Nicole Makihara
MPH in Health Sciences
As she observed her family continue to face barriers to care, Nicole Makihara developed an early awareness of the inequities embedded in our healthcare system.
Growing up alongside family members living with osteogenesis imperfecta and paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration, Nicole Makihara developed an early awareness of the inequities embedded in our healthcare system. Witnessing barriers to care instilled in her a sense of social justice that would eventually influence her academic and professional path.
"Growing up close to disability taught me that the gap between good healthcare and equitable healthcare is often a matter of whose experience gets to count," she explains. "Healthcare systems that truly serve people must be willing to listen, learn, and change; that starts with centering the lived experiences of those most often left out."
Makihara completed her Bachelor of Human Kinetics at Trinity Western University, graduating with the President's Scholarship and Dean's List recognition across all four years. While enrolled in a social determinants of health course, she solidified her passion for public health as a field where systemic inequity could be studied and challenged. She enrolled in the Faculty of Health Sciences' (FHS) Master of Public Health program in September 2025.
Throughout her undergraduate years, Makihara took an active role in research. As a student research assistant on a longitudinal study examining sleep hygiene and behaviour in varsity athletes, she extracted and analyzed data and worked to translate findings. The study was accepted for presentation at the CSEP 2024 conference, where she presented as first author. She later joined SFU's Cardiovascular Adaptation in Sport and Exercise Lab, contributing to participant recruitment, clinical data collection, and knowledge translation.
Now in her MPH, Makihara serves as the Social Coordinator for the FHS Graduate Caucus and as a notetaker for SFU's Centre for Accessible Learning, a role that reflects her ongoing commitment to disability inclusion. She will complete her practicum with Fraser Health Authority, conducting an environmental scan of public health oral health programs across Canada through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to help shape future programming initiatives.
Makihara's research interests sit at the intersection of health equity, ableism, oral health, and primary healthcare systems, with a particular focus on the experiences of people with physical disabilities. She hopes to contribute to the implementation of programs that serve communities that have been marginalized, and is considering medical school as her next academic adventure.