University of Alberta. With over 110 peer-reviewed publications, an h-index of 46, and over $5 million in research funding as a principal investigator throughout her academic career, Dr. Ospina is a highly regarded expert in her field.

Research Interests

Dr. Ospina’s multidisciplinary research program called DMETRE (Developmental, Maternal, and Perinatal Epidemiology and Translational Research Evidence), centers on the social and environmental determinants of health in pregnancy and early childhood, framed within the DOHaD model. Using mixed-methods, life-course epidemiology, geographic information systems, and knowledge synthesis methods, the DMETRE lab investigates how the exposome—including social, geographic, and environmental disparities—impacts health trajectories and contributes to inequalities in long-term health outcomes.

Team

Research Interests