Merna Seliman

Merna is a research assistant at Parkwood Institute Research. She is currently a PhD Candidate in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Western University in the field of Health Promotion. Merna’s area of research is sexuality and sexual health after Spinal Cord Injury and other neurological disabilities. Specifically, she is interested in developing and implementing sexuality interventions that would contribute to sexual satisfaction and intimacy for women and couples. She completed a Master’s of Science in 2019 at Brock university which focused on the impact of a mindfulness-based intervention on sexual satisfaction among couples living with neurological disabilities.

Merna shares her experiences from the conference.

Attending ISCoS was a transformative experience for me. I had the opportunity to meet researchers whose work I read and was inspired by for years. This allowed me the time to get to know them and form a relationship for future collaborations. I was able to share with them my PhD research proposal plans and receive invaluable feedback that led to revising and improving my proposal. I attended presentations and workshops related to my research area and other topics that interested me. I gained indispensable knowledge that led me to reflect on my research and future research projects that would enhance the quality of life of individuals living with SCI. A moment worthy of highlighting was the talk given by Doug at the SRI breakfast. He emphasised that the goal of receiving awards/ grants is becoming aware of our increased responsibility to give back. This grant has given me the gift of being reminded that the goal of my research is to give back to the SCI community and the world.