Faculty Spotlight
Once a month we feature a member of our faculty.
CANDICE JOHNSON
Born and raised
Ottawa, Ontario Canada
Favorite movie and/or musical group/singer
Is there any musical group better than ABBA? No.
Favorite sport to play or watch
I was skip (captain) of our office curling team at CDC. We lost every match. It was fun. I’m hoping to start curling again now that I’m back north.
What do you like to do in your free time?
Right now I’m into jigsaw puzzles, especially speed-puzzling. I have the added challenge of two large cats who like to sit on the pieces.
What is the most interesting/enjoyable place you have visited?
Newfoundland and New Mexico have been some of my favorite trips because the landscapes are so different from what I’m used to.
What/who influenced you to select your area(s) of study and how has that impacted your career?
I usually chose the faculty member or supervisor more than the topic because having a good working relationship was most important to me. Because of those decisions, I’ve studied several different topics: perinatal epidemiology during my MSc, epidemiologic methods during my PhD, and occupational epidemiology during my postdoc. I’m now one of few people who do research at the intersection of these three areas, which is both a challenge and an opportunity to do novel research. I also have a network of fantastic mentors and collaborators in each discipline.
What advice would you give to a student?
What works for one person doesn’t work for everyone. Know what works for you—how your brain works, your life circumstances, your goals—and do what you need to do, even if it’s different from what everyone else is doing. I highly recommend Kemi Doll’s podcast episode on this topic (Your Unapologetic Career, episode 104) in which she gives examples of how to put this idea into practice.